Conspiracy? Maybe Not

Have you ever wondered who owns the majority of our meat processing plants in the USA? For many years, out USA OWNED meat processing plants were owned by US stock holders or families. Over the years, these corporations have sold out to interests from outside the USA. In other words, our food is being processed in the USA by people from outside the USA, both physically and monetarily. Don’t you think with all the issues we are having with China that those companies are a danger to our food supply chain? Yep, I believe it.

First the meat packers are bought out by Cargill and who knows who owns Cargill but there are only FIVE meat packers in the USA handling all the beef. Tyson is owned by Cargill and I won’t go into all the other companies but I will say this, JBS is owned by Brazil stock holders. With all the outside interests, wouldn’t you be a little nervous? I am.

Then we bring in Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL) that was shot down by Congress a few years back (Thanks Senator Pat Roberts for nothing). This would have required all meat packaged to have a country of origin label, so consumers could choose where their meat came from. Why? Because the USA is importing beef and exporting it as well under the trade agreements. Meat coming into the USA doesn’t go through the stringent inspection process before coming to the USA. That meas that meat could have been laying on a dirty floor before it was shipped to the USA. Yeah, that is gross but it happens. So, COOL go shot down, food comes in that isn’t inspected closely and it gets into our food chain. GROSS!

Now comes Corona Virus. Smithfield is a pork packing plant and guess who has investments in that company? China. That country also gets chickens, pork, & beef that is slaughtered in the USA, shipped to China for processing, then returned to the USA. Do you really thing this is a good idea? I don’t.

Now suddenly all the meat packing plants are shutting down because of the CoVID-19 virus. Why? Hmmm, could China be behind it all? Possibly.

Do you think our food chain should be supplied by other countries? Do you think that food from China can be safe? Do you really want to risk it after we know baby formula from China had lead in it? The dog treats from China caused thousands of dogs to have seizures and die (My parents had a dog that ended up with seizures from eating Chinese doggie treats). Toys from China have lead on them. Do you really thing we should buy anything from China, just because it is cheap? I don’t.

Farmers in America feed the world. We are quite capable of producing most of the food our country needs (Save goat meat, we don’t have enough goats to feed the ethnic populations.). Our dairy farmers are dumping milk because the processors are screwing the farmers with low prices paid to produce, then jacking the price up in the stores. The meat packers are screwing the beef producers by lowballing fat cattle, then selling steaks for $16/pound. Who has interests in these companies? China or outside country entities. Enough is enough. It is time to buy American and buy from the local producer because the big processors have too many questionable investors and tactics.

Conspiracy? Maybe, maybe not.

Losing Faith in People

I get it, I really do; I’m sick of this virus, I am sick of the government trying to tell me what to do. I also understand that some people need the government telling them what to do as they are totally incapable of using common sense, common courtesy or their brains. Chase County, Kansas has a State Park that was packed with people when the fear of catching COVID-19 hit Kansas. The sheriff saw the danger in people packing the park and didn’t want people who carried the virus to spread it to the small county. It was self defense in my opinion. He ordered the people out of the country, closed the park and issued an order if you were from Wichita, Kansas City or other areas heavily hit with the virus you were to be ticketed for loitering in Chase County. I thought it was a good deal, even though it could be considered legally problematic.

I lived in Chase County for many years and have ties there still. I know the county has maybe 3200 residents and most are over the age of 50, which makes them more a target for the virus. While I think we should all get back to business, I don’t think we should deliberately expose people unnecessarily to the virus and this is exactly what people were doing by hiding out at the Lake. Then they would come to town to buy supplies, exposing others to the virus. Where is the logic in this? Chase County is largely agricultural and has a small tourism draw but they have already cancelled the Symphony on the Prairie and many other events in the county. People, just stay away.

In the county I live in now, there are many folks from Wichita who own property here. Every weekend they come to their weekend properties fully exposed to the virus from Wichita. I still find it amazing that we still haven’t had one case here. But these folks aren’t just hanging out in public places, they are on private property away from others. What little contact they have with the locals is getting gas at the station, out in the open. They bring all their supplies from town and they are fine. There is a big difference in these two situations.

I have lost my faith in people. In many ways, they are protesting to go back to work, which is good, yet there are some of those who think they can do around without an regard to people and deliberately endanger some populations because it’s their right to do as they please. This is where common sense, courtesy and logic fly out the window. Sometimes I think that the Old Western Laws should apply to these type of folks. You’re from Kansas City?!? GET A ROPE!!! Or better yet, don’t feed the pigs tonight son, we have fresh meat for them. Yeah, those types of people deserve the best. NOT.

I do hope we can get Kansas opened up with areas that are limited to prevent the spread. But we have to expect those with no regard to expose as many people as possible. I am tired of people ripping into me for going and doing business for my agricultural based business. “You shouldn’t be out and about.” But I am considered necessary, they don’t seem to care. All I know is, I prefer my animals and the further away from civilization the better.

The Attack on Christianity

Numerous cities, counties and states have put the breaks on for Christians attending church services on Easter. Many use the excuse that the virus was spread by Christians attending church services or conferences as a good enough excuse to charge Christians with committing a crime for attending any service. Let’s pull up a moment and look at this logically. First off, the First Amendment declares the government cannot take away the right to worship and this is exactly what governments are doing! Constitutional Rights be damned. They make no excuses but to say Christians are spreading the virus and don’t care about the general population. I say this is bull hockey.

Yes, there was a Christian conference of some sort in the Kansas City area as this virus started spreading. Many who attended the conference were exposed and spread the virus unknowingly. Does that make all Christians carriers? Hell NO! This is just a logical situation. There was a bunch of people at a gathering, someone had the virus, exposed them all and it was off to the races. So to stop the virus, government entities are shutting down churches. First it was limiting worship to no more than ten people, or allowed for drive-in services. Now there are people across the country that are being ticketed and charged with crimes for following guidelines.

This behavior is blatantly UNCONSTITUTIONAL and needs to be stopped. Of course in Kansas our Great Governor ‘I’m a dictator’ Kelly fought the legislators on stopping her ban and won her case in front of activists democratic judges. I say kiss it Kelly, we going to worship in spite of your ban. We are going to worship OUR GOD in spite of your rules. Ten people or drive in worship is not illegal, not a crime. Your hatred of Christianity, pro-life and pro-family ideology is showing through an we can recall your ass. Just remember, Jesus was a politician as he called out the leaders of his time and even called Herod a sly fox, which was a terrible name to be called back then. So if the democratic demons want a fight, they have no idea what they are going to get, after all God is still in charge and HIS people who call upon His name, still worship. You cannot snuff us out. We win if you kill us off as we go to Heaven, we win if you lose your court cases and there will be major cases filed. You see, even in the worst of times, Christians win because we are in a win-win situation, even when we are killed, oppressed and mocked.

AS for me? I will continue to go on with daily life, with or without social distancing, face mask or paperwork. I answer to a higher law.

Too Many Hannahs

Today I decided to deviate a little from my normal train of thought and tell you about one of my goats and how much I have learned about human behavior from this animal. In fact, one can learn all you need to know about human behavior by observing animals. The frightening part is, our supposed superior intellect does not give us much of an advantage over the beasts of the fields and the sad part is, our morality has lowered to the level of the beasts.

Hannah came to our goat herd about seven years ago, when she was five. She is the largest of all the females and she is a problem child. The first year I had the herd out on the road doing weed and brush control, she nearly got my dog, Jinx, hit by a car as she followed the goat across a highway. At that time, I wanted to kill Hannah but I just fired her from my work crew. Last summer, I put Hannah back on the work crew out of necessity as we didn’t have enough goats to choose who got to go on the road, so I am stuck with her until old age catches up with her, and that is when sweet justice will prevail.

Hannah is one of those type of goats you think you can trust but the moment you turn your back, she will do something to upset the whole goat cart. If she sees and opening in a gate or fence, she will go through it, leading the other goats on a wild chase that usually ends up with me commanding the dogs to get her down. That wouldn’t be so bad except for Joy, who loves to hold on and not let go, leaving the goat with some kind of cut. But in some respects, I am not sorry for the pain inflicted upon Hannah because I cannot find a way to teach her to stay where she is suppose to stay. At her age of nearly 13, I highly doubt that she will learn anything positive and her propensity to cause trouble will only give her more ammunition for causing me grief.

I really want to trust Hannah and for a while, I will give her the benefit of the doubt and for a while, things go well, then she turns like a season, unexpectedly and when least prepared. Hannah’s daughter, Havanah is exactly like her mother and as a younger goat, she is more agile and when we get her into the working chute, if we don’t crowd her quickly, she’ll jump out, missing all vaccinations and de-wormings. I think in three years, Havanah has received one vaccination and has never been de-wormed. Neither goat should be in our herd but their resilience and ability to raise quality babies keeps them from the cull pen. You might say I love to hate them.

Deep down I think the reason I keep both Hannah and Havanah is because they are a reminder of human nature and in some regards politicians. You want to trust them and for a while, you can, then when least expected, they turn on you and screw you in some way. Hannah has ruined many good electric netting fences. It costs me money to repair the fences, yet I keep her because of her genetic traits that are desirable, even if her behavior is questionable. The only real thing I can count on Hannah for is to be unreliable, troublesome and at times, a good indicator of something being wrong in the herd. IF there is a problem, Hannah is the first to run, hide and run off in the wrong direction, this is the 100% reliability about her I can depend.

I hate this doe with a passion, yet, it is her unreliability that I depend upon, it keeps me on my toes and alert, when I might become complaisant. With Hannah in the herd, I know I have to keep on top of things, to prevent problems. When you think about Hannah and her undesirable characteristics, you can compare her to politicians. You hate them for their unreliability, yet you know they are capable of going the wrong way if you don’t pay attention to them. Yet they are the ones we keep re-electing and we keep track of them and raise hell with them, when they screw up. The one constant is that they cannot be trusted without you watching them constantly. Perhaps I should cull Hannah from the herd, it would make life more simple and quiet. Hmmm, maybe we should do the same to certain politicians, after all, we have too many Hannah’s in Washington D.C,

Faith and Trust in God Will Get You Through

I don’t hide the fact that I am a Evangelical Bible Thumping, Gun Toting, American Patriot. I am a Christian, a work in progress because no human is perfect. I try not to judge and when I see some Christian going overboard with judging, I try to remind them that all have sinned and come short. I have learned in the last two years that the only way I can get through this crazy and sinful world is to have Faith and Trust God to bring me through whatever and everything that I face. This corona virus situation is no different. I have been preaching to everyone I know that they need to keep calm and go on with life but be prudent in how you get out and about. The sad problem I am seeing is that many Christians are in melt-down mode and I just don’t get it.

I was ripped into by a person who claimed to be a Christian, because I wasn’t upset about how contagious this corona virus can be and they questioned if I even took the threat seriously. I do take it seriously but I also believe completely that God’s Plan for me is all I need to think about. If I get the virus and die, I win, because I will get to be with the Lord for eternity. If I get sick and survive, I win, because I will have the immunity built up from being sick once, that I won’t get it again. If I don’t get the virus, I win, as God allows me to stay healthy. In any or all of these situations, because I believe what God has planned for me is the best outcome and His Will in my life.

Do I worry? Of course I do, but I can’t worry that much because I know God has this and all I have to do is follow along and not fight the situation. I worry more about my mom than myself, because I am her caregiver and I am the one going shopping and doing things in public and then coming home, hoping to get sprayed down with Lysol before getting around her. I take precautions and hope others would do the same, although I do know that there are some running around that shouldn’t be.

It is difficult to see fellow Christians in a panic. I hate to call them out but they do need to reconsider their walk with the Lord if they are scared. You must have hope and keep the faith if you a child of God and we must trust Him in all things. The strongest we can be is when we are down on our knees. God bless you all.

Let the Creativity Flow

The country has been basically shut down for about two-three weeks now and boredom has taken over. Cabin fever can be bad for some and for others, they reach a stage when their creativity begins to flow. There have been so many creative ideas and photos shared on social media, it becomes a type of entertainment.

A museum has challenged people to recreate a painting with three items they find lying around their house. People are sharing ideas on activities they can do with their children and some are very interesting. Others are sharing photos of their pets dressed up and there are some asking for ideas to keep their pets busy or entertained. Some folks are even fostering puppies and kittens as they need something to do, during their stay-at-home time.

Then there are those who go the extra mile and re-write songs and turn it into a virus song. The best I’ve seen was a play on Margaritaville song by Jimmy Buffett. Some of my cowboy poet friends are writing poetry.

Americans are resilient and when times get hard, they find humor in the bad situations. Laughing at the situation often offsets the stress. So however you feel, find a way to push that feeling into something creative, whether it be a song, poem, painting, woodwork, or household work. Let the creativity flow. Who knows, you may discover a creative side you never knew you had. Hang on and create, it won’t be much longer and we will be back on our feet.

GET OUTSIDE!

I am taking a break from the internet. I need to get outside and breath fresh air and get some sunshine, not to mention lose some weight by sweating. I suggest that you also get out and breath fresh air, walk and get some exercise. All this stay where you are stuff is going to cause mental health issues soon.

You can walk your dogs, ride horses and ride bikes if you stay away from other people. You cannot sit in front of the television all day and not expect to become mentally deranged with all the crap they put on the boob tube. I am going to try and get the yard cleaned up in spite of the mud. I may even work with the dogs a little, to work on their obedience training.

What ever you do, get outside! Read a book, drink coffee, grill your lunch outside. Sweep the sidewalk. GET OUTSIDE! Avoid people, but know this, sunshine (Vitamin D) and fresh air are the best way to stay healthy. Get dirt under your fingers planting vegetables, flowers and pulling weeds. GET OUTSIDE!

Revelation

I think I got kicked out of the Kansans for Health Freedom facebook group today. Someone was in a panic about the possibility that she would be forced to be vaccinated. I told her not to panic (she claims she wasn’t but the way she worded her statement said otherwise). I also found it rather odd that people just don’t trust in God anymore. When I made that statement she claimed to be a Christian and wasn’t afraid. I told her that if she was worried to go into hiding and read Revelation in the Bible. I presume that is why I was kicked out of a group that I was added to by a friend. Oh well, it isn’t the first group I’ve been banned from and certainly not the last, albeit, I have pretty much avoided too many groups that are not like-minded.

As I stated in my previous post, we are experiencing Natural Selection aka Survival of the Fittest. It won’t be easy and it will be painful for some. But at this point in the game, too many people are still in a panic, worrying about what is going to happen and proving that even though they claim to be Christian, their actions and statements give one the impression that they don’t trust God at all. This is heartbreaking to me as I am an Evangelical, Bible Thumping-Gun toting-American Patriot. I look at this virus thing as the answer to many things for Christians. First, if you get sick and die and are a true Christian, you get to go to Heaven and life in this nutty world will be forgotten and eternity is bliss. Second, if you get the virus and survive, you know that your system was able to get you though. Third, IF you are able to avoid getting the virus all together, then God has blessed you yet again. It is a win-win-win situation.

This win-win-win situation goes for all things in life. There are Christians in other countries that are being murdered because they are Christian. Through their deaths, they become martyrs and they are sent to their reward in Heaven by those who seek to destroy the Truth. But through death, the Truth is spread by people admiring the Christian who stood their ground. If a Christian is beaten and left to live, their testimony spreads the Word of God. By living and trusting in God and that Jesus died for our sins, our testimony is an example to others. Win-win-win.

In the end of times, according to the Bible, chaos, disease, wars and famine will occur. The earth will groan and moan in pain. People will die, people will be murdered yet Christians should not panic nor worry, either way, they win. All this takes is Trust in the Lord. So the question is, are you a believer in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? If not, it is simple and free to all who believe and accept this free gift. “God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. Do I truly believe this? Yes I do! I would and should have been dead many times over but when I called up on the Lord for help, He rescued me. One day, my rescue will be much different when I separate from this cage of a body that will eventually die but my soul is an eternal being! I know where I will spend eternity and I anxiously await my turn. For now, I trust that God will protect me from whatever happens.

If you can come up with a Bible, you need to read Matthew, Chapter 6 it is a good place to start. Words of wisdom are there and throughout the whole Bible. Prayer is another good place to start and you can get the best prayer in chapter 6 (The Lord’s Prayer) even if you don’t know what to pray for.

We Christians come in all shape, sizes and levels of belief. Some are weak, some are stronger and wiser. We are not perfect by any means and we may not say all the right things at the right time but through us, God’s Glory will shine through. For now, do not let your heart be worried, trust in the Lord and take those steps to eternal life through the blood of Jesus. I cannot say truthfully that I don’t worry from time to time, that is human nature but I do strive daily to be more like Jesus and even though I can never be completely like Him, the blood He shed for me, covers all my human mistakes.

It is my prayer that you and your family and loved ones stay healthy and call upon the Name of the Lord to protect and guide you through these crazy times.

May The Odds Ever Be In Your Favor

In the next few weeks we will start to see the natural process of Natural Selection that Mother Nature deals out from time to time. The Plague, Black Death, Bubonic Plague was one of those Natural Selection events that to this day frightens people but once the cause of the plague was discovered (fleas on black rats). Guess what, scientists believe two of the three waves of plague originated in…..CHINA!

The Plague spread by commerce, on ships and trade routes. It also spread by people trying to flee the cities that had the disease. In fact, many Muslim countries were decimated by the plague back then. It all started, it is said by scientists when rats fled areas of climate change. HMMM.

At any rate, that was a bacteria that caused so much havoc, we are dealing with a virus this time and where did it originate? CHINA! Is history repeating itself? Could be. We also have a lot of Muslims invading countries, such as Italy, Germany, France, England and the United States. Seems coincidental, or does it? Makes one wonder.

What I know for fact is, Natural Selection will occur and people will die. Those who aren’t heeding warnings will infect others who are trying to keep their distance. I’ve heard that a couple of people in Kansas who tested positive are still running around, going to pharmacies, grocery stores and Lord knows where else, exposing unsuspecting people. The question is, how do we keep people from doing this? Should they be held responsible? The answer to the second question is yes but to the first question, there needs to be some type of incentive to stay home, perhaps fear of prison for exposing people to a potentially deadly disease. Right now I can see a scenario evolving of people turning against each other, similar to the Hunger Games.

People are already fighting for basic necessities in the grocery stores, and fears of food shortages are becoming real as people stock up on food. Now those known as preppers don’t seem so crazy. There has been a run on gun shops, people buying guns and ammunition in bulk. Before long you might see killings on the street as infected people walking around like zombies send those who aren’t sick into a panic and the news media would love for this to happen on President Trump’s watch.

In my neck of the woods, I know there will be sick people, that is a given. I will practice my usual social distancing as I am generally out of the population as I live on the farm. My odds are lower with living in the country and avoiding large population areas. My odds may also be lower as I am exposed to so much more bacteria and viruses through the livestock, so my immune system is stronger than the average city slicker. I could still get it, but as I said, my odds are lower for infection, even if my elderly mother has higher odds.

The only thing to do is wait this mess out. Nature selects the weak and I hate to see some of the elderly and very young suffer but it is the idiots running around who suspect they have it and not getting tested and those who know they have it but are still running around that will cause the death of some. But, like the Hunger Games, you never know who will come out ahead. You can only pray and with that, I trust only in God and in Him, I find comfort from the craziness. All you who are in a panic, all I can say is what Effie said in the Hunger Games; “May the odds ever be in your favor.”

Resilience

The definition of resilience is: 1: the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress 2: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

The world seems to have forgotten the resilience of the American people. WE THE PEOPLE have the ability to recover from anything our country has had to deal with, including wars and attacks that we have over come in the past. During WWII the people came together to build the largest war equipment building machine int he world. Women went to work, building the Atomic bomb (My grandmother was a crane operator for the Manhattan project), they filled in at jobs that men usually did, so the men could go to war. When the world needed our help, we have been there for them. Sadly, during times we needed help, few fell in to help, like Israel. Still, the American people are resilient and are creative enough and efficient enough to come up with ways to over come adversity.

We are seeing a major drop in the stock market, due to news media and doomsdayers who want the economy to fail under President Trump (because all else has failed to ruin him). This coronavirus aka Chinese virus/Wuhan virus has hit harder than impeachment and it is taking a toll. HOWEVER, the resilience of the PEOPLE will over come this mess and in the end, when the numbers of sick dwindles, the markets and economy will be like a light switch and from dark to high beams we will go like nothing we’ve seen before.

Everyone who listens and believes the news media has a negative view of this mess. Those of us who trust in a higher calling, see beyond the mess and are hopeful, much like President Trump. Things aren’t as bad as they could be because of the President’s orders to stop Chinese from coming to our country this past January. So we have had time to react and we are getting things done, properly.

It is time to say, stand up and suck it up folks. This is not the end of the world. Right now the influenza is killing more than corona at this point. Soldiers with PTSD are committing suicide at higher rates (which is a travesty ), people in Chicago have a higher death chance than people in general catching corona. Calm down reach for the resilience and put it on. We will get through this.