The Right Equipment Makes The Difference

In the time we have lived on the farm we have added over 100 trees.  Some we have gotten at auctions, some we have purchased at end of the season sales and some we have purchased at nurseries.

Over time, as we made improvements, some of the trees are now in the wrong spot.  Such is the case with four of the runts I got on close-outs.  They were the ones no one else wanted, but deserved a chance.

They've now established a good root system, so digging them out by hand to transplant them didn't work.  So, I made a call to the landscape company in town.  Enter two guys and a tree spade.

The first step was to dig out a plug where the first tree will go.  No way I could dig that perfect of a hole with a post hole digger, much less the amount of work that would take. Once that is done they move on to removing the tree with the spade and transplanting it into the hole.

Over the course of an hour and a half the two guys made quick and easy work moving the four trees. Sometimes the right equipment makes the difference.

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Another Maintenance Project On The Farm

The nice farmers cows are doing great in good grass and we are staying busy here on the farm.

One of the ongoing projects is keeping up with trimming trees.  We have a number of tree lines that were planted by FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 30's. Because of their age it is an ongoing process keeping up with older trees that drop branches.  It provides plenty of wood for our fire pit.

Our Poulan chainsaw gets plenty of use.  Lately it hasn't been running right and required maintenance.  Once I got it apart a few squirts of carburetor cleaner got it running again. 

While it was apart I found another source of the problems.  The sprocket drum that drives the chain had significant wear.

A new sprocket was ordered and today the old one was replaced.  

Back together and running strong now.

Another maintenance project finished and no doubt it won't be the last.

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One Heck Of A Bake Sale

At over 50% of the U.S. annual budget and more than seven countries combined, the military swallows up billions of dollars.  

As if that isn't enough, they engage in fraudulent accounting to hide billions.

The United States Army’s finances are so jumbled it had to make trillions of dollars of improper accounting adjustments to create an illusion that its books are balanced.

The Defense Department’s Inspector General, in a June report, said the Army made $2.8 trillion in wrongful adjustments to accounting entries in one quarter alone in 2015, and $6.5 trillion for the year. Yet the Army lacked receipts and invoices to support those numbers or simply made them up.

The report affirms a 2013 Reuters series revealing how the Defense Department falsified accounting on a large scale as it scrambled to close its books. As a result, there has been no way to know how the Defense Department – far and away the biggest chunk of Congress’ annual budget – spends the public’s money.

An accurate accounting could reveal deeper problems in how the Defense Department spends its money. Its 2016 budget is $573 billion, more than half of the annual budget appropriated by Congress. (Reuters)

I once saw a bumper sticker that said, "It will be a great day when the schools get the money they need and the military has to hold a bake sale."  At the rate the military wastes and defrauds money, they'd have to have one heck of a bake sale.

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They've Lost My Loyalty

The UAW and others have signs at their parking lots that restrict parking to American made autos.  Now that Ford has announced that they will be moving production of their small cars to Mexico I wonder how they will tell what is a "foreign" car anymore.

Ford plans to eventually shift all North American small-car production from the U.S. to Mexico, CEO Mark Fields told investors Tuesday, even though the company's production investments in Mexico have become a lightning rod for controversy in the presidential election.

"Over the next two to three years, we will have migrated all of our small-car production to Mexico and out of the United States," Fields said at a daylong investor conference in Dearborn.

Ford isn't the first automaker to move small car production out of the U.S. Mexico has become an auto production Mecca for new industry investment, surpassing Canada in annual automotive production.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said earlier this year it will end production of all cars in the U.S. by the end of this year as it discontinues production of the Dodge Dart in Belvidere, Ill., and the Chrysler 200 in Sterling Heights, Mich.

In recent years, automakers that include General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota and Volkswagen have announced plans to either expand existing plants or build new ones in Mexico.  (Detroit Free Press)

I’ve always been a car buff, but I have no clue, solely based on labels, which cars are now manufactured where.  The vehicles we drive are American made by Ford and Dodge - or a least I think they were made in America.  It is a loyalty thing.

The politicians continue to yammer about jobs, jobs, jobs while American automakers continue to move out of America.  They must have missed the memo.  

I can't afford a new car, but for my part they’ve lost my loyalty. 

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National Disgrace or Hubris

Recently hacked emails of Colin Powell are critical of both candidates Clinton and Trump.

Powell called Donald Trump a “national disgrace and an international pariah.” He also wrote that the “birther movement was racist,”  - referring to Trump questioning if President Obama was born in the U.S.

“There is nothing he can say that will sway black voters.  He takes us for idiots. He can never overcome what he tried to do to Obama with his search for the birth certificate.  The whole birther movement was racist.  And for him to say yesterday that within four years he would have 95% of blacks voting for him is schizo fantasy.” 

Powell also criticizing Hillary Clinton and her campaign for using him to justify her use of a private email server at the State Department. 

“Sad thing... HRC could have killed this two years ago by merely telling everyone honestly what she had done and not tie me into it. I told her staff three times not to try that gambit. I had to throw a mini tantrum at a Hampton’s party to get their attention.”

Powell is also critical of Clinton's "hubris."

"I told you about the speaking gig that I lost at a University because she so overcharged them,"  adding "everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris."

However, Powell is not squeaky clean.  It should be remembered that Powell compromised his own integrity when he provided false evidence before the United Nations on February 5, 2003 to justify invading Iraq.

Notwithstanding Powell's testimony at the UN, his hacked emails boil down the upcoming election. It is a choice between a racist, national disgrace and international pariah candidate or a candidate with hubris and bad judgment with emails.

An obvious choice for me.  

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Another Big Bank Skates

You would have thought that the big banks would have learned the lesson from the financial crisis of 2008.  Now comes Wells Fargo Bank, which has the highest market valuation of any bank in America, valued at more than $250 billion.

Yesterday federal regulators fined Wells Fargo $185 million, charging that since 2011 employees of Wells Fargo secretly created more than 1.5 million unauthorized bank and credit card accounts without customer knowledge.  The phony accounts allowed the bank to collect millions of dollars in fees and boosted commissions to employees.  Wells Fargo has responded by firing 5300 employees.

Let's break this down a little.  Wells Fargo has an annual profit of $5.71 billion resulting from revenues of $21.6 billion (WSJ).  At the end of 2015 they reported having 265,000 employees.  In comparison to their annual profits is a fine of $185 million enough?  Are we to believe that their fraudulent actions were isolated to 5300 rouge employees?

No!  The fine is peanuts to the largest bank in America.  No!  If 5300 employees conducted the fraudulent scam then certainly it was known bank wide.

What is especially ironic is that the bank's largest shareholder is one of the most ethical business leaders in the country - Warren Buffett.

Obviously his business ethics don't extend to Wells Fargo.  No doubt none of the Wells Fargo thieves will go to jail.

So, here we are again.  Back to the same justification for letting a big bank get away criminal activity: breaking them up would have too much of an adverse impact on the economy. And another big bank skates.

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I Guess We'll Keep Him

Today Doug the Pug went in for surgery.  He is a bright and smart dog, so I'll do whatever I can to make sure he has a good quality of life.

We adopted him when he was three and he has become a fixture here on the farm and in our travels.  Where we winter in Arizona others there don't always know our name, but know Doug's.  He will be ten in December and,  just like me, his age is catching up with him.  

He had a cyst removed on his eye, rabies booster, eight teeth pulled, remaining teeth cleaned, nails trimmed and ears cleaned with a growth removed in one.  He was tired, but happy to come home.

It wasn't cheap to have all this done.  I guess we'll keep him.

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Temptations

We seldom eat fast food since it requires driving from the farm to the closest town.  It's ironic how when you are trying to eat healthier you notice more acutely the temptations.

Last year McDonald's introduced the triple cheeseburger to select markets.

They've now brought it nationwide as part of the McPick 2 for $5 menu.

Nutritional Info - McDonald's Triple Cheeseburger - 6.8 ounces (192g)

Calories - 510 (from Fat - 240)

Fat - 27g (Saturated Fat - 13g)

Sodium - 1150mg

Carbs - 36g (Sugar - 7g)

Protein - 31g

*SIGH*

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I Believe The Geologists

There was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake yesterday at 7:02 AM located near Pawnee, Oklahoma that was felt in surrounding states, including Nebraska (my wife felt it, I slept through it).  Scientists are warning that it is likely the result of fracking in the state.

Fracking is the process of injecting liquid and chemicals at high pressure into subterranean ground so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas.

Since the advent of fracking in Oklahoma, earthquakes have gone up exponentially. 

The USGS is warning of the possibility of more-damaging earthquakes. Based on historic seismic data, a higher frequency of smaller earthquakes, ranging from magnitudes of 2.0 to 4.0, tends to raise the likelihood of more-powerful events in the future. There are deniers.

The Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, however, argues that more research is needed to prove a correlation between wastewater injections and the Oklahoma earthquake swarm. Lewis Moore, a Republican state representative, disputed that the earthquakes could be man-made.”It’s just science. There are some things that human beings cannot stop,” Moore said. “Just like if the Earth is going to warm, there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

Glen Brown, vice president of geology at Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLR), a major petroleum liquids producer, said his own research shows that the current Oklahoma phenomenon is likely related to the uptick in seismic activity worldwide. It also mirrors an earthquake swarm that shook Oklahoma some 60 years ago, he said. Brown is slated to present his findings to the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) next week.

“I believe that what’s going on in Oklahoma today is natural swarm of very small magnitude and very small impact,” Brown said. “Quite frankly, the way that people are talking about it is overexaggerating what’s going on.”

Despite unease about the earthquakes, many Oklahomans are hesitant to cast off oil and gas companies, which provided the state nearly $2 billion in total direct tax payments in fiscal year 2012, according to an Oklahoma State Chamber report.  (International Business Times)

I’m not a scientist, but I am capable of reasoned thinking and it seems to me that the evidence is clear.  I believe the geologists. So long as Oklahoma allows fracking the number of earthquakes will continue.  For the time being it looks like they are choosing the income to the state from fracking over lives and property.

Just one day more… 

Taco Truck On Every Corner

SAY WHAT!!?

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