View From The Ditch Bank

THE THINKER- We've all seen it. That sculpture by Rodin. I was giving some thought for this post and thought if I assumed that pose it might help. So I did and right away I had two thoughts. 1. If I stayed like that very long I would get a cramp, and 2. If I actually did that I would be arrested for indecent exposure or something. So I assumed a more natural pose and continued to think about how to say what I want to say, in a blog that is covering the subject of most news casts and thousands of other blogs. I am looking back to the past 10 years and just a smidgen of what has changed. Some good and some bad, and I'll leave it to you to decide for yourself which is which. 10 years ago, there was panic in the streets. Well. almost.
Y2K was a common phrase and people were afraid that the world would come to an end with the advent of the zero's. Planes would fall from the sky, ships wouldn't be able to ship, computers would refuse to work, electricity would not be coming in and a myriad of other things that I mostly can't remember. However, we woke up that morning to planes still in the sky, ships still shipping, computers working and the government still collecting taxes and spending more than they collected. But a few things have changed in the past decade that I will mention. Some positive and some not. With the advent of 9/11 we can no longer go to an airport to catch a plane without undressing, well removing our shoes, any way. And you could take a bottle of water with you. GPS and Ipods have come on strong. I could mention fashion, or the lack of it, but since that changes with the whim of whatever designer is popular at the time, I won't. well, except to say that there is much of it that I don't like. Blogs now number about 100 million. so who wants to read mine, or even have the time to do so. Blackberries are no longer a fruit but a phone/Internet item carried in your pocket or on your belt. Cameras are now in your phone, but a regular camera don't need film. How soon will it be before the younger generation will look at you blankly if film is even mentioned? Now about 85% of Americans use a cell phone ( yes, even me, at times ) and many have cancelled their land lines all together. Fat is going away with the biggest loser, and green is no longer a color. And if you want to know what it is, just google it and hope the information is correct. You can get an expensive cup of joe at the corner Starbucks ( Peppermint hot chocolate works there also ) and then there's texting, sexting, face book, youtube and twitter. Space travel will soon be available to the average rich person, and extended space travel might or might not go away. the 10's will tell I guess. So as we leave the zero's behind and enter the 10's, I can assure you that there will be some good times ahead, more innovations to make old codgers like me just shake their head, and there will continue to be wars, hatred, and contention. We can only try to make our own little corner of the world peaceful and hope it spreads outward. May you all have a happy and prosperous 2010. And that's the View From The Ditch Bank.

View From The Ditch Bank

GRAFFITI; We've all seen it. Pictures or sayings on a wall, a bridge, freeway underpasses. Usually they are rude, crude and socially unacceptable. However, in modern times to write on a wall is a computer program, or something done on a computer called Face Book. My wife has a face book account, though she has trouble using it. I have a brother in law, in his 70's, a retired truck driver, who flew on an airplane for the first time this year, who now has a computer and a face book account also. I was just getting used to doing e mail, and now people communicate on face book, or tweet like birds or something. I decided to start this blog, but don't know if any one actually reads it. So, while I am against graffiti, as described above, I guess if you can't beat them, you join them. So who knows, I may someday be writing on someones wall. And that is the View From The Ditch Bank

View From The Ditch Bank

YOU SCREAM, I SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE SCREAM. Do any of you remember that phrase. I learned it as a child and heard if from my parents, so guess it has been around awhile. I am going to change it a bit, though, for this post. As in
YOU CARE, I CARE, WE ALL CARE FOR HEALTH CARE. Yep, I'm going to post about health care. Or my opinion on what is going on in Washington right now. You remember the statement; Government Of the People, By the People, For the People. Now it seems it is Government Of Harry Reid, By Nancy Pelosi, For Barack Obama. This health care bill is being jammed through the Senate because the Democrats want a health care bill to be on the Presidents desk by Christmas. And because all the Democrats and the two Liberals weren't exactly on board with this program, their votes were bought.
Shame on them. Just who was bought and how. Well, we probably will never know all of it, but here is some of it. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana agreed to vote for the bill after her State was given a $300 million bump in Medicaid funding. Senator Bernie Sanders, a Liberal from Vermont, agreed to vote for the bill after his state was given 10 Billion Dollars to fund Community Health Care Centers. Also Massachusetts won increased funding in Federal Aid. Senator Max Baucus from Montana swung over to the vote after he was promised that residents from the town of Libby would receive Medicare funding, cause they live in a mining town and suffer from asbestos-related illnesses. Ben Nelson agreed to vote for the bill after he was told that the tab for the expanded Medicaid funding would be paid for by the Federal Government. This amounts to 10's of millions of dollars. While he was the last one to be bought, the list also includes Christopher Dodd from Conn. who agreed to vote after his state was promised $100 million for construction of a hospital for the University of Connecticut. This is enough to make us all sick enough to use the health care plan, if it actually covers us, that is. While I have been covered by health care most of my married life, and will be covered some how, even after this debacle of a bill passes, I understand there are many in the U S of A that aren't covered and need this care. I just think this is being rammed down our throats without due process and without counting the cost, and planning out just where it will lead. As always, it will open many cans of worms that we aren't even aware of yet, I'm afraid. We can only hope that wiser heads bring about the change that actually needs to be done, before this becomes law. I'm sure this won't be the final post on this subject. And that is The View From The Ditch Bank.

View From The Ditch Bank

PC-- What do those letters bring to mind. Well, if you are an old man, like me, when I was a teenager, going to high school back in the fifties, it meant Privileged Character, and was usually used in a derogatory manner. As in Just who does he/she think they are? A Privileged Character? This was usually said of someone who thought they were better than everyone else or deserved special privileges. In now a day terms it brings to mind a Personal Computer, and is not used in a derogatory manner, unless you own a Mac. And no the Apple has nothing to do with the fruit of the tree or a burger from the Golden Arches, although I often wonder why an Apple isn't a PC as it is your Personal Computer. However, the purpose of this blog is the term Politically Correct. When did that term come into vogue? In my day ( see above) you just said what was what and didn't worry about ticks, er, politics. The thing that bugs me right now is the season we are in, or rather the lack of acknowledgment of it by the world at large. I mean, what is wrong with saying MERRY CHRISTMAS? Well, it is not politically correct. You might offend someone. Well Duh. I am offended when people won't say it. They say Happy Holiday. Well, it is not a Holiday, it is a Holy Day and if it weren't for the Holy Day there would be no Holiday, and the holiday is the celebration of the birth of Christ. As in Christ mas. So say it, and if some one is offended, so what. So MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU WHO MAY READ THIS BLOG. And that is the view from the ditch bank

View From The Ditch Bank

FAUX---A word of French extraction, I think. I means false or fake. Many like to wear fur coats but don't like the killing of animals, so wear Faux Fur. Makes me wonder about them, but that is for another time, or not. I stated in my original post that I would give my idea of a faux environmentalist as opposed to a true one. I have been writing this in my mind for some time and don't know how it will turn out. So here goes.
May decades ago, Mine owners mined the land and dumped the waste wherever it was convenient, they also logged of the forests to feed their steam machines. Logging company's also clear cut the land at times and some ranchers over grazed their property. Yes, this happened. However, responsible ranchers realized the need for the land to sustain them and did not over graze. Responsible loggers realized the need for the renewing of the forests to have a sustainable annual harvest and did not clear cut. Mine owners, well they just mined as usual. Even though environmental ideas have been around a long time, they really took off in the 1970's.
There was a hue and cry about the environment and laws began to be passed. Farmers, ranchers and loggers were in favor of these laws as well as the general public. My family lived in a mining area and the sulfuric acid was so thick from the smelter that you couldn't breath. We were happy when the law made them install scrubbers to clean up the air. What happened, however, was that the faux environmentalists didn't just want the ranchers to take care of the land, and the loggers to harvest trees in an orderly manner and the miners to clean up the air and water and take care of the land. They wanted ranchers and loggers and miners off the public land. They got laws passed that made it so difficult to ranch and log that there is very little of either going on in the West if it involves public land. They started a campaign that showed and told false (faux) information to get the people in the East to try to regulate those of us who live in the West. And they accomplished that. While the ranchers and loggers and miners were just going about doing business and actually, for a time, supporting the passing of these laws. the faux environmentalist had a different agenda. By the time us Westerners realized what they were up to, it was almost too late. So, we began to fight back. Now, a true environmentalist realizes that a healthy forest needs to be harvested, or pruned, as it were, or it will get sick and die. That is happening, now in many of the Western forests. A true environmentalist realizes that the mines need to be, as we depend on the products from those mines, but it can be done in such a manner to protect the air and water quality. And a true environmentalist realizes that cattle will leave fertilizer on the land, and then cultivate it in with there hooves. As the rains come, this cultivation will help the land to produce good grass. Because of the Faux's, getting the cattle off the land, the streams are getting so choked with growth that they, like the forests, will soon die, as there won't be enough water to support the trees and bushes. Wild life won't be able to push through the growth to get to the water to drink. So to summarize, a faux environmentalist wants to leave the land in a pristine condition so all can enjoy. What they don't, or can't, realize is that to have the land in such a condition requires some upkeep of the land. It won't get there by itself. And the forests need harvested and the land needs help from the husbandman and people depend on those things that are extracted from the earth just to live in the modern world. Care for the land, yes. But be sensible about it, yes. And I said all this with out even mentioning the Spotted Owl. Oops, I just mentioned it. Oh Well, maybe I'll get into that on another post. Or not. Maybe I just left you all confused, but even so That is The View From The Ditch Bank

View From The Ditch Bank

CRASH--Have you ever been woke up in the night to the sound of a crash? You get up and walk through the house, only to find nothing out of place. You look outside and see nothing wrong. Maybe you even opened the door to the Sound of Silence, at least if you live on a ditch bank that is what you would hear. Maybe a coyote yipping somewhere. In the city you would hear the sound of traffic and maybe a siren or three, but still the sound will be muted by the night. You go to bed and drift back to sleep, probably to never to find what woke you in the first place. Well, several days ago there was a crash in the night, and it was heard around the world. Yes, I am talking about Tiger Woods. Not the low speed crash of his SUV into a tree or fire hydrant, ( wasn't that vehicle badly damaged for a low speed crash? ) but the crash of his pedastal. Yes, the pedastal that he has been on for the last few years. Who put him there? I suppose his world wide adoring fans. He wasn't put there by the media, but they did help keep him there, reporting on his exploits and his "squeaky clean" image. He wasn't put there by his corporate sponsors, but they did captilize on it, enough to pay Tiger 90 Million Dollars a year. Tiger didn't put himself there, at least not intentionally, but he did cause the crash there of, by his actions. How will all of this play out. Don't know. For now, most of his fans are still supportive and waiting his return to golf. The media are reporting his every move, or lack of. Corporate sponsors are beginning to drop him and just how many do that, only time will tell. And me, well I have never played or watched a golf game in my life, and the demise from golf of Tiger will not affect me in the least. However I can acknowledge that Tiger is among the golf greats of the world. He is not a perfect person, as we all are not. He is not even a perfect golfer. Cause if he was he would win every game he played with 72 strokes or less. Mostly less. So what should happen. Well, his marriage problems should be solved by Tiger and Elin, not the media or Oprah. The sponsors will do whatever is best for the stockholders and the bottom line. The fans, accept that he is an imperfect human, admire his golf game when he returns, as I assume he will. Tiger will need to focus on golf when he plays and win in order to gain sponsors back. I think we should all just let him do that. Age; time or whatever will eventually take it's toll and he will advance to the senior level with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nickolas and other golf greats, and some other young player will take his place, hopefully to learn and avoid the pit falls that Tiger fell into. And eventually, if left alone, the pieces of the pedastal will be covered over with the sands of time and the exploits of Mr. Woods will live on in the annals of golfdom, as he takes his place, firmly planted on the ground. And that is the View From The Ditch Bank.

View From The Ditch Bank

Well, this is my first post, so I will tell you a bit about myself, and what this blog will be mostly about.
I live in the middle of nowhere, next to the edge of nothing, in the southwest corner of a southwest state of the United States on the third rock from the sun. I am retired, so have time to post to this blog at my leisure, which may be daily, weekly or just about when ever I feel so inclined. I belong to a group of people that make faux environmentalists shudder. Namely, I was raised on a cattle ranch, spent a time in the logging and lumber business and have retired after 40 years in the mining business. I will probably blog in the future on the difference between a true and a faux environmentalist. I am, like Nephi, born of goodly parents, the husband of one, the father of seven, the grandfather of 24 and, so far, the great grandfather of two. I belong to the LDS church and am happy to say so, I belong to the Republican party and will vote for a Democrat if I feel he or she is the best candidate. While I live in a very small bedroom/retirement village detached from a small town, I dream of living on a hill with a view of a valley in the front and a stream where I could catch a fish for supper, if I was so inclined in the back, or in other words, on a ditch bank. This blog will be more about my uneducated view of the happenings in the world and little to nothing about my life, we will see how it goes. Also, my name is of no importance so far as this blog goes, but for now I will just go by the name of Lee. Nuff for now