"green" hypocrisy

...The supposedly green Barack Obama had a St Louis chef flown 850 miles just to make pizza at the White House...

Hypocrisy is the vice we find hardest to forgive, but it’s also the one we most enjoy discovering in others. And nothing piques our interest more than eco-hypocrisy as practiced by the “green” celebrities who have been spouting green virtue but spewing out hundreds of tons of carbon from their private jets or multiple holiday homes around the globe.

There was Sheryl Crow, who had called upon the public to refrain from using more than one square of toilet paper per visit (“except on those pesky occasions when two or three are required”) and who was leading a Stop Global Warming concert tour across America. It was revealed that while Crow traveled in a bio-diesel tour bus, her 30-person entourage followed in a fleet of 13 gas-guzzling vehicles.

John Travolta notoriously encouraged the British public to do its bit to fight global warming — after flying into London on one of his five, yes, five private jets (one of which is a Boeing 707). In 2006 his piloting hobby produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions, more than a hundred times the output of the average Briton, according to the Carbon Trust.

It is less well known that Tom Cruise — who has campaigned for the LA-based environmental group Earth Communications Office — also has an air fleet and a license to pilot his five planes, including a top-of-the-line customized Gulfstream jet he bought for his wife, Katie Holmes.

Harrison Ford, who is vice-chairman on the board of Conservation International, voices public-service messages for an environmental federation called EarthShare, and once shaved his chest hair to illustrate the effects of deforestation, is another hobby pilot. He once owned a Gulfstream but now makes do with a smaller Cessna Citation Sovereign eight-seater jet, four propeller planes and a helicopter.

Oprah Winfrey, who preaches eco-virtue from her TV pulpit, traveled in a 13-seat Gulfstream IV private jet for years — the preferred model for celebrities and the super-rich. (She has replaced it with a faster Bombardier Global Express.) The public first became aware of her private-jet habit when her plane had to make a forced landing in California in 2005; it was reminded of it this year after one of her stewardesses was fired for allegedly having sex with the pilot while Oprah and other passengers were asleep.

Jennifer Aniston told reporters that to save the Earth’s precious water resources she brushes her teeth while in the shower. But she also flew a hairdresser to Europe to accompany her on a recent publicity tour for the film Marley & Me.

There are endless other examples of hypocrisy by green politicos. David Cameron was once photographed virtuously riding his bike to the House of Commons, with his official car behind him, carrying his suit and briefcase. Ken Livingstone, who swore he would make London the world’s greenest city when he was mayor, made scores of arguably unnecessary flights to foreign destinations.  

At the end of the film An Inconvenient Truth, the unbearably earnest former presidential candidate Al Gore asked his audience: “Are you ready to change the way you live?” His own huge Nashville mansion consumed over 20 times the electricity of an average American home. Indeed, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, it burnt twice as much power in the month of August 2006 than most American homes do in an entire year. Another inconvenient truth revealed that the former senator spent $500 a month just to heat the indoor swimming pool in his lavish domestic establishment. The 100ft houseboat he bought in 2008, on the other hand, was said to be powered by bio-diesel.  Gore gave the usual response of the green celebrity caught not practicing what they preach. He said he made up for his consumption of electricity and production of carbon dioxide by buying carbon offsets — some from his own offset company.

The Copenhagen summit next week will generate vast quantities of hot air. It will see 16,500 people coming in from 192 countries. That amounts to 41,000 tons of carbon dioxide, roughly the same as the carbon emissions of Morocco in 2006. Also, the organizers will lay 900 kilometers of computer cable and 50,000 square miles of carpet. More than 200,000 meals will be served and visitors will drink 200,000 cups of coffee — at least that will be organic...

There is something annoying about the way “ordinary” people are being told they must give up their “addiction” to cheap travel, when no leading Hollywood star — not even Leonardo DiCaprio, who often flies commercial — can bring themselves to relinquish the private jet.

[me... While I completely disagree with the idea of man-made global warming, I can at least respect the people who are truly living their lives according to their publicly expressed beliefs.  It seems however, that all of the people who get the public's attention are full of torro cacca and are the worst hypocrites in our society.  As I have stated before, I believe in the Lord our God and that He created the earth and its creatures for us to use.  That being said, I also believe that we need to be more responsible and respectful of the creation that God has given us.  True conservatives and true liberals have more in common than most people think.]

taken from: Taking the private jet to Copenhagen (timesUKonline) see full article here

not supposed to be funny, but...

I had to laugh when I watched this video.  It made the news because NBC refused to allow it to air.  I am sure that my response is not what PETA was hoping for, but I could not help it.  Even if you think that PETA is nutty, you need to understand that if you bought a turkey from a store, it was most likely raised/treated just as this advertisement describes.  What I don't understand is how their only answer to avoiding factory raised turkeys is to not eat turkey at all... like there is no other alternative. 

I have a novel idea; how about turkeys that are raised naturally, allowed to forage on pasture, are not pumped full of hormones or anti-biotics, and are slaughtered in a clean, humane manner.  Oh wait; we are already doing that at Liberty Pastures.

I also find it interesting that I am agreeing with PETA on anything, but we have very different foundations for our reasoning.  They think that animals are as valuable (or more so) than humans, whereas we think that animals were created by God for our use, but that we still have a duty to treat them respectfully.  We also believe that Happy Animals make better food.   :-)

Contact us if you would like to find out more or if you would like to pre-order your turkey for next year.

a beautiful view

A beautiful sunrise, the view from our front porch at Liberty Pastures.

this says it all

My wife sent this to me and I had to laugh.  In all seriousness, it is a sad, but true statement of what our country has become.  Guys like me do not have the liberty to act and think as our Founding Fathers intended while our enemies basically have the liberty to shoot us, blow us up, and then have excuses made for their actions.

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=e8547cf5de95497f8221e8cffc056202&w=550.0

moooving cattle

Yesterday, I got a call from my buddy at Maple Valley Farm; Larry asked me to come over and help him "sort" his new cattle.  I have been around cattle, but have never worked with them or really done anything other than look at them.  Despite my lack of experience, I figured that if he was asking for my help then he probably really needed help and I would see what I could do.

I have to admit that I was sort of hoping he would call me and tell me it was off due to the rain, but that didn't happen and I arrived ready for work this morning at 0900.  I am glad that it did not get postponed and that he allowed me to assist him in the adventure because I learned quite a lot (this is not the first time I have gained experience with something new by helping Larry and I doubt it will be the last) and I always enjoy spending time with my friend.

The task was seemingly simple; to sort the two young male calves from the herd of larger females.  The task was further complicated by Larry's desire to avoid stressing the cattle; a philosophy with which I agree, but makes working with animals a bit more difficult and stressful for us.  It was not easy, but we got the two little guys separated and into their own paddock.  Next came the real hard part; we needed to get the herd of ladies out of their new paddock, down the hill and to the back of the property where the sheep were (about a ½ mile away).  This too was not easy, but we eventually got them where Larry wanted them. 

All-in-all, I would have to say that I enjoyed it a bit and learned that while there are some similarities when herding different animals there are some BIG differences too.  Who knows maybe we will end up with some cattle of our own in the future.

one less goat on the farm

For several months now, Loppy has not been "right".  The children named her Loppy due to her being lopsided; one of her ears was longer than the other.  She was not a particularly friendly goat, nor did she look real good, but never-the-less she was a part of our family and she had a special place in our hearts mainly due to our sympathy for her.  Despite her seemingly normal goat activities, she had scours (goat diarrhea) for over a month.  We initially tried all types of natural supplements to nurse her back to health, but finally gave up after spending a bunch of money with no effect.  After one of my recent trips I came home to find Loppy pooping normal for a change; I thanked the Lord and assumed she was finally getting healthy, but she never seemed to gain weight and always just looked sickly.

She ate and drank just as much as the other goats, she moved around just fine, but she obviously still had some problems.  Just before I left again on Wednesday the children and I moved the goats to fresh pasture, as we began the process, we saw that Loppy was lying down.  That in itself would not be a problem, but I noticed the dominant doe, Blanchet (and yes every goat has a name), head butting her.  The goats hit each other fairly regularly, but Loppy was on her side and Blanchet seemed to be trying to make her roll over.  As we prepared the new paddocks for the goats, I continued to monitor Loppy who laid on her side for almost an hour; I noticed her trying to get up at times and other times she just laid there with her eyes closed.  I knew this was a very bad sign and I knew what I had to do.

We moved the goats to their new field and took down the old fencing, all the while Loppy laid on her side with her legs sort of sticking up in the air.  I have no problem killing things, but I hate to see animals suffer and I told my children what I had to do.  They both knew what I was going to say before I said it, but my daughter took the news real hard and cried quite a lot.  I asked them if they wanted to go inside while I killed Loppy; my son was sad, but opted to continue working while my daughter headed for the house.  Just as we finished this conversation we saw Loppy up and walking around like nothing ever happened.  There was a ray of hope at the apparent reprieve of execution, but I knew it was only a matter of time and I felt I needed to continue with my original plan.

One thing we decided,  from day one, was that our animals would be raised on all natural foods, without any anti-biotics, growth hormones, de-wormers, etc...   We knew this would make raising the animals more difficult, but it just was not an option for us.  We also had to accept the fact that we may have a higher mortality rate with our animals than other farmers might have, but I never really thought about me having to kill them.  I guess I figured they would get sick and quickly die on their own.  Our first goat death (due to illness) occurred about two months ago while I was away for 4 weeks.  Fern (not sure where she got that name) got sick soon after I left and struggled for a couple weeks.  Eventually my wife and children found her dead and had to deal with the carcass; I felt bad at the time knowing that Fern was dying and not being home to put her out of her misery.  We have come a long way, but I cannot expect my wife to put a gun to a goat’s head nor am I willing to spend $100+ for a veterinarian to euthanize a $50 goat.

Anyway, as I previously stated, I knew that Loppy needed to be put down; my thoughts were confirmed when she was again unable to stand up later.  I got the leash, loaded her onto the rear platform on my tractor, and hauled her down to the lower pasture near the creek where my wife had dumped Fern after she died.  This area is far enough away from the house and our animals that I have no concerns about the Coyotes, Vultures and other scavengers that would be coming back around.  I felt like an executioner leading her to the execution room, only she had no idea what was going on.

After I shot her, I sat there and watched life leave her body.  I didn't cry or feel that type of loss, but I didn't feel real good either.  I had hard time as I drove back up toward the house and met with my daughter,  who came to me and hugged me as she cried.  I cannot imagine what she felt and thought as she heard the gun shots.  I confirmed with her that she understood why I had done it and that she was not angry with me.  She was sad for a while, but a few hours later she was laughing and running around like nothing had happened.

 As I type this I wonder if I will ever be able to kill an animal like that without feeling some remorse... I hope not.  I have hunted turkeys, slaughtered chickens, shot rabbits and had no problems with any of it, but having to kill an animal out of mercy is quite a bit different; the act seems to add a type of human quality to it that makes it more difficult.  I am also fascinated by the fact that I was more effected by my dead goat (and my daughter’s pet chicken that I had to kill) than all of the dead humans that I have seen.

I didn't intend to turn this post into a morbid look into my psyche, but I guess part of the reason I have this blog is to simply get my thoughts out of my head sometimes.  My family has learned a lot about life in the past year since we moved here; not all of it has been easy, but I know that it has all been good and it has given us all a greater appreciation for the lives we have been blessed with.

growing up

Both of my children have asked (in the past) to drive the tractor, but I have always thought that they were just too young to drive a 5,750 lb machine that would drive right through the house if you let it.  Perhaps because I have been gone so much lately and am feeling more emotional than normal or perhaps because I really felt they could handle it, I decided to let them give it a shot.

I had my son drive first; I stood on the 3 point hitch behind him as I explained how the clutch and gear shift worked along with the dual brakes and the gas lever.  I was a little nervous as I allowed him to put it into gear and release the clutch, but he did well and it went fairly smoothly.  The tractor was in 2nd gear so it wouldn't go very fast and I jumped down and walked along side my son as he drove the tractor all by himself.  As I watched him headed down the driveway, I couldn't help but get a little emotional as I thought of my little boy transforming into a young man.  His smile, look of confidence, and overall sense of accomplishment made the whole experience one I will never forget.

I also allowed my daughter to drive and she did equally well behind the wheel, but for some reason I did not have the same reaction.  She enjoyed herself, but did not seem to have that "boys driving big machinery" grin on her face; I guess that is a good thing.  Before I know it they will both be doing real work with the tractor rather than just driving it for fun.  Both of them have already asked if they can run the bush-hog and/or drive it around the drive way...  they seem to think it is like a very large go-cart.   :-)

a great concert

As previously advertised, we had a small concert at our home yesterday.  Despite the possibilities, the weather was absolutely wonderful and it was a perfect November day to fellowship and worship outside.  I had hoped for a larger crowd, but we were blessed to have approximately 35 people join us and they all seemed to truly enjoy the time together.

Nathan George and his brother Benjamin showed up a few hours early, shared a meal with us, and spent some time simply sitting around getting acquainted; they then performed for about an hour.  It was truly awesome to have Nathan and Benjamin come to our home and bless us with their music.  It is my hope that we can have more concerts in the future and we would love to have Nathan join us again next fall.  You can see more about the concert at my wife's blog.

click here to view the web album or the slideshow.

the look of a terrorist?

Ok, well here I go again with another post that has absolutely nothing to do with farming or our life on the farm...  (I wrote this while sitting in the airport on Friday and am publishing it this morning)

To the left is the Official Photo I had taken a couple days ago; I am wearing the same uniform as I am traveling today.  I am sitting in the airport in New Orleans waiting to catch my flight home and I am stewing about the ridiculous process I just went through with TSA and airport "security".  I know that we need to be more secure and I am all for having a screening processes, but the system we have now is a complete joke.

I correctly guessed that my uniform would set off the metal detector, but I was not anticipating having to stand in the glass cubicle for 10 minutes waiting for the schlub from TSA to come over and further scrutinize me via a full  "pat-down".   As I stood there watching people walk by, who would fit a terrorist profile if we had the fortitude to do what was necessary rather than what was politically correct, I began to grow very angry.  Watching the overweight, sloppy TSA screeners walk around with their ghetto tattoos I grew more angry...  I found myself wondering what they actually had to go through to get their security clearance and what made them "qualified" to screen me.

I have had a security clearance through the Marine Corps for the past 17 years and have been in some of the most secure locations in our nation.  As a former police officer, I have the right to carry a firearm anywhere in our nation and I know that I have had several more thorough background-checks than the TSA screeners.  I have spent my whole adult life as someone who has been willing to run toward gunfire and risk my life to protect people, but when it come to traveling at the airport I am treated as if I am more untrustworthy than the average person.

I am constantly frustrated that I walk around on a daily basis as a Sheepdog willing to protect the Sheep of society from the Wolves; when I get on an airplane, I am forced to give up my status as a protector and become just another potential victim.  In addition to having to take my shoes off, I am regularly pulled aside at the gate to be "randomly" screened again.  My Marine Corps dog tags, official orders, official passport, I.D. card mean absolutely nothing to the people who went from flipping burgers to being in charge of our nations security with air-travel.

I simply don’t understand why we (as a society) are unwilling to be effective rather than politically correct.  I also do not understand why the FAA, TSA, FBI, or any of the lettered agencies do not offer a course for people like me that would allow us to travel as a protector rather than a potential victim.  I would be willing to pay to get another background check and put myself through an air marshal academy, but that would simply be too logical for those bureaucrats running things.

Oh well, I guess I should be accustomed to this by now, but I hope I never get complacent and accept the stupidity of the world.  For those of you that know me, you can count on me to protect you whenever we are together, unless we are flying... then I will still attempt to protect you, but I will have to use the plastic spoon I got from the stewardess rather my gun or knife.

Semper Fidelis