Where fort art thou Cederford?

Me thinks Scott Adams hast been hanging out at Vox’s.

Given his blog; I’d say, “The Lady dost protest too much”.

Legends of the Fall

When you explore wild country you expect to encounter animals that can kill you. Lions, bears and now wolf packs are abundant and are a constant threat to the wilderness explorer. Other less dramatic threats are common. You can sprain an ankle and not make it back to your truck or shelter, hypothermia can take you.

In the 1994 movie Legends of the Fall, Tristan Ludlow meets his death hunting in grizzly country. If I get a choice that’s how I want to go; I want to die a man’s death in the midst of a grand adventure, meeting my end defending what I know to be noble would be a good second choice.

Three years ago I lost 95% of the hearing in my right ear and 10 to 15% of the hearing in my left ear. Prior to that, I used to have excellent hearing, well above average. I loved being outside because of the quite and being able to hear things in nature. As a kid I discovered that I picked up on the natural world better than most people and I like being immersed in it. I miss having that connection.

Today I had a job out of town near a section of mountains that I like to hunt. I did the assignment and headed up to hunt deer. The day was beautiful, the air clean and crisp. I drove to the end of the trail and started hiking up the mountain. After several miles I heard a fluttering sound, like a cross between a bee and a grasshopper. Looking around I couldn’t find what was making the noise. Only hearing out of one ear makes it hard to locate sounds.

I took another step turned and couldn’t see what was making the sound. Then I started looking around on the ground in front of me, nothing. I made it up onto a large section of rock. No more noise. Then I saw him. There was a small rattlesnake about 14 inches long. He had two little buttons on his rattle that barley made any sound. He was keeping his head under his body and wasn’t likely to strike. He wanted me to not step on him. I obliged.

I don’t know what the deal is, in the last month I’ve come across more venomous snakes than in the last 16 years. I hope one day to die in the mountains, in the open air, under a big sky, but not from snake bite.

My buddy Bill’s dad got that wish this year. At least close to it, at 80 some years old he died in his sleep in elk camp after spending one last great day in the splendor that is Jackson Hole. A hospital ward or an old folks home is a miserable ending. I’d rather go on the crapper than sick in bed, at least there’s a laugh in that and your buddies will snicker while they lift a glass in your memory.

Rong

Do you remember your first video game?

How about the first video game?

Pong in the round is a new take on an old game. It’s perfect for wasting your employers time when you could be doing something more productive.

Giver a try: Round Pong = Rong

Wyoming Politics

It’s that time of year again, “If I’m elected…blah blah blah”. One candidate says the other guy is the spawn of Satan and the other candidate says the same about the first guy. They’re both right. That will likely be the only truthful thing either one of them say.

It’s not as bad here as it is some other places. I get a kick out of it. Our current governor is a democrat, he’s running on a platform of having kept his promises, and good economic times. He’s got the AG suing the feds on the wolf issue, he got sales tax removed on food purchases and now he’s pushing a tax holiday on the portion of property taxes devoted to paying for public schools. Gov Dave, as his campaign refers to him, is a republican, he just doesn’t know it yet.

I bet he wins.

Wyoming has one congress critter. Barbra Cubin (r) or Babs as almost no one calls her, is a mostly harmless party hack whose main accomplishment is not being one of those godless democrats. In Wyoming that’s generally good enough. This year some POS New Yorker who lives in the peoples republic of Jackson hole is running against her. His strategy is new and innovative, he’s running to her right. Normally this wouldn’t fool anybody, but if the Bush years haven’t accomplished anything else, they proved that republicans govern as democrats given the chance. Gary has Babs worried and the race looks closer than the normal republican landslide. If Babs wins it’ll because electing a New Yorker to Congress is just plain wrong, and we still know better.

In the senate Craig Thomas (r) is up again. Thomas is an out of touch old fart that doesn’t posses enough gumption to lead in any meaningful way. So far he’s doing everything we sent him to Washington to do. My guess is he’ll get reelected.

That’s it for political news. Washington doesn’t matter, so who cares which one we send? We’ve got no income tax, no sales tax on food and a proposed property tax cut, we’re suing the feds on wolfs and maybe on grizzlies soon, and we’re running a BILLION dollar state budget surplus.

Wyoming is, what America was.

An Open Letter to Rick Baxter

Blog readers: Your help in editing this would be appreciated. Post or email your suggestions to me.

Thanks

Rick I trust that all is well with Erica and the kids. I hope to presume upon our family’s long time friendship and offer some comments on my concerns for the state of Michigan. I have gotten over my initial shock that Michigan elected a Canadian to govern, but any state that allows Geoffrey Fieger to run as a serious candidate for governor deserves what it gets. When I saw Granholm’s comment about you being a traitor to the state for criticizing her for running off 20,000 non-automotive jobs in the WSJ, I laughed.

My concern today is no laughing matter. I recently read that the legislature is considering requiring all 6^th grade girls to have a vaccine for HPV a virus that is a sexually transmitted disease. This is a brief excerpt from the article I read:

Michigan may require cervical vaccine

September 13, 2006
LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan girls entering the sixth grade next year would have to be vaccinated against cervical cancer under legislation backed Tuesday by a bipartisan group of female lawmakers.

The legislation is the first of its kind in the United States, said Republican state Sen. Beverly Hammerstrom.

The vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in girls and women and has been hailed as a breakthrough in cancer prevention.

A government panel said that ideally the vaccine should be given before girls become sexually active.

Some conservatives have expressed concern that schools would make the vaccine a requirement for enrollment. They have argued that requiring the vaccine would infringe on parents' rights and send a message that underage sex is OK.

AP

Have you people gone completely off your rocker? This proposed legislation is morally repugnant on so many grounds that I don’t know where to begin. It’s bad enough that the state feels free to intrude on the civil liberties of its citizens by requiring vaccinations to attend school. At least some of those vaccines are design to prevent communicable dieses. In this case you’re trying to force little girls, who have no business experimenting with sex, get a shot designed to protect them from an STD!

I recognized years ago that Michigan was a cesspool of socialist meddling, Marxist economics, and moral decay in which no decent person should live. Consequently I fled the state in 1994. I realize that this was long before your political career began and it makes it impossible for me to complain to you as one of your constituents, or even as a resident of the state.

As one father to another Rick, this is bad public policy. Its bad for civil liberties, its bad for public morals, it’s bad for parental authority. I urge you to work to put a stop to it.

If Only the Nation Would Convert

Apparently the Amish are causing big problems in Ohio.

A 2005 report detailed the Amish influence on food-stamp participation rates across Ohio. In Geauga, one in five eligible families was found to be Amish and unlikely to use the benefit. In Holmes, it was almost one of every three.

"No matter how much we do, the Amish won't sign up," Taylor said. "It's not something they endorse."

Here’s to hoping their beliefs will catch on.