Four O'clock Dust Storm

 

A storm cell showed up and did it ever kick the dust up.

The dust turned afternoon into evening in a few minutes.  Sky obliterated, animals scrambling, birds scurrying for cover and man, well life goes on.

From, what I’ve seen, this is about as close to dust bowl it has been.  If this continues on through the summer, it is going to be rough.  The ground is so dry, that when it does rain, the moisture just rolls off and down the creek.  It would take a nice slow week long rain to abate the drought.

According to some long range forecasters, the drought is expected for a few more years.  If so it will become ugly.  Weather like this, tends to make people edgy. 

Hopefully some of this dust ends up in D.C.,shower the politicians.

To Many Taxes Equal Corruption….. etc…….

 

With all the government scandals, There is lots of finger pointing.  But one finger is missing, back at self, er, there are four of them.

For to many years, we have quietly sat by as taxes have increased.  An occasional voice was raised but no taxes were repealed or reduced by our politicians.  So all of the scandals should not be surprising.  We have been inviting this for a number of years.  A level of integrity is pretty low for lots of people and when they get into government, they see tons of money and millions of suckers.

The amount of money that goes into government coffers is staggering.  It is surprising that there is not more waste and corruption in government. 

Yet if I was to withhold my monies from the government, I would go to jail.  We have given the government that much power over our monies. 

Hear no Evil….. Speak no Evil….. See no Evil …………………  Or is it the 3 wise men?

So how does one go about protesting to much money in the hands of government.  It has been tried in the past, a thing called the Whiskey Rebellion and there were others.  The more successful one was the Tea Tax Rebellion.  The Tea people just flat threw the government out, AKA, monarchy and started a new government.

The wrote a bunch of documents to live under, that they thought would prevent an oligarchy from gaining power in this new country.  It was successful for a couple of centuries but seems to be coming unraveled for lack of zealous populace and wanton greedy politicians.

So what is it going to take to get the country back together for the people.  To wrest power back from the few?  How to stop sending in the taxes.  To many are afraid of the IRS and its associated government agencies.  So quietly the sheep will continue to be fleeced. 

Is There Oil Down There?

 

 

With the expanded use of fracing, there is a mini oil boom in the area.  Keep in mind, a drilling rig is a boom around here and there are usually 2-4 rigs drilling. 

The oil companies have been approaching people about going on their land for seismology testing,   Lots of the people have been turning them down, well been wanting money for them to drive on their land.

It is so dry that any travel on grassland destroys it.  The ranchers/landowners are wanting compensation fro damage to their land.

These big ole thumpers can cause lots of damage as they drive over the land shaking it.  Where they drove on some CRP land, one can still see the tracks where they drove, two years ago.  At existing wells thee is a big scar, for the plot and the access road.  If the hole is dry and they leave, the land heals real slow and is worthless for some years unless in a government program.

It is interesting, greed does overrule common business sense.  Some of the oil prospectors are kind of dumbfounded in being turned down.

For the rancher, it is his land for income.  Without the land, the rancher earns no money.  With the drought, the land is at about 20% usability.  Any damage adds to the loss for the rancher. 

Oh….. expect the big mac to jump in price, except they are usually milk cows not prime beeves.

Have a good weekend.

Hated Republicans

 

Been lots of news about big brother snooping in the lives of republican/conservative folks of late.  Saw a picture of some college students sending a thank you not to the IRS for prying in to the business of the Tea Party.  Have heard all kinds of demonizing remarks about conservatives.

From everything I hear, the republicans got to be the most evil people that ever walked on the earth of USA.  These past few years has been one of the most hate felled decades in the history of the nation.  Even the Civil War was not this hateful, although it was ugly.

Not sure what the republicans have done to deserve such hate mongering but are the democrats pouring it on.  It seems to be working for I have met people who despise republicans, they believe what they hear.

One of the things to learn is to question things.  Do not be a lamb and follow voices blindly.

One thing I hear, “without republicans, democrats would be better off.”  Interesting comment, yet I have heard it in so many areas. 

These are the same people that extolled the virtues of Castro and the Cuban revolution, exalted Che Gueverra, put the Peron’s on a pedestal and liked Hugo Chavez.  All these people were marxists/communists.

In every instance, the country these people took over as dictators, they failed.  The people of the various countries suffered under these dictators.  Oh, the cronies of these rulers lived lavish lives but the rest of the people struggled.

So when I look at a democrat any more I see a wanna be dictator.

Remember

With Memorial weekend approaching, take a moment and say a prayer for our country and the people who served in the military during a time of conflict.   All military put their lives out there, were willing to lose their lives for what they believed in.

Passing through the cemetery it is easy to recognize many of the veterans for their unique headstone of white marble.  

Have a great Weekend.

Dust Bowl Returns

 

We are in the worse drought sine the 30’s.  Pastures are becoming barren and fields have very little growth.  This past week we got some moisture but all it did was help to make spit balls. The farmers and ranchers care for the land but there is very little they can do to control mother nature.  When it dries up and the wind blows, the dust will roll.

I have seen dirty brown snow and black muddy drifts out across the land.  Dust has boiled off fields, reaching sky ward, farmers have been plowing fields to stop the dirt from leaving and ranchers are selling off their stock.

Yet the relentless wind boils over the land.

Blow dirt drifts along the fence lines, covering the land in a fine grit.  Water rolls off the dirt, draining away.  Fields do not recover from the damage in a year or two.  Tumble weeds will sprout, sucking more moisture from the earth.  It will be a barren land for a time to come.

Yet like their ancestors, many will hang on and go about business, trying to get a living from the land.

In the middle of these howling dust storms are small oasis.  Water ponds that help wildlife survive.

Government Programs

 

Today there is lots of conversation over the governments healthcare program, known as Obamacare.   The government has been doing programs like this for years and a few can be traced back to the mid 1800’s.  A few were successful, most were failures and almost all have run their course but still are on the books.  One of the biggest government giveaways was the Homestead Act.  Million of acres was available for those who would put forth some effort and settle in what was perceived as a desert.

The other big land give away was the Pacific Railroad act.  This one made big money for a few moneyed people in the 1860’s and is still paying big dividends to the railroads today.  A railroad has more power then most cities and towns.  It also gave big chunks of land to the barons of the rail.  Today the Union Pacific Railroad makes more money off their land holdings and mineral rights from these government giveaways. 

It was the governments way of promoting businesses to build things, dangle the carrot out there and watch people chase the money.   It became a practice that is still going on today but so few were successful.  When a program fails, it tends to stay on the books and other ones crawl out of the woodwork to fix the goofy ones. 

Yet behind all these programs is big money.  The financial money bags tend to rake in big bucks.  Recently it was reported that some financial company executives had annual incomes of over 2 billion dollars a year.  These are not investors, manufacturers, they are speculators, gamblers.  When they hit big….. it is big….. when they fail, they drag others down with them.

This is what happened to the railroad speculators in the mid 1800’s.  Numerous railroad companies were formed to get money, in various ways but only a few actually built a railroad of any type.  They got big money though and there were all types of scandals. 

 

Hundreds of people hitch their dreams only to see them die in the swarm of speculation and greed.  Railroads advertised land along their route as being great farm land and people traveled out west to settle on the dream of a new life.  Sweat was spent building a life and a few years later the dream was a figment because of failed government policies and greed.  Crop prices had soared through the roof, people farmed more land, financed more property to chase the dollar of big prices on crops,  All based on government houses of cards and fueled by greed. 

In 1929 the market crashed.  Fortunes were lost and farm prices fell right along with the market.  Behind all this was the money people and poor government policy.  The big money markets had speculated  and lost.  Resulting in lots of other people becoming losers.  Greed fueled most of the speculation, individuals get big money and the government gets more money.

Where was common sense, probably on a tropical vacation dreaming of…………..?

When I look back at the bad times, I see government intrusion as being the primary culprit and greed being a motivating factor.  Government interference in the economy has been a failure over the centuries but it is not taught that way in the colleges.

Then the little thing, how we all want just a bit more money.  Greed is a big times culprit. 

Now the big question…… How to get big brother back in his hi chair and out of lives.  The roles of various government levels in not well defined and is understood even less by most people.