At different times in everyone's life we are faced with making difficult decisions. Although these decisions may seem gut-wrenching and awful to the ones having to make them, outsiders without all the information will feel the need to add their two cents. At this point, a bad situation can turn toxic and volatile. This causes the original decision maker to have to make another difficult, but necessary, decision to cut these negative influences out of the decision making process and also cut them completely out of their lives in general.
Basically, what I'm saying is, if you don't have all the facts, keep your mouth shut. Throwing in your unwanted, unsolicited, and uninformed advice on how to fix the situation only makes it that much harder for the folks having to make the decisions. Didn't your mother tell you "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all"? Guess you'll be pretty dang quiet for a while then won't you?!?!
When one is faced with a constant barrage of negativity piled on top of an already negative situation, we tend to fight. The hardest thing to do is sit back and let that particular negative individual make a complete a** of themselves, because you know they will. I don't have any great advice for these situations, having grown up with family like this, I'm at a total loss. I don't remember ever, in my entire life, ever hearing my mother say she was proud of me for anything. Did that define my entire life, no, of course it didn't. In fact, it made me push harder to be exactly the opposite of everything I was ever taught. It's also what gave me my sparkling with and sense of humor. After all, if you can't laugh at your crazier than bat sh** family, who can you laugh at?!?!
It's really easy to sit on the outside and judge and tell people what they ought to be doing. It's a whole lot harder to be on the inside making the unpopular and tough decisions with the peanut gallery throwing insults and rotten vegetables. In the end, it's about what's best for yourself and your immediate family. That's all that matters, the rest will either figure it out or go on down the road. If one sits around worried about what everyone else thinks about them all the time, when does that one get to live the life they want? NEVER, because that one will NEVER be what everyone thinks they should be. And is that so bad?! I don't think so.
If you're living your life to please other people and what you think they want you to be, you are absolutely wasting the life God gave you. This is YOUR life, it was given to you as a gift, why spoil it trying to please people here on Earth? Pleasing everyone else should never be on anyone's To Do List. Pleasing God should be at the top of your To Do List.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Hmmmmmm......
Just curious...if you don't like how cattle are treated, just how do you think you got that burger? if you don't like coal fired power plants, are you going to volunteer to live without electricity? If you don't like packing houses here in the US, why do you complain about them being worse somewhere else? If you don't want oil from overseas, you don't want us drilling here, are you going to walk everywhere?
The answer to all of these questions is agriculture, what are all of you protesters going to do when you lose any of these items? Are you going to be able to survive having to pump & carry your own water, are you going to be able to survive eating the plants that you don't know how to grow, are you going to be able to survive with no money because you can't get to work without transportation, are you going to be happy having to read a real book by candle light or oil lamp, are you going to be able to use the bathroom without industrial made toilet paper? Are you going to be able to kill livestock to feed your family when there are no local grocery stores, are you going to be able to do any of the work around your place without using livestock to help, or would these chores still be considered cruelty to animals?
All of you anti this and that folks say you have all the answers but all you've really done is paint yourselves into a very tight corner. None of you are self-sufficient in any way shape or form, just who do you think you're going to have to come to in order to have these needs met? That's right - farmers & ranchers. Didn't think about it that way now did you? And just how obliging or helpful do you think we're going to be given your past treatment of us and our lifestyles. As a matter of fact, you wouldn't even be here if it hadn't been for pioneers that did all of the same things that farmers & ranchers are doing right now.
You're so set on doing away with the supply without understanding that you're doing nothing but increasing the demand. I would wager to bet that none of you would do without electricity, water, food, and yes, even toilet paper. I also seriously doubt that any of you would be willing to or be able to tolerate the personal attacks and threats from a group as ungrateful and uneducated as yours. Keep shutting us down and those of us that are left will be so outrageously expensive to deal with that you won't survive. Doesn't seem very smart to me.
All I'm saying is a little horse sense and aforethought are in order, try not to hurt yourself.
The answer to all of these questions is agriculture, what are all of you protesters going to do when you lose any of these items? Are you going to be able to survive having to pump & carry your own water, are you going to be able to survive eating the plants that you don't know how to grow, are you going to be able to survive with no money because you can't get to work without transportation, are you going to be happy having to read a real book by candle light or oil lamp, are you going to be able to use the bathroom without industrial made toilet paper? Are you going to be able to kill livestock to feed your family when there are no local grocery stores, are you going to be able to do any of the work around your place without using livestock to help, or would these chores still be considered cruelty to animals?
All of you anti this and that folks say you have all the answers but all you've really done is paint yourselves into a very tight corner. None of you are self-sufficient in any way shape or form, just who do you think you're going to have to come to in order to have these needs met? That's right - farmers & ranchers. Didn't think about it that way now did you? And just how obliging or helpful do you think we're going to be given your past treatment of us and our lifestyles. As a matter of fact, you wouldn't even be here if it hadn't been for pioneers that did all of the same things that farmers & ranchers are doing right now.
You're so set on doing away with the supply without understanding that you're doing nothing but increasing the demand. I would wager to bet that none of you would do without electricity, water, food, and yes, even toilet paper. I also seriously doubt that any of you would be willing to or be able to tolerate the personal attacks and threats from a group as ungrateful and uneducated as yours. Keep shutting us down and those of us that are left will be so outrageously expensive to deal with that you won't survive. Doesn't seem very smart to me.
All I'm saying is a little horse sense and aforethought are in order, try not to hurt yourself.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Slaughter or no?
I hosted a segment tonight on what I knew was going to be a very hot topic. I knew it would raise tempers, eyebrows, and blood pressure. I will be the first one to admit I found myself staring at the cracks in the floor of the office at times, but I did make a point to answer every caller I could in the time I had set aside. I did my best to stay civil and made my stance on the issue very clear at the beginning. Because I have an opinion one way or the other does not mean that I cannot hear others or will blast them for it. I don't have to agree with their opinions any more than they have to agree with mine. I listened to them extol the virtues of the horse, the noble steed, the ever present companion for over an hour and a half. I'm almost certain most of those folks don't own a horse or have ever been in an economic situation in which they had to choose between feeding their family or feeding the horse. It is unfortunate that due to the influx of calls from one particular group of friends that I was not able to accept more callers. I'm sure it would have gone on for hours, and to be perfectly honest, I have horses to turn out and had to cut the program when I did.
I did not say I was pro slaughter, I am pro-option to kill in a humane fashion. In light of recent economic times, what are people to do when the local rescues are full? There are numerous newspaper articles lately telling of horse owners and foreclosed properties having domestic horses just turned loose to fend for themselves. This being a particular problem in Nevada and California where bands of wild horses still roam. They're not friendly, they're not like dogs and walk up and sniff each other's rear end and say, oh, you're cool. The domestic horses are set upon by numerous members of the band and not allowed in. Many of these domestic horses are severely injured from these encounters or are hit on the highways by oncoming vehicles.
I understand overbreeding is a problem, I get it. I know of many breeders that have opted out of new foal crops for the last couple of years because they can't sell them and if they do, they won't get what they're worth.
So, what is the solution according to the anti side of things? They don't have one. If it were up to them, each and every single horse would be "rescued" to live out its days laying under a shade tree until the day they peacefully passed on. But here in the real world, no one on this planet can afford to take on such a daunting task. Horses have been known to live to 35 years, they are a long term commitment. The economic strain alone is staggering. Several callers mentioned "hay banks". I've never heard of such. We're lucky we get enough rain to sustain our own hay crops and now I hear these people have a big old place where they're just giving this stuff away! Yeehaw Nirvana!
If not kill plants, then what? It is not going to be possible economically or physically to adopt out every single horse that needs a home. It's just not. Are there some horses sent to the packer that don't belong there, of course. Does there need to be newer and stricter regulations regarding the sale and transport of animals to the packer, of course. At some point these anti organizations have to stop bashing and provide what will be an agreeable alternative to all.
So, for those of you that called in because someone told you to but you didn't listen to the beginning of the segment or you didn't call or listen and just knew we talked about it and felt you had to get ugly, please go back to the beginning, you evidently missed the most important part. Thank y'all for making this my most popular segment EVER!
I did not say I was pro slaughter, I am pro-option to kill in a humane fashion. In light of recent economic times, what are people to do when the local rescues are full? There are numerous newspaper articles lately telling of horse owners and foreclosed properties having domestic horses just turned loose to fend for themselves. This being a particular problem in Nevada and California where bands of wild horses still roam. They're not friendly, they're not like dogs and walk up and sniff each other's rear end and say, oh, you're cool. The domestic horses are set upon by numerous members of the band and not allowed in. Many of these domestic horses are severely injured from these encounters or are hit on the highways by oncoming vehicles.
I understand overbreeding is a problem, I get it. I know of many breeders that have opted out of new foal crops for the last couple of years because they can't sell them and if they do, they won't get what they're worth.
So, what is the solution according to the anti side of things? They don't have one. If it were up to them, each and every single horse would be "rescued" to live out its days laying under a shade tree until the day they peacefully passed on. But here in the real world, no one on this planet can afford to take on such a daunting task. Horses have been known to live to 35 years, they are a long term commitment. The economic strain alone is staggering. Several callers mentioned "hay banks". I've never heard of such. We're lucky we get enough rain to sustain our own hay crops and now I hear these people have a big old place where they're just giving this stuff away! Yeehaw Nirvana!
If not kill plants, then what? It is not going to be possible economically or physically to adopt out every single horse that needs a home. It's just not. Are there some horses sent to the packer that don't belong there, of course. Does there need to be newer and stricter regulations regarding the sale and transport of animals to the packer, of course. At some point these anti organizations have to stop bashing and provide what will be an agreeable alternative to all.
So, for those of you that called in because someone told you to but you didn't listen to the beginning of the segment or you didn't call or listen and just knew we talked about it and felt you had to get ugly, please go back to the beginning, you evidently missed the most important part. Thank y'all for making this my most popular segment EVER!
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