~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The creeping, amoebic, sliming, ever-forward reach of the central government may have hit a snag in the Republic of Texas. We have seen here over the years this same disposition to generally yield to the supposed good intentions of the Wise Ones in Washington, District of Columbia. This land is needed for the protection of this and that, and that land is needed for the protection of that and this.
Not long ago, an individual related a story to a brother of mine concerning an incident with the United States Forestry Service. The fellow is a rancher with significant acreage on the middle Gulf Coast in Texas. Precision is not all that necessary, but it is necessary to know that the place was a working ranch and not a hobby-ranch. There were approximately 550 head of cattle, being husbanded by a man and his wife and five hands.
 |
| A typical Texas coastal ranch scene, swarming with ducks and/or geese from early December 'til March |
The punchers and the family enjoyed the coyotes, bobcats, birds, deer, and other beasts, flora, and fauna of the place. They even had taken to raising donkeys as a protection for the calves against the coyotes. Donkeys are very protective of other livestock and can handle coyotes very effectively. On the coast, they had land that went to the very edge of the water, and they could frequently see porpoises frolicking and "rounding up" trout or redfish, and playing their version of rugby with them. The fish served as the ball, of course, while the porpoises served as the players.
 |
| Oak motts, tidal basin, beaches nearby, a plethora of major mammals and minor, and world class bird watching opportunities |
In any regard, we have the day that Barney Fife comes with a paper in his hand. This writer is not certain if it was Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, or some other sub-dependency of the Department of the Interior of the central government. There were two pick-ups, with four men, all decked out just like real lawmen, with pistols on their hips. The oddity was that one of them was also carrying a 16 gauge, pump shotgun, along with a cartridge belt with extra shells.
Barney, a smallish man remembered best for his silly way of sneery-smiling and snickering after every statement and for his attempt at a John Wayne stride, thrust an envelope into the hand of the ranch owner, in the presence of three of his cowboys. The rancher asked, "What is this?"
Barney responded, "That's a court order for you to remove these cattle from the area demarcated in the order. The cranes and other shore birds, and a lot of protected species land here and they don't like having cows poop on their nesting grounds."
"But, wait a second, listen here, what am I supposed to do with the cattle? Are you going to move them? What am I supposed to do with the land?" protested the rancher.
"None of that is our problem. Just make sure you pay your taxes, especially your income taxes, or we'll come and take the land, too." was Barney's last snickering statement as he swung back into the "official government" pick-up. Really strange also, was that the man with the shotgun backed his way into the other pick-up, all the while keeping an eye on the rancher, as if the feds had something to fear from him.
El Gringo Viejo has deferred from naming the particular type of bird that would have been especially offended by cow-poop, because it is a famous migratory bird that has had a slow recovery over the past century. By naming the specie, it would narrow the possible actors in this issue to about 100 possible ranchers, and we do not wish to raise their profile before the central government goon squads and enviropsychos.
Fast forward to to-day, and we have the actual Bureau of Land Management attempting to essentially expropriate from Texas and the State of Oklahoma almost 100,000 acres of Red River border bottom-lands. This is due to the difficulty in determining the correct line of delineation between the two entities. The Burea of Land Management seems to say that since the Red River is indecisive about establishing a constant and permanent channel, then the BLM needs to simply take all the area that swishes this way to-day and swashes the other way to-morrow.
The present Attorney General of Texas, Mr. Abbot, has thrown down the gauntlet against the Barry Soetoro's peculiar autocratic, marxist government now for the thirtieth time, via legal process and/or law suit. In all probability it will become a matter of both Attorneys-General quite soon.
The initial illegal land-grab is certainly bad enough. The use of the same standards being employed in the one area where the unstable border is being examined now, however, could lead to as much as 1,000.000 acres of territory being declared to be of indeterminate domain.
Move down to the other end of the Republic of Texas and we can report that, very steadily, the Department of the Interior and its various dependencies, have taken more and more land out of the private sector's ownership for the purpose of "preservation of the rapidly diminishing natural habitat". This steady taking, backed by the elites in the locale who are kind, gentle, more enlightened, the only ones concerned with the little animals, and the only ones with the ability to determine what is good and what the people should and should not have access to....back up this government redefinition of what belongs to whom.
The only people who have the right to be in these "restricted areas" that are marked "Federal Property - No Entrance under penalty of law" are drug traffickers and illegal aliens, and of course, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Interior personnel.
 |
| These signs are increasingly appearing throughout the Republic of Texas |
Increasingly tired of hubris, we remain grateful for the OROGs continued patience with the rantings of a mean old man.
El Gringo Viejo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
