Keenland is most certainly a very friendly place. Just because the weather was bad, doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! This young man will always remember petting the big horse at the racetrack. Grampa won’t forget it soon, either! In between rain showers, and during some, the horses were still running!
Between storms the horses are still grazing, the grass is growing and it’s a beautiful place to be. The horses love it.
Thoroughbred Mamas and Babies
There’s nothing more beautiful than Kentucky horses in springtime. On a windy, sunny day you can find scenes like this all over the Bluegrass. Mommas out picking new grass and babies dancing by their sides. I love driving down the country roads and finding these little ones. They’re so happy to be outside with mom, it makes me smile every time I see them.
This little horse is special.
Kentucky Thoroughbred Baby
Brand New Thoroughbred Baby
Ronald Reagan
Radio Address on Socialized Medicine, 1961:
My name is Ronald Reagan. I have been asked to talk on several subjects that have to do with the problems of the day. …
Back in 1927, an American socialist, Norman Thomas, six times candidate for president on the Socialist Party ticket, said the American people would never vote for socialism. But he said under the name of liberalism the American people will adopt every fragment of the socialist program. …
One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project. Most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it.
Now, the American people, if you put it to them about socialized medicine and gave them a chance to choose, would unhesitatingly vote against it. We had an example of this. Under the Truman administration, it was proposed that we have a compulsory health insurance program for all people in the United States, and, of course, the American people unhesitatingly rejected this.
So, with the American people on record as not wanting socialized medicine, Congressman Ferrand introduced the Ferrand Bill. This was the idea that all people of Social Security age should be brought under a program of compulsory health insurance. Now this would not only be our senior citizens, this would be the dependents and those who are disabled, this would be young people if they are dependents of someone eligible for Social Security.
Now, Congressman Ferrand brought the program out on that idea of just for that group of people. But Congressman Ferrand was subscribing to this foot-in-the-door philosophy, because, he said, “[I]f we can only break through and get our foot inside the door, then we can expand the program after that.”
Walter Ruther said, “It’s no secret that the United Automobile Workers is officially on record as backing a program of national health insurance.” And by national health insurance, he meant socialized medicine for every American. Well, let’s see what the socialists themselves have to say about it.
They say, “Once the Ferrand Bill is passed, this nation will be provided with a mechanism for socialized medicine capable of indefinite expansion in every direction until it includes the entire population.” Well, we can’t say we haven’t been warned. …
It is presented in the idea of a great emergency that millions of our senior citizens are unable to provide needed medical care. But this ignores the fact that, in the last decade, 127 million of our citizens in just 10 years have come under the protection of some form of privately owned medical or hospital insurance.
Now the advocates of this bill, when you try to oppose it, challenge you on an emotional basis. They say, “What would you do, throw these poor old people out to die with no medical attention?” That’s ridiculous, and of course no one’s advocated it. …
What reason could the other people have for backing a bill which says, “We insist on compulsory health insurance for senior citizens on the basis of age alone, regardless of whether they’re worth millions of dollars, whether they have an income, whether they’re protected by their own insurance, whether they have savings?”
I think we can be excused for believing that, as ex-Congressman Ferrand said, this was simply an excuse to bring about what they wanted all the time — socialized medicine.
James Madison in 1788, speaking to the Virginia Convention, said: “Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
The privacy, the care that is given to a person, the right to chose a doctor, the right to go from one doctor to the other … this is a freedom that I wonder whether any of us have the right to take from any human being. … From here it is a short step to all the rest of socialism. …
The Founding Fathers — for the first time — established the idea that you and I had within ourselves the God-given right and ability to determine our own destiny. …
What can we do about this? Well, you and I can do a great deal. We can write to our congressmen and our senators. We can say right now that we want no further encroachment on these individual liberties and freedoms. And at the moment, the key issue is we do not want socialized medicine. …
Write those letters now; call your friends and tell them to write them. If you don’t, this program I promise you will pass just as surely as the sun will come up tomorrow, and behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country until one day, as Normal Thomas said, we will awake to find that we have socialism. And if you don’t do this, and if I don’t do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children’s children, what it once was like in America when men were free.
Can Spring Be Far?
Today temperatures were in the mid 50′s, although it sure seems warmer after the frigid days of this miserable winter! I went out looking for some horses to photograph, and every one I saw was covered with mud. And, that my friends is another side of spring in Kentucky. The ground is wet, horses are heavy, and mud is the result.
These guys decided to lean on each other, butt to butt. Could it be they’re getting ready for a duel?
Lean On Me
Well, it’s a lovely day for one. I suspect they simply found something to lean against and it happened to be a rear end. At any rate, spring is not far now!
Some say winter in the northern hemisphere doesn’t start until winter solstice, December 21st. I think that’s bull.
Thanksgiving Geese
Winter starts here when the geese fly low over the pastures.
When you have no issues wearing a hat with eye holes.
The chickens don’t raise a dust cloud scratching in the yard because it’s frozen.
Before leaving for the store, you go back in the house for more clothes…twice.
The brass monkey has moved indoors.
I had to get out of town yesterday. Sometimes the city life is just too exciting and I need to drive a country road. So, yesterday I turned my back on the city and drove until I reached unfamiliar roads.
Bourbon County Road
I’ve started my search for a little farm. I need the solitude, and I need water. I looked at a beautiful place today, sitting on a hill and overlooking the river. I may go back and look again after I do my feng shui assessment. It felt very comfortable and it has a fabulous view.
There is one thing though…something a little down the road that makes me wonder…
Bourbon County Country Road
What IS That?
Really…what is it?
I’ve just recently returned from a trip to Toronto, where I was fortunate enough to take Feng Shui and Four Pillars Astrology Enrichment Classes. People came from all parts of the world to attend these classes with Master Joseph Yu. Whenever I go to Toronto, I return home feeling refreshed and ready to tackle any Feng Shui problem that comes my way.
This trip was especially worthwhile, since I had a particularly frustrating problem to take to Master Yu. As it turned out, that problem was solved in his class. Luckily, one of the charts he used as an example was also the chart for the house I’m having trouble with! Or, maybe it was not so much luck as it was destiny.
There are a few things I need to get clear. First, I love animals. Second, I eat meat. So, why would someone who loves animals eat meat?
I do not have anything against anyone who declines meat. I believe that we all walk our own path. Whether that path includes consumption of meat is up to the traveler, not to me. However, I do not believe that people who do not eat meat are somehow more enlightened than those who do. My reasons are based on what would happen if everyone reached that magical stage of enlightenment.
Lets consider the possibilities. Suppose overnight everyone decided to become vegetarian. The whole world is no longer eating meat. What happens next? We’ll take just a small sample of the world’s meat supply and run a few numbers.
There are approximately 93 million cattle in the US. About 8 million of those are dairy cattle. Lets look at those first over a 10 year period, starting in 2010. Many people do not realize that to get a cow to produce milk, she has to give birth to a calf. About half of those calves are heifers and will help to replace the herd as the cows grow older and need to be culled. The other half are bulls and unless specifically raised as a herd bull, would normally be slaughtered for the meat.
So, lets make things simple, be conservative, and say we have about 5 million milk cows in the US. Each cow will most likely have a calf every year. Half of those calves will be heifers and most will go to replace the usual culling of the herd. That leaves 2.5 million young bulls to deal with…per year. Lets then assume we as Americans no longer eat beef. Castrating the little bulls is no problem. I’ve done it myself. The problem is, they eat and they take up a lot of room. In 10 years you have 27.5 million steers from the original cows and 27.5 million heifers.
But, wait. Those little heifers are old enough to breed at a year (calve in 2011). Of course, they will have to produce calves if they are to produce milk, so every year here come another 2.5 million calves. That means 22.5 million calves from these heifers over the 8 year period. And so it goes.
After 10 years it’s starting to look like we’ll be overrun soon with cattle…100,000,000 offspring and the original 5,000,000 puts the total of dairy cattle at over 105 million in the US alone. If we don’t breed them anymore, the dairy industry goes down the toilet when the cows go dry. No milk or cheese for you! But, you’d better start saving your money because there are going to be a lot of animals to feed.
And that’s just the beginning. What about the beef cattle? Multiply the dairy cattle by 15 to get a close (conservative) number for the beef cattle. So, 100 million x 15 = 1,500,000,000. There are just over 300 million people in the US. We’ll never keep up with the cattle. It won’t be long before cattle are dying in the streets, diseases will run rampant because people will not be able to afford medical care for non-productive animals, and the streets will be crawling with cattle. Those cattle will compete for the grains, destroying our ability to feed ourselves. In the meantime, how many jobs will be lost because there will be no more need for farmers, ranchers, slaughterhouses, meat processing plants, butchers, packagers, transporters, and the list goes on. Look at what happens in India where cattle are sacred. People go hungry while emaciated cattle roam the streets.
And, lets don’t forget the chickens! Like eggs? Only the hens lay eggs. If we hatch a dozen eggs, you can expect half to be roosters, and I for one do not want to support all the roosters that would be a byproduct of hen production! I believe these animals were put here on earth to provide protein for people, and we need to give thanks for them instead of rejecting the gifts that they are. Being good stewards of our resources involves being kind and humane to the animals, treating them with respect, and giving thanks. Good stewards do not allow animals to over-produce, nor do they allow a situation to arise where they would not be able to provide appropriate care.
I also believe that when vegetarians start believing they are somehow more enlightened than meat eaters, they’ll have to step back and work on the humility that must come with being an enlightened one. After all, without meat eaters our planet would soon become overrun with starving cattle, deer, horses, chickens and people. The fish would be fine. They eat each other.