One Still Free

In spite of murder, the Mexican wolf population increases

2012-02-17T12:29:00.009-07:00

The pro-Mexican wolf community is waxing on about the increase in wolf population as determined by the recent wolf count: The number is now up to 58.

That would be 58 wolves counted, of course - not the number that actually exists in the wild, which is a higher number than that. There are - and have been for years - an unknown but strongly existing uncollared wolf population, one that isn't constantly messed with by the wolf program just because the uncollared wolves can't be so easily located.

Recently Mexican wolf supporter Nancy Kaminski posted online "Through it all, the murders, natural disasters, deaths by vehicle, Game and Fish Departments running for the hills and a shortage of possible mates for dispersers, the population of Mexican wolves grew in 2011. "

Don't you just love the choice of words? Given that the definition of murder is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another, one wonders what human being Kaminski was referring to that was murdered, since unlawful wolf killings are just that: the killing of a wolf unlawfully. But how silly of me to expect pro-wolf people to use unbiased language, or have an unbiased, scientific approach, to their commentary.

Wouldn't it be ironic, though, if the reason for the increase in wolves might simply be because of Catron County and other efforts to get the wolf program to stop releasing habituated wolves, to remove habituated wolves from the wild instead of trap and transport elsewhere to be someone else's problem, and to get the State of New Mexico to withdraw from the program? Wouldn't it be a joke on Ms. Kaminski and other wolf lovers if maybe the reason that the Mexican wolf population this year has increased is simply because the wolf program people have been forced to stop screwing so much with the wolves, giving wolves a better chance to act like normal wild animals? After all, it is a fact of science that frequent handling of wild animals stresses them and ruins their chances for reproductive success and thriving in the wild.

But heaven forbid the Mexican wolf program should be based on science. Not when there's all that murder going on.

Cartoon

2012-01-26T11:39:00.002-07:00

US Constitution: First Amendment

2012-01-18T11:40:00.001-07:00

Living In Freedom

2011-09-11T12:38:00.002-06:00

Terrorism isn't about blowing up buildings or killing people. Terrorism is intimidation. The attacks of September 11, 2001 have achieved a terrorist victory that we Americans gave to them: They hit the twin towers, but we've allowed ourselves - encouraged ourselves - to succumb to the fear. Full article by Lif Strand

DoW: They say they don't make things up...

2011-08-05T17:42:00.003-06:00

In their ongoing war against environmental truth, Defenders of Wildlife just put out an article entitled "We Can't Make These Things Up", professing horror that NM Game & Fish have lifted their ban on trapping.

Author James Navarro wrote: "At least 14 endangered Mexican gray wolves have been caught in traps set for other animals, and many have been injured. Two were so badly maimed that their afflicted legs had to be amputated."

What the article doesn't bother pointing out is that Mexican wolves are damaged by trapping by the Mexican wolf program people themselves, in their incessant messing with the animals to replace batteries in collars, perform veterinary exams, give vaccinations and sometimes to haul adult wolves back to civilization to be force-bred and pups to be captive raised.

Defenders of Wildlife may not make things up, but they are notorious for not telling the full story. The Mexican wolf program is the biggest abuser of Mexican wolves there is.

As always, I urge people to read the Mexican wolf program's monthly and annual reports if they want the full truth.

Tucson: The environmental litigation factory capitol of America

2011-07-11T10:13:00.002-06:00

Tucson is the environmental litigation factory capitol of America. Tucson is home to the Center for Biological Diversity which has been spewing out lawsuits over alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act. And the CBD has been raking in millions in legal fees for these lawsuits under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).

Nationally the CBD has become the poster child of a litigious environmental group...prompting Congress to actually try and reform the Equal Access to Justice Act and cut off the pipeline of taxpayer money to the CBD and other similar environmental litigation factories such as Western Watershed Project and WildEarth Guardians.

CBD engages in what some call the "EAJA racket".

Read full article at InsideTucsonBusiness.com

EnviroSpin

2011-06-24T13:40:00.004-06:00

Copyright © 2011 C. R. Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com June 24, 2011

Spin is a term used to describe a process of twisting strands of fiber together to form thread, yarn, rope and such. It is also used to describe twisting information in a way so as to create a new description of reality, a new thread of thought so to speak. At its darkest, spin is a way of manipulating the thought of others as a means to an end that the others might not agree with if they were told the same story with all the facts unspun.

Let me give you a couple examples of this thing I call envirospin, taken from a pair of news releases put out just today by Wild Earth Guardians and Defenders of Wildlife. Both of them basically are some quick spinning of facts to “prove” that environmentalists aren’t to blame for the massive catastrophic wildfires now occurring around the US.

WEG’s envirospin is in the form of a kind of sleight of hand in their news release, “Lack of Logging Isn’t To Blame in Massive Forest Fires”. Here we have the statement that there have been “few lawsuits challenging sensible fuel reduction on the national forests in the last decade”. On the surface that’s of course true – but only because a) all the suing was done before the last decade, b) the definition of “sensible” fuel reduction is defined by the environmental groups themselves, and c) this decade’s “few lawsuits” doesn’t include all the habitat litigation that has the same effect, since endangered species lawsuits stop work in the forest just as effectively as logging lawsuits do.

Few lawsuits maybe, but to make sure everyone toes the line, the various environmental groups send a representative to every planning meeting to make sure that all understand the threat. It’s kind of like the mob sending a hit man to your restaurant for lunch to remind you how risky it would be to not pay your protection. So yes, not so many lawsuits about logging these days if you believe the envirospin – but that doesn’t mean that the lack of logging isn’t to blame.

DoW ‘s email news release this morning, “Wildlife Alert”, is another envirospin magic trick. DoW says that humanity is the root problem, because people cause climate change (note that environmentalists don’t use “global warming” any more - too many freezing people are dubious of that concept). DoW snuck wildfires into the news release, hoping that no one would notice their clumping of “forest health” with all the other natural-type stuff like droughts, storms and floods. This unbelievable spin would have the reader believe that human management of forests, particularly environmentalist dictated management practices, is not a factor of catastrophic wildfire. Oh yeah, humans are the cause – envirospin tells us that humans are the source of everything bad – but environmentalist humans are not the problem in any way.

Envirospin is interesting in how similar it is to other serial criminal activity. The perpetrators get more and more confident and less and less circumspect. They figure no one can catch them out. They begin to believe they’re invulnerable.

Oh, I don’t think so.

Rethinking Environmentalism

2011-06-13T18:06:00.004-06:00

Rethinking Environmentalism
Copyright © 2011 C. R. Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com

You can’t see the forest for the trees – an apt description of
environmentalist litigation-driven forest management resulting in fires like the more than 700 square mile Wallow Fire in Arizona.
As the Wallow Fire in Arizona and New Mexico approaches the half-million acre mark it consumes hundreds of square miles of forest that includes protected habitat of endangered species, not to mention non-endangered species like elk, rabbits, songbirds, coyotes and – oh yeah – humans. The Wallow is not a “normal” or “healthy” wildfire. This is another in a series of catastrophic wildfires predicted to keep happening. It is a wildfire that has just destroyed what has been called the largest stand of old-growth Ponderosa pine in the world.

For decades our resource management agencies have been slammed with lawsuit after lawsuit under the guise of protecting our environment. Even so, after the last catastrophic wildfire in Arizona (the half-million acre Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002) President Bush passed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. The aim was to allow federal forest management agencies to address the millions of small-diameter trees that make up so much of today’s Ponderosa pine forests. These trees aren’t saplings - they are trees that are around a century old that can’t grow any larger because of overcrowded forest conditions. They burn like matchsticks.

The problem is that environmental groups kept suing to stop the forest restoration work. The result is litigation-managed national forests based on environmental group claims that their science is the only way to go, that somehow their science is better than any that would allow forest restoration.

It’s not hard to understand that a million acres of burned up forest, wildlife and human habitat in under a decade in one state alone says pretty clearly that the environmentalist agenda for forest management doesn’t work. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and the pudding has burned to a crisp.

It is no news that forests that are not logged and that are also subject to rigorous fire suppression are at the most risk of catastrophic fire. Why, then, do environmental groups fight so hard against any other science, such as that of the science of forest restoration to maximize forest health?

Well, when an environmental group has major income from litigation, and has a tremendous budget for soliciting donations, what do you expect? They aren’t about to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs with science that is good for the environment - they only use science that supports their litigation.

Environmental groups make a tremendous amount of money. A quick survey of some of the top-earning “environmental conservation” groups at guidestar.com shows that these groups reported literally billions of dollars of income to the IRS last year. Yes, you read it right, billions (see sample below). And that’s just one year’s income. Wouldn’t you think that with that much money coming in to environmental organizations, we should see some real environmental improvement around us?

So here’s my suggestion. The next time you receive a contribution request from an environmental group claiming they’re going to protect a plant or animal species you care about, ask yourself this: Just what has this group actually accomplished so far for the environment? Sure, they’ll tell you that the reason they need more money is because the “bad guys” (government or usually some natural resource based industry) are doing so much damage.

I say it’s not about any anti-environment bad guys. It’s not really about the environment at all. Just follow the money.

Mexican Wolf’s Enemy #1

2011-02-20T09:57:00.004-07:00

Copyright © 2011 CR Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com

Right now, all over the web and in print, there are words of panic regarding the amendment to the Continuing Resolution (CR) legislation proposed by Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM). Since no formal appropriations bill has been signed for 2011, the CR allows continued funding of federal agencies (Amendment No. 342: "None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for the continued operation of the Mexican Wolf recovery program").

What has gotten so many people upset about cutting funding for an obviously failed program, particularly in a time when so many more critical programs are facing the axe? Pro-wolf people would like you to think that throwing more money at Mexican wolf recovery will make it work better. Mr. Pearce understands that no amount of money is going to fix what has become one of the most embarrassing of all the attempts to protect "endangered species" in the history of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), particularly when the source of the problem is the program itself.

Let's for the moment put aside the troubling questions that put doubt on the legitimacy of the attempt to "reintroduce" Mexican wolves to begin with (two of the most obvious: Can it be called reintroduction when the animals never used the reintroduction area as native habitat? Can animals that have been bred by humans from a limited genetic pool that may not even be pure be considered a real species?).

The base cause for the failure of the Mexican wolf program has nothing to do with ranchers or right-wing local governments, despite what the pro-wolf supporters like to claim. No, the fundamental problem with the program is actually the fact that it doesn't have any wild animals in it.

But what are Mexican wolves if not wild animals, you ask?

Wild animals that need the protection of the ESA need it because of outside pressures they have no control over; give them back their natural habitat or remove toxins or other outside pressures from their habitat and they proliferate like… well, like wild animals. In fact, healthy species are extraordinarily adaptable - they just need half a chance and they'll thrive. We have plenty of examples of how that works (normal wild animals can thrive even living around humans - the peregrine falcon being a case most people are familiar with). Even such rabid environmentalist groups as the Center for Biological Diversity state that the ESA is one of the most successful environmental laws in U.S. history, with hundreds of endangered species' populations increasing to sustainable, healthy levels.

Of course, the success stories occur when humans back away from messing with the species in question and let them do their thing. The Mexican wolf has no such luck. The 50 or so wolves that the program counts are in the wild, but they are not wild - they are merely feral. This is because humans interfere with every aspect of their lives: The Mexican wolf program chooses which animals will be in the packs and which wolves will mate; pups are stolen from their mothers in the wild so they can be hand-raised in captivity; adults and half-grown wolves are trapped every few years so they can be examined and their collar batteries changed. Of course the program is a failure. It causes physical damage to the wolves (there are three-legged wolves out there because of the trapping, wolves have been run to death by program helicopters) and psychological damage (wolves become habituated to humans; they don't know how to be wild wolves after that) to the animals the program is supposed to be protecting. Every chance a Mexican wolf gets to be wild is thwarted by the intense hands-on management of the program.

The Mexican wolf program is a Mexican wolf's worst enemy.

The very best way to ensure that Mexican wolves thrive in the wild is to prohibit any more interference in their lives by the experts. Let the many hundreds of Mexican wolves in captivity in zoos and refuges around the country live out their lives behind bars in peace. Captivity is all they've known, after all, so they should be as content as any other predator living that way.

And let the Mexican wolves in the wild alone, to survive as best they can. Maybe they'll make it, maybe not. But at least they'll be wild.

Mexican Wolves - A Human Problem

2011-01-29T16:46:00.001-07:00

Copyright © 2011 www.onestillfree.com

The Mexican wolf problem is actually a people problem rather than an animal problem. Mexican wolves are a subspecies of gray wolf that have been chosen for protection under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA). Unfortunately, the ESA has been used as a political weapon rather than an environmental tool, and the Mexican wolf issue is a case in point.

The Mexican wolf reintroduction program has from its inception failed to take into account a number of critical issues which bear directly on the program's capacity for success. The points below may be verified with just a little research at the Mexican wolf program's own website - the program does not seek to hide this information, just doesn't make it very public, and doesn't incorporate these points in its management of the wolves.

1. The area chosen for "reintroduction" in the United States was in fact never native denning habitat or prime hunting territory for the Mexican wolf;
2. The program has not taken into account the humans who live and work in the "reintroduction" area;
3. All wolves in the program descend from just a handful of wolves; no research has been published to demonstrate that it is even possible to rebuild a viable subspecies from such a limited gene pool; and
4. Almost all Mexican wolves are not actually wild, but are feral. They do not act like normal wild wolves. Almost all of the wolves are either captured or raised from conception in zoos and refuges. They are hand-fed in captivity (never learning to hunt) and routinely handled by humans (veterinary care including regular vaccinations, frequently transported from zoo to zoo and refuge to refuge, collars put on and batteries regularly changed). Perhaps worst of all, the wolves rarely are allowed the full pack experience; they do not get to choose their mates and go through the normal mating ritual (breeding matches are determined by the wolf program, not the wolves), young wolves are not taught to hunt by their parents or members of the packs they were born into since if born in the wild, many of the pups are removed from their mothers and raised in captivity.

Wolves that do eventually get turned out into the wild have no idea how to act like normal, wild wolves. Several years of independently collected data demonstrates that Mexican wolves are attracted to human areas of activity, and naturally end up killing livestock and pets. Ranchers are somehow blamed for their own losses, when those losses are being enabled by Mexican wolf program management.

Mexican wolves are not in danger of going extinct at this time, as there are hundreds of them living in captivity and that number could be increased at any time. However, Mexican wolves are not given a chance to live naturally in the wild, nor does the Mexican wolf program seem inclined to give them that chance. There is no way to know whether Mexican wolves could thrive on their own as a subspecies in a wild habitat that is native to them given the current management of this program. The Mexican wolf problem is thus entirely a human management problem.

Common Sense Revisited

2011-01-06T13:29:00.002-07:00

Copyright © 2011 CR Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com

This morning I was sitting in the bathroom meditating when my eye happened to fall on a package of toilet paper. On the side was printed “Common Sense By the Roll”. Common sense – toilet paper? I tell you that got me thinking.

Some time ago I wrote about common sense but I now realize I missed the mark on the topic. Back in June 2009 I said "With the mass withdrawal from fundamental interaction with nature (growing our own food, building our own houses, being responsible for our own safety) that has resulted from mechanization, technological innovation and the internet, we have lost the need for exercising our common sense."

I've changed my mind. I think we definitely have not lost the need for exercising common sense – we need common sense now more than ever. I’m pretty sure that such a need is obvious, based on this past year's elections, the urban legends and other nonsense posted on social media sites and emailed all over the place, the bizarre news reporting, the declining health and increased pharmaceutical use, and the continuing economic depression.

The cumulative effect of years of believing that Big Government will take care of us has brought us exactly where we are today. I’m thinking that the Powers That Be don’t want people to use common sense because that makes it so much easier to manipulate the people. Unfortunately, the Powers That Be don’t really know how to run things very well, when it comes down to it.

Of course, in order to understand that, you’d need common sense.

Let me put it plainly for those lacking in common sense: If the Powers That Be were very good at running things, why are we still having the problems we have? Why are kids still not getting a good education? Why are there still no decent jobs? Why are people still losing their houses? Why are people getting sicker instead of becoming healthier? Why has there been so little advancement in alternative energy? Why are we getting patted down in airports, treated like criminals in our own country? Why are there still war, hunger and poverty in the world?

Why, when we’ve all put so much effort and money into fixing these problems, do they still exist?
I submit it is because people have given up using common sense.

Thing is, we all have the ability to use common sense and I think that most of us figure we are using common sense all the time. But if what passes for common sense isn’t based on any sort of reality, how can it be common sense at all?

Actually, it can be. Common sense is simply what people in common would agree on; a common, natural understanding of how things are in life. Here’s the thing, though - when people base their reality on TV, movies, social media and ~~propaganda~~a the news (let’s call all of that fiction) that’s what their common sense is based on.

Eventually the decisions we make play out in the world. So, whatever the world we live in looks like today – be it political, educational, health or economic – that is the result of the choices we made. If we don’t like what we see, then it’s only common sense to look at why we made those decisions that got us here. After all, we can’t ultimately blame it on Big Government when we’re the ones who voted all those people in.

Let me put it plainly again: If our kids aren’t doing as well in school as kids in other countries, if our bank accounts are going down while national debt is going up, if degenerative disease is on the rise, if alternative energy is still too expensive, if food quality is getting worse and worse, if pat-downs are only a hint of what’s to come next year, if our sons and daughters are dying in foreign countries for reasons no one fully understands any more – and if we’re the ones who have been voting all along to make things the way they are – whose fault is it that it’s this way?

Isn’t it time to start making better decisions? Wouldn’t it be a good idea to start basing our decisions on better quality information?

What I’m suggesting here is that if we don’t like what we see out there in the world, then maybe it’s time to stop basing our common sense on fiction and start basing it on reality. It’s time to stop taking what emails and social media and talking heads say at face value, and start looking at how things are in front of our own faces.

I’m suggesting that we each make New Years’ Resolutions to open our eyes and ears, and think for ourselves.

Here’s how to start: Don’t believe everything you read or hear – if it sounds too good or too conveniently simple to be true, it probably is. If it’s biased in favor or against anything, it isn’t news, it is propaganda - turn it off, delete it, turn away from it - and please! Don't pass it on!

Start being critical about the information you are receiving. Remember the old line “follow the money” (All the President's Men, by Woodward and Bernstein)? Good advice, even if it turns out that it never was said by the informant.

Let’s resolve to make 2011 the year of common sense. Think for yourself!

Environmentalism's impact on the economy

2011-01-03T13:11:00.003-07:00

Here's a book to read in 2011: Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem

Check out the review at http://www.discerningreader.com/book-reviews/money-greed-and-god.
From the review: "Strong laws guarding private ownership stimulates an economy while lax laws or laws prohibiting ownership will depress an economy."

A friend of mine pointed out that laws about private ownership have been steadily eroded over the past decade or two. People lose their private property through condemnation by government, which then turns around and gives the property to commercial developers for malls (Kelo v. New London decision in 2005 says the government can do so). Here in the west we're seeing the Endangered Species Act being used as a tool to continue eroding private property rights.

Next time you're swayed by an environmentalist group's glossy photos of big-eyed "endangered species" think twice. Not every good intention is truly a good one.

Mexican Wolf Impacts on Ranch Economy

2010-10-04T18:45:00.003-06:00

“Adaptive management” has been a common phrase used for the Mexican wolf recovery program, presumably because scientific data would be used to guide management decisions.... However, there has been very little scientific research on the Mexican wolf since its release into the wild, and virtually none has been made available to local producers to help them manage their livestock in the presences of wolves.

From New Mexico State University's Range Improvement Task Force Report 80: Reestablishment of the Mexican Gray Wolf: The Economics of Depredation (PDF file)

The New Environmentalism

2010-09-26T13:46:00.004-06:00

Environmental groups have learned a new tactic: Now they ~~accept bribes~~ ~~get paid off~~ work with potential defendants to not block projects via lawsuits. Brilliant. $22 million dollars buys a project two new environmental groups - more money for "environmentalism" and the project still goes through.

Does this look a little fishy to anyone else? Is there any environmental group left that actually does environmental improvement?

"Western Watersheds Project and the Oregon Natural Desert Association agreed not to challenge the El Paso pipeline project in exchange for establishing two new nonprofit funds… The Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund, established with Western Watersheds, got $15 million from El Paso. A fund set up with the Oregon Natural Desert Association got $7 million. The money will go for conservation easements and land purchases and to voluntarily retire grazing permits."

Read about it: www.idahostatesman.com/

Catron County: the new tribal reservation of our age

2010-09-05T11:14:00.002-06:00

An extraordinary and accurate article about the impacts of environmentalism on Catron County, NM. A must-read!

Wilderness’ Economic Revolution – Catron County
By Stephen L. Wilmeth

....Could it be that Catron County has been for years the new tribal reservation of our age? It is there that those from afar dictate what is best for its residents. It is there that organized management of the commons is all encompassing. It is there that the voices and deeds of its citizens are suppressed by state and federal leadership that seem to be in an ever tighter lock step with the absentee environmental movement.

There is, though, something in Catron County that some special leader must recognize. It is there that the model of modern wilderness must be reinvented . . . or the West is in a much bigger dilemma than can be imagined.

Tadpole rescue

2010-08-11T19:07:00.006-06:00

(Two days later) No, I did not rescue any tadpoles, but my rain gauge says I got about a quarter of an inch this afternoon - enough to fill up the main rut in the road to overflowing. Amazingly enough, at least some of those tadpoles made it to swim another day. What a beautiful demonstration of the resiliency of Mother Nature and spadefoot toads, as well as a lesson in the wisdom of evolution. Those survivors are truly tough, theirs are the genes that will contribute to species survival... if the rains keep coming.

When Frogs Go Wrong

2010-08-10T18:32:00.006-06:00

Copyright © 2010 C. R. Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com

I got to my gate this afternoon and noticed that the muddy water in the biggest rut had just about dried up. In the few shallow pools left, tadpoles were wiggling around, struggling to survive and sure to fail because there’s no rain coming today or probably even tomorrow.

Some toadly mom made a bad choice.

OK, before I go any further, I know some of you are going to tell me that the tadpoles in the ruts and arroyos of my ranch aren’t going to grow up to be frogs, since they’re spadefoot toads. But guess what – spadefoot toads aren’t even true toads, but are a burrowing frog after all. Confused yet? That’s OK, so are the rest of us.

Back to Mrs. Spadefoot Toad, who made a bad choice for her tads. There were a bunch of those little critters, some frantically wiggling in the few piddling pools of water remaining, some already stranded in mud, their gold bellies exposed, their little mouths open and closing, gasping for air. Well, not air, I guess, but water to flow over their gills. A sad sight, I’ll tell you.

I confess yesterday I rescued three or four stranded tadpoles from another puddle. I felt monumentally stupid, but I was very pleased to see them right themselves and wiggle off, apparently no worse for the wear. I poked at the few desiccated-looking bodies left in the mud but there was no response. I don’t know how many froglets had been growing in that puddle, but it had been a lot more than just the few I’d rescued.

Who’d have thought that this morning's big water-filled rut, home to so many more tadpoles than yesterday’s puddle, would lose six inches of water in just the few hours since I’d left earlier?

I was formulating a plan of action: Operation Toadlift. I’d need something like a plastic cup to scoop them up – the soft tadpole bodies might stick to the sides of an aquarium fish net. I’d need a bucket. I’d need some mosquito repellent – the little bloodsuckers sure do breed when the monsoon rains come. I looked around for a suitable arroyo with plenty of water – after all, I didn’t want to be doing this over and over.

And then I stopped. What the heck was I doing, interfering with nature like this?

The spadefoot toad mom produces hundreds – even a thousand or more – eggs each mating season. The tadpoles in my arroyos and ruts have just a month to eat, grow and transform into little froglets. They eat plant stuff, bugs and other invertebrates - critters without spines - including each other (but interesting enough, apparently not their siblings). For all they look like squishy, spineless, fragile things, Mother Nature has made them pretty darned tough; still, most of any batch of eggs doesn’t make it to adult froghood.

Of course, if every one of those hundreds of spadefoot toad tads survived, walking around my ranch would be a pretty icky proposition, what with the ground being carpeted with hundreds of thousands of froglets hopping around. When Mrs. Spadefoot Toad lays that many eggs it’s her gamble that at least a few will make it – the more that do, the more the likelihood of her genes being passed on. It’s the way nature works with frogs and toads and pretty much everything that doesn’t take part in the raising of its offspring: You have loads of babies and some survive, or you have only a few - or even just one at a time - if you will be there to care for them till they can care for themselves.

I’m sure you know about the survival of the fittest thing –the weak are weeded out and the strong live to reproduce, ensuring (as sure as anything can be in the world) that the species survives.

Note that the species is the survivor – not the individual. Mother Nature didn’t intend for every tadpole to survive – only the strongest, the most fit for the environmental conditions. My saving four tadpoles might have made me feel a little better, but it probably wasn’t in the best interests of spadefoot toad species survival. Mother Nature always has the last say, though - not only did our Mrs. Spadefoot Toad, who laid her eggs in a shallow rut in a driveway, make a bad choice, but my Operation Toadlift came to nothing either. The second puddle will be dried up by now and all those tadpoles – include my “rescued” ones – will dry up, too. There won’t be any risk of passing on the kind of genes that makes for bad decisions about which body of water to lay eggs in, so that’s good for the species.

And maybe that’s a little lesson about environmentalism for a do-gooder, too.

An end to subsidized enviro lawsuits?

2010-08-10T18:04:00.001-06:00

Citizens for Balanced Use reports:

Wealthy activist groups that sue the government and then force taxpayers to pick up the tab for their attorneys’ fees would now have those taxpayer subsidies disclosed to the public under legislation jointly introduced by Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. House this week.

More...

Tax cuts create jobs, ‘stimulus' does not

2010-07-07T19:58:00.002-06:00

July 6, 2010
Welcome to the Double-Dip Recession
By Louis Woodhill

Whether or not the National Bureau of Economic Research ultimately agrees, we are now entering the second dip of a double-dip recession. This is because jobs are what really matter to most Americans, and the employment situation is getting worse, after a scant four months of getting better. More....

Obama vs. Arizona

2010-07-06T19:21:00.001-06:00

It's a sorry thing when the federal government sues a state - taxpayers lose no matter who wins. You can bet that this lawsuit will cost millions. Feds are pretty free with taxpayer money in these times of economic crisis.

Government Gone Whacko - USFS

2010-06-23T11:20:00.001-06:00

Not that most of us need any more proof our US government has gone around the bend, but here's one for your consideration: USFS El Dorado National Forest, Georgetown District, has slapped a $4,230.53 "recovery fee" for processing the Gold Country Endurance Riders' permit application.

The USFS says they estimate it will take in excess of 50 hours to do that processing. Let's see - $4,230.53 fee for an application that has been processed by that same office for the past 17 years - same ride, same trails, same camp? Does this seem like padding the bill to you?

Has USFS gone whacko?

AZ immigration law

2010-04-24T10:34:00.001-06:00

Copyright © 2010 C. R. Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com

AZ signs the toughest immigration law ever and people – not from AZ mostly – protest. This is so typical of the way things work in the US these days. People think “democracy” means we all have to be the same and that The Many have the right to determine how an individual lives (nods to Mr. Spock).

Democracy just ain’t so. We have a constitution that sets rules that are just as much about protecting individuals from government (that means The Many) as anything. Not that anyone in government pays attention to the Constitution any more.

Anyway, this AZ immigration thing is a good example of how democracy has gone sour. The people who protest strong state laws for immigration or other issues (Mexican wolf, anyone?) generally have no idea of what the local conditions are that prompt local laws.

We may all be equal under the law, but life doesn’t work that way. In AZ the problems that legal citizens experience because of illegals are monumental and little like what any of those who protest can imagine.

Here’s a description from a friend of mine who lives in what has become the middle of an invasion zone:

“We are about 40 minutes away from the Kranz family [Kranz and his dog were murdered by illegals] as the crow flies but longer to drive. I know the family through horse deals. We have been hearing lately about how all the unattended vacation and local homes are being broken into, how the locals are putting bars on all the windows and doors and they have been telling us that the illegal problems have escalated hugely in just the last year. People beaten and tied up and robbed, etc...Folks are moving out if they can afford to. What used to be remote and beautiful and quiet is not so tranquil now. People are afraid to leave, and afraid to stay! We are looking to move, too, and we’re looking far away from here.

“Sure Kranz murder is in the news now, but no one really cares. We have had this type of activity here for years, and more you do not know about, and no one north seems to give a shit. The Minute Men were fantastic, but like other good things citizen-organized they were vilified and put down by the press. We had two years of feeling like someone cared and was out there to help us, and they did. Their leader was a good friend of mine from Tombstone and he caught hundreds of illegals just on my roads alone.

“Housewives and mothers are beaten and robbed at bus stops for their cars, kids are in great danger, we have lost half a dozen women and children to the drug trade out of Tombstone (meth) and I mean these people just disappear, period, never seen again. But because they are poor or disadvantaged they are forgotten. A good friend of mine who is a business owner in Sierra Vista had a daughter my age that was living in Sunsites, she was seen buying dog food at the feed store and completely disappeared right afterwards, never made it home, her car was found in Klondyke of all places, with her purse and money in it and no clue as to where she went. Heartbreaking.”

“A Marine taught me that we do not get to choose when and where we are attacked, but to survive we must be ready. I am always, ALWAYS armed with a .45. I live with my guns. I never go out to the shop the barn the greenhouse the garden, out to the fence line, to check my gates without my guns and a cell phone. There is no relaxing.

“Last year I was driving home from Bisbee at 12:00 noon towards the San Pedro and slowed down for a 90 degree curve and three guys dressed in solid black jumped out of the bushes and tried to stop me by standing in the road. They had black hair and very coppery colored skin. I just gunned it and aimed for the closest one and they jumped out of the way. I was told by a rancher friend that they were FEDERALES from Mexico. This was five miles from the border line. Was I mad, hell yes! This is NOT AMERICA, it is MEXICO now. Safety is an illusion perpetuated by the government. These criminals are running amok doing what they please.

“I am definitely moving as soon as we can. But many cannot. Like us they have spent years paying off their ranches and now they are stuck here. Illegals leave mountains of trash, burn our forests, scare people out of the woods all the time here, have caused horrible traffic accidents killing innocent people every year speeding north, and it still goes on. Yet the current president kissed Mexico's ass last time they met. It's ridiculous!”

So what I want to know is, those folks who protest AZ’s stronger immigration laws: Why is it more important to protect an illegal than a citizen? And also – can you really sleep peacefully at night?

Mexican wolf lawsuit notice

2010-04-23T11:43:00.003-06:00

AMERICANS FOR PRESERVATION OF WESTERN ENVIRONMENT
PO BOX 566
RESERVE NM 87830
Ed Wehrheim, Chairman

Contact: Ed Wehrheim, Chairman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone 575.533.6687
Email: apwe01@gmail.com

ALLIANCE THREATENS TO SUE US FWS AND OTHERS OVER MEXICAN WOLF
Claims violation of NEPA provisions for Endangered Species Act

RESERVE, N.M. Americans for Preservation of the Western Environment, the Gila Livestock Growers Association, the Board of County Commissioners of Catron County, New Mexico and other plaintiffs have jointly sent notification of an intent to file suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of the Interior, and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, for management actions and policies that violate the provisions of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Plan and the Final Rule issued under Section 10(j) of the Endangered Species.

The letter states that instead of following the procedures and process set forth in the Final Rule issued under Section 10(j), the Fish & Wildlife Service, the Department of Interior and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish have embarked on a procedure of developing ad hoc management practices and procedures for dealing with depredations and removals, all of which have been put in place without following appropriate procedures under the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Additionally, the letter states that the agencies’ demonstrate intent to continue to violate the express findings in the FEIS and Final Rule.

“The point of this letter is to give the agencies the opportunity to come into compliance,” said Ed Wehrheim, Chairman of Americans for Preservation of Western Environment, a citizen-based group claiming overwhelming support throughout New Mexico.

“In a time when we’re cutting back on teachers, health care and other vital programs, the Mexican wolf program, which is now costing over $400,000 per wolf, is insane.”

# # #

Rocky Mtn Elk Foundation Turns Up Heat on Pro-Wolf Groups

2010-04-10T18:50:00.003-06:00

Pro-wolf groups were admittedly “surprised and disappointed” when the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation publicly challenged their mischaracterizations of the real impacts of wolves in the northern Rockies and are feeling even more heat today. Their recent call for a truce has been met with a scathing letter from RMEF President and CEO David Allen, who says Defenders of Wildlife, Western Wildlife Conservancy and others are party to what may become “one of the worst wildlife management disasters since the destruction of bison herds in the 19th Century.”

Allen said, “These animal rights groups seem to think that every individual wolf is worth filing another lawsuit to protect, but the decimation of local elk herds is unimportant. What is truly ironic is these folks claim protection of the Canadian gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act. However these wolves are not endangered. There are thousands of them throughout North America. The ESA is being manipulated far beyond its intended purpose.” One can find the text of both letters here:

Letter from Defenders of Wildlife to RMEF

Letter from RMEF to Defenders of Wildlife

Factual examples cited in Allen’s recent letter:

The Northern Yellowstone elk herd trend count has dropped from some 19,000 elk in 1995 before the introduction of the Canadian Gray wolf to just over 6,000 elk in 2008. At the same time the wolf numbers in this same area are on a steady increase.

Yellowstone’s Madison Firehole elk herd trend count has fallen from 700 to 108.

The Gallatin Canyon elk herd trend count between Bozeman and Big Sky, Mont., has declined from 1,048 to 338.

Wolf numbers in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have far exceeded the original goals of 30 breeding pairs and 300 total wolves. Population estimates now exceed 1,700 wolves. And yet and others want to push the total up to 2,000 to 5,000 wolves.
Studies show that wolves kill up to 23 elk per wolf from November through April alone or up to 40,000 elk in just six months. A smaller but still significant number are killed from May through October; with total annual elk kills by wolves just for food potentially greater than 50,000 at the present level of wolf population. This accounts for only the elk needed for food, not surplus killing, which are elk killed by wolves and not eaten, which also occurs. The majority of all these kills are not elk that are sick or old.

Elk calf survival rates where wolves (and bears) are present are extremely low in specific herds, resulting in a survival rate of 10 percent or less—too low to sustain the herd over the long-term. RMEF points out this is a major issue as elk numbers going into the future, where wolves are concentrated, will suffer even greater losses and replacement becomes out of balance.

“Pro-wolf groups like to cite statewide elk numbers because it glosses over the ongoing annihilation of local elk herds,” said Allen. “They like to say that elk and wolves evolved together and would coexist now if man would just leave them alone, which completely ignores the fact that this is no longer the Old West and millions of us live here now. Habitat is shrinking at a rapid pace and the wildlife that lives here must be carefully managed. Man must manage wildlife and we have done so very successfully for over a century. We’re long past the day when wolf populations can be left unchecked. Right now this is simply a wolf amnesty program and the results are becoming alarming.”

“Managing wildlife in the courts, as opposed to science and the proven expertise of state conservation agencies, is a recipe for continued disaster,” stated Allen “These groups do not want states to manage the wolves as they manage other wildlife including predators. Why? It is curious that Defenders of Wildlife and others now boast about the statewide elk management numbers, which are managed by the states; but they do not trust those same states to manage wolves. Again, one should ask why?”

In late February, Allen sent letters to legislators and newspapers across the West calling out Defenders of Wildlife, Western Wildlife Conservancy and others for misleading the public through disingenuous use of current data on wolves and elk. In late March, group representatives accused RMEF of polarizing sportsmen on the wolf issue, and, ironically, to ask for collaboration rather than conflict.

In his letter Allen challenged Defenders of Wildlife and the others to meet face to face. “ I invite you to come to my office and let’s personally resolve this issue for the sake of those responsible hunters and those responsible non-hunters. Enough of the legal maneuvering and posturing, let’s resolve this now,” Allen said in his letter.

“We will collaborate with those who believe in sound wildlife management, not promoting one species over others for what we believe are hidden agendas. There is no one proposing annihilation of the wolves, yet Defenders and others like to act as if such a threat exists. It helps their fundraising efforts but does little to solve the issue. Constantly moving the goal line and ignoring the future consequences are just two reasons we do not collaborate with such groups,” Allen added.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is located at 5705 Grant Creek Rd, Missoula, MT 59808.

NM HJM 48 progress

2010-02-15T11:15:00.001-07:00

New Mexico House Joint Memorial 048 has passed out of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee and goes to the House floor. Your continued support of this memorial for fair compensation for our ranchers is vital.

More at www.amprowest.org

Global Warming or Global Hoax?

2010-02-14T15:23:00.002-07:00

Professor Phil Jones, whose raw data is crucial to the theory of climate change, has admitted that for the past 15 years there has been no "statistically significant" global warming.

Jones told the BBC that the recent warming trend that began in 1975 is not at all different than two other planetary warming phases since 1850, that there has been no statistically significant warming since 1995, and that it is possible the Medieval Warm Period was indeed a global phenomenon thereby making the temperatures seen in the latter part of the 20th century by no means unprecedented. He also said that the cooling trend since 2002 is also not statistically significant.

Given his core position in what global warming alarmists are now forced to refer to as "climage change" (it's hard to argue for global warming when everyone is freezing), you have to wonder when the whole scam will just fall apart. Maybe it's time for those environmental litigation groups to get sued themselves, for using false science to push their agendas. That would be after we all get done shoveling ourselves out of the snow.

Facts vs Advocacy

2010-02-12T17:28:00.002-07:00

Check out the article at Western Institute for Study of the Environment for some facts on a recent editorial in an AZ newspaper on the Mexican wolf, as opposed to the rabid advocacy of the pro-wolf folks.

2nd Annual Cowboy Dinner and Dance

2010-02-09T11:11:00.001-07:00

2nd annual Cowboy Dinner/Dance Feb 20, Cliff NM http://catroncounty.blogspot.com/

Climate Change - deja vu

2009-12-29T13:04:00.003-07:00

Gee whiz - society has such short memory. You'd think that nothing happened in the world except what's in living memory. Check out this article for a reality check on "global warming". We've seen it before, gang - and not that long ago.

Global Warming Deja Vu

Happy Holidays

2009-12-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

Copyright © CR Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com

This time of year is sacred to many cultures. It has to do with the short days and the long dark nights that bring out the darkness in our souls – the primitive fears and feelings of aloneness and powerlessness that make us huddle around the small light of our hearths, nervously jumping at every noise from the shadows. It seems that we are such little spots in the infinite universe, tiny points of brightness that burn so feebly against those dark nights.

Times are hard now for most of us, here on the bottom half of the economic pile. It’s so easy to feel cheated, to feel that everything we’ve worked for and striven for is being sold out from under us, impoverishing us and disenfranchising us. We fear that our rights and our livelihoods are being stripped from us while the few in power – the few we’ve put there to act in our best interests – profit from our losses and wallow in our suffering.

The sacred holidays approach but many of us are not uplifted by them. We instead become withdrawn in stress and trepidation, resenting the symbols of celebrations around us, feeling left out. We worry that as bad as things are, worse is yet to come and nothing can be done about it. Is the end truly so near? Will we - can we - keep up the struggle? Should we bother?

But this is just the reaction to another long, dark night. We are, after all, humans – each of us more alike than not. We lash out at perceived dangers in our dark private terrors, when in truth safety is all around us. We forget that we are each the one who stands at our neighbor’s back. It has always been that way, from the days of saber-tooth tigers. It is no different today.

Truly, it is time for us to open our eyes and see that the shadows contain no danger, for they are cast by our family and friends – those who share the vigil of the long night with us. It is time for us to cease to cower in fear or lash out in anger. It is time for us to remember our faith in who we are, in what our place is in this life.

It is time to give thanks that we have come this far and to trust that we, together, can and will endure and prosper.

It is time to band together, to find cause to celebrate and to forget our fears for a few hours or days. To focus on hope and faith and a brighter future.

These are the facts: The solstice always passes, the days always start lengthening, and even though it is still cold and dark and hard for a long time afterwards, somehow we can push through it. Brighter days will come.

Like our ancestors before us, let us make merry and joyful noise and, in doing so, banish the darkness of the night.

Happy holidays.

Obama Lies About Pandemic?

2009-10-27T10:43:00.003-07:00

Obama says 1000 have died from H1N1 flu but CDC data shows no such thing – the CDC hasn’t been testing for H1N1 deaths since last July, probably because the majority of specimens tested are not only not H1N1, but not even flu!

Massive PR campaign by Obama to what end? To justify the massive spending on vaccines (to support Big Pharma) or to set up one more control of the population through fear?

I’m betting both.

Evaluate for yourself: http://articles.mercola.com/swine-flu-article/20091027.htm If you've been told you have H1N1 after August 1, since there's been no actual testing for it, your doctor *cannot know* but is only assuming the diagnosis.

Listen to the audio at the Mercola website - they read actual quotes from CDC!

APWE CHALLENGES MEXICAN WOLF PETITION

2009-10-03T12:46:00.000-06:00

AMERICANS FOR PRESERVATION OF WESTERN ENVIRONMENT, INC.
PO BOX 612
RESERVE NM 87830
Ed Wehrheim, Chair

Contact: Ed Wehrheim FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone 575.533.6687
Email: info@amprowest.org

APWE CHALLENGES MEXICAN WOLF PETITION
Group Asks Is Mexican Wolf Really Worth The Cost

RESERVE, N.M. On August 11, 2009, the Tucson-based environmental litigation group, Center For Biological Diversity (CBD), filed a petition with Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

“The petition calls for taking the Mexican wolf off of its current experimental, non-essential” status and putting it on fully endangered status,” said Ed Wehrheim, Chair of Americans for Preservation of Western Environment (APWE), a citizen-based New Mexico non-profit corporation. APWE was formed in 2008 in response to the outrage of New Mexico and Arizona residents and business owners over the callous disregard for the welfare and safety of human beings by the Mexican Wolf Program.

“CBD also wants a critical habitat designation for the wolves,” Wehrheim said. “This means expansion of the existing designated Mexican wolf area, closure of our trails and roads, denying human access, and hunting and grazing restrictions. In other words, our public lands will be closed to the public. ”

The 22 page petition (with additional 10 pages of citations) claims that the Mexican wolf’s historic range is not precisely known, and that wolves can live anywhere that hosts an adequate prey base of ungulates, yet also claims that these wolves occur in an unusual and unique ecological setting.

“The only unusual and unique setting for the Mexican wolves is that this is a low human population area, so CBD figures that the people don’t matter,” Wehrheim said. “Americans for Preservation of Western Environment intends to set CBD straight on that issue.”

APWE’s first annual meeting is being held in Reserve, NM on Saturday, October 10, 2009, at 10 a.m. at the Reserve Community Center. APWE’s board will present an accounting of its work on behalf of the people who live in the Mexican wolf recovery area over the past year, and talk about plans for future actions. Everyone is welcome to attend.

“It’s not as if humans weren’t here, as if humans don’t matter,” Wehrheim said. “We’re citizens, we have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, just like anyone else. We don’t intend to be run over by environmental litigation groups like CBD.”

"After ten years, more than $400,000 per wolf and untold damage to our communities, they’re trying to blame their own failure with the Mexican wolf program on us, the people who live here in the program area," Wehrheim said.

# # #

What's Truth Got To Do With It?

2009-10-01T18:13:00.003-06:00

Defenders of Wildlife is using pity for three legged wolves to raise funds. They say in a "news" release: "Will you help us protect the Middle Fork wolves? Your tax-deductible donation today will help us."

Pay attention here folks! DoW is saying your deduction will help THEM, not the wolves. Those three legged wolves of the Middle Fork pack (that are not too lame to stop killing cattle)? One lost her leg because Fish & Wildlife Service amputated it after an elk kicked the wolf. The other probably was a FWS trapping, too. In fact, FWS has damaged a number of wolves in traps - and I bet you thought they used "have-a-hearts" when they trapped those wolves. Nope. Jaw traps. Your government in action.

Don't forget: The wolf program traps wolves routinely for all kinds of reasons - they just won't let the poor critters alone. They trap to vaccinate them, to change the batteries on their collars, and they trap them when they want to catch up the pups to raise them in captivity.

DoW would have you think that wolves need protecting from mean ranchers who hurt and trap them. But really, wolves need protection from the wolf program more than anything else.

And the public needs protecting from organizations like DoW, that take your money by appealing to your heartstrings. Not to be confused with presenting the facts.

Here's something to think about

2009-09-01T21:42:00.002-06:00

"The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money."
-- Alexis de Tocqueville (1805 – 1859)

Gee - isn't this what we're seeing right now?

Who’s The Terrorist?

2009-08-31T11:57:00.001-06:00

copyright (c) 2009 CR Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com
Also published in Glenwood Gazette Sept. 2009 (Gale Moore, pub., Silver City NM)

The other day I got thinking about terrorism. So much of our lives these days are dictated by the fight against terrorism. We’ve all come to accept the invasive tactics of the US Government everywhere around us in the name of security. We even have a branch of government, Homeland Security, that has in a short time secreted its tentacles into everything in order to keep us safe from terrorists. We have to accept wands and pat-downs and X-rays of our person and our belongings in airports and public buildings, we have travel restrictions and passports to visit neighboring friendly ally countries, phone taps, email taps, credit checks, security cameras on street corners, photo-traffic citations on and on, all in the name of public safety.

Of course, doesn’t this all assume terrorism is something external to the US, that it comes from bad guys from other countries who want to render the US helpless?

I got thinking about how a bunch of bad guys that were really organized and very well financed could most effectively pull the US or any country down. (I want to point out to Homeland Security that I read a lot of fiction and much of what I’m writing here is already in print don’t come busting my doors down while telling me free speech doesn’t count because of the Patriot Act). Anyway, it has become clear to me that, logically, terrorism really would be just a first step. A kind of softening up a country for the real blows that will bring it down. The KO, if you will.

What would weaken a country more than flying planes into landmark buildings? Homeland Security and/or the media would have us believe that it would be nuking a big city. But really, would that take down the US? Were a resilient bunch of citizens I think that wiping out LA (for instance) would just make us all really, really mad once we got over being really, really sad (think of how sad and mad - wed be at losing our Famous Faces in such an attack).

No, I think what would really work to weaken a country would be to literally weaken its people. And it seems to me that the traditional ways of weakening a people would be just as effective now as they have been throughout history: Starvation and disease and isolation.

Here’s the thing: People who eat well are healthy and they don’t get sick as easily. So, if you think about it, wouldn’t the smartest thing be, if you were terrorists and wanted to take down the US, to destroy the food supply, thereby make people dependent on bad food so they’ll get sick more easily?

My thinking goes like this: The US agricultural base is being destroyed by factory farming and by more and more restrictions on small farming (NAIS, anyone?). Our forests, the biomass from the thinning of which could probably replace the use of petroleum for transportation fuel in 10 years, are being burned up because of more and more restrictions on hazardous fuels reduction projects and a push to expand wilderness and create roadless areas on public lands.

Where are our environmental groups in this picture? Are they supporting local production of healthy foods, which is so much less destructive to Mother Earth than factory farming? No, they work hard to destroy small farmers and ranchers. Are they supporting forest restoration that would result in reduced carbon pollution of our atmosphere by reduction of forest fires? No, they work hard to suppress the cutting of any trees at all. Are they supporting use of biomass to create an alternative to petroleum based transportation fuels? No, they fight efforts to develop sustainable, renewable energy.

What do environmental groups do to make our planet a healthier place, where humans and all species can thrive?

Well, actually, when you add up what they are doing, the answer to that question is: Nothing. In fact, when you look at the big picture of environmental efforts by the Big Name Environmental Groups (whose board members are mostly attorneys, not scientists), what that picture really looks like is a series of well-coordinated actions that are aimed to weaken the citizens of this country through starvation, disease and isolation.

Its so plausible: Destroy the family farms and ranches in the name of endangered species. Further destroy local production of healthy foods in the name of pure water. Destroy the possibility of alternative energy sources by attacking wind farms and use of biomass from forests. Destroy the forests themselves by not allowing restoration work, thereby encouraging massive wildfires only one of which can in a few days or weeks dump as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as one big city does in a year. (Ironically, the supposedly endangered species' habitats are destroyed as well by wildfire). And when things go down the tubes on our planet because of the success of the above actions, blame it on small farmers and ranchers and you and me, average Joe and Jane US citizen, and file even more lawsuits in the name of environmentalism, because, don’t you know, they’ve got to save the planet.

And then… TKO?

How stupid does Obama think we are?

2009-08-25T15:15:00.004-06:00

U.S. Raises Estimate for 10-Year Deficit to $9 Trillion
NY Times 08/25/09

The Obama administration, citing an economic downturn that has been deeper than it had first thought, raised its estimate on Tuesday of the government's deficit over the next decade to $9 trillion from $7.1 trillion. More...

$7.1 trillion, $9 trillion - what difference does it make? We've been sold out, people. We're talking $9 with 12 zeros after it in debt! In just over half a year we've gone from "mere" billions to trillions in debt. Does Obama really expect us to think this is an economic improvement?

And, perhaps more worrisome - is it possible that the number is even worse than that?

The economic bailout issue in one sentence

2009-07-28T12:42:00.003-06:00

"When you’ve got 27 percent unemployment, that is a full-fledged depression down in Perry County, and let’s just see if we can’t figure out how to do something that’s just much more on the ground and direct, that actually gets people jobs." GOV. PHIL BREDESEN, of Tennessee, on using stimulus money to ease joblessness.

Wolves vs. Humans: Which Do the Feds Value More?

2009-07-28T11:28:00.002-06:00

Wolves vs. Humans: Which Do the Feds Value More?
For Immediate Release
Thursday, July 23, 2009
For further Information, contact:
Paul Gessing 505-264-6090 or Jim Scarantino 505-256-2523

(Albuquerque)— The federal government's wolf reintrodduction plan is the very definition of big government in some rural areas in New Mexico. While the Rio Grande Foundation has not taken a position one way or the other on whether wolves should be reintroduced, its Investigative Journalist Jim Scarantino, has uncovered what appears to be a rather shocking example of misplaced priorities.

In his new report, "Does the Federal Government Value Wolves More Than Humans? The Money Says It All" Scarantino takes a closer look at the wolf reintroduction program. Since the Mexican wolf reintroduction program was launched more than a decade ago, millions of dollars have been spent by the United States, Arizona and New Mexico governments. The goal was to reestablish a target population of 100 wolves in the mountainous areas of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona

• According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the New Mexico and Arizona game departments, by the end of 2009, these agencies estimate that their total expenditures will be approximately $20.5 million;

• According to the USFWWS' 2008 year-end survey, only 52 wolves were roaming the Arizona-New Mexico reintroduction area. This means that each living wolf cost taxpayers nearly $400,000;

• In response to the terrorist attacks oon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Congress passed the 9/11 Victim's Compensation Act. This law set the intrinsic value of a human life at $250,000. Higher sums were paid to compensate families for the lost incomes of a love one killed in the attacks. But the value of a human life itself, without regard to that person's ability to earn money, was set at $250,000.

"At $400,000 a wolf and rising," Scarantino asks, "government is valuing the intrinsic value of each wolf more than its values the intrinsic value of human life. Residents in the affected areas have frequently complained that the government seems to care more about "El Lobo" than the human residents who must live with these powerful predators. With these figures, they can now point to government's excessive and endless spending on wolves to prove their point."

The full report is available here: http://www.riograndefoundation.org/new/articles/?EC=ReadArticle&ArticleID=305

The economics of socialism

2009-07-19T13:15:00.002-06:00

I just got this in an email - thought I'd forward it on. Food for thought.

Students in an economics class at a local college insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

Their professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade - no one would fail but no one would receive an A unless everyone got an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D. No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. Bickering, blame and name-calling had resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All the students failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

Mongol Derby - why not just shoot the horses before the start?

2009-06-29T10:38:00.001-06:00

Mongol horse race - guaranteed to kill horses

The largest non-sanctioned endurance race ever attempted is set to be run this summer in Mongolia. Nearly a thousand under-sized native horses have been drafted into an effort which deliberately flaunts international endurance racing rules. Worse, none of the 25 amateur riders have any previous endurance riding experience and all will be riding Mongolian ponies they have never met before. No safety arrangements are provided by the promoter, no water or food for the ponies, inadequate numbers or no veterinarians - how many of the 800 equines will be dead before they reach the 1000 km line, how many more will die afterwards as a result of the abuse they will receive?

More at http://lifstrand.blogspot.com/

Common Sense Uncommonly Rare

2009-06-24T10:18:00.001-06:00

For millennia human beings survived and thrived because they used common sense. Those who didn’t enabled their own removal from the gene pool (they died). Maybe its just me, but it sure seems that the gene pool is getting a wee bit murky these days as whatever has contributed since the dawn of history to common sense is somehow fading away.

The disappearance of common sense from everyday life is a scary thing, if you ask me, because common sense is really the basis for the success of democracy. The founders of the USA were a pretty brilliant bunch, but they didn’t expect that everyone who was going to have a vote was going to be brilliant. In fact, democracy doesn’t require brilliance to succeed; it just needs good old common sense to keep it going and healthy.

The point of voting is to let everyone who is ruled by our government have a say in how that ruling is going to happen. This was a very bold, exciting concept back in the day, and it still is. Our brilliant founders knew that extremists would be moderated by the overwhelming mass of people who didn’t need brilliance or higher education to see the right thing to do. That’s because people then, who had to rely on common sense applied in their daily lives to survive, would apply that same common sense to identifying what was the right thing to do.

Thing is, it doesn’t take common sense any more to make it in our daily lives. With the mass withdrawal from fundamental interaction with nature (growing our own food, building our own houses, being responsible for our own safety) that has resulted from mechanization, technological innovation and the internet, we have lost the need for exercising our common sense. Industrial farming and the importing of so much of our food and other commodities means that fewer and fewer people in this country are connected to the real world. Fed by the fantasy world of TV, movies and video games, spending all day long indoors, has created a gap between what is real and possible, and what is desired - and the gap is growing faster and faster.

Simply put, most people just aren’t practicing the use of common sense any more because they don’t have to. So, like any other faculty that doesn’t get used, common sense is just dying out. Unfortunately, what we’re losing is what is needed to vote in something approaching a rational manner in order to maintain a living, healthy democracy. Without common sense, it all falls apart.

Today, our health, our well being, our communities, our society and our country are all going away so rapidly that it’s hard to see how things can be brought back to equilibrium again. We’re all being fed information that has so little connection to reality that it’s stunning. There is so little common sense being used that sometimes I wonder if we’ve been taken over by alien beings from another dimension. Such irrational behavior isn’t all that surprising, since that’s pretty much what has happened - just substitute media, government and political correctness for alien beings.

Really, coming up with a solution is tough, but it seems to me that a first step would be to return power to the people via local governments, because it’s obvious that locals know best about local issues. This means that locals should be the ones who implement federal and state programs in the places that they’re meant to be implemented. It’s only common sense that locals would do a good job of it as they have throughout history - because they’d be the ones who’d suffer if they screwed up.

You can’t force people to use their common sense, and you can’t expect people to suddenly begin using any faculty when it has become atrophied. Still, things have a way of balancing out over time. I’m hoping people wake up and shake themselves up on their own before too long, though, because as bad as it’s become, those who will be paying for the folly of this and past generations will be our children, their children and beyond. That’s not a legacy I’m happy about leaving for them.

Gila Sustainable Community News

2009-06-18T17:01:00.002-06:00

My last post was about having my rebuttal of some statements by Nancy Kaminski rejected and my thoughts about bias, propaganda and censorship. I just wanted to say that I received an email about "problems with the software" and eventually my comments did wind up on that forum.

I tell you, you have to watch everyone and everything all the time. It would be easy to get into conspiracy mode, but sometimes accidents do happen.

Bias, propaganda and censorship

2009-06-05T14:19:00.004-06:00

Using them says more about the user than about what is being said
Copyright © CR Edmunds
www.onestillfree.com

I received a copy of a post to the Gila Sustainable Community News, Calendar and Forum about the Mexican wolf. Because I wanted to rebut some of the statements by the author, Ms Nancy Kaminski, I properly joined the forum. After being accepted as a member, my rebuttal post was rejected.

Bias, propaganda and censorship are tools for those who cannot stand the light of truth. Those who resort to such do so because they have no truth to convey. Ms Kaminski’s forum post is chock full of inaccuracies and downright misinformation – is that all that pro-Mexican wolf people have in their arsenals?

What bias, propaganda and censorship say is that the message is suspect. What Ms Kaminski’s post and the Gila Forum are saying about themselves is the truth be damned - they want what they want and they’ll stoop to whatever it takes to get it. But heck – that’s what we have blogs for – I can say what I want to say anyway, right here.

So, here’s the reply I tried to submit:

In the interests of truth and accuracy, I would like to provide corrections and comments regarding Ms. Kaminski’s article about Mexican wolves.

“We brought these beautiful wolves to the very brink of extinction.”

I have asked many people – including those with the Mexican wolf program - to tell me how many Mexican wolves are in Mexico. No one has answered. I wonder if anyone knows? Without knowing, can anyone say truthfully that Mexican wolves were brought to the brink of extinction?

“There may have been thousands of them when we first drove cattle across the plains and into what would become New Mexico and Arizona.”

There may have been, but that is unlikely, given that the local wolves were Mogollon wolves. The Mexican wolf program will tell you, if directly asked, that the Mexican wolf recovery area is actually the extreme limit of the possible hunting (not denning) range of Mexican wolves (there is no definitive scientific evidence of Mexican wolf presence in the area). It is hard to imagine Mogollon wolves not protecting their territory. It’s more likely that there were occasional Mexican wolves here, and you bet they were being very, very careful about it.

“A trapper named McBride was sent to Mexico to find wolves there [in Mexico]. After several months he found only six, one pregnant female and five males”.

I have always thought how awful this history is for the Mexican wolf. Trapped and kidnapped from the place where they were born and lived wild, transported and kept in captivity in a non-native area, some dying, others bred and rebred in captivity (from one female!) so that their gene pool is extremely limited - how frightening for the original wolves. How miserable they must have been in captivity. What a horrible experience for those wolves and a shameful beginning for the Mexican wolf program.

“With these and others in zoos and wildlife centers across the US, which were genetically tested to be sure they were pure Mexican wolves, the captive breeding project began.”

Actually, from the information available on the Mexican wolf site and it would seem from Ms. Kaminski’s assertions just above, the original Mexican wolves captured in Mexico were the only Mexican wolves. There were none at that time in zoos and wildlife centers. Therefore, all Mexican wolves in captive breeding programs around the US are descended from the original prisoners. If I am incorrect about this, I would appreciate a link to documentation for such.

“Currently fifty-two of these roam freely in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area which is nearly 7000 square miles of public lands in Arizona and New Mexico. Every Mexican wolf alive today is in a stud book.”

Actually 52 collared wolves roam the area, and an unknown number of uncollared wolves are out there, too. The 7000 square miles of land includes private land as well, a fact that is conveniently overlooked so much of the time. Further, most of the uncollared wolves, if not all, are not in any stud book.

But heck, don’t believe me. Do the research yourself – just go to the source, don’t believe those Mexican wolf program supporters, who can’t be bothered with the truth.

Lawsuits Are Not Environmentalism

2009-05-31T11:39:00.004-06:00

The truth about Center for Biological Diversity
Copyright © 2009 CR Edmunds

When the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) asks for donations, most people likely think they’re contributing to projects that will improve the environment. But it just ain’t so. CBD has become a money-making litigation machine. They aren’t out there with shovels and seeds, working on the environment, they’re paying lawyers, sneaking onto private property to spy on conditions and – if they don’t find the conditions sufficiently bad to claim the property owner is ruining the environment- they’re publishing phony photos of "environmental devastation". No actual environmental work going on that CBD is doing - just about everything they do these days is rather to support litigation.

Yeah, it may seem like CBD’s litigation is for the good of endangered plants and animals, but when you start looking at the results of what they do you start noticing the real cost to humans and environment alike. This is because CBD activities, particularly litigation, are not environment-driven, but rather CBD agenda-driven. They’re not shy about their plans to evict private property owners from their own land, to create Gardens of Eden in their Sky Islands. No matter that some of the species in the areas being touted as endangered aren’t endangered (or never even lived in the place – look at the weird Mexican wolf situation). No matter that so much of the litigation results in grinding the US Constitution into the dirt. When they win note that someone else always has to bear the burden of environmentalism – never CBD. No, CBD lawyers and CBD personnel are all living nice, safe, well-funded lives, while the rest of us pay and pay and pay – either by losing property, losing our rights, or by being scammed for the donations CBD says it needs to “protect the environment”. All that money, effort, suffering by property owners – and none of it for actual environmental work, just lawsuits. Paperwork, that’s all it is – but it’s not solving problems, it’s causing more.

Humans are a legitimate species on this planet, too – a fact that CBD and other radical, terrorist environmental groups ignore. None of their projects, their agendas or their litigation truly take into account the human right to live and thrive on this planet.

God created the Garden of Eden to have people in it. It was Satan who caused people to have to leave that Garden. Kinda makes you think about CBD, doesn’t it?

---

Here’s a list of articles about recent litigation by CBD. I might add to it over time – I can only look at this information for so long before it makes me sick. Not that the critters involved don’t need protecting, but CBD is doing nothing for them, only filing lawsuits. Lawsuits are not environmentalism!

Loggerhead turtles lawsuit with Oceana Inc. and Turtle Island Restoration Environmental Law360 - http://environmental.law360.com/

Two ocean species of turtles lawsuit with Oceana and the Turtle Island Restoration Network Twilight Earth - http://www.twilightearth.com/

Ocean acidification impacts lawsuit Switchboard, from NRDC - http://switchboard.nrdc.org/

Desert Lizard lawsuit http://www.yumasun.com/news/lizard-50356-habitat-yuma.html

Global warming impacts lawsuit against six (6) federal agencies. Global warming is a THEORY, people! http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/global-warming-01-15-2009.html

Coal-Fired Power Plants lawsuit www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/05/13-4

Improper jaguar killing lawsuit www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/jaguar-05-12-2009.html

Stop beach driving lawsuit www.rzrforums.net/public-lands-advocacy/11153-center-biological-diversity-lawsuit-oceano-dunes.html

Desert tortoise lawsuit with the Sierra Club, and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility www.globalclimatelaw.com/tags/center-for-biological-diversit/

Force the DOI consider listing the American pika as threatened or endangered lawsuit http://greenoptions.com/tag/center-for-biological-diversity

Snowy Plover http://bit.ly/pJWb1

California red-legged frogs and San Francisco garter snakes; notice of intent to sue. http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/5035

Nevada water project lawsuit. http://www.lvrj.com/news/39421007.html

Protect wildlife and roadless areas in CA, with 6 other environmental groups. http://tinyurl.com/nodgau

Block thinning of trees in AZ lawsuit (note that because the thinning was stopped, the result was one of the largest forest fires in the US) http://www.forphoto.com/issues_info/local/thinning_lawsuit.php

North Fork Eel River lawsuit http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pressreleases/number-20

Raptor habitat (as compensation for wind turbine kills) lawsuit https://www.earthislandprojects.org/news/new_news.cfm?newsID=649

Bighorns lawsuit http://www.mydesert.com/article/20090325/NEWS01/903250314/1144/news01

Ely NV travel management appeal http://tinyurl.com/ccwdop

Freshwater turtle harvest lawsuit http://tinyurl.com/naorbl

Not enough land designated “critical habitat” lawsuit http://tinyurl.com/n4th92

Enough! I can’t stand to look at more of these.

Defenders of Wildlife... or irresponsible animal dumpers?

2009-05-20T10:00:00.003-06:00

News release from Defenders of Wildlife today says: "Raised in South Salem, New York’s Wolf Conservation Center, she [a female Mexican wolf] was released with excitement into her native habitat in Arizona late last year."

Doesn't it occur to anyone at DoW how unfair it is to wolves to raise them among humans, in captivity where they never learn to hunt, in a very different (humid) climate and then release them to act "wild"?

If anyone did that to a dog, it would be a crime that could be prosecuted. What is different between the Mexican Wolf Program and any other irresponsible animal dumper?

Vulcan Logic and The Good Of The Many

2009-05-02T10:48:00.002-06:00

Copyright © 2009 CREdmunds

Mr. Spock, with his pointy ears and his dispassionate logic, said that "the good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one" at the end of Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. A noble thought indeed, but putting it into practice necessitates having a clear idea of what the “good of the many” actually is.

In the USA, the good of the many is based on the rights of the individual. That is, the “many” is a collection of individuals, the rights of each collectively protected by the Constitution.

Currently in this noble country of ours, we have a situation that threatens our Constitution and our American way of life, and it is based on a warping of the notion of the “the many” to mean a homogenous group of like-thinking people. This new point of view is promoted by special interest groups - in my opinion the most dangerous threat we have to this country today.

What are special interest groups? They would be the well-funded, powerful groups that want each of us to think and act like they want us to - like zombies instead of independently thinking individuals - so that their decision makers (you know, CEOs and such) can afford to live in the lifestyles they have become accustomed to. (Check out my article Global Warming Zombies from November, 2008.) These groups don’t care what damage they do to the rest of the country - or the world - to achieve their ends.

How can you identify a special interest group? Let me count the ways.

First, special interest groups are just that - their interests are unique, and narrow-based interests rather than the interests of the many. Their point of view does not represent the truth for all (and in my opinion may not represent the truth in any shape or form).

Second, special interest groups use fear tactics to achieve their goals. While they say they are working for the betterment of all - which should be enough motivation for people if that was really true - they use the whip of predictions of disastrous results if they aren't supported or don't succeed in their work.

Third, special interest groups put a lot of money into spreading their own version of the truth and dire predictions of disaster. Since most people will not act unless they are personally involved, generally the public just believes the propaganda they read and hear, and pretty soon it's "universal truth". Then the special interest groups get to do whatever they want.

Fourth, special interest groups will file lawsuits at the drop of a hat - even if they don't plan on following through. Since most people avoid lawyers and courts, people figure that if a group is willing to sue, they must be right.

Fifth, special interest groups also seek to implement legislation, usually legislation that involves other people losing their personal and property rights.

Sixth, special interest groups generally don't do any actual on-the-ground work themselves in the field they are supposedly improving.

Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, special interest groups put out that they are working for the betterment of all, but almost always their "truth" requires that other people give up something or change in a fundamental way. In the movie, Mr. Spock was telling Kirk why it was right that he, Spock, should sacrifice himself “for the good of the many”. Special interest groups don’t give up anything for their cause. The sacrifices always come from others.

Isn’t it time that we all used Vulcan logic to look more closely at what special interest groups are doing to - not for - the people of this country, and to our Constitution? Isn’t it time that we all started defending our rights as individuals, a fight that would truly protect the good of the many? I’m pretty sure if we don’t, to paraphrase Spock in Amok Time, that we, the people, may discover that the freedom we are having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as the freedom we are wanting.

Swine Flu or Swindle the Public?

2009-04-30T09:48:00.001-06:00

In the news today: President Obama Tuesday sent a letter to Congress asking for $1.5 billion to fight the swine flu outbreak, a request he said he was making “out of an abundance of caution,” as U.S. officials confirmed 64 cases of swine flu, including five individuals who had to be hospitalized.

Excuse me - didn’t we get into the economic crisis we’re in today because of spending too much money we didn’t have on too much stuff we didn’t need? Aren’t we all – the taxpayer who is going to have to cough up this money that Obama is spending – being told to stay out of debt right now? Shouldn't our government be following its own advice?

Abundance of caution??? With all due respect to a President of the USA, it appears that he is doing his best to drive this country down the tubes, throwing economic caution to the winds.

Wolf News Release: WildEarth Guardians lawsuit setback

2009-04-21T14:12:00.000-06:00

Contact: Ron Shortes, Catron County Attorney
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone 575.533.6265
Email: shortes2@gilanet.com
April 17, 2009

WILDEARTH GUARDIANS SUMMARY JUDGMENT AGAINST CATRON COUNTY DENIED
Environmentalist attempt to deny County the right to protect its own citizens stalled

RESERVE, N.M. Catron County, New Mexico has learned that a WildEarth Guardians’ lawsuit, which attempts to deny the County the right to protect its own citizens from imminent harm, has been stalled. A US District Court Judge in Santa Fe recently denied a bid by the environmental group for a summary judgment against the County.

WildEarth Guardians, a Santa Fe, NM based environmental group formed through the merger of Forest Guardians, Sinapu, and the Sagebrush Sea Campaign, filed a suit against Catron County last year. The group claimed that a 2007 County ordinance, providing for protection measures for Catron County Citizens in the event of problems with wolves, violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

In October of 2008, Judge Martha Vazquez issued a ruling stating that WildEarth Guardians’ claims were moot, as the County had amended the ordinance. Nevertheless, WildEarth Guardians continued to press the lawsuit, claiming that the Catron County Commission allegedly violated the ESA by setting traps for a pair of wolves. However, the Court has now denied a request for summary judgment against the County on this issue.

“It is the responsibility of government to protect its citizens,” said a Catron County spokesman. “We have a problem here with wolves and have had one since the beginning of the program. The incidents have escalated to the point where our people - particularly our children - are at risk.”

Catron County has submitted numerous requests to the Mexican wolf program to include realistic consideration for human safety - something that is currently lacking in the ESA’s 10j Rule regarding reintroduction of Mexican wolves.

“The Mexican wolf program people are well aware of our concerns for the safety of our children,” the County spokesman said. “All WildEarth Guardians is concerned about is wolves - they apparently don’t care if a child is at risk.”

“Our citizens rely on local government to protect them,” the spokesman said. “They demand that of us, and by law we are authorized to protect our citizens. We cannot, legally or morally, allow the threat from habituated wolves to reach the point where our children and families are in imminent danger. That is clear.”

# # #

How is the Mexican wolf program like waterboarding?

2009-04-13T12:29:00.001-06:00

Food for thought

Copyright © 2009 C.R.Edmunds

It is a crime for a human to stalk another human, not because of actual physical harm that has occurred but because it causes psychological damage (trauma) and could lead to physical harm.

Psychological abuse can be justifiable cause for divorce or removal of a child from a home even though no physical abuse has occurred.

Waterboarding, deprevation and humiliation are used as forms of torture even though no physical damage occurs.

According to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, non-physical torture appears to cause as much mental distress and traumatic stress as physical torture. (See Science Daily article).

Yet environmental groups and the Mexican wolf program do not consider psychological damage (what looks very much like PTSD) that is documented in the families of Catron County residents to be cause for removal of Mexican wolves that stalk children and families in the program area.

What is wrong with this picture?

How is the Mexican wolf program like waterboarding?

2009-04-13T12:19:00.005-06:00

US no longer competitive, article says

2009-02-25T10:58:00.004-07:00

NY Times online article today says "The U.S. ranks sixth among 40 countries and regions for innovation, a non-partisan group noted in a report."

Duh!

Every new alternative energy innovation since 1972 has been squashed. Of course the US is no longer competitive. And only now the media is noticing??? What's wrong with this picture?

In Innovation, U.S. Said to Be Losing Competitive Edge
By STEVE LOHR

More on Global Warming

2009-01-22T10:56:00.001-07:00

"pollutant just boggles my mind. What used to be science has turned into a cult. . . . All the evidence I see is that the current warming of the climate is just like past warmings. In fact, it's not as much as past warmings yet, and it probably has little to do with carbon dioxide, just like past warmings had little to do with carbon dioxide. . . . Science is one of the great triumphs of humankind, and I hate to see it dragged through the mud in an episode like this"

- William Happer, former chief scientist at the Energy Department and the Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics at Princeton, quoted in the Daily Princetonian on the rush to pin climate change on human industrial activity.

No end to spin

2008-12-31T14:47:00.003-07:00

Copyright © 2009 C R Edmunds
www.onestillfree.blogspot.com

Oh, it hurts to have to admit that for once I agree with the words of Enviros. Fortunately that pain is somewhat mitigated by the fact that even when they try to get it right, the Enviros get it wrong - no doubt on purpose methinks - and so while I agree with the words, I don’t agree with the premises.

“Conservation groups” (they used to be “environmental groups” but that name is getting a deservedly bad flavor) have written to the US Fish & Wildlife Service to stop the agency’s using the image of a Mexican wolf that died in captivity. The female wolf was one of the original 11 released into the wild as part of the Mexican wolf recovery program back in 1998 (she was a captive-bred wolf, not a wild wolf).

“Conservation Groups” (the usual suspects, headed this time by the Center for Biological Diversity, a group known for twisting the facts, see Chilton v Center for Biological Diversity, Inc.) claim it’s important for people to know the “truth” (and isn’t that a joke, coming from them) about the poster wolf: they are upset that it died of stress and overheating after being captured by US FWS in 2005.

These “Conservation Groups” are using the death of an aged wolf more than three years ago to complain about the management of the “wolf predator control program” - a term they have dreamed up that apparently refers to the capture or killing of wolves after three confirmed livestock kills in a year. The Enviros would have us believe the problem is with the pesky ranchers, who keep whining about all the cows that wolves eat (not to mention the horses, dogs, cats, etc.) instead of the elk and deer that the wolves are supposed to be dining on. The Enviros want to stop this silly policy of removing (and relocating) problem wolves.

You know what? (I’m getting shivers just writing these words). I agree. A major flaw with the Mexican wolf program is this business of capturing wolves.

But then, here’s where I disagree (my relief is huge). What Enviros really want is for ranchers and everyone else to just suck it up and let wolves eat what they will, so that the bad, cow-eating wolves will not have to be captured or killed for all that repeated destruction. The implication is that it’s because of this wanton protection of ranchers and resulting removal of wolves that the wolf program isn’t successful.

Not so!

The program isn’t successful because the wolves aren’t wild to begin with. Pay attention here, children - this is a very important point! Real wild wolves wouldn’t be eating dogs, cats, horses and cows because real wild wolves are afraid of humans and don’t come near humans unless they’re desperate. The Mexican wolf program's “tame” wolves (habituated wolves) are so fearless of humans that they’ll hang out near houses, getting their meals from pets and domestic livestock because it’s much easier than chasing all over the forest after elk and deer.

Female Mexican wolf 511, the poster wolf, was born in captivity, where she was routinely handled for veterinary exams and vaccinations. After release “into the wild” (actually near or in the middle of ranching areas), like other wolves in the program 511 was recaptured to replace batteries in her collar, to be revaccinated and be brought to captive facilities for breeding purposes; she additionally was captured and “translocated” (moved to another area where supposedly she’d forget all about being habituated and having a taste for cows) because she was a problem wolf. Wolf 511 was eight years old when she died. Eight is quite old for a wild wolf, and therefore like any old animal, she would have been vulnerable to the effects of stress. I’m guessing she would not have lived that long if she had really been a wild wolf, without all that extra health care from the Mexican wolf program.

And now we have come to my rambling point of disagreement with the Enviros. “Conservation Groups” want the poster wolf to show some other wolf than poster wolf 511, because she died in captivity. The Enviros want the poster wolf to show the “”truth”. Well, wouldn’t it be more the truth to show a wolf with a collar on (to show that it’s been captured, vaccinated, examined and fed by humans), and to also show the wolf’s veterinary charts, pedigrees, the human names given to them like any domestic animal (511’s name was Brunhilda, her parents were Parkeyes and Rio). Wouldn’t it be more the truth to show the wolf snacking on puppies and calves - or lurking near school playgrounds as habituated wolves tend to do? Isn’t it a travesty of the truth to imply that 511 or any Mexican wolf poster wolves are really wild at all?

Fact is, no wild wolf has ever been released by the Mexican wolf program. Every wolf released has been the result of a captive breeding program, and most released wolves have been captured and released over and over again. Where is a wild wolf supposed to come from that can pose for a photo?

Ah, but what’s truth got to do with anything when you’re busy spinning away…

Global Warming Zombies

2008-11-23T14:26:00.002-07:00

Sometime when we all weren’t paying attention, a lot of the folks in this country became zombies. It’s frightening, but true. We are surrounded by people whose minds have been stolen, their powers of observation and judgment replaced. But it isn’t voodoo, folks - what we have here is 1984, just a few years late.

Uh oh - I may have to explain about that 1984 reference for those who are maybe younger than me or who maybe haven’t quite the same reading experience as I’ve had. 1984 is the title of a book written by George Orwell that takes place the year 1984, and is about a civil servant whose work consists of falsifying records and political literature. His job is one small part of the government mechanism for maintaining control of the population. 1984 is where the term “Big Brother” came from.

1984’s mind control comes about through propaganda (spin doctoring in today’s terminology - the twisting of language so that words do not describe truth but sound like the truth), regulation of society through legislation of behavior to undermine the rights of the individual. Invasive surveillance is used to insure compliance.

With just a few substitutions, that could be a description of what’s going on in the United States today.

But back to zombies. A zombie is a creature displaying all the apparent signs of consciousness, but without actual consciousness of its own. Traditionally, zombies are corpses brought back to life, but the term is also used to describe a person whose thought processes are controlled by someone else - traditionally, that would be your evil voodoo guy, or, like in 1984, Big Brother.

How do I know that so many friends and neighbors, from the grocery store clerk to our legislators and everyone in between have become zombies? It’s simple. How many of you believe in global warming - raise your hands. OK, everyone - look around. See all those raised hands? Those will be your zombies. Those will be the people that spew out the Big Brother environmental drivel in spite of what they see and feel for themselves, like how darned cold it was last month. These are people who ignore data like last month’s reports across the world of unseasonable snow and plummeting temperatures and record snowfalls. Here in the US, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration registered 63 local snowfall records and 115 lowest-ever temperatures for the month of October, and ranked it as only the 70th-warmest October in 114 years.

Global warming? Have these people stepped outside lately? Would they consider keeping their own records and paying more attention to them than to talking heads on TV? The highest temperature recorded in Phoenix - 122° - was recorded 18 years ago, not last year. In fact, the hottest recorded temperature on earth was way back in 1922 (136° in Mali). In January 2008, the Boston Globe reported that the winter 2007 was one the coldest ever recorded in South America, with snow in Buenos Aires for the first time in 89 years and hundreds of people dying of cold in Peru. Snow in South Africa! Record breaking cold in Australia! And the Globe even said “For nearly a decade now, there has been no global warming”.

Enquiring minds want to know: How do you cure a zombie? How do you get people to think with their own minds, not parrot sound bytes? If Big Brother takes over the country and the planet, what will the people do who invested in shorts and tank tops when they really need mukluks and parkas? And if the zombies all freeze to death, what will Big Brother’s next step be to control the rest of us?

Whining - the New National Pastime

2008-09-25T21:40:00.002-06:00

I have a confession to make. I’m not a Greenie. Nowadays that makes me the bad guy, because Green has become the new banner and badge of being part of the politically correct crowd.

I’ve been giving some thought lately to the fact that we have a society run by youngsters (this is because as I age, I find so many in office to be younger than I am), yet we have a population the median age of which is growing older and older.

Used to be that people respected age - being an “elder” meant having wisdom that younger people valued. Over the years that has changed; our older folks have not been considered founts of wisdom or valued parts of family and society for a long time. Rather, older folks are stuffed into retirement homes and assisted living facilities soon as they have no money left to support the younger generations that can’t (or won’t) get jobs to support themselves.

Aha, you say - the reason no one pays attention to elder wisdom is because older folks’ minds wander off the topic - but not so! Bear with me a bit longer.

The reason older folks are founts of wisdom, even though some of us are dumber than doorposts, is that we have experienced more. This is so simple concept as to be profound. No matter how smart you are, how educated you are, how technologically facile you are, if you’re young, you cannot have experienced as much as someone who has lived longer. It’s a matter of sheer numbers, quantity of time. You can never really know what can be known at 50, 60 or 70 or older until you’ve lived 50, 60 or 70 or more years. You can never apply the experience of time until you’ve experienced the time. And you cannot possibly begin to comprehend what we old folks know as we view life from the perspective of just having lived longer.

“Bail me out, save me!” is what I’m seeing everywhere nowadays. I see lots of this whining going on, and see few solutions offered that encompass the big picture. I see this as a result of inexperience (i.e., young folks’ reaction) because we’re all here on the same planet and ultimately there is no one to bail us out or save us other than ourselves. That’s something it just takes time to learn.

Let me pick on the Greens as an example. Go to any petition website these days and it’ll be Green. What is a petition? It’s a bunch of names of people who’d rather whine about a problem than roll up their sleeves and do something directly. That’s whining, in my opinion, I don’t care how noble the label.

Or look at proposed (and, more scary, passed) legislation that “fixes” things by imposing more rules and regulations in our lives, legislation which takes away personal responsibility and substitutes government responsibility. Being bailed out ends up with giving up our rights and making us dependant - like children.

Whining happens because the people who are doing it don’t have any real answers. They feel the pressure, the pain of the situation, but they don’t know how to effectively make it go away. Like children, they don’t know how to fix things properly because they just don’t have the tools, the experience and perspective to see the whole picture. In other words, they don’t go to their founts of wisdom for answers: to the old folks, their elders.

We older folks pretty much don’t qualify as real Greenies because we’re not young enough to have tunnel vision any more, we can’t see things as black and white so easily. Life has taught us painful lesson by painful lesson how unrealistic that is. We older folks - at least those of us who have moved beyond the flower power years - have been around long enough to know first hand that everything is connected to everything, and that disenfranchising anyone or disallowing anything isn’t going to solve any problems. Tunnel vision isn’t wrong, it’s just so very limited as to throw everything out of kilter when acted on.

The innocent ignorance of tunnel vision is not going to go away, so it’s up to us old folks to fix things - if only we ourselves would pay attention to our own elders. Answers for today’s problems won’t be Green, won’t even necessarily be in what we know ourselves here at this time today. The big answers for the questions facing humanity and for the planet are going to be found in the wisdom of the ages, of our own elders. I don’t think they will be Green.

What's the real crisis?

2008-08-19T10:52:00.004-06:00

Today's NY Times Headlines:
As Oil Giants Lose Influence, Supply Drops
By JAD MOUAWAD
It is harder than ever for the major Western oil companies to find new prospects, even though they are awash in profits and eager to expand.

Excuse me? Awash in profits? Am I the only person who is outraged by this?

Yes, we need to come up with energy sources, and I for one want to see it come from renewable resources. That's something that should have been started in earnest 40 years ago when we had another "fuel crisis", but NOOOOO - the US government did not support alternatives to fossil fuels (petroleum) - and from what I heard, research in to fuel alternatives was pretty much squashed.

So here we are again with another crisis - actually, we have two: one energy and one economic.

The economic crisis is looking pretty artificial to me. There may be some sort of slowing of oil production, but the economic problems we are experience are actually caused by opportunistic taking of profits from raised prices based on... fear.

The US government supports this fear by supporting everyone in the oil food chain making massive profits on the the backs of us poor schmucks down here in the real world. And worse, the US government itself is making more and more tax dollars on the price gouging at the oil pump - for every jump in price at the pumps, there is an associated jump in the tax on each gallon.

No one in the chain except we peons at the bottom has any incentive whatsoever to fix anything.

This has all been nicely engineered, don't you think? First weaken the voting population by eroding individual freedom using the fear factor (been to an airport lately?). Then the sucker punch of the "fuel crisis". Throw in some toxic food scares and some global warming threats to keep us all soft. Use environmental litigation to stop any possibility of fixing any of this, even while dangling the hope of alternative (cheap) energy that will never come because there is no incentive to fix anything when everyone but the peons are making so much money. You see where this is going?

It's going to just get worse.

None of this was inevitable. All of this could have been prevented. You want some improvement? Just say NO to politics and start doing what needs to be doing yourself. Find out who's researching alternative energy and support them. Use that technology. Become a locavore (eat locally grown foods). Don't buy into mass media advertising.

And for heaven's sake, pay attention to the real crisis: the gullibility of we peons. The real crisis will end when we stop listening to what people say and start paying attention to what people do.

Fed up with Mexican wolves?

2008-07-05T09:43:00.000-06:00

Be sure to attend the "Can't Take It Any More" meeting in Reserve NM on Wednesday July 9, 10 a.m. at the Reserve Community Center. If you can't take it any more, then get together with like-minded folks and stop taking it.

Contact Bill Aymar, Catron County Manager 575 533-6123 or ccmanager@gilanet.com

Is there a scientist in the house?

2008-07-03T23:26:00.002-06:00

So today another news release is put out by "environmental" (litigation) groups. WildEarth Guardians - that's a new one. These litigation groups keep combining and recombining (like viruses) so they can have more corporate names to file more litigation.

But that's not the point of this post. The point is how long these people think the population is going to remain gullible. I mean, really - the news release says that a recent poll "shows overwhelming support for Mexican gray wolves among Southwest voters". Overwhelming? Really? 500 people who don't even live in or near the area in question? This is relevant... how?

The news release - and much of the propaganda by these litigation groups - strongly implies that the reason Mexican wolves aren't doing well in the project area is because of illegal killings and legal predator control. And the science behind this idea is where?

What studies have been done that show that wolves would otherwise be thriving if it wasn’t for "poaching"? Come on - everywhere else we've got predators that are breeding like crazy. Gray wolves are doing that in Yellowstone. Isn't it just possible that the real reason that Mexican wolves aren't thriving in Arizona and New Mexico is because... they aren't really native to the area, and they just aren't suited to it?

Science, please! For once can't we have facts and truth about Mexican wolves?

PS - be sure to attend the "Can't Take It Any More" meeting in Reserve NM on Wednesday July 9. If you can't take it any more, then get together with like-minded folks and stop taking it. Contact Bill Aymar, Catron County Manager 575 533-6123 or ccmanager@gilanet.com

Chilling facts on global warming

2008-06-02T13:32:00.003-06:00

While it seems everyone knows that the planet is warming, few acknowledge what's really going on. How egocentric and narcissistic humans are, to assume that a few generations of human history tells the story of a planet. Decades and even centuries are not enough to determine anything about global climate change. Look at any records of global (planetary) history and you will see that we are in a natural temperature spike which has occurred before (without human help) and will occur again - approximately every 100-150 thousand years apart.

We are in a naturally occurring peak period of warmth on this planet at this time - but the vacation is about to end. In fact, what we humans are about to experience, and likely sooner than later, is global cooling. And believe me, global cooling is much scarier than global warming.

Over the millennia planetary temperatures are generally much colder than now. Even today, in the peak years of natural global warming, thousands of people on this planet die from the cold each year. You want a crisis? You’ll be seeing one - from cold - possibly in your lifetime. You want to do something about it? Well, humans aren’t going to change what’s to come, but we humans can prepare.

Get the facts about the big view, not the microscopic one of our own short human lifetimes. Consider what it will take for human life and achievement to continue when most of the planet is covered by ice. And you might as well enjoy this warm weather while you’ve got it.

Global chilling (facts and figures about global warming)

Your DNA - now online

2008-05-06T08:42:00.004-06:00

Your DNA will soon be coming to the internet. Your family’s medical information, racial information, and everything else that your DNA reveals about you will now be public information, thanks to a new law that President Bush has signed. Our president has ordered that within no more than six months a "national contingency plan" will be created to take a sample of newborns' DNA, and publish the information on the web. This is supposedly in case of a "public health emergency."

Unless you’ve adopted your children, their DNA is your DNA, it’s your siblings’ DNA, your parents’ DNA. It is who you are in every physical way.

It’s true the government will likely not publish individuals’ data - but how much do you trust that that your personal DNA data won’t somehow be available to a hacker, to insurance companies, to anyone who really wants to see it? Did you give permission for this information to be taken from your child, for this information about you and your family to become public?

And if that’s not bad enough, don’t you think that every terrorist who is working day and night to create bio-weapons is thanking our president for his help in providing a national database for research via the internet?

Environmentalists or terrorists?

2008-05-04T10:04:00.003-06:00

A bunch more “environmental” (litigation) groups are using the US court system to force the US Fish & Wildlife Service to bend to “environmentalist” agendas - and to heck with science and fact.

The Mexican wolf program is a bogus program, based on false premises. Mexican wolves come from the low desert. They never lived here in the "Mexican wolf recovery area". This area is high-altitude mixed-conifer forest, not low desert. Mogollon wolves lived here, not Mexican wolves. Go ahead - ask US FWS - they’ll tell you that the Mexican wolf recovery area is the extreme fringe of the historical Mexican wolf territory, not where they preferred to live.

So what is going on with these groups that are filing the lawsuits? The truth is that they know the above facts. The truth is that they are not really interested in saving the environment. Some of these groups are open about what they want - they want to get people out of the National Forests (don’t believe me? Check out their websites). They’ll use any means they can to achieve their goals, even if it means lying to not only the public and the US court system, but to their financial supporters - who trust them and who believe in sending money to these groups they are doing a good thing for the environment.

“Environmental” groups such as the ones suing US FWS are elitists who don't care what the cost of achieving their goals is to the public, to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and to the individuals who live here. In forcing the relocation of a non-native species to an area that species historically did not inhabit, “environmentalists” are twisting the purpose of the ESA and using the court system inappropriately to force the government and the public to do what the groups want.

What this amounts to is the use of the judicial and legislative functions of this country to achieve their own private ends. How is this different from subversion and anti-American actions? How does this differ from what any external terrorist group wants to achieve?

I say send the Mexican wolves back to Mexico, where they came from, and expose these anti-US groups for what they are: terrorists masquerading as environmentalists.

Climate change article by David Archibald

2008-04-21T11:39:00.000-06:00

Solar Cycle 24: Implications for the United States
Archibald, David. 2008. Solar Cycle 24: Implications for the United States. International Conference on Climate Change March, 2008.
Full text [here]
Selected excerpts:
Do we live in a special time in which the laws of physics and nature are suspended? No, we do not. Can we expect relationships between the Sun’s activity and climate, that we can see in data going back several hundred years, to continue for at least another 20 years? With absolute certainty.
In this presentation, I will demonstrate that the Sun drives climate, and use that demonstrated relationship to predict the Earth’s climate to 2030. It is a prediction that differs from most in the public domain. It is a prediction of imminent cooling.
To put the solar – climate relationship in context, we will begin by looking at the recent temperature record, and then go further back in time. Then we will examine the role of the Sun in changing climate, and following that the contribution of anthropogenic warming from carbon dioxide.
I will show that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is not even a little bit bad. It is wholly beneficial. The more carbon dioxide we can put into the atmosphere, the better the planet will be – for humans, and all other living things. …
To reconstruct climate prior to thermometer records, isotope ratios and tree ring widths are used. This graph shows the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age. The peak of the Medieval Warm Period was 2° warmer than today and the Little Ice Age 2° colder at its worst. The total range is 4° centigrade. The warming over the 20th century was 0.6 degrees by comparison. This recent warming has melted ice on some high passes in the Swiss Alps, uncovering artifacts from the Medieval Warm Period and the prior Roman Warm Period. …
It was warmer again not long after the last ice age ended. Sea level was 2 metres than it is today. Since the Holocene Optimum about eight thousand years ago, we been in long term temperature decline at about 0.25 degrees per thousand years.
When I asked at the beginning of this presentation if we lived in a special time, well that is true in relation to the last three million years. The special time we live in is called an interglacial. Normally, and that is 90% of the time, the spot I am standing on is covered by several thousand feet of ice. Relative to the last four interglacials, we may be somewhere near the end of the current interglacial. The end of the Holocene will be a brutal time for humanity. …
The Holocene, the period we are in now, is tracking along with three of the four previous interglacials. Of those three, if the Holocene ends up being like the Eemian, then we may have up to 3,000 years of Little Ice Age-like conditions before we plunge into the next glacial period. If not, then the plunge could start any time now. …The evidence from the Hanover solar cycle length to temperature relationship, and that of the other cities in this presentation, is incontrovertible. There will be a significant cooling very soon.
Our generation has known a warm, giving Sun, but the next generation will suffer a Sun that is less giving, and the Earth will be less fruitful. …
The big consequence of this is that it will shrink the growing season. The 2.2 degree decline I am predicting will take two weeks off the growing season at both ends. Next decade will not be a good time to be a Canadian wheat farmer. For farmers further south, farm production will decline but that production will be worth a considerable amount more.
“The surprising result of these long-range predictions is a rapid decline in solar activity, starting with cycle #24. If this trend continues, we may see the Sun heading towards a “Maunder”type of solar activity minimum -an extensive period of reduced levels of solar activity.” — K.H.Schattenand W.K.Tobiska, 34th Solar Physics Division Meeting, June 2003, American Astronomical Society…
Can global warming from increased atmospheric carbon dioxide save us from a collapse in mid-latitude agricultural production? Not at all. …
In a world of higher atmospheric carbon dioxide, crops will use less water per unit of carbon dioxide uptake, and thus the productivity of semi-arid lands will increase the most.
It’s not all good news. We will need this increase in agricultural productivity to offset the colder weather coming.
AGW Proponents are Exactly Wrong
1.The Earth is getting colder and this will accelerate.
2.Carbon dioxide has a minuscule warming effect.
3.Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide will increase agricultural productivity.
4.The ideal atmospheric carbon dioxide level is a minimum of 1,000 ppm
What I have shown in this presentation is that carbon dioxide is largely irrelevant to the Earth’s climate. The carbon dioxide that Mankind will put into the atmosphere over the next few hundred years will offset a couple of millenia of post-Holocene Optimum cooling before we plunge into the next ice age. There are no deleterious consequences of higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are wholly beneficial.
Implications for the United States
1.The climate-driven reduction in agricultural production should be planned for.
2.Coal-fired power generation should be increased.
3.Coal to liquid fuels capacity should be installed.
Stopping coal-fired power generation due to carbon dioxide emissions is exactly wrong in science. The more carbon dioxide you put into the atmosphere, the more you are helping all living things on the planet and of course that makes you a better person.

545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR AMERICA’S WOES

2008-02-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don’t write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don’t set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don’t control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton- picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a SPEAKER, who stood up and criticized G.W. Bush ALONE for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.
Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.
I can’t think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in IRAQ, it’s because they want them in IRAQ.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.

Global warming: Who gains from the scare tactics?

2008-01-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

"....we currently live in one of coldest moments in the history of the Earth. With the exception of the Permian Ice Age of 400 million years ago, and our own Ice Age currently 2 million years old, the Earth has always been warmer than now. Life evolved when it was warmer. Life florished when it was warmer. Life diminishes during Ice Ages." (quote from http://westinstenv.org/sosf/2008/01/24/mr-mensa-challenges-mike-on-global-cooling/)

Doesn't the above make you wonder about why global warming is being pushed so hard? As always, the answer to what's going on might well be found by following the money. Who gains from global warming scare tactics?

Water rights - protect them or go thirsty!

2007-12-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

We have two attempts to get at our water here in Catron County - combined, they add up to sucking almost 18 billion gallons of water from our aquifers each year.

Protect your water rights - get your protest letter out so it is received no later than close of business, Monday Dec 17, in the Office of the State Engineer of New Mexico.

For instructions go to:

www.catroncounty.net/water

DON'T DELAY!

Email notification service

2007-12-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

I have added an email notification service to this blog (top of upper right column) so you can receive notices by email when I post to this blog.

Re: [One Still Free] New comment on FW: Wolf-Proof Shelters Go Up for School Kids .

2007-12-03T08:54:00.001-07:00

Jess: You are so right to point out that a good number of residents of Catron County live with the danger of habituated wolves every day of their lives. I think the pit bull analogy is right on. Many people know what it is like to be unable to sleep at night worrying about some problem over which you have little to no control - it could be pit bull packs, a health issue, your job at risk, drug dealers on your corner, serial rapists or killers. Whatever it is, you worry about it day and night and it affects the quality of your life.

It is no different here with the wolves. You lay awake at night, jumping at the least sound coming from outside, rushing out the door with a flashlight to see why the horses or other animals are restless. If your dog is late coming to breakfast, you start
figuring out how to tell the kids that it's never coming back. You have to make a decision as to whether it's safe to let your child walk to school by himself because the boss says you've got to start getting to work on time, so you can't take your child to school and keep your job, too. You go over your finances in your head endlessly, trying to figure out how many more calves you can lose before you can't stay in business any more.

And you read the fictions written by people who so want the wolf program to be the way they want it to be rather than the way it is that they dismiss all your concerns as fabrications and your stomach churns and churns.

I tell you what - if my child, my horse, my dog or my anything was harmed by a wolf, I'd sue the tar out of every single organization and individual who supports the rotten wolf program and who fights improvements that are based on reality, not fiction.

Global warming is over!

2007-12-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought that we were all going to drown or fry because
of global warming... here's an interesting bit of info (facts!) about
the subject.

Global Temperatures are Uncorrelated with Carbon Dioxide Trends This
Last Decade, By Joseph D'Aleo, CCM

http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/global_temperatures_are_uncorrelated_with_carbon_dioxide_trends_this_last_d/

ICECAP (International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment
Project) is an excellent site for facts, not hype, about this
planet's climate. I recommend poking through it.

FW: Wolf-Proof Shelters Go Up for School Kids

2007-12-02T15:21:00.001-07:00

Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity is quoted in an article in the Albququerque Journal by Rene Romo as saying that bus stop shelters built to protect Catron County children from the threat of wolves are a stunt "designed to get the sympathy of the public when the real concern is safety of their livestock."
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/266402nm12-02-07.htm

Has Mr. Robinson contacted the school in question to see how many of the children protected by the shelters are from livestock-owning families? Has Mr. Romo bothered to do any research at all, or is he just writing for sensationalism, the safety of the children in question be damned?

It has always amazed me how willing people who don't live in the area in question are so fast to question the motives of those who are directly impacted by the wolf program, and to cast blame on the impacted people for the failure of the program. Has it never occurred to anyone that if the program has not succeeded, the basic premises upon which the program is based may be faulty? Let me remind the reader that the Mexican wolf is an experimental population, and the program is supposed to be adaptively managed - but is it?

Hardly.

Instead of a true scientific experiment in which the outcome is not pre-determined, what we have is a program whose outcome has been pre-determined and mightily defended by non-local, non-impacted groups. Note that certain environmental groups who have most resisted adaptive management just happen to be associated with agendas which require the ousting of ranchers and others who live in and use the areas the groups have identified as "needing" to be wild, no matter that private lands and local economies are run over in the process (research "sky islands" and "rewilding" to see what groups are affiliated with the concept). These groups use litigation, deceptive language and pseudo science to force their point of view, and somehow are accorded more credibility than the victims of this farce - the local residents - who are accused of falsehoods, as if they had some sort of weird willingness to lie about their children in order to protect livestock they have no financial interest in.

We expect the sort of situation where programs and pogroms are forced on people to occur in countries where the citizens have no rights. Yet here it is happening right in our own country. Here we have eco-terrorism and unlawful taking of property and rights disguised as "environmentalism for the betterment of the planet". What a sad situation when environmentalists would rather risk the lives of children than even admit there could be something to what we've been saying all along, down here in Mexican wolf country where you all don't live.

Wild Born Wolves Swept Under Rug by Program Managers

2007-11-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

Catron County ranchers report livestock predations by known
(collared) wolf packs, yet they remove the wild born wolves that
don't kill cattle and aren't habituated to humans. If this isn't an
on-purpose strategy to destroy the local cattle industry, what is
it? It sure isn't a strategy to improve the Mexican wolf program here!

"Our ranchers get blamed for everything wrong with this program",
says Laura Schneberger President of the Gila Livestock Growers Association.

"The truth is if the agencies would do an adequate job this program
would be in better shape. When my members report un-collared wolves
on their places, these agencies don't investigate and refuse to
believe them. Instead of being rewarded for allowing this wild born
wolf and who knows how many other wolves onto the Adobe ranch, these
folks are being forced to live with a pack that is slaughtering their
herds and teaching wild born wolves to prey on cattle. It is an
unmitigated, disastrous and unfair situation"

Mexican wolf video for CNN Republican debate

2007-11-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

Check out the videos at Wolf Crossing

http://wolfcrossing.org/2007/11/25/wolfcrossingorg-youtube-republican-debate-video/

These were created for the CNN Republican debate. There's a long
version and a short one - the short is what was submitted, with the
question "Endangered Species Act: Where Do You Stand? Which Is More
Important: Human Rights or the Rights of an Endangered
Species?" The longer version has a bit more info, but you could only
submit a 30 second video.

Wolves: the natural order of things

2007-11-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

One issue with looking at environmental issues is that people use
selective vision. For instance, humans are actually the highest
order in the food chain of all known life on earth, yet humans are
routinely not included as part of the natural environment, as if
humans were somehow unnatural, had been introduced here by aliens
from another galaxy. I personally can't go with such things as
"seeding" by aliens (to that I say, show me the science); humans are
necessarily a species which has survived and evolved on this planet
*just like every other species*.

To consider the wolf program without consideration of *all* other
species is faulty. Wolves have evolved in areas with humans in them,
humans have evolved in areas with wolves. Wolves have had, probably
as long as they have existed, one major natural enemy:
mankind. Humans have always been a factor in most wolves lives -
consider how true wild wolves (as opposed to habituated ones) are shy
of humans. This is a sign of a wolf's understanding of the risk
humans present, a healthy, natural thing for all predators and
potential prey.

In a healthy world, in the real natural order of things, wolves
respect humans best when wolves are hunted. This makes for a safer,
more healthy and more natural situation for all.

[This is in response to Mexican wolf update on Desert Rat's
blog:

http://arizonahuntingtoday.com/desertrat/2007/11/20/mexican-wolf-update-november/]

Thought control campaign - Mexican wolves

2007-11-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

One thing that environmental groups still do (besides file lawsuits)
is create excellent propaganda. What's amazing to me is how most of
the media just accepts that baloney as truth. I guess reporters
today don't care about facts, they just repeat what they are fed by
anyone with enough money to do the feeding.

I just came across an article about the transfer of captive bred
Mexican wolves from the Cincinnati Zoo to a wolf preservation
facility in New York State by Jim Knippenberg. Here's a quote from
the article (Cincinnati Enquirer,

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071113/NEWS01/711130371/1035/LIFE):

"The Mexican gray, a subspecies of the gray wolf, is critically
endangered, reportedly down to only seven animals in the wild in the
early 1980s. The Mexican Wolf Recovery Program, an umbrella
organization that oversees conservation efforts in about 20 zoos and
preserves including Cincinnati, captured the seven, installed them in
controlled facilities and initiated breeding programs. Today, there
are 38-50 in the wild (in the high deserts of northern Mexico and
southern Arizona), 100 more in controlled facilities and several more
ready for release into the wild."

Now what's wrong with the above? First of all, the subspecies is NOT
currently critically endangered; there are hundreds in captivity and
probably close to another hundred in the wild in in the USA, plus who
know how many still in Mexico, where these wolves are from. There
were an unknown number of wild ones in Mexico and the USA in the
1980s, when seven were captured from Mexico and brought north into
the USA (two promptly died). There is no conclusive evidence that
lands north of the US/Mexico border were other than the extreme edge
of these wolves' native Mexican range. There is no more reason for
anyone to be excited about there being no Mexican wolves here in the
wild than it would be to be excited that there are no penguins here.

Next, there currently are 38-50 *collared* Mexican wolves in the wild
in central western New Mexico and eastern Arizona plus an unknown
number of uncollared wolves ( all descendents of those five surviving
wolves from 1980). This information is readily available in the form
of monthly reports online from US Fish & Wildlife (note that
uncollared wolves are only counted once a year, so very little is
known about the numbers). To my knowledge no one is counting wolves
in Mexico itself; maybe Mr. Knippenberg could provide some source for
that info.

Finally, the Mexican wolf program, which routinely handles wolves in
the program and exposes them to human sight, sound and smell (e.g.
zoo and other captive wolf facilities) is creating problem wolves,
ensuring that when they are released into the wild that these wolves
have no fear of humans (they become habituated to humans in
captivity). Hence in places like New Mexico and Arizona we see
increasing numbers of problems with wolves killing pets, stalking
humans and slaughtering livestock. What happens to these wolves with
no fear of humans? They are hazed, are shot with rubber bullets,
routinely and repeatedly trapped (with leg traps, a painful and
traumatic process) - this is the Mexican wolf program doing these
things by the way. Then the wolves are transported to captivity, fed
by humans (and given health exams, vaccinations, collars). They are
then often separated from pack members, released into new places in
the wild to have to relearn where the water is, the hunting is, and
to forge a new place in a new pack. To "help", the program often
temporarily feeds these wolves dumped into the wild meat made from
domestic animals (horses), so that the when they find a horse in a
corral, they know that they've found dinner - starting the cycle all
over again.

A wolf which is so habituated it was sleeping in people's yards and
urinating on vehicle wheels like the family dogs do, has been found
to have spent over one third of its life in captivity or other
proximity to humans - the poor thing was probably lonely for
humans. This is typical of the wolf program and what the program
creates is problem wolves, not wild wolves. Dumping captive raised
wolves into the wild isn't all that different from dumping pet dogs
alongside the road. I've never understood why PETA, of which I am
not a member has not looked carefully at this routine torture and
abuse of animals.

I'm sorry to have picked on Mr. Knippenberg, for he is just one of
many, but it is really starting to get irritating to read these
un-researched articles which purport to tell the truth but really
just perpetuate the propaganda machine of environmental
groups. People who actually care about wolves tell the truth. But
of course, there's no profit in that.

Dec 5 Mexican wolf public scoping meeting in Glenwood

2007-11-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

Dec 5 Mexican wolf public scoping meeting in Glenwood
Glenwood Community Center
5:00 - 9:00 pm

US Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a public scoping meeting in
Glenwood on December 5 as part of a rule change process that will
determine the future of Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.

Why your participation is important: background and current situation

Since its inception, the Mexican wolf program has been responsive
only to non-local environmental groups and has ignored the damage to
local families, businesses and issues. These groups have used their
large financial assets to twist the truth about the program, and have
resorted to what amounts to malicious litigation to get their way.

The wolf program has a policy of routine handling of wolves. In some
cases, "wild" wolves have been handled - trapped, examined, given
shots, collared, fed by humans - for more than one third of their
lives. Wolf and other canine experts know that this extensive
handling causes habituation (loss of fear of humans), and habituated
predators - not just wolves but bears, mountain lions, etc - are
problem predators. Essentially all the complaints of local citizens
come about because the wolves are not wild, but habituated to humans.

Mexican gray wolves are not critical to our local natural
environment. These wolves originally came from the Mexican desert -
they never were high altitude forest animals. It is true that a
healthy wolf population would keep elk and deer herds healthy and
balanced, however healthy wolves are never habituated wolves. At
this time, the wolves in the Mexican wolf program kill elk calves and
domestic animals for the sport of it, not for food.

Mexican wolves are not even endangered. Hundreds of these wolves -
all genetically related - live in zoos around the country, where they
are part of a breeding program to build the population. And contrary
to reports of dwindling wolf populations in the wild, it should be
pointed out that the "official" wolf counts omit the dozens of
uncollared wolves which are living and breeding in and near the wolf
recovery area.

This rule change is our opportunity to improve the program and shift
the Fish and Wildlife Service's focus where it needs to be: the
creation of a truly wild wolf population which is not coddled, fed
and protected, but subject to the same laws of survival as any wild
animal. Mexican wolves have the right to survive and thrive, but not
as anything other than fully wild animals and not at the high cost to
humans and wolves due to the way the program is run today.

In your comments, please tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to:

* Not change the classification from "experimental, non-essential"
to "experimental, essential" or "endangered" - there is no reason to
give wolves more protection (which causes habituation) but much
reason to make wolves stronger by forcing them to live natural
lives. Adding more protection will never make wolves wild.
* Eliminate restrictions to wolf dispersal and movements but provide
more rights for human self-protection; reduce or eliminate fines and
penalties for doing so. A truly wild animal will not be near enough
to humans to be killed by them, and a non-wild wolf should not be
part of the program.
* Cease release of any wolves which have ever been handled by
humans. Remove all wolves from the wild which have been handled by
humans and which exhibit signs of habituation or which engage in
livestock depredation.
* Never relocate, translocated or re-release any wolf to the wild
which has exhibited any habituation behavior or has killed any
domestic animals.
* Resolve livestock-wolf and pet-wolf conflicts in ways that are
fair to the humans who bear the economic and emotional costs of
domestic animal losses.
* Cease any supplemental feeding of the wolves by the wolf program;
such feeding just teaches the wolves to be human-dependant, it causes
habituation and since the meat from domestic animals is used for such
supplemental feeding, it introduces and familiarizes the taste of
domestic animals to wolves.
* Revise the Recovery Plan. Utilize real science and include
assessment of the impacts on affected human population as required by law.
* Place no cap on the number of wolves in the wild population,
however allow humans to protect themselves, their families, their
pets and other domestic animals without penalty. A wolf which
habituates human use areas is not a wild wolf, and needs to be
removed from the wild population before it teaches pack members and
its young this bad behavior.
* Provide no increase in boundaries of the Mexican wolf population
until it is proven that all current problems have been resolved.

The deadline for comments is December 31, 2007

Comments can be hand-delivered at the open house or submitted by USPS
or email. Be sure to include "Attn: Mexican Gray Wolf NEPA Scoping",
your full name and your return address in your message.

USPS
Brian Millsap, State Administrator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office
2105 Osuna NE
Albuquerque, NM 87113

Email
R2FWE_AL@fws.gov

Note: Other meeting dates and locations can be found at

http://www.mexicanwolfeis.org/

Mexican wolves: The full truth

2007-11-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

On his blog, Ralph Maughan "reports" that the
number of elk in the part of New Mexico where the
Mexican wolves have become reestablished has
increased.
[http://wolves.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/report-despite-mexican-wolves-elk-ok/#comment-45232].
Note that while Dr. Maughan is a specialist in
natural resource and environmental policies and
politics, he is not a biologist. Like many
people involved with policies and politics who
have an agenda to push, it is convenient to tell
only part of the story, allowing it to pass for the full truth.

Dr. Maughn "reported" that the number of elk in
the Mexican wolf restoration program area has
increased and that the number of wolves is
"trivial — only 59 in the entire recovery area..."

I am not a biologist either, but I believe in
telling the full story if I'm going to tell any story at all. So, I replied:

1. The method used to count elk this time is
different from the method used before. While it
is *possible* that the number of elk has actually
increased, your readers should be aware it is
also possible that rather the efficiency of
counting has increased, and therefore that there
may in fact be fewer elk than in prior years.

2. The number of wolves is not trivial - it is
merely unknown. There are 59 *collared* wolves in
the wolf recovery area. There are an unknown
number of uncollared wolves. Your readers should
be aware that it is *possible* that the wolf
restoration program is wildly successful in terms
of numbers of wolves in the wild.

Habituated wolves: A sign of induced abnormal behavior

2007-11-10T12:02:00.001-07:00

It appears to me that habituation of Mexican wolves is a direct product of the wolf program management itself. Few people who wildly support the program and who dismiss the protests of the local people (the ones who are actually affected and whose opinions on the issues should carry more weight) have a clue what habituation entails and how dangerous habituation of a predator is.

Most people are not aware that wolf pups born in the wild are generally caught up and brought into captivity to be examined, have DNA samples taken, are given vaccinations and, when old enough, collars. They are fed by humans while in captivity. All this happens during the most impressionable period of a wolf's life.

Then, periodically wolves are trapped in the wild and are brought back to captivity to be reexamined, get more vaccinations and have their collar batteries replaced.

Of course wolves are fed by humans while in captivity - they do not have the opportunity to hunt at that time. Because canines have a sense of smell thousands of times stronger than humans it is unreasonable to expect that a wolf would not smell human scent on the food it is given in captivity and thereby come to associate the smell of humans with food [note: a dog has more than 220 million olfactory receptors in its nose, while humans have only 5 million].

Wild wolves have natural fear of humans, but wolves in captivity for any length of time, particularly cubs, are going to lose that fear simply through constant proximity. Between association of human scent with food and loss of fear through proximity wolves become habituated to humans. Every Mexican wolf so far that has been a source of problems has been extensively handled by humans - the wolf program management itself.

The Mexican wolf program has set itself up for failure, and the ones who suffer the most from this mismanagement are the humans in wolf country and the wolves themselves. Is there some valid reason why the non-habituated, non-problem, truly wild wolves out there just can’t be left alone to propagate this gray wolf subspecies? Is there no way to stop the madness of the program’s creating habituated wolves and turning them loose to get into trouble?

Does anyone with any rational mind really think it natural for wild wolves to leave the millions of acres of wild lands to sleep on people’s lawns and defecate on people’s porches? We aren’t seeing the creation of a healthy Mexican wolf population, folks, we’re seeing a sick circus disguised as benevolent protection of species.

News Release: Habituated Wolves Are Dangerous Wolves

2007-11-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

CATRON COUNTY COMMISSION
PO BOX 507
RESERVE NM 87830
Ed Wehrheim, Chairman

Contact: Ed Wehrheim, Catron County Chairman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone 505.533.6423
Email: ccmanager@gilanet.com

HABITUATED WOLVES ARE DANGEROUS WOLVES
Catron County Presses FWS on Habituated Wolves

RESERVE, N.M. A recent inquest determined that Kenton Carnegie had been killed by wolves two years ago in Ontario, Canada. On October 11 of this year, the Catron County Commission sent a letter to Dr. Benjamin Tuggle of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service notifying him of the County's findings of imminent danger and a demand for permanent removal of a male Mexican wolf from the Durango pack. The wolf had, at that time, been documented as frequenting two homes, one twenty-one times and another seven times over the course of a few months.

In its letter to Dr. Tuggle, the County cited the "10J Rule",a part of the Endangered Species Act which applies to the experimental, non-essential Mexican wolf population. This rule provides guidance for management of the Mexican wolf program and definitions of what constitutes a problem wolf. The County pointed out that the wolf in question met four of the five possible identifiers (only one is required for a wolf to be so identified). According to the 10J Rule, a problem wolf can be removed from the wild by the wolf program before it performs some action which may require, by the same Rule, that the wolf be destroyed.

However, in his October 27 letter of reply, Dr. Tuggle chose to disagree with the County's findings, stating that the wolf's actions did not constitute problem behavior, and further stated that the behaviors exhibited by the wolf would be best dealt with via "aversive conditioning methods", stating that the measures had been proven to be successful.

During the ten days that these methods were employed by authorities, the wolf returned to one of the homes five times.

"Dr. Tuggle seems to think the wolf's being documented at homes 28 times is normal wolf behavior," said Catron County's Wolf Interaction Investigator, Jess Carey. "He thinks it is acceptable for a family to have to live with people on their property on a daily basis, hazing the wolves away to protect the family."

According to a recent report by Dr. Valerius Geist, a Canadian biologist, becoming used to and not afraid of humans is one of the final steps before a wolf starts seeing humans as prey. Dr. Geist consulted wolf experts from around the world and identified seven stages of wolf habituation leading to attacks on humans.

"It appears that Dr. Tuggle is content that wolves in Catron County are displaying the exact behavior displayed by wolves that killed and ate Kenton Carnegie," said Ed Wehrheim, Chairman of the Catron County Commission. "We have a serious problem of escalating habituated behavior here. We told Dr. Tuggle very clearly of the evidence we have that the wolf is habituated and therefore a problem wolf. We invited him to come down here and examine our evidence. Our documentation includes three videos that were taken of wolves in people's yards, taken from their living room window. A habituated wolf is a dangerous wolf and we need to get these habituated wolves out of the our county so they are no longer threatening our people."

In a reply letter to Dr. Tuggle from the County, Wehrheim stated "the County has taken no action in order to give you time to do your job. However, we can wait no longer."
Commissioner Wehrheim stated that the County will take measures to protect its citizens, acting under the Catron County Wolf Protection Ordinance.

"It is the moral and legal responsibility of the Catron County Commission, first and foremost, to protect the safety, health and welfare of the residents of Catron County," the letter concludes.

# # #

Theres nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win.

2007-10-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

I have long resented the fact that I can't call myself an environmentalist any more. I have no desire to be boxed in with those new "environmentalist" who, with their well-funded new-think, have convinced most people that homo sapiens, rather than cockroaches, are now the lowest form of life on the planet, and that the whole planet
would be better off if homo sapiens were just exterminated. These extremist greens somehow have forgotten that humans evolved on the same planet, and that *real* environmentalism would include *all* species - not just non-human species.

These NTEs (New-Think Evironmentalists) have made environmentalism a faith-based movement that ignores science. Their guilt-based evangelism has gained them immense funding, and their tactics range from litigation to acts of terrorism. Notice that, like other fanatical faith-based movements, there doesn't seem to be any practice of the faith itself: NTEs don't actually practice any environmentalism, they just proselytize about it. And interestingly enough, they all seem to hold themselves apart from the rest of us low-life homo sapiens types - they get to remain here on the new, improved version of Earth while we get exterminated.

An interesting collection of extremist "green" thought is at The Antisocialist.

http://the-antisocialist.com/2007/10/27/more-words-of-wisdom-from-those-just-trying-to-save-the-planet/#comment-1181

Mexican wolf - reality vs propaganda

2007-10-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

An excellent article appears at WolfCrossing.org on the reality of what is actually happening on-the-ground in Mexican wolf reintroduction country vs the propaganda put out by pro-wolf people who don't have a clue but do have lots of money to promote their non-reality based viewpoint and to litigate when their viewpoint is challenged. I highly recommend reading this article.

http://wolfcrossing.org/blog/2007/10/27/defenders-perspective-far-cry-from-real-life/

There is a link in the middle of the article for still images (PDF format) from videos taken of wolves in one Catron County resident's yard.

Richardson green at expense of rural New Mexicans

2007-10-25T11:43:00.000-06:00

On Wed. Oct 24 "Blogging Bill", a blog put
together by the staff of the Santa Fe Reporter,
posted "There's Something About Bill::Political
Animals", subtitled "If dogs could vote, they
might pick Bill", by Dave
Mass.

http://sfrblogsbill.blogspot.com/2007/10/theres-something-about-bill-political.html

Mr. Mass must be kidding. Only city dogs would
vote for Bill! New Mexico's rural dogs know that
because Bill doesn't give a hoot about rural
dogs, or rural dogs' owners, their lives are in
constant jeopardy. Bill doesn't care that rural
dogs (and cats, horses and other animals owned by
rural New Mexicans) are being killed by Mexican
wolves - he says "wolves play a critical role in
maintaining balanced ecosystems" but like most
big-dollar, high-litigation environmental groups,
Bill apparently doesn't include human or domestic
animal species in our ecosystems.

Where exactly did humans evolve, then - another
planet? Are we not part of the
ecosystem? Haven't all species of wild animals
on this planet shared the environment with
domestic animals for the last ten thousand years
and with humans for longer than the Mexican wolf "species" has existed?

The instances of Richardson's "animals rights"
stance in Mr. Mass' article illustrate one
important point: Bill is appealing to potential
non-New Mexico voters while ignoring rural New
Mexicans (just like he has as governor).

New Mexico is not a large population state. It
is not possible for a governor here to miss the
pleas for relief from oppressive environmental
decisions which have arisen from litigation and
not-so-subtle pressures by highly-funded
non-local environmental groups and which inflict
a disproportionate burden on rural residents.

Richardson emphasizes diplomacy in many of his
public appearances. His diplomacy with respect
to rural environmentalism seems to be of the sort
that cats use: Bury the shit by scratching a
little fresh smelling soil over it. Maybe a
plant will grow there someday… or more likely,
maybe the shit will poison the soil and kill the
plants nearby. A vote for Richardson is a vote
for green at the expense of an important segment of our culture.

Donate rice, improve your brain.

2007-10-23T21:47:00.001-06:00

At www.freerice.com you can play a word game and improve your brain while doing good for others. Each time you choose a correct definition for a word, 10 grains of rice gets donated to the UN World Food Program.

Do they actually count the grains? How much of the rice actually gets to people who really need it? Don't know, but on my first round, I donated 160 grains of rice before not getting "plumbism". I'm not telling you the answer - you have to do this yourself.

Global warming: Human Guilt or Natural Event?

2007-09-23T16:29:00.000-06:00

Ice core sampling demonstrates that large, rapid, global climactic change is more the norm for the Earth's climate than is climactic stasis. Climactic stasis is wishful thinking by humans, not environmental reality.

Radiocarbon dating of bones and analysis of soils and plant matter shows that Aleutian climate was mild 3500 years ago, and in the 10th century, Greenland's climate, and presumably that of the Arctic nearby, was considerably warmer than today.

Ice-free summers in the Arctic occur approximately every 70 years according to some Russian sources. The Northwest Passage has been open numerous times in the past 100 years. Roald Amundson navigated it in 1903-06. The 104' wooden ship St. Roch sailed through twice in the early 1940s. The Coast Guard ship the USS Storis did it in 1955. There are quite a few other accounts of navigation of the Northwest Passage in the last century, so many that it is actually relatively commonplace. That the Northwest Passage was considered for so long to be a myth is likely due to the mini-ice age from the 16th through the mid 19th centuries rather than because it never existed. That it is open now is simply not that unusual, except in the short-sighted eyes of human memory.

To attribute global climate changes to human impacts on the environment without consideration of the geologic reality of climate change is more an economic tool for those who benefit from such scares than scientific fact.

Mandatory Almond Pasteurization is WRONG!!!

2007-09-23T14:24:00.000-06:00

It seems that, as of September 2007, raw almonds from CA and maybe elsewhere will no longer be "truly raw" due to a mandate passed by the USDA, FDA and the California Almond Board which says that all almonds including organic must be pasteurized.

Apparently pasteurized almonds available in the marketplace will still be labeled as raw almonds. Is this the goofiest thing you ever heard of? How can something be considered raw if it has been pasturized? Do you really want to be eating pasturized (dead) nuts and seeds? Isn't this fraudulent? Are you willing to give up your food freedom choices?

Information is available at the following link:Action Plan and Pasteurization - Frequently Asked Questions

Petition:
Mandatory Almond Pasteurization is WRONG!!!

Forced medical care - more control by government!

2007-09-12T15:50:00.001-06:00

Here's one for you: Our government apparently thinks it's OK to force medical care even when you're healthy!

Article by Thomas Cowles II
September 12, 2007

There is a developing story from California that involves a mother with a 17 year old child who HAD melanoma. The mother, chose to go against her allopathic (conventional) doctor's orders (to have surgery and chemotherapy) - and instead try advanced natural medicine first - since she understood that supporting the body's ability to heal is more effective than destroying it as chemotherapy does.

Not surprisingly this approach worked! This young man is now CANCER FREE!! However, the allopathic doctor is insisting that the child must have chemotheray as well as surgery, which the mother refuses to have her child undergo. Interestingly, doctor, the allopathic doctor's unnecessary treatments will be compensated by the insurer or state, while the holistic strategies that actually worked are not eligible for coverage.

The Department of Child Services was called and her son was taken away from her and put in foster care. The DCS claimed she failed to properly care for her child. Note here: the advanced methods which worked are being defined as "child abuse" while the doctor's assault (which is what we call touching someone against their will) is supported by the power of the state. Is this Health Freedom?

Next, the mother was put in jail for 5 days in maximum security and suffered injuries in the neck and arm from jailers. Her child is still in foster care, where he was forcibly vaccinated. Disgusted yet? It gets worse...

The case is pending in Dependency Court in Orange County where the Judge is soon to rule whether her son will be ordered to have surgery and chemotherapy.

This 17 year old near-adult does NOT want to undergo chemotherapy or surgery and was forcefully vaccinated while in state custody. We support this brave young man and his clear thinking mother in their struggle to preserve his freedom. In doing so, they are struggling to preserve ours.

We will be reporting on the result of a court decision as it unfolds, perhaps as early as later today. The mother will also be sharing her story in a follow-up email shortly. At this moment, she has been barred by the court from discussing her case publicly. Not only is her son's Health Freedom under assault in this case, so is her Freedom of Speech.

Please forward this email widely. If a Civil Rights Attorney would be willing to advise in this matter, please reply via email.

The family is in desperate need of support and legal assistance. The Natural Solutions Foundation http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/index.php?page_id=193 is taking this threat to our collective Health Freedom and our Freedom of Speech very seriously. The Foundation will continue to assist and are building a network of natural physicians, Constitutional lawyers and other experts to be ready to act as "amicus curiae" - Friends of the Court - in similar cases. If you can help us fund or staff our Health Freedom Posse, please reply via email. Remember that your donations key to these battles!

Dr. Laibow has pledged to interrupt her travels to be present for this hearing but, because this is a juvenile case, she and all other outsiders are barred from attending these proceedings. However, the minute the outcome is known we will inform you on this threat to our Health Freedom. Watch for the next email in this unfolding story. This may mean that you will get another email as early as later today.

The Natural Solutions Foundation will be there for your freedoms and assisting this brave mother and son as they pursue legal redress for the assaults the State of California has made on their Health Freedom.

Because this is a juvenile case we will not be permitted to attend hearings. However, we will know the outcome immediately following and will keep you informed on this threat to our Health Freedom. And we will be there for you when this brave mother and son pursue legal redress for this assault on their Health Freedom.

We agree strongly with Dr. Ron Paul's recent statement, "The government should never have the power to require immunizations or vaccinations." If you haven't done so, please sign the petition: Support Ron Paul's Health Freedom Protection Act, H.R. 2117 and forward to all your family and friends to do the same!

Please do what you can to support the Natural Solution Foundation's efforts by making a generous donation. Your generous support makes this and all of our other outreach efforts possible.

We are all invested in this fight. Each of us will be effected by it's outcome. Each of us can make a difference!

Thank you Freedom Fighters!

Thomas Cowles II
Media Director, Natural Solutions Foundation
healthfreedom@cowlesmedia.com

Mexican wolves

2007-06-09T12:29:00.002-06:00

I won't hide the fact that I'm pretty darn unhappy with the Mexican wolf "reintroduction" program. There's so many falsehoods being passed around out there that it is pitiful.

Most of the people who are pro-wolf (but who don't live in Mexican wolf country) are automatically pro-"reintroduction" program. They don't have a clue how the program is run, and they believe the propaganda out there that the locals who have to submit to the program - at very high personal cost (that's out of their own bank accounts, gentle reader) - are all anti-wolf.

Ain't so. People here in Mexican wolf country are anti-program, not anti-wolf. So when you start bashing people who are protesting this program (and they aren't all ranchers, contrary to what the propaganda tells you), you might stop a moment and ask yourself this: Where did you get the info that forms your belief? From shiny magazines with lots of money behind them? Or from the source, the people who are living with this program?

Are Environmentalists in Favor of Anything?

2007-06-09T12:29:00.001-06:00

Dam the Salmon
By Shikha Dalmia
From the Wall Street Journal Friday, June 08, 2007
Printed in full at http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/2007/06/are-environmentalists-in-favor-of.html

Al Gore has been hectoring Americans to pare back their lifestyles to fight global warming. But if Mr. Gore wants us to rethink our priorities in the face of this mother of all environmental threats, surely he has convinced his fellow greens to rethink theirs, right?Wrong. If their opposition to the Klamath hydroelectric dams in the Pacific Northwest is any indication, the greens, it appears, are just as unwilling to sacrifice their pet causes as a Texas rancher is to sacrifice his pickup truck. If anything, the radicalization of the environmental movement is the bigger obstacle to addressing global warming than the allegedly gluttonous American way of life. . . .These dams provide cheap, renewable energy to 70,000 homes in Oregon and California. Replacing this energy with natural gas -- the cleanest fossil-fuel source -- would still pump 473,000 tons of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. This is roughly equal to the annual emissions of 102,000 cars.Given this alternative, one would think that environmentalists would form a human shield around the dams to protect them. Instead, they have been fighting tooth-and-nail to tear them down because the dams stand in the way of migrating salmon. Environmentalists don't even let many states, including California, count hydro as renewable. . . .Their opposition to nuclear energy is well known. Wind power? Two years ago the Center for Biological Diversity sued California's Altamont Pass Wind Farm for obstructing and shredding migrating birds. ("Cuisinarts of the sky" is what many greens call wind farms.) Solar? Worldwatch Institute's Christopher Flavin has been decidedly lukewarm about solar farms because they involve placing acres of mirrors in pristine desert habitat. The Sierra Club and Wilderness Society once testified before Congress to keep California's Mojave Desert -- one of the prime solar sites in the country -- off limits to all development. Geothermal energy? They are unlikely to get enviro blessings, because some of the best sites are located on protected federal lands.

Anyone feel like a BANANA?

One Still Free

2007-06-09T12:29:00.000-06:00

You know, these days I'm pretty amazed at life. It's a bizarre world out there, if you read what's being said on blogs and in the news. I really am a lazy person in my heart and soul but I can't ignore the BS that people pass off as fact. It burns me that people will believe just about anything these days, which is incredible considering that we have the most powerful research tool that has ever existed on this planet at our fingertips, the web, which could be easily used to verify anything.

But no. People would rather believe the urban legends/hoaxes the receive via email and then pass them on to hundreds of their closest friends. People would rather believe everything they read in print, particularly when it comes in expensive, shiny magazines. They'd rather believe big PR campaigns then the small voices of victims.
People would rather believe what they're fed to believe rather than what they've checked out for themselves.

Well heck, then I'll just feed some belief systems too.

Heh, heh, heh.

One Still Free

In spite of murder, the Mexican wolf population increases

Cartoon

US Constitution: First Amendment

Living In Freedom

DoW: They say they don't make things up...

Tucson: The environmental litigation factory capitol of America

EnviroSpin

Rethinking Environmentalism

Mexican Wolf’s Enemy #1

Mexican Wolves - A Human Problem

Common Sense Revisited

Environmentalism's impact on the economy

Mexican Wolf Impacts on Ranch Economy

The New Environmentalism

Catron County: the new tribal reservation of our age

Tadpole rescue

When Frogs Go Wrong

An end to subsidized enviro lawsuits?

Tax cuts create jobs, ‘stimulus' does not

Obama vs. Arizona

Government Gone Whacko - USFS

AZ immigration law

Mexican wolf lawsuit notice

Rocky Mtn Elk Foundation Turns Up Heat on Pro-Wolf Groups

NM HJM 48 progress

Global Warming or Global Hoax?

Facts vs Advocacy

2nd Annual Cowboy Dinner and Dance

Climate Change - deja vu

Happy Holidays

Obama Lies About Pandemic?

APWE CHALLENGES MEXICAN WOLF PETITION

What's Truth Got To Do With It?

Here's something to think about

Who’s The Terrorist?

How stupid does Obama think we are?

The economic bailout issue in one sentence

Wolves vs. Humans: Which Do the Feds Value More?

The economics of socialism

Mongol Derby - why not just shoot the horses before the start?

Common Sense ­ Uncommonly Rare

Gila Sustainable Community News

Bias, propaganda and censorship

Lawsuits Are Not Environmentalism

Defenders of Wildlife... or irresponsible animal dumpers?

Vulcan Logic and The Good Of The Many

Swine Flu or Swindle the Public?

Wolf News Release: WildEarth Guardians lawsuit setback

How is the Mexican wolf program like waterboarding?

How is the Mexican wolf program like waterboarding?

US no longer competitive, article says

More on Global Warming

No end to spin

Global Warming Zombies

Whining - the New National Pastime

What's the real crisis?

Fed up with Mexican wolves?

Is there a scientist in the house?

Chilling facts on global warming

Your DNA - now online

Environmentalists or terrorists?

Climate change article by David Archibald

545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR AMERICA’S WOES

Global warming: Who gains from the scare tactics?

Water rights - protect them or go thirsty!

Email notification service

Re: [One Still Free] New comment on FW: Wolf-Proof Shelters Go Up for School Kids .

Global warming is over!

FW: Wolf-Proof Shelters Go Up for School Kids

Wild Born Wolves Swept Under Rug by Program Managers

Mexican wolf video for CNN Republican debate

Wolves: the natural order of things

Thought control campaign - Mexican wolves

Dec 5 Mexican wolf public scoping meeting in Glenwood

Mexican wolves: The full truth

Habituated wolves: A sign of induced abnormal behavior

News Release: Habituated Wolves Are Dangerous Wolves

Theres nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win.

Mexican wolf - reality vs propaganda

Common Sense Uncommonly Rare

Theres nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win.