CATFISH, MULBERRY SEEDS, & COWS IN A BUBBLE

 

 

 

 

Joyce Morrison
August 19, 2004
NewsWithViews.com

CNN reported that in 2005, tax freedom day for the country as a whole was April 17. The Tax Foundation estimates that �Americans will have needed to work 107 days to pay off their taxes -- 70 days to pay off Uncle Sam and 37 days to pay off his state and local brethren.�

But they will spend fewer days on many essentials:

65 days for housing and maintenance
52 days for health and medical care
31 days for food
32 days for transportation
22 days for recreation
13 days for clothing and accessories
2 days for saving

Did you ever think about all the strange projects you paid for with your 107 days of work?

One recent bit of pork that jumped out from our local paper was when another million dollars was given to the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center in Southwestern Illinois for research on environmental infrastructure. Millions of dollars keep filtering into this research center and no farmer in the area will be safe when this project is complete.

When the latest million dollars was awarded, a young intern �was to give a presentation during the symposium about her summer research, titled �Evaluating the Dispersal of Floodplain Plant Seeds by Channel Catfish in the Mississippi River.� According to her abstract, �The purpose of the study was to determine whether mulberry seeds consumed and defecated by channel catfish have a greater germination success compared to seeds dropped during a flood that are not consumed by fish.�

Most of us could live a long time without that profound knowledge about catfish defecation and would have enjoyed saving the dollars that paid for the study a whole lot more.

Our rights and freedoms are disappearing in exchange for those tempting grant dollars. Invasive programs are taking over our counties and municipalities that are �incentive driven� which means �they�ll take on any program with a grant attached.�

Our County Board approved a designated Federal and State Scenic Byway for our county a few years back and it ran through the middle of our property. They didn�t even know what regulations were attached because all they could see was �grant money.� Not one of those promoting this byway could tell you what the grant money could be used for�and the way it could be spent was very limited.

The Sierra Club lady who nominated and pushed for the scenic byway received a $50,000 �personal grant� for all the work she has done for the environment. But at whose expense?

In Missouri, they are pushing for legislation to make all streams fit for body contact. This means you should be able to put your head under the water and swim in any stream or river in Missouri. It may sound great, but it is very unrealistic. That poor old guy raising a few head of cattle on the family farm, and watering them from the creek that goes through his farm, is in for a major headache.

The front page of the August 15 edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch shows a picture of an aquatic ecologist for the National Park Service wading in Jacks Fork River taking water samples for E.coli and fecal matter in the water.

Another picture shows horse riders crossing the Jacks Fork River and some folks in canoes are pictured in the background.

Some 3,000 horseback riders gathered in Eminence, MO for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Cross country Trail Ride. Apparently NPS biologists measured high levels of E.coli and fecal coliform on a tributary and the horses are getting blamed. The horses are only allowed in the water at specified trail crossings.

Not being a scientist, I am curious to know if there is a major difference between the fecal coliform of deer and horses? What will they do about the bathroom habits of wild animals?

For 50 years residents of Eminence, MO have welcomed the added income the equestrians brought in. No doubt lots of tourism dollars were spent to build up the event and now there appears to be a conflict between swimming and horseback riding and you can bet your tax dollars will be spent resolving the conflict.

Recently there was a study that should make you eager to work a few more days to contribute your hard earned tax dollars. An excerpt from Cows put in a bubble to measure emissions, an AP article by Kathleen Hennessey states:

It sure seems like the government has an unusual interest in catfish, horse and cow emissions.

As long as there are grants given so freely, and no one is held accountable, you will pay for them. Not all grants are bad, but many are used as incentives to take away your rights! You should call your elected officials and question the necessity of pork loaded grants because they probably contain �emissions.�

� 2004 Joyce Morrison - All Rights Reserved