Thank you so much for your future answers . Primrose.

Paul wrote, “I speak in tongues more than the rest of you,” when addressing early church members. Uh. I have seen the argument that “miracles were just to get the early church started,” which I regard as being similar to accusing God of “bait and switch.” Or is ithis like the Mormons saying, “Well, honest, the Angel Moroni brought down these two golden tablets, but he took them with him when he left?”

I am not a Baptist, but they have a very good saying: “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.” You can’t just pick and choose what you like. It is either all true or none of it is worth the flimsy paper it is written on. Life is very simple once you choose.

The New Testament does not say you HAVE to speak in tongues; it says that you can become able to do so and that there are spiritual advantages. It doesn’t say you HAVE to handle snakes, it only indicates you can, a proposition I intend to test only when there is NO other recourse. Ditto on eating poison.

Someone admonished me with, “Can’t we leave race out of this?” when I wasn’t talking about race. How Mrs. Palin chooses to worship her God is her business, and whether or not others do so in a similar manner is a large part of what America is about. She has a RIGHT to do so, and I submit that she has a right to practice her beliefs without being mocked for them. Imagine the furore if anyone had said that killing chickens isn’t a very godly activity; a bunch would have been all upset over “hate” speech directed at Rastafarians. I would disapprove of blood sacrifices no matter who practiced them, but am constrained to point out that the story of Cain and Abel demonstrates that God felt differently about it. He was younger then…

I said that those on welfare at any level would resent having taking their “entitlements” away from them, up to and including giant conglomerates. I didn’t say that slaves love slavery, but many of them are quite content. Every day the wild hogs we captured become happier with ample rich grain, fresh water they don’t have to hunt for, and today’s largesse, a large pan of fabulous goats’ milk. One sniff and they dove in and finished it off.

If you go get “The South Was Right,” by a pair of Kennedy brothers, in Alabama, you will find several pages of interviews done with former slaves after 1865. Their memories of their former owners were all good, and they were confused and dismayed by having had their lives torn apart to give them something they didn’t want. The ones who cared ran.

I wouldn’t make a good slave because I do not value anything above liberty. I don’t want “government” money to help me make my way. I just want to sing my little song, as Ray Stevens said, take care of myself, my dependents, and my livestock, and live free, exchanging the fruits of my labor for those of others, harming no one, being kind to all. (I have done “social service” all my life, before you ask. In general I rescue illiterates and tutor for the GED.) I want to make my own decisions and take my lumps if my judgement is faulty.

What a dangerous little old lady I am!

For those who believe, have faith in God, there is hope. It will not last, the Bible says for 7 years. Then PEACE will come for a millenium with the Reign of the King of kings-Son of God, Jesus Christ. Not Muhammed or some other god mankind has believed in…..

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

I spent 15 years living in Washington, nine in Tacoma and six over in the Tri-Cities area, and came home to Texas five years ago after my husband died unexpectedly. I enjoyed your response, reproduced here:

“I find the end of civiliztion scenarios as written here to be about as likely as a magnetic pole shift in 2012 and I’ve alway’s been a fan of conspiricy history. Reminds me of when I worked on the Hanford Nuclear Plants in the 70s. God doesn’t want you to pay taxes, the movie star wars is satanic.
Better stock up on guns and ammo to stay safe the government is gonna come and get em. I guess the Liberal and Conservative code wording is working on the side of paranoia.”

Mike, I was a professional Editor and Analytical Project Report Writer before I “retired” to tend goats and herbs and research privately, and I tell my friends that they are judged on originality and content, not grammar, spelling, or typing ability.

What did you do at Hanford? I don’t suppose you were an engineer because all those I know are upbeat, and all of them are preparing for Apocalypse Soon! (Engineers are my favorite people! Magnificent minds, marvelously inventive, and sometimes very funny. On purpose…and not. I tease my best friend because if I give him a seemingly impossible task he will come up with a fast, easy, inexpensive, workable brilliant solution every time…but when he questioned whether or not a maritime shipping container could be delivered easily across a standard cattle guard, he came up with three weeks and thirty thousand dollars to restructure our entrance! He proposed to tear down a hundred feet of fence, put down four truck loads of gravel, double the width of the cattle guard, and rebuild the fence and remove the gravel later!

Naw, you just tell the driver that your truck-driving friends who have visited here say any good ‘un can deliver easily, and he does fine. In fact FOUR of them delivered over-sized loads without problems, and so do men in very large feed trucks…Of COURSE Ah’ve got several friends who are big rig drivers, as well as a world class biologist, a zookeeper, and a couple who are very well known in America, in different fields. Never mind who! I choose my friends on their character and their “culture,” in the sense of their ethics, their principles, their manners, and whether they are good-humored, interesting people. The love of my life, who prepared a glorious omelet stuffed with our homegrown eggs, sauteed mushrooms, onions, garlic, cheese, and sausage while I was writing you, is an electrical engineer. Never mind what my deceased husband did; it is still classified, but it involved being a genuine mathematical genius and _____. Me? I’m an expert on arithmetic! Our kids are both MG, though…)

I’m having trouble following your last statement,

“I guess the Liberal and Conservative code wording is working on the side of paranoia.”

BOTH Liberals and Conservatives? Since when does a Liberal admit he has “codes,” which they surely do, such as “mean-spirited,” “working families,” “education,” and “fair?” I can’t imagine one admitting he is paranoid!

Since when do Liberals and Conservatives agree on anything? “Bi-partisan” means “Doing it my way!” when spoken by Democrats, and “Doing it your way but not as fast” when uttered by many purporting to be Republicans. I don’t want to be bi-partisan; I want to do what is best for my country, my family, and myself in strict accordance with what the Constitution provides for and forbids. I’m certain I’m right and that most issues are black or white, with very, very few shades of gray (which we call “extenuating circumstances.”) I’ve never heard a Left Wing proposal I thought even vaguely sensible, although I admit freely that a great many RINO (Republicans In Name Only) are nearly as idiotic about what constitutes good public policy. I’m willing to stand by my choices and take my lumps if I’m wrong.

You may be amused to know that when I was an elected public official (won by a Reagenesque landslide!) the ONLY reason I had to hear more than one vote to know which way was right was that there were two fence-sitters on the Commission. ABSOLUTELY, if the big union boss or his crew was in favor, the answer was “NO!” If that man had told me the sun was shining I would have looked for myself. There were others I trusted implicitly to have done the research and made sensible, intelligent decisions. (No, I didn’t shirk my job, and I may be the only politician you’ll ever talk to who didn’t even take what she was entitled to, never mind creative accounting and imaginative charges. Laugh again: I could handle the enemy easily, but “my” party sometimes drove me crazy!)

Sure I think Liberals are paranoid, want to destroy business, and would like to see everything that isn’t mandatory forbidden, but I’m having trouble figuring out what appears to be a Leftist who can put “liberal” and “paranoid” in the same sentence…or was the aim to disassociate yourself from both groups?

WHY do you think that “end of civiliztion (sic) scenarios” are impossible, and why did you stigmatize the basic premise in that way? We’re not talking about the end of civilization; we’re speaking of a time when the declining economic climate and increasing governmental expenses, mandates, and regulations are quite likely to cause devastating hardship and very bad behavior.

Do you know what “just in time” inventory is? That is a quick, easy explanation for why Seattle has a three-day supply of food, at most; restock is on eighteen-wheel trucks in various places. That’s why New Orleans ran out of food after Katrina and Houston got down to a five-item maximum in grocery stores after Ike.

What will happen if Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., calls a national truckers’ strike, as he threatened to do last May? When the trucks aren’t rolling, and big, unionized truckdrivers with tire irons are telling other truckers they aren’t leaving the truck stops (anecdotes from the friends mentioned above), exactly where are lattes and sushi going to come from? Coffee certainly grows on trees, but it does so in places like Colombia and Hawaii. Yes, Dale Foreman grows terrific fruit over towards the western side of the state (Dale, you still owe me three crates of apples!), but that won’t get them over the mountains.

It is an easily-demonstrable fact that people steal NOW to supplement their needs or for pleasure. Are you so well-to-do (I’m not.) that you have failed to notice that we’re on an endless cycle of raising prices, cutting quality, cutting quantity, repeat? That your money doesn’t buy as much?

Can you not even envision a time when it might be that the shelves are bare and that the lawless elements among us will take matters into their own hands? Has the Russian “Mafia” which engulfed WA turned into Boy Scouts and good citizens? Have former Governor Gary Locke’s tong connections all gone back to China? About 1990 an excellent study pointed out that 90% of juveniles before the Court in Seattle were at best functionally illiterate. Are schools there teaching so well now that they are turning out knowledgeable youngsters with job skills and glittering SAT scores? If not, it sure isn’t for lack of throwing money and regulations at the problem. I analyzed a Federal program for the Tacoma schools in 1992; accepting a one million dollar grant would have added ten million in strings!

It is easy to laugh at old fogies, but back in the Fifties MY (gasp) segregated high school insisted that EVERY graduate be able to type and that those who weren’t going to college mastered short hand and bookkeeping as well. ALL students had basic office skills sufficient to get jobs. Only three failed to be graduated from my class: two killed in accidents and the ONE who “had to get married.” (No, we still haven’t forgotten Nancy! We were scandalized. Yes, three of them had to go to summer school after graduation exercises, and THEN they got their diplomas. Diplomae!) Today the kids are taking bowling. I didn’t make that up!

The national literacy rate then for whites was 95%, and the incidence of illegitimacy was under 5%. At the all black High School here the statistics were very nearly as good for academic achievement. The national rates were 7% illiteracy for blacks, and 25% for unwed mothers. Along came JFK and Lyndon and his “Great” Society, and now there is growing illiteracy (estimated conservatively at over 50%, realistically at over 70% for youngsters) and the illegitamacy rate is 25% for whites and 75% for others. Some groups take longer to destroy than others. I guess I never told you that my “public service” for over two decades has been rescuing illiterates one at a time and tutoring for the GED…

Washington is the USA in miniature, with the Left holding the big population areas (although Tacoma tries to balance) and the sea coast, while the rest of the population is pretty conservative. WA is one of the five most expensive areas in America, and Seattle was the third most dangerous place in America for women a few years ago besides being depressingly overcast and drizzly most of the time. I used to wonder if Germany wasn’t really fighting wars for aggressive purposes, it was just trying to find some sunshine. I’ve spent over a dozen years in Germany, and the climate is very similar. A lot of people become very depressed without adequate light, and perhaps that’s what the problem in Seattle is…”Summer” is three weeks long, if you are lucky, and the temperature has been known to soar to 85 degrees!

I can laugh at myself. I am quite positive that Global “Warming,” Global “Cooling,” the purported dangers of DDT, salt, and eggs, and similar things are totally unscientific. I don’t “believe” in acid rain, and the hole in the ozone layer has always been there and belongs there to vent gases, such as those from volcanic eruptions. I know that according to the Smithsonian, which compared samples from around 1900, the mercury levels are exactly the same in fish now as they were over a hundred years ago.

I do NOT think that man can influence the climate in either direction, and I get the giggles when told that average temperatures are nearly a degree higher than they were back…actually back before they started keeping records!…and proposals that we lower the temperature .2 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050! Did you know that there was smog over Los Angeles and Mexico City hundreds of years ago? Those darned Aztecs and Mayas, cooking their tortillas and grilling sacrifices, d’you think?

Open your eyes, Mike, smile, and laugh. Would it really be so bad to stock up a little extra food and at least get a Louisville Slugger?

We aren’t afraid, we’re aware. While proof-reading this and eating my omelette, with an enormous hairy hound at my feet to remind me to leave her a nice portion, there were five shots. What would YOU do or think if you heard that many? I counted blandly…four…then one…

I didn’t panic because even in 2009 I was sure there was a good reason, and there was. We’re dealing with a wild hog infestation, and one big sow came to the party early tonight, as I supposed when I heard shots. My foreman was surprised by her while finishing preparing to deal with the herd later, and he was “only” carrying his 9 mm handgun. An hour from now he’ll have a large-caliber rifle and a backup with a shotgun, because that’s when the herd of 50 or more has come the last couple of evenings, but suddenly he was in danger from several hundred pounds of nasty temper with sharp hooves, big teeth, and no conscience.

It may be sobering for some of you to note that a good shot needed four rounds to stop her and a fifth to deliver the coup de grace. You may not know that hogs think human makes a nice entree.

Asia’s a former combat veteran and crack shot and what surprised me was that HE lost count of how many times he had fired. He was so sure he had fired fewer that he unloaded the clip and counted the remaining rounds. I may tease him about losing his edge, later. The reaction of most inexperienced people faced with sudden death is to keep pulling the trigger until the gun is empty. If you ever face danger routinely you had better know how many rounds are still left in your gun.

People sneer at the “pioneer spirit” and traditional virtues, but when–”If,” if you insist–the chips are down you will need them. At any given moment you may need preparations you haven’t made. You may need to react in ways you haven’t considered ahead of time.

Asia’s “duty uniform” is fatigues, a tactical load-bearing vest, a machete, survival tools, bloused combat boots, and a nine mil because he and I think that every last thing he carries may be necessary for his survival some day, raht heah, deep in th’ hort o’ Texas, and we’re only talking about critters. (Sure, he looks cute as a button! When he’s being “butler” and chef, which he loves, he wears combat boots, black bloused trousers, and black turtlenecks. He is ALWAYS prepared to deal with the unexpected. His clothing and accoutrements are part of his employment package, along with living quarters and lavish board, as well as keys to the cigarette, liquor, and wine stowage. His salary is clear profit because we take care of all his expenses. He’s worth it!

Chuckle…I hear him “lecturing” the dogs, and I know good and well he’s feeding them handfuls of sliced pepperoni! Babe, the Big Black Lummox, has days when she insists he, and only he, should feed her off his own plate, with a sterling fork, of course…and he obliges. All of us adore Asia and would be lost without him.)

He would be aghast if I said anything more than “Don’t take your guns to town, son, don’t take your guns to town!” (Country-Western song.) He is my first line of defense, my blood brother, and as cool-headed as they come. He’d take a bullet for me or pick up a rattlesnake that menaced me. I braced half a dozen “cops” in the bank the day a jittery clerk called them because he looked “dangerous.” Dam’ straight he is dangerous to anyone who would hurt those under his care! Other than that, I trust him with the keys to the safe and never question his expenditures. He’s totally honest and devoted to “his” people.

And…when an elderly lady is going to pick up twenty-five thousand in cash, I think it sensible to take a body guard.

I went boiling out of the manager’s office where I was passing the time of day, stuttering incoherently demanding that they un-cuff my Asia instantly, and totally ignoring a Cop-ette who was menacing me with her badge, her hand on her gun,waving the other in my face, demanding that I “KEEP BACK!” Hey, that’s MY Asia, and NOBODY threatens him. They could have arrested ME (Miss “I’ve never had so much as a parking ticket!”) before I would have backed down.

I virtually never say “cop,” but those were a bunch of bored, self-important thugs with no probable cause, and when they started demanding loudly if he were “sleeping” whith his fat, twenty-year-older boss I wasn’t amused. Then they started in on ME, demanding to see ID and wanting to know if I were a hostage!

Bernanke and Paulson think we need SWAT teams in banks to prevent runs and maintain order at other times.

I don’t know how old you are Mike, but this isn’t 1950, or 1960, or even 1970. It isn’t even the Reagan years. Boy, is it not the Reagan years. The government becomes more abusive and dictatorial, and the criminal elements expand, and one of these days the nation may well reach boiling-over point.

I’m going to include my e-mail address, in case you want to respond privately. Now I will tell you part of why I rambled on with our wild West saga, all of which is quite true, as odd as that may sound to a Seattleite.

We had never had trouble with feral hogs before last year when lack of feed pushed them our way and they found a promised land. They’ve been tearing up the pastures for over a year…and little by little they have eaten all the nut grass, eaten all the cedar berries, and eaten everything else the cattle didn’t get, and we’re in drought times, still.

Now they are raiding their equivalent of “the public treasury,” the creep feeders set out to “finish” the show calves. (“Creep feeders” are surrounded by bars, so that the calves can get in but the cows can’t. The little ones “creep” under the barriers.) My engineer friend in the next county is having the same problem because he has woods and stock.

When natural food was plentiful they preferred to stay away from humans, but desperation has driven them ever closer. I hear them out there in the night, right now. They will dare and risk what they must, and dogs and men are worth facing for the prize of rich feed in large amounts redolent of the sweet molasses they crave. I also find it interesting that after four days in captivity the hogs we captured are settling down nicely, quite content with gifts of grain and fresh water daily.

Can you see the parallel with where our government is? We have seventh generation welfare families and 25,000,000 illegal “immigrants” the government admits to. Nancy, Harry, and the 0 are determined to increase the number of those feeding and punish those who produce the feed. Wild hogs don’t think they are “entitled,” they just know what they want and are willing to take it. At what point do domestic feeders decide they aren’t satisfied with their largesse? We don’t know. We just say that it is wise to be prepared.

Do write me at ranchLT4@aol.com if you want to explain your position more clearly or refute my conclusions or even question my facts.

Rancher Lady

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She quoted government research done in the Thirties, not for profit, not commissioned by big business. This is the best, and most of, the research ever done on vitamins. They can’t be patented or sold as “drugs,” so why bother? Look in a used book store. Her recipe for “fortified milk,” alone is incredibly valuable for those who are ill, injured, or recuperating. MY kids associate IT with Adelle, and disliked it intensely! They still got a quarter of a cup of eggs, milks, protein powder, and supplements every hour on the hour on those rare occasions when they needed it.