Tuesday, March 31, 2009

We'll Fix them Cows

Today's Link
Sylvia From Over the Hill

Today's Saying
Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss. ~Robert Heinlein

Today's Picture
My Van

I am wondering about the kind of people we hire to run our government agencies. I really am.
You see the EPA ( Environmental Protection Agency) has proposed a C02 tax to congress. The money raised would be used to fund research into C02 free energy resources.
Now I have no problem with the general idea. A tax based on how much C02 was being produced makes some kind of sense. You know a small tax on energy efficient cars and a bigger tax on large gas guzzling ones makes sense. It even makes sense to tax coal and gas fired plants according to the amount of C02 they produce. It is a reasonable idea. I don’t like it because I drive a van and cost me more to keep it. It will also run my electric bill up. But I understand it.
It’s the rest of the recommendation I don’t understand. They want to tax cows at one hundred dollars a head and sheep at twenty and other farm animals according to C02 production. Now which , highly intelligent, EPA leader came up with this idea?
Do they think we can build a better cow with lower emissions? Do they think the cow faced with a hundred dollar fine will just suck it in?
Do they think?
If this passed and one has to believe that saner heads will prevail it will:
1.Be the last nail in the coffin of the family farm.
2. Cause your milk and beef prices to soar.
3. Cause more foreign beef to be imported.
4. Cause the death of a lot of milk cows whose owners can’t afford the tax.
Of course it also opens the door to taxing the air we breathy which some in congress have always wanted to do. We are after all an animal. We breath out C02. Will we have to check in to a breathing center and get our C02 emissions checked?
Welcome to the brave new world.

News from Pigeon Falls
The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Last night Tommy UK stopped to talk to Eino after school. Eino had no idea how the video came to show Tommy and Tammy doing something they had never done.
“It would take technology way beyond ours to this” Eino said “But then we are left with the question why”
He then shared with Tommy the fact that his friend had been told to say that the Big Mac wrapper had no clues on it . “ But if that’s true “, he said,” Why are they sending two homeland security people here?”
Tommy UK responded “ I suspect they know something we don’t know and somehow they got that information from the Big Mac wrapper . But what could that information be?”.
While Eino and Tommy were talking Tammy went to some kind of dance class. As much as they would like to be together all the time that just isn‘t possible. In fact Tammy‘s mother is getting a little upset with the amount of time Tammy is spending with Tommy UK and has told her that she has to cut back..

Wrap UP
I guess Maggie was really bad last night. She kept getting Pennie up. So tonight she will sleep on our side of the duplex so Pennie can get some sleep. Betty says that Maggie could hear and smell the panther. Since there is no panther I doubt it. But there might be a coyote. It could be an interesting evening. Betty went to Bible Study this morning. When she came home we went to Applebees for lunch. It was to celebrate her birthday which was yesterday but yesterday Pennie had the car keys so we couldn't get out. Then we went to the Credit Union to get a document notarized. I then visited every blog on my friends list which I try to do once a week.The Geese are back in the field behind the house. When Betty saw them she told me she read in the paper where a goose was killed and partially eaten on a nearby farm. She is sure it is that panther but it was probably a coyote. Betty is so stuborn. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA
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29 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Welcome to Obama's world.

I wonder if Eino and Tommy know that the Big Mac wrapper is a box?

1:11 AM  
Anonymous quilly said...

Oh goody! With Mom forbidding the Tammy and Tommy romance, it is sure to thrive!

1:30 AM  
Blogger david mcmahon said...

It's Van Gogh!!

2:10 AM  
Blogger Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

I am so loving today's saying...I will be wary!

5:34 AM  
Blogger Melli said...

Ohhhhh dear! This cold still has me coughing Co2 all over the place! I can't afford to get sick!

Did Tommy EVER get to talk to his Uncle? I don't think he did! I think Tommy needs to have that chat!

Is Pigeon Falls DONE FOR? Is NEENAH going to be the NEW Pigeon Falls? Will Neenah High have to change their school mascot to a PANTHER? Will these questions EVER get answered??? *shrug*...

7:00 AM  
Blogger Sylvia K said...

Thanks for the link! Enjoyed your post and will be back. Wonderful, this blogging world, huh?

7:15 AM  
Blogger Nessa said...

I'm holding my breath so I can save money.

7:19 AM  
Blogger Gattina said...

Now that really sounds like a joke ! I know that in Germany dog owners have to pay a tax on their dogs and the amount depends on the dog size, but on cows ??? Crazy world !

7:59 AM  
Blogger Jeni said...

I LOVED your saying for today -quite appropriate too, I think.
Tomorrow is also the day when the new taxes will go into effect on cigarettes, etc. Ok, I know, I'm a smoker so yes, I resent having more taxes piled on me for what is, yes I admit and agree, a very bad habit too. But sheesh, there's lots of other vices out there that could pick up a little share in the tax load too, me thinks. I'm wondering though, if they keep taxing the living daylights out of bad stuff like tobacco products and more and ore people do stop smoking, what will be the next thing on their taxation agenda? I'm thinking probably food becaue people really can't quit partaking of that substance, can they, therefore it would be a constant flow of income. Tax the snack products, the pastries, then the pastas, fried food type things -all very unhealthy too and prone to make us obese. Of course, that may lead then to manufacturers producing imitation "healthy" food pills of some sort I suppose and then, eventually that would hit the tax lists too for some reason or other.
Now, around here, there's a group trying to make it illegal for folks to smoke in their own cars and even their own homes too. This stuff has to end somewhere in terms of the amount of control being imposed on people is my theory. Ok, I'm off my soapbox for the day anyway.

8:31 AM  
Blogger Jientje said...

Oh boy!
Interesting point you've got there. A cow with lower emissions!

8:58 AM  
Blogger Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

A timely discussion...
I'm going in for another sleep study because apparently, I lower my own Co2 emissions while I sleep (apnea episodes).

When my oldest had a girlfriend, I wondered what they were doing (but not as much as her mother did!) so I can empathize with Tammy's mom.

9:31 AM  
Blogger aims said...

So does this mean the price of cork will go up? To lower cow emissions would require a huge cork wouldn't it? I talking HUGE!

9:42 AM  
Blogger Carletta said...

Nobody said our government was smart - oh, did I say that out loud!
I must remember to whisper to my neighbor's cows as I go out today. :)
You picked a really nice blog link today. I visit Sylvia quite often.
Hope you're having a good day and hope the evening isn't too eventful.

10:16 AM  
Blogger Family Man said...

I find it hard to beleive our politicians could vote for a tax like that. If you ever hear one of their speeches, instead of the "mood meter" we sometimes see at the bottom, it could be like a ticker, showing the tax liability for the speech as they speak. Heck We could totally eliminate the budget deficit with one Senate Fillibuster.

12:25 PM  
Blogger Akelamalu said...

I'd like to shoot tax collectors and politicians - I'll stay off the booze! ;)

12:55 PM  
Blogger Gary's third pottery blog said...

maybe the thing to do is tax the coal companies instead, but they probably have better lobbyists than the cows!

1:44 PM  
Blogger Pat - Arkansas said...

Somebody needs something useful to do... and to think about! CO2 tax on cows, indeed!! They are nuts!

I've been enjoying catching up on your posts. I particularly liked the mini-sermon "Just like Philip." Well written, Dr. John.

2:57 PM  
Blogger Carver said...

Great photograph of your grandson and as always your quotes are so good. Enjoyed your post.

3:25 PM  
Blogger Melli said...

I don't think that baskets, eggs, candy, or stuffed bunnies have ANYTHING to do with our religions! I think they have everything to do with HALLMARK! But if you find out otherwise, you let me know! In April! I can't WAIT! *gasp* TOMORROW is APRIL!!! Ohhhhhhhh! I'm SO excited!!!

3:32 PM  
Blogger Melli said...

OH! I have those first two MAGIC books that Quilly was talking about. If Betty would like them, I will give her mine -- because I couldn't get into them. I tried. But I just couldn't.

WHY didn't you TELL us it Betty's birthday yesterday? Shame on you!

What do you have against panthers?

3:50 PM  
Blogger Maude Lynn said...

I'm totally cracking up over building a low emissions cow!

4:05 PM  
Blogger Bill ~ {The Old Fart} said...

Dr John I sometimes wonder where these wonderful ideas come from. It cannot be a rational person making them. The idiot behind this idea to tax cows and sheep probably never got out of the city. They wouldn't know Cow or Sheep Poop if they fell in it.

Oh well I always thought the Inmates were running the Asylum.



Europe is beginning to look better and better. Maybe we can go visit Peter in Switzerland.

A Blessed day is wished for you and Betty.

4:58 PM  
Blogger Connie T. said...

Taxing cows is stupid. It will make the cost of food so expensive.

5:12 PM  
Blogger Lew said...

As to the van and cows, we have one a van also and are in the middle of dairy country here in Maryland. I don't think EPA's suggestion will get much support here. Some things just must be left to nature.

5:31 PM  
Blogger Lori's Minute said...

The panther story is as good as the Pigeon Falls story...

6:35 PM  
Blogger Cherie said...

Since collectively cows have greater emissions than cars, you knew it only had to be a matter of time. *sigh* And the pendulum swings the other way. I just didn't realize that it would get this far this soon.

7:38 PM  
Blogger Vicky said...

Wow, just wow, about the cow, emissions I mean. Who could think these things up? Do they keep a straight face when they make these proposals? What next?

What a fun and enlightening post!

8:00 PM  
Blogger walk2write said...

I don't quite see the fairness of lumping cows together with coal-fired electric plants and other high-CO2 emitters. Methane, not carbon dioxide, is the emission cows are blamed for. Better they should be taxed along with anything bean--burritos, chili, baked beans.... Any place with a public toilet should also qualify--especially the ones frequented by our elected officials. Pay as you go should be the new standard.

12:04 PM  
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11:13 AM  

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