Regulation

DID YOU HEAR IT AND I DIDN'T?  I'm going to start this post a few years back.  Ok a few centuries back.  Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because they discovered they could have kids.  Well, kinda.  Any way, they had kids.  And two of them are mentioned in the Scriptures.  Cain and Abel.  And Cain rose up and slew Abel.  How?  the Scriptures don't say.  Fast forward a few years.  Ok more than a few.  A young lad named David took a brook stone and with a sling shot, killed the Giant Goliath.  Down through the centuries, in Scripture and novel and plays, and in reality, people have been killing people.  In the past century a Pan Am Airliner was blew out of the sky over Scotland by a bomb placed on board by someone who wanted to kill people.  On the infamous 9-11 terrorists hi jacked airplanes and flew them into buildings, killing thousands of men, women and children.  The news has been rife over the last several years of gunman opening fire in high schools, college campuses, military bases, and recently a movie theater.  Terrorists have bombed U.S. Navy ships and military bases over seas.  The one or two of you who may read my drivel are probably way ahead of me.  Or maybe not.  
so, here is my ditch bank opinion.
Since there is no way to determine how Cain killed Abel, I will leave that alone for the time being.  We know how David killed the Giant. There is nothing in the scriptures about the Philistines raising a cry to regulate sling shots and river stones.  Maybe they did, but if so, it is not recorded.  There is no record of people raising a cry to regulate knives or clubs, or spears or swords, except to keep them off the school grounds.  And there was nothing said about regulating airplanes.  In all these cases the hue and cry is against the perpatrator of the events.  Only guns seem to bring out the anti gun forces every time.  They want to regulate guns and take guns from those who had nothing to do with the killing that takes place with guns.  So, perhaps a little calm thinking would be in order.  There are thousands of guns in the world, and outlaws have them and no one knows about them.  They are not regulated, or registered and never will be, no matter what law is passed. As in the case of the bombers, the poisoners, the knife users, or what ever method was used to kill someone, accuse the perpertrator, not the instrument used.
As we have seen, Cain killed Abel in a method we know not. But if people are wanting to kill someone, or several someones, they will find a method.  If guns are not available, then a bomb will be made, a house will be set afire, or some other method will be devised, but people determined on killing will find a way, and always have since Cain rose up and slew his brother. And they always will, even if guns are regulated, or taken away from the populace.  So don't blame the gun, or the knife, or the whatever.  Blame the person or the group of persons.    A young man in our area was killed by a gun this past weekend, due to a fight at a party.  When ask to leave, some did and then returned to gain vengeance. Now a young man is dead another in the hospital and at least one in jail.  The fault of the gun?  No, the fault of the individual who felt he needed to avenge himself because he had been ask to leave a party.   So did you hear the call for regulation on all the items of death that I mentioned and I didn't?  Let me know, if you feel so inclined.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

AGE OLD QUESTION

DO YOU KNOW????  Are you a religious person?  Do you ever ask the question  "What came first the Chicken or the egg?"  If you are a Bible reading person, then you would believe that the chicken came first, and was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and Adam gave it a name.  The egg, for food and other chickens came later.  However, if you are a doubting type of person, then you can solve the problem for your own satisfaction by using the internet.  Just go to a site that sells chickens and order one.  Then go to a site that sells eggs and order one.  Then when they arrive, you will know which one came first.  And That's THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK.

I'M AN ENVIRONMENTALIST:   ARE YOU? Does this strike fear in the hearts of some?  Well, let us see.  Before I go any further, I will state that the above picture is from the Whitewater/Baldy fire in New Mexico.  I took that picture in mid June.  The fire is still burning as of this date, around 298,000 acres and 87% contained.  Most of the fire that is burning is inside the fire lines.  While this is the biggest fire in the west this year, that I know of, if is by far one of the least destructive, in terms of cost and human suffering.  Although many acres less in size, that distinction will have to go to the fire in Colorado Springs.   There are still several fires burning all through the western States.  So many they are hardly even mentioned on the national news any more.  And when they are, it is accompanied by a commentary from some federal official saying something like this.  These fires are burning because of the dry conditions. Well, yes they are.  At least, that is one of the conditions.  But there are other considerations. So lets look at a couple or three of them.
I mentioned way back when I started this blog, and you can probably find it on my status somewhere, that I am a religious man.  Since this is my blog, I will quote ideas, and you can also, but please if you refute me, and I welcome that if you feel so inclined, at least quote from a known source.  Now, in the Bible, when Adam and Eve were  in the Garden of Eden, the Lord told them to go and dress the earth and take care of it.  And they did.  But now, these many millennia later, look what we are doing.  When I was growing up, on a cattle ranch, the rancher was allowed to run his cattle on the national forest.  And logging company's were allowed to harvest trees.  And the USFS managed this forest in spite of themselves.  And we had fires, but they were manageable, for the most part.  Then the "Environmental Movement" came in to being, and the cattlemen were ran off the forest, and the logging companies were shut down, and the forest was allowed to grow wherever and however it pleased.  And the streams became clogged, and the forests became a growth of small trees, all fighting for what ever water was available.  And we are not dressing or managing the earth.  And the commandment given to Adam is still in force today.  So, yes the dry conditions play a part in the fire conditions, but the forest unmanagement, governed by all the "Environmental rules" play a huge part in this, and the government needs to step up and manage the forests like they should.  As true Environmentalists.  Yes, I am an environmentalist.  I believe we should be environmentally responsible for the earth.  And dress it and take care of it.  And this includes cattle sharing the land with the wildlife and logging companies being allowed to harvest trees and keep the forests in a manageable condition.  Thus, allowing the streams to run with clear water and the trees to be able to drink as needed, and not fight all the scrub brush and small trees that are allowed to come up willy nilly.   Yes, we need to protect the environment, but not to the extreme that is now in place.  And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK.