ANIMAL LOVERS
Let's talk about animal lovers,
Not those who protest and accuse,
But everyday people who carry the load
And don't make the 6 o'clock news.
It's proper to make the
distinction When
explanations are given,
Between those who care as a hobby
And others who care for a livin'.
When we speak of animal
lovers, The part-time
groups come to mind-
Nice-enough folks, who articulate well
And shine when the cameras grind.
It's too bad more credit's
not given To the
ones who seldom get heard.
'Cause, in spite of their modest behavior,
Their actions speak louder than words.
These are the folks, that
on Christmas Day,
Take care of God's animals first.
With never a thought they should have the
day off, Or that
they might be reimbursed.
They believe that Genesis
meant it, That man
has dominion o'er all.
And they don't take their mandate too lightly,
To care for the great and the small.
God's entrusted His creatures
to us By rating
us all in a log,
According to what our abilities are,
Most get a house cat or dog.
But the bulk of the animal
kingdom He placed
in the hands of a few
Who feel more at home in a pasture than
An office on Fifth Avenue.
God did it that way for
a reason, 'Cause
talk's cheap where carin's concerned.
The title of animal lover is
An honor that has to be earned.
To those who'd debate
my conclusion, To
your own you're welcome to cling,
But I'll bet if we'd ask His opinion,
God knows that He did the right thing. |
NOT ONE MORE
ACRE
How do you put your mind around oppression
for the common good and eminent domain? The explanation most times
is “follow the money.”
I lived in Colorado for
many years. I have watched it grow from 2.9 million to 5.1 million,
most of it on the suburban front range. Colorado has unparalleled
beauty, an eco-sensitive majority and an under-the-radar abundant
productive agricultural industry.
The clash between country
vs city grows with each new tourist who comes to visit and stays.
What used to be a principled debate between ‘conservationists’ and
ranchers and farmers has become a crass, closed-door battle between
The Government-Conservation-Realtor-Construction Complex and isolated
bands of native defenders of private property rights. To wit, southeastern
Colorado ranching communities vow to allow “Not One More Acre!”
to be condemned, co-opted, coerced, seized or bamboozled by the
government to expand Ft. Carson Military base’s Piñon Canyon Maneuver
Site at the expense of their homes and livelihood.
We’ve all watched family
residences condemned to allow shopping malls to be built. We’ve
seen towns nationwide moved wholesale by dam construction or highways.
Not to mention feedlots or dairies sued by cities that grew out
around them. Colorado, our grand Colorado, has become the poster
child for blatant efforts to beg, buy or steal water rights and
land to supply the Front Range’s voracious growth.
What are these Not-One-More-Acre
ranchers’ chances of succeeding? If they were Eskimos or baby seals
being routed from their habitat, I’d say a good chance. If they
were Snail Darters, Spotted Owls, or Dolphins there would be a hue
and cry in their defense. It is ironic that there are probably fewer
ranchers than there are Blue Whales. Why not “SAVE the RANCHERS!”
They are the truly endangered species. But to understand what is
at stake you must put yourself in their position. Imagine you are
a painter and the government decrees you must offer up all your
life’s work to be destroyed.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Russell,”
they say, “Here’s some money, you can paint more.”
How can they do that,
you ask? “I’m sorry,” says the general, the politician, the real
estate developer, the dozer driver, the lawyer, the wheeler dealer
and the executioner, “It’s the way it is. It’s not personal. ” IT’S
NOT PERSONAL. Somehow they must think that absolves their conscience
for taking their Judas 10%.
But that may be the reason
the ranchers will win. Because for them IT’S ALL PERSONAL. Their
lives and livelihood and those of their children, their neighbors
and their communities are in unexaggerated grave danger. Their determination
should not be taken lightly. Someone once learned the hard way that
if you back a mama bear in the corner, you better have your ducks
in a row. And I don’t hear a lot of quacking.
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