Alaskaweasel, My cousin married a 'city' girl, who is slowly but surely becoming somewhat of a country girl. The ideas she got in her head from the city...some of it from her dad...he was an environmentalist. He would go visit them and tell Tony (my cousin) that cows were the scourge of the earth, and if people would get to eat the grain cattle eat, there would be no hunger. Ah, yes, the great grain shortage. Our local grain elevator STILL has some corn piled on the ground from last harvest, because there is no room for it in the bins, and no one wants to buy it. Seems funny how us cattlemen are so 'greedy' that we are hoarding corn, and leaving it on the ground to rot, while so many are starving.
I have said this many times, and likely will many more...NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE in the world goes hungry because there isn't enough food in the world, they are hungry only because they either can't afford to buy enough, or some government somewhere won't import/export it so they can get it.
I also get burned up about how us farmers/ranchers are 'poisoning' the land. My great-Grandfather first bought the land I am on right now, and I plan to leave it to my kids someday. Who in their right minds would think I would poison it? Actually city people are MUCH worse. Show of hands now...how many of you reading this that live in town actually calibrate the fertilizer spreader for your lawn? When you spray for weeds, are you careful to use only what is needed, and no more?
The Nebraska University did a study, and in Nebraska at least, the farther out into the country you got, the cleaner the water was. Seemed enough people in Omaha & Lincoln had the idea if 50 pounds of fertilizer makes you grass green, 150 makes it greener. If 4 ounces of weed killer killed the dandilions, 14 killed them deader.
Sorry to rant and rave, but this strikes too close to home.

On a side note, when 'Tony's' wife first moved here, she wouldn't eat tounge because the thought of eating something that touched what a cow ate was disgusting...but she liked eggs.

 

here in Klamath Falls, OR the government has stopped water to the farmers to save some fish. what i dont understand is why would people think that to save a fish (which i am all for if we have the resources) is more important then the hundreds of farmers/ranchers that have no water for their fields? which means no food on their plates and no support for their families and their crops are ruined for who knows how long. i dont get it.

 

I'M SURPRISED THAT YOU WERE SURPRISED. [think about it]

and it's ultra important to realize that most of the people who care for the environment and are devoted to saving it come from metropolitan areas [im not knocking on metropolitan areas cuz im from there] but it shows how they often make uninformed choices.

 

farmr123: Your right on! You go to the Sandhills and I remember driking water right from the windmills. Nothing comes close. Then you head to Lincoln, Omaha, and water sucks. But we are the ones with problems? SO TRUE. I've only lived here 2 years and miss Nebraska in many ways, and not in ways (but as you know, once you got sand in your feet it never goes totally away..LOL). My wife was a city girl that I met in Lincoln at college. When we would go back to Valentine she didn't even know that Nebraska was sitting on a lake of water. It also was neat to see in highschool the Omaha kids come up to Valentine for the Valentine Invite Wrestling tourney. They didn't want to leave. They loved the country live......Maybe thats the problem? To many City Slicks want to have the big money the fancy car, but also want what WE HAVE in the country peace and quiet, room, and tons of receration but not at the cost of loosing their shopping malls etc..... Thats what always burned me about Omaha and Linkinites....We in the west and north Nebraska were only good places when it came to them getting away from their problems. Yet we know nothing about politics etc etc...They just think we are a bunch of hicks. Funny how dumb us hicks are? Thats why they Omaha, Lincoln population is alawys trying to pass new laws on rivers in our areas, land uses, etc..... It however will come back to get them someday. They are just to dumb to see it coming.

 

This has nothing to do with the subject, but small-town Nebraska made big news in the Wall Street Journal. It was last Wednesday's issue. On the front page they started an article about some bigshot who moved into Loup County from California, and tried to become a rancner. It is quite an interesting story, as I know some of the people involved personally. It involves crime, corruption, and murder. The first murder in Loup County in something over 60 years, and about half the county were suspects. My wife ran a copy off at work for someone & it looked so interesting, she made another for me to read.

I hear you about being called a hick. After thinking about it, I now consider it a compliment. After all, if you have a flat tire and no wrench, I doubt anyone in the city would help you (they would likely loot your car if you had to walk) but out here, our neighborhood 'hicks' would loan you a wrench, give you a ride, or even change the tire for you. Why city people have to bring it all with them when they try to get away from it all is beyond me.

(I don't mean to bash city people in general, what I meant was there is more of a 'bad' crowd living there. In fact, the lazy, good-for-nothings that grew up around here all went to the city, and you can have them)

 

This may be alittle off the subject, but I thought you guys might find it enlightning. I know I did.

This article was in the Portland Oregonian Paper. This should shed some light on Ford's business and the eviromental agenda.

OREGONIAN
"Environmental gifts bring Ford a truckload of trouble"
Customers around the nation who feel their livelihoods and recreational pursuits threatened lash out at the automaker
Saturday, June 16, 2001

By Michelle Cole of The Oregonian staff
Stan Meager has been a "Ford man" ever since he bought his first car -- a 1951 Ford four-door sedan. Not anymore. Not since the Ford Motor Company Fund announced a $5 million grant to the National Audubon Society. The 59-year-old Klamath Basin fruit grower usually doesn't complain. But he couldn't help but dash off an e-mail to Ford last month: "You are supplying my enemies with the means to destroy my home and way of life," he wrote. "I will no longer buy a Ford product of any kind, not even a spark plug." There's trouble brewing in Ford Country. Ranchers, loggers, motorcyclists and others are mighty unhappy about the Ford Fund's growing support of environmental organizations. And their displeasure may mark the first time that a large American corporation has faced consumer backlash for being perceived as too green.
>
Ford's environmental contributions have dominated talk radio in Montana. They've ignited e-mail exchanges among conservative political groups. They've been the subject of critical articles in niche publications, including a magazine published by the Blue Ribbon Coalition, a national organization of off-road vehicle enthusiasts.
>
"I have talked to a number of people who are upset with Ford. They don't approve of the Ford Fund's support for green groups who are trying to close out national forests to motorized access," said Don Amador, Western representative for the Blue Ribbon Coalition.
During last month's annual stockholders meeting, William Ford Jr., chairman of the company and great-grandson of its founder, reiterated Ford's commitment to environmental protection. The automaker has recently announced a number of new "green" initiatives, including improving gas mileage on the popular Ford Explorer.
Meanwhile the Ford Motor Company Fund, an independent entity fueled by Ford Motor Company profits, gave away $14.1 million in environmental grants last year -- up from $4.2 million in 1999 and $3.2 million in 1998. In addition to supporting Audubon, Ford also has made a five-year, $25 million pledge to Conservation International to create a Center for Environmental Leadership in Business and a five-year, $5 million grant to Earthwatch Institute for promoting sustainable conservation. Ford acknowledged that it has received hundreds of consumer complaints from all over the country as a result of the Fund's environmental grants. The
company has also heard from at least one dealer, Terry Andreessen, who owns the Timberline Auto Center in Libby, Mont.
"Ford's 'elite' sitting in their glass offices must understand that these seemingly 'politically correct' donations to environmental groups appears as a huge betrayal to the working class people who struggle to survive in our resource-based industries," Andreessen said. "Ford dealers located in these rural communities are not immune from the effects of the extreme environmental movement that has devastated businesses and families."
The company did not anticipate the complaints, Ford spokeswoman Brook Galbraith said.
"The National Audubon Society has one of the largest environmental organization memberships in the United States," she said.
In a form-letter reply to customers who have complained, Ford stresses that its contributions to Audubon are specifically limited to environmental education and bird-monitoring projects.
That doesn't wash with Bob Taft, a 72-year-old Wyoming cattle rancher who owns four Ford pickups, including a "dandy" 2000 diesel model. His beef: Audubon is often listed among the plaintiffs in environmental lawsuits. Ford's support of Audubon's education and bird projects, he said, is "about the same as the U.S. government giving Moscow or Beijing some money for humanitarian purposes when they're busy building up armaments to use against us some day."
Taft said he will not buy another Ford "as long as they're working against us."
Tommy Harris, Oregon director for the Pacific Northwest Four-Wheel Drive Association, said he detects a conflict between Ford's environmental grant-making and its advertising message.
"There was a commercial showing Ford pick-ups on a football field throwing turf as high as a two-story building," he said. "That's ridiculous." At the very least, Harris and others say, Ford ought to spend some of its millions supporting his and other associations' promotion of responsible off-road activity. "I suppose we'd like to have a little grant money to support our end of the thing," Harris said. "But that's tough for a company to do."

 

Minehunter :
Not THAT was interesting reading!!!

 

Looks like I'm going to have to be a Chevy guy from now on! That is just plain outrageous!

 

YOU GUYS GOT ALOT OF THIS ALL WRONG! Us "city-slickers" don't bring all the urbanization and malls with us. I resent you guys saying that. I look at the land for sale in the Cleveland Plain Dealer here in Cleveland and see 427 acres "FOR DEVELOPERS ONLY" and 208 acres saying "GOOD FOR DEVELOPING". It's not always us. Sometimes were the bait. Theres more and more "get rich quick" type of people EVERYWHERE in America. Theres more and more "hicks" selling out. I met alot of country people who would rather live in the city than the country, and some country people like yourself who don't like to live in the city. I guess where I'm going at is, urbanization of rural areas is the result of one mans greed. One man sells out his land to a developer and gets rich. Others in the mean time see this and do the same. The developer sees the oppurtunity to make even more profit, and soon designs and builds houses that appeal to upper class "city folk." These people see it as an oppertunity to "get away from it all" and to "get away from the hustle of the city". (These people obviously don't know any thing about country life.) While this rush is happening, another developer see the oppertunity to make a ton of g's if he builds a shopping center that is convienienty located near all these houses. Another competitive developer decides to do the same on the other side of town, and the result is an urbanized area with WAAAAAY too many shopping centers.

I guess where I'm going at is, the fate of the land rests in the rest of you, the hard working country folk. I don't know how relative this is to Nebraska and what not, but it's happening in Ohio. Go back and look to the begining, IT ALL STARTS WHEN ***SOMEONE***(hmmm let me think who that someone is) SELLS OUT their land for a big lump of cash to developers. Thats how it all started. Everyone wants money! Theres no stopping that. I live in the city, and would one day LOVE to move out to the country and have a ton of land to myself. Thats why I resent you guys saying that """"""city-slickers"""""" are ruining the country when the country rests in your hands!!!!!!

You call the city bad and crime riddin, NO SH*T A**f*ck!!! The more people you have, the more crazy it's gonna be! The more people, the better the odds that the person next to you could be a rapist, or even a murderer! If you fix a flat tire for one person, your gonna have to fix em' for everyone! People are more exposed to crime, thats common sense! Sure I will most definately help a single woman stranded by herself in the dark, and I know I am not a crazy f*ck, BUT WHAT WILL SHE THINK! IT'S A SHAME!!!

If there is one thing I learned from living in the city, it is that LIFE IS CRAZY, GET OVER IT!

I THANK you guys for bustin your a** to put dinner on my plate, but turn the tables...... what money would u have if we wern't here?

This is the WEIRDEST D*MN thread to be posted in an ATV forum, but I, also, had to vent.

 

Offrder15: Your post makes tons of sense to me......I mean, if someone is going to offer you 10million today for you land and you wouldn't take it for the good of the country? Please, I see your point, but if you had been working your butt off to feed people like yourself, or having to put up with new regualtions that are as thick as the bible(FIGURE OF SPEECH) every year, you would sale to[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Besides the point in this post was to point out that IN GENERAL if City folk like yourself where subject to a bit more rural educational classes in school, there would be a lot less bunny huggers coming out of your areas. GEE, you all might even understand where meat,leather,soap products, salad, etc. etc....comes from. I bet there would be a real change coming from California, NewYork, etc... But I do see they teach language skills extremely well there! I havn't seen that many bleep outs in a long time......LOL I guess if you take it personally you shouldn't, if your NOT ONE of those kind of people then you have nothing to be upset about do you?

As for your point that you don't bring your shopping malls with ya, Yeah you don't, but the funny thing was I never saw a local during dear season shoot a COW thinking it was a deer.....LOL I'll make you a deal though,,,,next time I feel the need to ride I'll come to your home and ride on your grass and tear it up etc. etc....It' my right isn't it? That's the problem, I don't own it and wouldn't do it unless asked...For some reason Urban areas tend to think they own everyone elses land along with theirs. I guess it is their RIGHT to tell us what to do with OUR land...I forgot, they pay the taxes on it to, my bad.