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Tractor

Wednesday, October 17. 2007
Looking Out

Friday, October 12. 2007
Spectacular
Monday, October 8. 2007
Told You So
I told you the other day that Gov. Brian Schweitzer knew he couldn't help the Morgans and Karen but just didn't want to tell them to their face. Today's article about the situation just confirms that.
I'm fully convinced the Governor knew this going into the meeting but just didn't want to have to tell the Morgans that. I can understand not wanting to give people bad news to their face, but the Governor should have been a man and gave them the real facts at the meeting instead of leaving them dangle.
Something else interesting in the article. If the state reimburses somebody for a brucellosis infected herd, the Feds just reduce the amount they pay by the amount the states pay.
So in a way you can't fault the Governor for all of this. The Feds have it set up to hobble the states in this. Even if Montana were to set up a special fund to pay ranchers for their loss, the Feds would just pay less for the herd so the rancher would get less. As usual the Government gets you coming and going.
I said from the very beginning of this, how much do you pay for a herd of cows? How do you value it? How do you value the intangibles like good breeding that you have been working on for years? By market value they got a fair price.
But, like Sandy Morgan says:
When all this happened it is not the time of year somebody would liquidate their herd so it's hard to compare the price they received with true market value of the herd, but again I ask, how can you value the intangibles fairly? Was Karen's intangible value more or less than the Morgan's and should one or the other receive more money for their cows? Tough questions if you ask me.
I guess I turn my thoughts back to another point I made in the very beginning. Why is it necessary to slaughter the whole herd for a few infected animals? Why couldn't we just get rid of the infected animals and do follow up monitoring on the rest of the herd that was all ready vaccinated for Brucellosis? There was only I believe 6 cows in the herd infected. That's all the loss would have been as long as no other critters showed up. Why slaughter a whole herd when it isn't necessary is beyond me. Slaughtering a whole herd is not how Brucellosis was wiped out in the state. Getting rid of infected animals and retesting herds is how Montana became brucellosis free. Why can't the same strategy be used now? This dumb cowboy will never know.
The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief. Jacques Ellul
A Bridger ranching family that had to slaughter all its stock because of a cattle disease won't get additional money from the state as reimbursement.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Friday that he cannot legally give the couple any state money.
"I am not sure how I can indemnify them beyond what they've already been paid," Schweitzer said.
I'm fully convinced the Governor knew this going into the meeting but just didn't want to have to tell the Morgans that. I can understand not wanting to give people bad news to their face, but the Governor should have been a man and gave them the real facts at the meeting instead of leaving them dangle.
Something else interesting in the article. If the state reimburses somebody for a brucellosis infected herd, the Feds just reduce the amount they pay by the amount the states pay.
There is a catch: If a state chooses to pay a rancher some money for the loss of a herd, APHIS will subtract that amount from the sum the agency offers, said Marty Zaluski, the Montana state veterinarian.
So in a way you can't fault the Governor for all of this. The Feds have it set up to hobble the states in this. Even if Montana were to set up a special fund to pay ranchers for their loss, the Feds would just pay less for the herd so the rancher would get less. As usual the Government gets you coming and going.
I said from the very beginning of this, how much do you pay for a herd of cows? How do you value it? How do you value the intangibles like good breeding that you have been working on for years? By market value they got a fair price.
The amount the Morgans received works out to about $1,600 per cow-calf pair.
That same week, similar cow-calf pairs sold for $1,300, according to information from the Billings Livestock Commission.
But, like Sandy Morgan says:
But that comparison isn't fair, Sandy Morgan said. Typically, ranchers sell their calves in October or November. They don't sell quality cows nor quality calves in the middle of the summer.
When all this happened it is not the time of year somebody would liquidate their herd so it's hard to compare the price they received with true market value of the herd, but again I ask, how can you value the intangibles fairly? Was Karen's intangible value more or less than the Morgan's and should one or the other receive more money for their cows? Tough questions if you ask me.
I guess I turn my thoughts back to another point I made in the very beginning. Why is it necessary to slaughter the whole herd for a few infected animals? Why couldn't we just get rid of the infected animals and do follow up monitoring on the rest of the herd that was all ready vaccinated for Brucellosis? There was only I believe 6 cows in the herd infected. That's all the loss would have been as long as no other critters showed up. Why slaughter a whole herd when it isn't necessary is beyond me. Slaughtering a whole herd is not how Brucellosis was wiped out in the state. Getting rid of infected animals and retesting herds is how Montana became brucellosis free. Why can't the same strategy be used now? This dumb cowboy will never know.
The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief. Jacques Ellul
Posted by Sarpy Sam
in Cattle, Montana Politics, US Politics
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06:25
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Friday, October 5. 2007
Fixing The Playground
There was a couple of interesting articles in the Gazette from the recent conference at the Burton K. Wheeler Center at Montana State University which looked at the recent Legislative session and how to avoid the problems faced.
The first article started out by talking about term limits and annual Legislative Sessions and Redistricting as the problems.
The second article talks about more time from election to Legislative session as the answer to the problems.
Let me discuss my thoughts on these issues whether you like it or not.
Redistricting. This is always a problem for the party in the minority. Suck it up and deal with it. If you have good ideas and a good platform you can come back from this problem easily. Not a problem, deal.
Annual Legislative Sessions. This would just allow the politicians to get together more often and spend my money on things that aren't needed. I don't like the idea. This was tried in 1972-1973 and didn't work then and won't help now. Shit can this one.
Term Limits. I think they have something here. There is truthfully something called Institutional Memory and the people that have been there the longest carry that memory along. By term limiting people out, there is no memory. The old salts who know how things are done are gone and can't help the process. This causes more stress in the session which causes more outbursts. So, do I think term limits should be repealed? I'm not sure. I don't think they accomplished what people want and they caused problems all of their own. The ballot box itself is a good way of limiting terms.
More time before the Legislative Session. This is an interesting idea. I've always thought that less than two months to get everything ready from election to session was a little short. We only have a 90 day session every other year. Why the big rush after the election. If we waited a year there would be more time to write bills, put a budget together and for elected persons to get to know one another during off session hearings. This really sounds like something that needs to be considered. It would take a change in the Constitution to implement it but it's a good idea.
Will any of these ideas stop the children from fighting when they get together? No. The children will fight if they want to. To many large egos in politics drive them to it, but some of the ideas might be worth looking at as a way to minimize tensions and have a smoother process.
I follow politics, but I don't like to discuss it. Tom Araya
The first article started out by talking about term limits and annual Legislative Sessions and Redistricting as the problems.
The second article talks about more time from election to Legislative session as the answer to the problems.
Let me discuss my thoughts on these issues whether you like it or not.
Redistricting. This is always a problem for the party in the minority. Suck it up and deal with it. If you have good ideas and a good platform you can come back from this problem easily. Not a problem, deal.
Annual Legislative Sessions. This would just allow the politicians to get together more often and spend my money on things that aren't needed. I don't like the idea. This was tried in 1972-1973 and didn't work then and won't help now. Shit can this one.
Term Limits. I think they have something here. There is truthfully something called Institutional Memory and the people that have been there the longest carry that memory along. By term limiting people out, there is no memory. The old salts who know how things are done are gone and can't help the process. This causes more stress in the session which causes more outbursts. So, do I think term limits should be repealed? I'm not sure. I don't think they accomplished what people want and they caused problems all of their own. The ballot box itself is a good way of limiting terms.
More time before the Legislative Session. This is an interesting idea. I've always thought that less than two months to get everything ready from election to session was a little short. We only have a 90 day session every other year. Why the big rush after the election. If we waited a year there would be more time to write bills, put a budget together and for elected persons to get to know one another during off session hearings. This really sounds like something that needs to be considered. It would take a change in the Constitution to implement it but it's a good idea.
Will any of these ideas stop the children from fighting when they get together? No. The children will fight if they want to. To many large egos in politics drive them to it, but some of the ideas might be worth looking at as a way to minimize tensions and have a smoother process.
I follow politics, but I don't like to discuss it. Tom Araya
Thursday, September 27. 2007
View

Sunday, September 16. 2007
Clean Out

Saturday, September 8. 2007
Permanent Dry
I'm really beginning to wonder if this isn't going to be the situation in Montana any more. The Permanent Dry instead of calling it a drought every year. I know its a funny thing to post on a morning where I got a little moisture last night, the first in about 3 months, but its the truth. We had some really good spring moisture but it turned off the spigot and got really dry this summer again.
This really seems to be the pattern any more. If we get moisture it's usually not enough and it turns off in the spring and leaves us baking all summer. Drought or near drought conditions almost every summer with raging wildfires. Permanently Dry in other words. Sounds right to me. The Permanent Dry!
Science is nothing but perception. Plato
This really seems to be the pattern any more. If we get moisture it's usually not enough and it turns off in the spring and leaves us baking all summer. Drought or near drought conditions almost every summer with raging wildfires. Permanently Dry in other words. Sounds right to me. The Permanent Dry!
Science is nothing but perception. Plato
Wednesday, September 5. 2007
Another Sunrise
Not Right
GOP-led chamber may pass emergency fire bills, then adjourn
This is not the way the deliberative bodies of the legislature are supposed to work. I truly think the Republicans ought to consider not doing this. They all ready tried this tactic in the regular session and it didn't work. What makes them think it will work now. If they are going to spend my money in special session I expect them to do it right. Adjourning before the Senate can deliberate and vote on the bill is childish.
I like children - fried. W. C. Fields
House Republican leaders are working on a plan to freeze the Democrat-controlled Senate out of the special legislative session that begins today and guarantee that only GOP-backed firefighting bills end up on the governor's desk.
House Speaker Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, confirmed that he is considering passing two Republican-backed bills Wednesday and abruptly adjourning the House before the Senate has an opportunity to consider anything in the special session.
This is not the way the deliberative bodies of the legislature are supposed to work. I truly think the Republicans ought to consider not doing this. They all ready tried this tactic in the regular session and it didn't work. What makes them think it will work now. If they are going to spend my money in special session I expect them to do it right. Adjourning before the Senate can deliberate and vote on the bill is childish.
I like children - fried. W. C. Fields
Monday, September 3. 2007
Blame Game
When Gov. Brian Schweitzer announced a special session to pay for the fire fighting costs this year, the Montana Blogs started up. Depending on which blog you read, either the Republicans or the Democrats were to blame for this and that was the end of the story. As normal I didn't believe either side since they were only swinging for political advantage. Now I see a story that does tell a little more.
Plenty of blame with session
So it turns our neither side budgeted enough so both are to blame. I know both the left and the right will argue with the above stated positions but it's the truth. Let's quit playing the blame game and get the job done. Everybody and their dog knows that fire seasons have been getting worse so why not try to budget enough for them instead of ignoring the situation in hopes it will go away. If both sides would have done the job right in the first place they wouldn't need to be spending my money for this special session to fix the problem.
Just so this is clear, the Republicans and the Democrats in the Legislature did not budget enough money for fire fighting and neither did Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The costs for this year are all ready higher than than all concerned budgeted for two years. Quit pointing fingers and fix the problem.
You don't fix the problem until you define it. John W. Snow
Plenty of blame with session
f you're a hard-core Democrat, the story behind this week's legislative special session goes like this: Gov. Brian Schweitzer this year wisely tried to set aside an extra $19 million to combat wildfires, but Republicans in the Legislature cut out the money.
If you're a devoted Republican, the story reads like this: Republicans tried to budget an extra $10 million for firefighting during the Legislature, but Democrats diverted that money on the last day to hire more tax collectors.
As in all things political, neither narrative is exactly right - nor exactly wrong. The more pertinent question might be, "What difference does it make?" And the answer is, not much.
No matter which political side had its way on firefighting funds during the regular legislative session this spring, it's quite likely we'd still find ourselves in a special session.
As of last week, the state had already run up a $35 million bill for fighting fires just this year - way more than either side had proposed to set aside for the next two years.
So it turns our neither side budgeted enough so both are to blame. I know both the left and the right will argue with the above stated positions but it's the truth. Let's quit playing the blame game and get the job done. Everybody and their dog knows that fire seasons have been getting worse so why not try to budget enough for them instead of ignoring the situation in hopes it will go away. If both sides would have done the job right in the first place they wouldn't need to be spending my money for this special session to fix the problem.
Just so this is clear, the Republicans and the Democrats in the Legislature did not budget enough money for fire fighting and neither did Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The costs for this year are all ready higher than than all concerned budgeted for two years. Quit pointing fingers and fix the problem.
You don't fix the problem until you define it. John W. Snow
Posted by Sarpy Sam
in Gov. Schweitzer, Legislature 2007, Montana Politics
at
06:38
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Defined tags for this entry: blame, blame game, democrats, gov. brian schwei, montana, republicans, special session
Thursday, August 23. 2007
Big Sky

Thursday, August 16. 2007
Good News Or Not
I see in the paper that a Type 2 Management team is coming in to take over the Eastern Montana fires. The actual quote is;
When I read this my first thought was, "Oh no, I feel sorry for the landowners in these areas." Why you may ask?
About four years ago we had a big fire in this area that when all was said and done burned almost 40,000 acres around here. We had been fighting it for about 3 days and wasn't getting it under control, it was about 5000 acres at this point, when they brought in guess what, a type 2 management team from California to take over the fire. In the first twelve hours they were on the fire it ballooned from 5000 acres to 20,000 acres and then 3 hours later ballooned to about 40,000 acres. I to this day and will always blame the idiots from California for letting this happen. So that is why I feel sorry for these guys. The words "Type 2 management team from California" strike fear in my heart. If there is a way to screw things up, I'm sure they will find it.
Let me say at this point that I understand why they bring in a team like this after a while. The local resources are stretched to a breaking point and need a rest. The Type 2 management team comes in and hires engines and crews to fight the fire under their direction. The Type 2 team does not have any equipment to fight fires on there own, they have to hire the crews to do the fighting. So when I talk about the incompetence of the management team I am not talking about the firefighters themselves. They did a wonderful job, it was just their bosses that didn't have a clue.
There are a lot of things I remember about this fire but two things that I vividly remember about this Type 2 team are the meetings and the insistence that I couldn't fight the fire. Every day from 5 in the morning to 10 in the morning there was not a single fire fighter on the fire. They were in town, 40 miles away, having there daily briefing on what the plan was for the day. Don't get me wrong, I understand the idea of briefing everybody on what was going on but was it really necessary to pull the night crews to go all the way in for the briefing, brief everybody, then send the new crews out and leave the fire unattended for 5 hours every day? More than once when the crews got out there the conditions were nothing like they were briefed on because nobody was there fighting or monitoring the fire so they would sit around until 3 in the afternoon while the Type 2 management team decided what to do and then when they finally decided what to do it was getting so late they wouldn't do anything. This got real old after a while. I never went in to their stupid meetings because I figured it was more important to be fighting the fire than pulling everybody off to meet about it.
The other memory is them telling me I couldn't fight the fire. I would be doing my thing fighting the fire and one of the management types would come up and tell me, "You can't be here fighting this fire." I didn't have the energy after so many days of fighting fire to argue with them, I would just say okay and keep fighting the fire. They would give me a funny look and say, "Everybody on the fire line needs to be wearing official clothes so you can't be fighting the fire." I again would say okay and keep working. The guy would leave at this point and about an hour later a guy higher in the chain would come along and we would play the whole charade over again and I still wouldn't leave. We played this game every day they were here. Them telling me I couldn't fight the fire and me ignoring them. They never got tired of telling me and the look on their face when I ignored them was precious. They couldn't figure out why I wouldn't listen to them. Why should I? They aren't God.
Now the chances that the people taking over the Eastern Montana fires being as incompetent as I felt they were on the fire here is slim. Like I said though the words "Type 2 management team from California" strike fear in my heart and always will. Stupid, I know, but that's just the way it is. I hope everybody fighting fire the best of luck in the world and hope they get them under control. I hope you have better luck with your Type 2 team than my memories leave me with.
I have memories - but only a fool stores his past in the future. David Gerrold
A Type 2 management team from California is arriving to fight more than 20 fires in Custer, Powder River and Rosebud counties. Management of the fires will be transferred at 6 p.m.
When I read this my first thought was, "Oh no, I feel sorry for the landowners in these areas." Why you may ask?
About four years ago we had a big fire in this area that when all was said and done burned almost 40,000 acres around here. We had been fighting it for about 3 days and wasn't getting it under control, it was about 5000 acres at this point, when they brought in guess what, a type 2 management team from California to take over the fire. In the first twelve hours they were on the fire it ballooned from 5000 acres to 20,000 acres and then 3 hours later ballooned to about 40,000 acres. I to this day and will always blame the idiots from California for letting this happen. So that is why I feel sorry for these guys. The words "Type 2 management team from California" strike fear in my heart. If there is a way to screw things up, I'm sure they will find it.
Let me say at this point that I understand why they bring in a team like this after a while. The local resources are stretched to a breaking point and need a rest. The Type 2 management team comes in and hires engines and crews to fight the fire under their direction. The Type 2 team does not have any equipment to fight fires on there own, they have to hire the crews to do the fighting. So when I talk about the incompetence of the management team I am not talking about the firefighters themselves. They did a wonderful job, it was just their bosses that didn't have a clue.
There are a lot of things I remember about this fire but two things that I vividly remember about this Type 2 team are the meetings and the insistence that I couldn't fight the fire. Every day from 5 in the morning to 10 in the morning there was not a single fire fighter on the fire. They were in town, 40 miles away, having there daily briefing on what the plan was for the day. Don't get me wrong, I understand the idea of briefing everybody on what was going on but was it really necessary to pull the night crews to go all the way in for the briefing, brief everybody, then send the new crews out and leave the fire unattended for 5 hours every day? More than once when the crews got out there the conditions were nothing like they were briefed on because nobody was there fighting or monitoring the fire so they would sit around until 3 in the afternoon while the Type 2 management team decided what to do and then when they finally decided what to do it was getting so late they wouldn't do anything. This got real old after a while. I never went in to their stupid meetings because I figured it was more important to be fighting the fire than pulling everybody off to meet about it.
The other memory is them telling me I couldn't fight the fire. I would be doing my thing fighting the fire and one of the management types would come up and tell me, "You can't be here fighting this fire." I didn't have the energy after so many days of fighting fire to argue with them, I would just say okay and keep fighting the fire. They would give me a funny look and say, "Everybody on the fire line needs to be wearing official clothes so you can't be fighting the fire." I again would say okay and keep working. The guy would leave at this point and about an hour later a guy higher in the chain would come along and we would play the whole charade over again and I still wouldn't leave. We played this game every day they were here. Them telling me I couldn't fight the fire and me ignoring them. They never got tired of telling me and the look on their face when I ignored them was precious. They couldn't figure out why I wouldn't listen to them. Why should I? They aren't God.
Now the chances that the people taking over the Eastern Montana fires being as incompetent as I felt they were on the fire here is slim. Like I said though the words "Type 2 management team from California" strike fear in my heart and always will. Stupid, I know, but that's just the way it is. I hope everybody fighting fire the best of luck in the world and hope they get them under control. I hope you have better luck with your Type 2 team than my memories leave me with.
I have memories - but only a fool stores his past in the future. David Gerrold
Wednesday, August 15. 2007
Smoke

Here is why it has been so smokey lately in Montana. We keep talking about the fires in Montana but it looks like the ones in Idaho are really big and nasty.
I make it a rule never to smoke while I'm sleeping. Mark Twain
Tuesday, August 14. 2007
Fire Information
There is a slew of wildfires in Montana and here is a roundup of stories about them.
Church camps evacuated due to fire threat
Buildings lost in eastern fires
Fire officials fear wind shift south of Big Timber, Livingston
Wildfires dump ash, smoke in Montana cities
Jocko Lakes fire flares up
Winds die down on fire lines
Dry forest feeds Seeley blaze
This is by no means all inclusive, just a quick roundup.
Church camps evacuated due to fire threat
Buildings lost in eastern fires
Fire officials fear wind shift south of Big Timber, Livingston
Wildfires dump ash, smoke in Montana cities
Jocko Lakes fire flares up
Winds die down on fire lines
Dry forest feeds Seeley blaze
This is by no means all inclusive, just a quick roundup.
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