Out of Step

This morning two verses wrestled their way out of my cluttered confused thoughts: "Our God is not a God of confusion" and "The steps of a Godly man are ordered by the Lord".
Confusion pretty much sums up our country's state of affairs. It's seeping into my daily life at a rapid pace, as it is every American.
This week it seemed enhanced...bold...CONFUSION. For instance our beef industry's checkoff dollar is overseen by Government Controlled USDA. For many years this collection of a 1.00 a head on each animal sold has been utilized wisely for promoting our product. As with any large organization there have been disagreements in the past, discrepancies have been corrected quietly and this strong organization always moved forward. The past year or so our industry has witnessed confusion and anger with distrust spilling over into our once "mostly harmonious", healthy organization. Monstrous government rules and regulations (the USDA's oversite manual is seven or eight inches thick) and a "certain few" are now causing not only confusion but deterioration of this once "mostly harmonious" body. A body which over the years has increased beef demand, secured export markets and created a safer product for consumers. Today all of that is being threatened by Governmental Confusion.

Yesterday I attended a seminar laying out the new health care reform stipulations employers must follow to implement the new program. Confusing doesn't describe what is coming. After a 40 page power-point the presenter was still unable to convey exactly what lie ahead as new regulations were being added every ten days. It will be impossible to follow these Government Imposed regulations

These examples hit me personally. I'm sure most American's have been impacted at some level by Government Confusion in the last 18 months. Like never before.

I'm just wondering if the confusion that is reigning across our nation has anything to do with our president's Muslim leanings. The Bible says that a Godly man's steps are ordered by the Lord. In his book Audacity of Hope our president says he will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.
That is just one of his numerous references to Muslim sympathizing. There have been many more since taking office.

This administration is dismantling our nation. They are systematically attacking its core structure. They are destroying businesses, organizations and homes. They are taking over public lands and creating monuments in place of cattle grazing, they are creating regulations too numerous and to complicated for anyone to absorb. They are killing jobs. They are creating a socialists nation.

Christians, we better stand up and find a Godly leader to lead America. A leader whose steps are ordered by the Lord. A leader who's faith reflects our founding father's faith. A leader who's God Is Not a God of Confusion.

A Visit With Lincoln

Just returned from Lubbock where several ranchers from six of the largest beef producing states in the U.S. were able to speak with Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas Senate Ag Committee Chairman. Even though our political views are different she IS a friend of Ag and is extremely well informed on all the issues facing our industry. Our goal was to create rapport with those in Congress and extend an invitation to visit our ranches and witness our lifestyles. We also extended a hand on any issue that may need clarification that relates to our industries when up for a vote. She was extremely gracious for having her come visit and vowed to stick behind us. She said the best way to get congress to listen to us is to "TELL OUR STORIES" She said "numbers and statistics" just swirl around Washington but if you have a "good story" they'll remember you. We invited her to our ranches and extended the invitation to all others. I want to thank Terry Stuart Forst for allowing me this opportunity. It was a great experience for an old country bumpkin from Oklahoma :)

Say What?

Driving with my 10 year old granddaughter, the radio broadcasting AM, my favorite station comes on with the news and the announcer is commenting on the G8 summit and the G10 and blah blah blah and that our president was urging the other countries in attendance to "spend more to help these nations out of economic disaster." Olivia looks at me with her nose wrinkled and asked, "Did they just say you have to spend more money to get out of debt?" Then she asked, "What are they thinking?" That pretty much sums it up...remember I said she was 10.

Enjoying The Little Things

Summer is here. A typical summer day at the ranch goes like this: rise and shine around 6:30 a.m. usually with a "sleep over" or two. We're haying; swathing alfalfa, baling and raking, swathing canola and preparing for wheat harvest. This year I've lost my raking position to the grandsons. I walk over to the office and work on renewing Indian leases which makes me want to pull my hair out. I listen to my dad recount his night; lightening struck his house and knocked him out of bed. Four grandkids circulate through the office as I try to make our church bank deposit. Our oldest son was in the emergency room last night with a 103.4 temp, he calls to recount his night. Between phone calls I try to do an inventory on our cattle herd. Our health insurance has increased 17% so try to figure out what to do there. Around 10:30 I slip out of the office back to the house with the four little ones trailing me...they're hungry...again (I am blessed with Linda, our great secretary, otherwise I couldn't make these routine escapes.) Before I whip up lunch, the crew wants to show me their "new fort" the one in the horse pasture. We all climb aboard the golf cart for the grand tour. Through the eyes of a child (which I see 20/20)it's perfect---complete with rusty springs,old chairs, buckets, rasps- anything of value that could be drug easily from the ranch dump. Then back to the house. A mother coon bore her young behind our fireplace insert, and a mother swallow has hatched her young on my back porch. We can't get to the coons, and I don't have the heart to knock the swallow's nest down, plus watching the 6 homely smiling faces peaking over their nest gives my little guys something to oooh and aaahh over before entering the house. I slip in several links to my ExPOSE HSUS site, download some pictures from our Pilot Party for Brad (he got his pilots license last week and we celebrated Sunday evening with all the family coming over for Mexican Fiesta. By 5:00 p.m. it's time to take a three and four year old to their tee ball game in their hometown twenty miles away. At the game I watch an outfield brawl, the three year old sister tackles her four year old brother in an attempt to recover the ball. High shrill screams pierce the evening air as brother comes up with the ball...they're on the same team. It was a perfect end to a perfect summer day

Deja Vue

Deja Vue; I had it tonight. A birthday party for our grandson was held at his home- the one I grew up in. After blowing out candles and eating cake and ice cream, kids went on to play and grown ups sat around and talked about the fate of our country. One relative, a banker, made comments on the direction of the banking system. Everyone threw in their 2 cents and the fate of our country was soon doomed. As the discussion drew on some little ones had filtered back in and were eavesdropping on the adults. Just like I had done 48 years ago...
The area of concern then--the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember that evening as if it were yesterday. My Grandmother Hazel sliced the Neopolatin ice cream "just so" making sure each plate had a perfect vanilla, strawberry, chocolate trio, Grandma Grace added slices of her homemade Angel food cake to each. I ate with ears "wide open" listening and absorbing what I could. I didn't understand what was going on but I knew we were in trouble. I don't remember the outcome of that discussion. Perhaps as months passed the focus shifted to President Kennedy: his life and death. But I never heard the problem the adults were discussing on that cool autumn evening mentioned again.
Tonight I thought about that. The fact that the problem that caused such sober faces and somber talk 48 years ago was taken care of.
I say a prayer that those little ones that overhead the sober talk and witnessed the somber faces tonight will be able to say the same thing years from now..."I don't remember the outcome of that discussion."

LIVING WITH HSUS: FACTS YOU MUST KNOW

Animal Welfare vs. Animal Rights
• “Animal rights” means that animals have rights- and aren’t ours to own or use for food, entertainment, or companionship.
• “Animal welfare” means providing proper care to animals- something that farmers and ranchers work hard to achieve everyday!
About Animal Activists
• They have been in the business of creating conflict between animal agriculture and the consumer for more than 30 years.
• The end goal? Cause animal protein products to become so expensive that the average American can’t afford them, putting farmers and ranchers out of business.
• These are not people who want to make a deal; this is a movement, an ideology, dogma, religion… this is a long-term battle.
• They are targeting youth, schools, colleges, and rock concerts by using “hyper emotionalism,” a false display of cruelty to get their message out.
Who is the Humane Society of the United States?
• The Humane Society of the United States preys on emotion to fundraise- even though, according to IRS documents, less than one-half of one percent (.5%) of HSUS’ $100 million budget goes towards hands-on animal care.
• But- according to a 2010 survey, 83 percent of Americans think that HSUS supports local animal shelters. 71 percent think it is an “umbrella group” for local shelters.
• Where does the money go? $2.5 million went to HSUS employee pension plans- five times as much as the money used by the organization to promote animal welfare.
• HSUS takes on expensive ballot initiative campaigns, advertising, and lobbying to restrict livestock production practices.
• According to David Martosko of Humanewatch.org, PETA and HSUS are very much alike; they just differ in how they market their brands. PETA is a “pickpocket” and goes for shock value. HSUS is a “con man,” manipulating the public to gain support.
Recent Activist Campaigns
• California’s activist-funded 2008 Proposition 2 campaign outlawed common agriculture practices and set a precedent for other states.
• Lobbied to strip funding from USDA horse slaughter inspection, shutting down all domestic horse slaughter in 2007.
• HSUS infiltrated the 4-H program in 2010, presenting a session at the National 4-H Convention to youth leaders entitled: “Animal Instincts: Service Learning and Animal Welfare.”

HSUS Corporate Supporters
• Steak and Shake
• Jack In The Box
• Sonic Corp
• Oreck Vacuums
• Chipotle
• Bank of America
• Microsoft
• Xerox
• PetsMart
• Land Rover
• Harland Clark- they probably print your checks
What YOU Can Do

• Spread the word of HSUS’ deception through grassroots efforts;
• Sign up for NCBA’S MBA (Master’s of Beef Advocacy) Program;
• Join groups such as HumaneWatch.org, Animal Agriculture Alliance, and Advocates For Agriculture;
• Utilize social media, Facebook, Twitter and blog platforms to share your story;
Bottom Line
• Either you believe in farming and ranching, or you don’t.
• Either you are willing to defend it, or you aren’t.
• Agriculturists MUST tell their stories in order to push back the opposition and preserve our ability to feed the world!

Knowledge of Ag: Haves vs Have Nots

I know you’re getting sick of hearing about “the train”, but I just have to share one more story.
When traveling by train dining is community seating so you’re always eating with people you don’t know. All the way out and coming back there were only 3 or 4 people I met during those meals that knew much about agriculture. Several knew about “factory farming” and lumped all of us into that category. This seemed like a good little representation of American folks…young, old, married, single, liberal, conservative, east coast, west coast, middle class, and I was amazed at the ag ignorance that prevailed.
When I arrived in D.C my cab driver who was from Africa asked what I was doing in town. I told him about HSUS and their attacks on animal agriculture and the Animal Ag Alliance Summit I was attending. He had heard of HSUS. At one point he asked, “What’s wrong with Americans, I love agriculture, that’s how we survive?” “We’re spoiled rotten.” I told him. He agreed. I just keep thinking about the vast chasm of a realization of the origin of food production that exists between the spoiled and the unspoiled.