Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

The Harm of Price Controls

I know, what the article talks about is not popular but it is right. Facing these high gas prices, and with Hurricane Rita striking the Texas coast expect another large price surge, causes people to change their behavior to use less energy. This is what the price mechanism is for and if you start interfering you mess it up.

The price of fuel and fertilizer has changed my behavior on the ranch to use less and is even now changing plans even further. I'm not quite ready for the horse and buggy yet but it is something to look into that's for sure but that just shows the pricing mechanism at work to change behavior.

It's hard with energy prices like they are, I wish it wasn't but it is, and all we can do is muddle along as best we can.

Well, farmers never have made money. I don't believe we can do much about it. But of course we will have to seem to be doing something; do the best we can and without much hope. The life of the farmer has its compensations but it has always been one of hardship. Calvin Coolidge

000
WTNT33 KNHC 220855
TCPAT3
BULLETIN
HURRICANE RITA ADVISORY NUMBER 19...CORRECTED
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
4 AM CDT THU SEP 22 2005

...CORRECTED BREAKPOINTS IN TROPICAL STORM WATCH SECTION...

...POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY FIVE RITA MOVING
WEST-NORTHWESTWARD ACROSS THE CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO...

AT 4 AM CDT...0900Z...THE HURRICANE WATCH IS EXTENDED EASTWARD ALONG
THE LOUISIANA COAST TO INTRACOASTAL CITY. A HURRICANE WATCH IS NOW
IN EFFECT FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO COAST FROM PORT MANSFIELD TEXAS TO
INTRACOASTAL CITY LOUISIANA. A HURRICANE WARNING WILL LIKELY BE
REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF THE HURRICANE WATCH AREA LATER TODAY.

AT 4 AM CDT...A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE
SOUTHEASTERN COAST OF LOUISIANA EAST OF MORGAN CITY TO THE MOUTH OF
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT
TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE WARNING AREA DURING
THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT ON EITHER SIDE OF THE
HURRICANE WATCH AREA...FROM EAST OF INTRACOASTAL CITY TO MORGAN CITY
LOUISIANA...AND FROM SOUTH OF PORT MANSFIELD TO BROWNSVILLE TEXAS.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHEASTERN COAST
OF MEXICO FROM RIO SAN FERNANDO NORTHWARD TO THE RIO GRANDE.

A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE
WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS. A TROPICAL STORM
WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE
WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS.

INTERESTS IN THE NORTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO SHOULD MONITOR THE
PROGRESS OF POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC HURRICANE RITA.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 4 AM CDT...0900Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 24.9 NORTH...LONGITUDE 88.0 WEST OR ABOUT 515 MILES...
830 KM...SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS AND ABOUT 615 MILES... 990
KM...EAST-SOUTHEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS.

RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 9 MPH...15 KM/HR...
AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24
HOURS.

REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE
THAT MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 175 MPH...280 KM/HR...WITH
HIGHER GUSTS. THIS MAKES RITA A POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY
FIVE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN
INTENSITY ARE LIKELY DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 70 MILES...110 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 185 MILES...295 KM.

THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED FROM REPORTS BY THE
HURRICANE HUNTER IS 897 MB...26.49 INCHES. THIS MEANS RITA IS THE
THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE IN TERMS OF PRESSURE IN THE ATLANTIC
BASIN.

TIDES ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING NEAR NORMAL ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI AND
LOUISIANA COASTS IN THE AREAS AFFECTED BY KATRINA. TIDES IN THOSE
AREAS WILL INCREASE UP TO 3 TO 4 FEET AND BE ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE
WAVES OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS... AND RESIDENTS THERE COULD
EXPERIENCE SOME COASTAL FLOODING.

HEAVY RAINS ASSOCIATED WITH RITA ARE FORECAST TO BEGIN TO AFFECT THE
WESTERN AND CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO COASTAL AREAS THURSDAY NIGHT
INTO FRIDAY. RITA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL
ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF
15 INCHES FROM THE CENTRAL TEXAS COAST TO SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE ACROSS
SOUTHERN LOUISIANA...INCLUDING THE NEW ORLEANS METROPOLITAN AREA.
AFTER RITA MOVES INLAND...TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10
INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER EASTERN TEXAS... AND CENTRAL AND
EASTERN OKLAHOMA DURING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

REPEATING THE 4 AM CDT POSITION...24.9 N... 88.0 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 9 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...175 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 897 MB.

AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AT 7 AM CDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT
COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 10 AM CDT.

FORECASTER BEVEN

Pray. To ask the laws of the universe to be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy. Ambrose Bierce

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Really appears to be out of touch with what the beef community, and the Senate, really wants. By the same token I'm not really sure tit-for-tat is the way to handle this. It affects American cattlemen much more than it affects Japanese producers.

An escalating, violent tit-for-tat may lead to terrorism. Mary Douglas

I find it interesting that at this time of spiraling energy prices and calls for greener energy, Federal Congressmen want to get the Federal Government involved in allowing wind farms to be built. Why you may ask. Because States don't care about the birds that are killed at wind farms, at least that's the official explanation. I personally think it's politicians overriding desire to control everything in our lives.

History goes out of control almost as often as nature does. Mason Cooley

Psychopaths could be best financial traders?

"Wanted: psychopaths to make a killing in the markets."

Such an advert will not be appearing in the world's newspapers any time soon, but it may have a ring of truth after research revealed the best wheeler-dealers could well be "functional psychopaths."

So, "functional psychopaths" control our financial markets. It's not as bad as it sounds though since sometimes I think "functional psychopaths" are in control of our Government at all levels so maybe they cancel each other out.

This statement was curious too.

A team of U.S. scientists has found the emotionally impaired are more willing to gamble for high stakes

Since farming and ranching are nothing more than a gamble against nature and man, are farmers and ranchers "functional psychopaths" or aren't the "stakes" high enough?

We're always going to have our prisons, we're always going to have our places of preventive detention for psychopaths, and we're always going to have a certain number of people in our community who have no desire to achieve or who have no desire to even fit in an amicable way with the rest of society. Spiro Theodore Agnew

I couldn't believe this. Why does Billings need a more casinos? Every place you look there is a casino. And I have never been in one of them. There are places that I am interested in but when I see the casino connected to it I refuse to go. I just don't see the thrill of the casinos. What am I missing?

Researchers find ear tags accurate

Who are these researchers trying to fool.

They tracked cattle, with 90 percent accuracy, from a ranch in one state to a pasture in another state to a feedlot in a third.

Now I admit I have never been a fan of the whole Herd Identification System (HIS) that is being forced down cattleman's throats but 90% accuracy does not meet what is required for the system. The whole idea is to identify 100% of the cattle at all times so there should be nothing less than 100% accuracy.

"It's possible to track them from stop to stop, but there will be issues like lost tags, tags that won't scan and calves sold through the auction market and split up that will be lost in the system," Clark said.

Everybody that questions the whole HIS asks about lost tags and tags that don't work and have been reassured by the Government that it won't happen, the technology is foolproof. Look at the proof of these researchers that say it happens.

If this is all the better it can do why are we bothering to spend all the money? A brand does better than this and animals don't lose it. Accurate my dying ass, this just proves how screwed up the whole thing is.

Sometimes you do something, and you get screwed. Sometimes it's the things you don't do, and you get screwed. Chuck Palahniuk

Deputy gets 50 years for raping teen boys

The depravity in our society is unbelievable.

Wherever there is degeneration and apathy, there also is sexual perversion, cold depravity, miscarriage, premature old age, grumbling youth, there is a decline in the arts, indifference to science, and injustice in all its forms. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

How does sitting in front of a TV for 69 hours and 48 minutes raise awareness of suffering children? I know most shows on TV are that bad that letting kids watch it ensures they suffer but I am not sure I get the connection otherwise.

The connection between our knowledge and the abyss of being is still real, and the explication must be not less magnificent. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Now maybe I'm overusing this image but, those evil people out there that abuse our children don't deserve any better.

The documents also state Carpenter appeared in some of the pictures with the girls, and admitted taking some of the pictures and having sex with children.

Hanging offense, real simple.

Such simple things,And we make of them something so complex it defeats us,Almost. Why can't everything be simple again?. John Ashbery

First its vesicular stomatitis now its anthrax. What's next in line for us cattlemen, bubonic plague?

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present. Francis Bacon

Well, I'm waiting for the legions of enraged individuals to start crawling out of the wood work to protest the decision by the California Judge ruling the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional. I thought I would throw my two cents worth into this situation before it's drowned out by the cries of the masses.

The original pledge written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 makes no mention of God at all.

'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'

The reference to God in the pledge was added in 1954 after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus to add it.

So, my felling on this issue is that maybe at this point in history we need to remove the reference to God and go back to the pledge as written. Would this be so horrible? Remember, change is not always a bad thing and in this situation I am just talking about change back to the original as written. Not such a bad thing if you ask me.

Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict. Saul Alinsky

It appears I might be sitting on a gold mine as a future energy producer.

If you wonder what might power fuel cells for personal use, think cow manure.

Enough power to charge AA batteries doesn't make the whole thing sound very promising though but who knows where it might lead. Now remember, this all takes a special fuel cell, don't just start shoving cow manure in the gas tanks of your vehicles. With prices the way they are it might be tempting but I don't think it will work.

Energy falls just short of being joy. Mason Cooley

Now I might not always recognize a good idea when I see it but this definitely is a good idea that needs pursued. I'm afraid I am a little confused by one thing.

David Hoffman, manager of PPL Montana's external affairs department, said that while he agreed power plants need to limit mercury pollution, the proposed plan would hurt Montana's power plants. PPL Montana is the state's major power generator.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has proposed limiting mercury pollution nationwide by 70 percent by 2018. its plan calls for putting a federal cap on mercury pollution and letting power plants that produce less mercury sell "pollution credits" to plants that produce more as long as the national mercury-emission rate falls by 70 percent.

Why would the power plant operators be opposed to this? If they produce significantly less mercury than other places in the US they can just sell their "pollution credits" and they have a win-win situation. Less mercury out the stack and getting paid to do it as well. I think PPL Montana needs to rethink this one. This is a good idea for all.

It's very good for an idea to be commonplace. The important thing is that a new idea should develop out of what is already there so that it soon becomes an old acquaintance. Old acquaintances aren't by any means always welcome, but at least one can't be mistaken as to who or what they are. Penelope Fitzgerald

A little boy wanted $50 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing
happened. Finally he decided to write God a letter requesting the $50.
When the postal authorities received the letter addressed to God, USA, they
decided to forward it to the President of the United States as a joke.

The President was so amused, that he instructed the secretary to send
the little boy a $20 bill. The President thought this would appear to be a
lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $20
bill, and decided to write a thank you note to God, which read:

Dear God: Thank you very much for sending the money, but you sent it
through the White House in Washington, DC and those assholes deducted $30 in
taxes.