Black Attacks On Whites Increasing Because Of Trayvon Martin

Marjon Rostami

More and more Americans around the country are being attacked by a segment of black-Americans because of the death of Trayvon Martin.

And no, it doesn't matter if you're white, non-whites are also targets. Those responsible in the black population in America just want to lash out, and they're using the death of Trayvon Martin as an excuse to do so.

Does that make any sense at all?

No, it doesn't, but it also doesn't make any sense that the News Media is making an effort to hide information about these attacks from the public.

And yes, Police and Federal authorities do not want to designate these racially based attacks as "hate crimes" - which also doesn't make any sense. It's as if they don't want to call it a "hate crime" because it's happening to non-blacks - as if there is a presumption here that only blacks can be the victims of "hate crimes."

Two weeks have passed since reporters Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami were attacked on a Saturday night as they drove home from a show at the Attucks Theatre.

They had stopped at a red light, in a crowd of at least 100 young people walking on the sidewalk. Rostami locked her car door. Someone threw a rock at her window. Forster got out to confront the rock-thrower, and that’s when the beating began.

There’s outrage in Norfolk, Virginia, after that white couple was attacked by dozens of black teenagers. But the Police don't see it as a "hate crime," although they didn't even bother getting witnessed names to the assault. And of course, the local newspaper did not report on the incident for two weeks - despite the victims being Reporters for that newspaper.

The couple was attacked on April 14 by dozens of black teens, and The Virginian-Pilot newspaper did not report the incident for two weeks, despite the fact the victims, Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami, are both news reporters for the paper.

As sick as that sounds, the Police refused to see any racial hatred as part of the motivation for the beating that Dave Foster received at the hands of those more than a couple of dozen black-teenagers.

Police arrested one suspect early yesterday morning, but authorities will not release his name due to his age.

According to the Virginian-Pilot, he has been charged with throwing a missile at a vehicle, a felony, as well as two counts of simple assault by mob, destruction of property and participation in a riot, all misdemeanors.

The Virginian-Pilot did not cover the crime as news, but instead allowed it to surface as an opinion piece by columnist Michelle Washington. That was the first mention of the attack.

Michelle Washington wrote, "Wave after wave of young men surged forward to take turns punching and kicking their victim," describing the onslaught that began when Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami stopped at a traffic light while driving home from a show on a Saturday night. A crowd of at least 100 black young people was on the sidewalk at the time.

"Rostami locked her car door. Someone threw a rock at her window. Forster got out to confront the rock-thrower, and that’s when the beating began. …

"The victim's friend, a young woman, tried to pull him back into his car. Attackers came after her, pulling her hair, punching her head and causing a bloody scratch to the surface of her eye. She called 911. A recording told her all lines were busy. She called again. Busy. On her third try, she got through and, hysterical, could scream only their location. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. It happened four blocks from where they work, here at the Virginian-Pilot."

Living In Fear!
Washington said neither suffered grave injuries, but both were out of work for a week. Forster’s torso ached from blows to his ribs, and he retained a thumb-sized bump on his head. While Forster wishes he’d stayed in the car, Rostami reportedly fears to be alone in her home.

A Horrible Response From A Lousy Boss!

Pilot editor Denis Finley addressed the paper’s decision not to cover the attack in a front-page column today. He wrote, "Some have assumed the worst and accused The Pilot of everything from liberal hand-wringing to outright lying about the incident. We did not cover up anything. What would we gain by protecting some thugs who beat up two of our reporters? The accusation is ludicrous."

He went on to write, "We bend over backward to treat ourselves the same way we would treat any other member of the community. In fact, we go overboard at times to make sure there is no perception that we have treated ourselves favorably. Based on the facts, this story did not cross the bar to be published because as a general rule, The Pilot doesn’t publish stories about simple assaults."

A Simple Assault?

How can anyone in good conscience call an attack by dozens of black teenagers, some on the scene say up to 30, a case about a "simple assault"? Where is his sense of what is right or wrong?

Dave Forster

In her column about the assault, Washington said the day after the beatings, Dave Forster searched Twitter for mention of the attack, and one post in particular chilled him.

“I feel for the white man who got beat up at the light,” wrote one person.

“I don’t,” wrote another, indicating laughter. “(do it for trayvon martin)”

Marjon Rostami estimated there were around 100 people in the crowd, and about 30 of them near their car.

She said that after the police arrived one Police Officer told her to shut up and get in the car.

Both she and Foster said the officer did not record any names of witnesses who stopped to help. Rostami said the officer told them the attackers were "probably juveniles anyway. What are we going to do? Find their parents and tell them?"

There has been outrage over the failure of the The Virginian-Pilot to publish the story until early this week, prompting some to accuse the paper of trying to bury the story.

And as for the Norfolk Police Department, it all sounds as if they ought to get their house in order with more training of their officers. Unless its not more training they lack, and instead it's just a matter of their officers just not giving a damn about the safety of the public.

This all reminds me of a truck driver that was pulled out of his big rig at an intersection during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, California back in 1992. Almost 19 years ago to the day, angry blacks pulled a man out of his truck and beat his head in and left him to die as they danced around him.

His name was Reginald Denny, then 33 years old, was a construction truck driver.

On the first day of the rioting, Denny was attacked, pulled from his truck and brutally beaten, sustaining serious head injuries and other injuries. As a result of the injuries he suffered during the attacks, Denny had to undergo years of rehabilitative therapy, and his speech and ability to walk were permanently damaged

It was April 29, 1992, at 5:39 PM, Denny loaded his red, 18-wheel truck with 27 tons of sand and began driving to a plant in Inglewood where he said the sand was due. He left the Santa Monica Freeway and took a familiar shortcut across Florence Avenue to get to his destination. His truck had no radio, so he was unaware he was driving into a riot.

At 6:46 p.m., after entering the intersection at Normandie, rioters threw rocks at his windows and he heard people shouting for him to stop. Overhead, a news helicopter with reporter Bob Tur aboard captured the events that followed.

Denny stopped in the middle of the street. Antoine Miller opened the truck door, giving others the chance to pull Denny out.

Another man, Henry Keith Watson, then held Denny's head down with his foot. Denny was kicked in the abdomen by an unidentified man. Two other unidentified men who had led a liquor store break-in earlier that day hurled a five-pound piece of medical equipment at Denny's head and hit him three times with a claw hammer.

Damian Williams then threw a slab of concrete at Denny's head and knocked him unconscious. Williams then did a victory dance over Denny. He then flashed gang signs at News helicopters, which were televising the events live, and pointed and laughed at Denny.

Anthony Brown then spat on Denny and left with Williams. Several bystanders took pictures of Denny but did not attempt to help him. LAPD officers, despite the fact that they were in the vicinity as the attack took place, could not provide help to Denny.

After the beating, various men threw beer bottles at the unconscious Denny. Gary Williams approached Denny and rifled through his pockets. Lance Parker stopped near Denny and attempted to shoot the fuel tank of Denny's truck but missed.

Bobby Green (a truck driver), Titus Murphy and Terri Barnett (boyfriend and girlfriend), and Lei Yuille (a dietitian), who had been watching the events on TV, braved the rioters and went to Denny's aid.

The Los Angeles Police didn't help at all. It was ordinary citizens that saved Reginald Denny.

Denny eventually regained consciousness and dragged himself back into the cab, driving away from the scene slowly and erratically. Green, himself a truck driver, boarded Denny's truck and took over at the wheel, driving him to the hospital.

At the time that Green took over, Denny was on the brink of losing consciousness again, and suffered a seizure shortly thereafter.

Paramedics who attended to Denny said he came very close to death. His skull was fractured in 91 places and pushed into the brain.

Denny's left eye was so badly dislocated that it would have fallen into his sinus cavity had the surgeons not replaced the crushed bone with a piece of plastic. A permanent crater remains in his head despite efforts to correct it. Denny had to undergo years of rehabilitative therapy and his speech and ability to walk were permanently damaged.

I would have hated to see something like this happen to Dave Foster just because he's white. It's a real shame that his own employer feels that it was just a simple assault, when in reality it was much more that could have been a lot worse.

And if the Norfolk Police are so stupid to think that it wasn't racially based hatred, then they may as well stay at the station - because they are unaware of what's going on around them. More and more of these attacks by blacks are taking place, and for some unknown reason they are ignoring a trend taking place since the Trayvon Martin killing.
The Police should be aware that the black teens who are attacking people should understand that this might not go the way that they think. Fact is, more people are arming themselves because of this sort of thing.

It is certainly possible that the next Dave Foster who gets out of his car and is attacked by a group of black teenagers  - just might be armed. And he, like many Americans, might just decide to defend himself.  It may not be a good situation all the way around.

Story by Tom Correa

Getting Up A Prayer Posse, I Even Need The Vatican

I've never asked a reader, any reader, to help me. Until now.

Like most people, I am very well aware of the strive and toil and hurt in life. I'm very well aware that there are all sorts of victims of life's unfairness.

Unfairness. Yes, that thing that has bugged me for a long long time.

The idea that things are fair and just and evenhanded, unbiased, lawful, straight, a good call like that from a baseball umpire, is something that - like most of us - I learned when I was young kid.

In my case, again like millions of kids, it was Hopalong Cassidy fighting the bad guys while sitting a white horse. It was a string of life lessons by way of The Rifleman, Maverick, The Lawman, Cheyenne, Bonanza, and of course my favorite Zorro. It was learning the difference between right and wrong.

And yes, though I learned that life can sometimes be extremely unfair. I knew that that didn't make it right. I still believe that being fair and subsequently free from injustice or prejudice.

To balance out the scales of what's fair and what's not, John Wayne helped the weak balance things out when he was called on, Alan Ladd shot that "low-down Yankee liar," Kirk Douglas arrested Earl Holliman instead of just taking his revenge out on him and killing him.

Unfairness was part of the reason that Humphrey Bogart shot Major Strasser in my favorite movie. During my life, I've learned that Bogart was right when he told Ingrid Bergman, "I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

The overwhelming feeling that life is unfair prompted James Stewart to pray to God and ask for help - just to be taught that faith is what carries us through - and yes, all in all, it is a wonderful life.

Maybe that's why I'm asking my readers, especially my one special reader in Vatican City - yes, believe it or not, in Vatican City - to join me and others as I try to put together a Prayer Posse. All to please say a small prayer for my 4 year old niece Sienna Banuelos.

Yes, I've never asked a reader, any reader, to help me. Until now.

I can go on about how special she is, but in my heart I believe that God already knows how truly special she really is. I'm just afraid that he might want her with him sooner than we'd like her to be.

Swelling in her brain has rendered her all but sightless in one eye, and now she has to repeat a surgery that she had when she younger just to relieve the presure on her brain.

In Catholicism, the Catholic Church, we believe that it is a blessing to give to others. Maybe that's why the Catholic Church is number one when it comes to donating time and money to help others.

Sienna has been a blessing because of the love that she freely gives to others. A small prayer from a Prayer Posse out there may go a long way in helping her to get through this.

May God Bless All Of You For Your Prayers.

Thank you!

Tom Correa

Buffalo - Where The Buffalo Roam ...

So What's In A Name?

The American bison, which are also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds.

The term "buffalo" may be considered a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffalo," the Asian water buffalo and the African buffalo.

Fact is that the word "bison" is actually a Greek word meaning ox-like animal, while the word "buffalo" originated with the French fur trappers who called these massive beasts "bœufs," meaning ox or bullock – so both names, "bison" and "buffalo," have a similar meaning.

In reference to this animal, the term "buffalo," which dates to 1635, has a much longer history than the term "bison," which was first recorded in 1774.

The two subspecies of American Bison are the Plains Bison (Bison bison bison) and the Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae).



Plains Bison

The Wood Bison are also called Mountain Bison, Wood Buffalo or Mountain Buffalo, is a distinct northern subspecies of the American Bison - which of course are also called "American Buffalo".

Its original range included much of the boreal forest regions of Alaska, Yukon, western Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia, northern Alberta, and northwestern Saskatchewan.

The Wood Bison is different from the Plains Bison in a number of important ways.

Most notably, the Wood Bison is heavier, with large males weighing over 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms), which makes it the largest terrestrial animal in North America.

The highest point of the Wood Bison is well ahead of its front legs, while the Plains Bison's highest point is directly above the front legs.

Wood bison also have larger horn cores, a darker and woollier pelage, and less hair on their forelegs and beard.

Wood Bison

The Wood Bison is special in a very special way. It was thought extinct.

That's right, the largest land animal in North America, the Wood Bison, had been disappearing from all over North America for centuries when the last animals were officially declared extinct in 1940.

Then something incredible happened. In 1957, a wonderful discovery occurred during a regular air patrol in Canada, federal wildlife officers flying over a remote part of the Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, spotted a small extremely isolated herd of two hundred wood bison.

They had gone completely unnoticed for decades – and had kept physically and genetically separate from their cousins, the plains bison.

The wood bison were found about one hundred miles from a new road that was being built from Alberta to the Arctic Circle, and within fifty miles of a mission station that had existed for a hundred years.

Inspection of these animals showed that they were indeed the last remaining pure Wood Bison (Bison athabascae), an enormous Ice Age species not known to exist in a pure strain anywhere else in the world.

The rediscovery of that hidden group of Wood Bison in a remote valley in Canada was nothing short of a miracle.

Now if you think that American bison has been around forever, well the truth is that the American bison is a relative newcomer to North America.

Believe it or not, in the same way that Native Americans (Indians) first immigrated to America, buffalo originated in Eurasia and migrated over the Bering Strait. 

That's right, a few thousand years ago the American Bison (Bison bison) replaced the Steppe Bison (Bison priscus) which was also a previous immigrant.

Steppe Bison were much larger, almost twice the size of the American Bison, with much larger huge horns.

Steppe Bison

It's a bit of irony that the Plains Indians, Native Americans, actually did more harm to the native American steppe bison than the Europeans did to the native American bison thousands of years later.

Both groups hunted bison, but the long-horned steppe bison are no longer around because Native Americans hunted them to extinction.

It sounds very similar to the relationship that mankind has had with whaling, the whalers wasted nothing and used all the parts of the animal to make many different things. Bison have always been very important to the people who hunted them.

The Native American Plains Indians hunted them for food.

But besides using the meat, fat, and organs for food, Plains Indian tribes have traditionally created a wide variety of tools and items from bison.

These include arrow points, awls, berry pounders, hide scrapers, hoes, needles from bones; spoons from the horns; bow strings and thread from the sinew; waterproof containers from the bladder; paint brushes from the tail and bones with intact marrow; cooking oil from grease.

Skulls were used ceremonially as altars. Rawhide is used to make rawhide bags called "parfleches," shield covers, and moccasin soles. Hides with the fur is used for blankets, wraps, and warm clothing.

Tanned hides, the finest of which are tanned with the animal's brains and organs, then smoked, are used in clothing, moccasins, tipi covers, calendars, and artwork.

Yes, Plains Indians wasted nothing and used all the parts of the animal to make many different things - and believe it or not, even beads and jewellery.

White hunters on the other hand hunted them mainly for their skins. Their hides were used for clothing , hats, boots, other assorted leather goods, - and later, for conveyor belts.

Since people paid so much for the hides and nothing for the buffalo meat - which was considered dangerous to eat because of disease - in most cases the rest of the animal was left behind to decay on the ground.

After the animals rotted, its bones were collected and shipped back East in large quantities to be ground up and used as fertilizer.

Bison were a keystone species, whose grazing pressure was a force that shaped the ecology of the Great Plains as strongly as periodic prairie fires and which were central to the lifestyle of Native Americans of the Great Plains.

The Great Plains is known for supporting extensive ranching and agriculture.


An 1897 photograph of a buffalo wallow,
underlain by the Ogallala Aquifer

So what is a buffalo wallow or bison wallow? Well, it is a natural topographical depression in the flat prairie land that holds rain water and runoff.

Originally this would have served as a temporary watering hole for wildlife, including the North American buffalo. Wallowing buffalo that drank from and bathed in these naturally occurring shallow water holes gradually changed the pristine watering hole into a buffalo wallow.

Each time they went away, they carried mud with them from the hole, thus enlarging the wallow.

But something else was taking place, wallowing action caused abrasion of hair, natural body oils and cellular debris from their hides and left the debris in the water and especially in the soil after the water evaporated.

Every year the debris accumulated in the soil in increasing concentration and formed a water-impenetrable layer that prevented the rain water and runoff from percolating into the lower layers of the soil.

Ultimately the water remained for long periods which attracted more wildlife. Even when stagnant, the water would be eagerly drunk by thirsty animals.

Interestingly, though thriving buffalo herds roamed and grazed the great prairies of North America for thousands of years, they have left few permanent markings on the landscape to recall their past presence.

Exceptions are the somewhat rare yet still visible ancient buffalo wallows found occasionally on the North American prairie flatlands.

Back in the 1880s, the American buffalo was nearly hunted to extinction.   Because of commercial hunting and their out and out slaughter in the 1800's, the wild American bison, the buffalo, that roamed the Great Plains nearly went extinct.

These days with a few thousand wild buffalo are again calling the Great Plains home, and that's not a bad comeback from the foolish slaughter by those who either didn't know what they were doing - or worse didn't care what they were doing.

Once upon a time, their range roughly comprised a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in Canada's far northwest, south to the Mexican states of Durango and Nuevo León, and east along the western boundary of the Appalachian Mountains.

They roam the Great Plains of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada.

The Great Plains covers parts of the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The Canadian portion of the Plains is known as the Prairies. Some believe the Great Plains extent all the way to Texas and the Rio Grand.

Near-extinction, Reintroduction, and now Relocation.

Because of near-extinction, Plains Bison have been introduced into a number of locations around North America and Canada.

As far back as the late 1870's, many White-Americans who realized what was taking place turned their attention to preserve Plains and Wood Bison. Reintroduction started as early as 1902, and has slowly caught on.

Old West Historians can respect one small fact of history. Only one Southern plains bison herd was established in Texas. It was a remnant of the last of this relict herd had been saved in 1876.

The story goes that "Molly" Goodnight had encouraged her famous rancher husband Charles Goodnight to save some of the last bison which were taking refuge in the Texas Panhandle.

She was interested in protecting baby buffalo after commercial hunters ravaged the Plains. By saving these few plains bison, she was able to establish an impressive buffalo herd near the Palo Duro Canyon.

This herd peaked at 250 in 1933. Bison of this herd were introduced into the Yellowstone National Park in 1902 and into the larger zoos and ranches throughout the nation.

A herd of approximately 80 of these animals lives in, and can be seen at, the Caprock Canyons State Park near Quitaque, Texas, located about 50 miles northeast of Plainview, Texas.

These days, for the first time, 61 bison were recently handed over to Native American tribes as part of a relocation program. 

"This is the most significant development in many, many generations," said Stoney Anketell, who sits on the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribal Board.

"When I think of my ancestors, they would be so pleased this occurred. It's finally a reversal of fortune for the Indian people."

The Problems with Relocation

But wait, it's not all roses because in Montana the tribes are now in the middle of what some are calling a culture clash with ranchers - all over buffalo.

Today they freely roam a few national parks and reserves, but from this other problems have come about. And no, it's not a case of Cowboys and Indians all over again. No, not quite.

This time it's the Native American tribes and Conservation groups versus Cattle Ranchers. The disagreement is over bison relocation.

Why? Well, the fact is that the Great Plains once again have American buffalo. With the buffalo comes problems to Cattle Ranchers, who stake their family's wellness on their ability to raise cattle - the buffalo threaten their efforts to do so.

After the bison were relocated from Yellowstone National Park to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Northeastern Montana, the Indians who received them - along with Conservationist groups - have found themselves against cattle ranchers and wheat farmers.

It's the same around the world - what one group sees as a sort of sacred animal is another's nuisance to their way of life. This is the case with buffalo roaming free.

Bison are among the most dangerous animals encountered by visitors to the various U.S. and Canadian national parks, and will attack humans if provoked.

They appear slow because of their lethargic movements but can easily outrun humans – bison have been observed running as fast as 35–40 miles per hour. Bison are more agile than one might expect, given their size and body structure.

When you combine their weight with their speed, bison herds can be very difficult to confine - and yes, they can jump over or crash through almost any 6 foot fence.

Between 1980 and 1999, more than three times as many people in Yellowstone National Park were injured by bison than by bears.

During this period, bison charged and injured 79 people, with injuries ranging from goring puncture wounds and broken bones to bruises and abrasions.

Compared to bear attacks, bears injured 24 people during the same time frame. Three people died from the injuries inflicted – one person died by bison in 1983, and two people by bears in 1984 and 1986.

When visiting Yellowstone National Park, I watched a great herd of buffalo move from one range to another. It was amazing to watch them cross a river, tend to their young, and how they kept herd together.

The remember the very first time I saw a buffalo up close and personal, I fell in love with them instantly. I found myself watching them for hours and days. I was in awe of these big beautiful animals. I knew that they demanded respect, and if you wanted to stay healthy - you gave it to them.

At one point while near the Old Faithful General Store there in Yellowstone, I witnessed a buffalo charge a tourist who didn't realize that they really weren't in a "petting zoo" and that those lumbering animals were not docile beasts.

Luckily for the man, he was not hurt bad.

Buffalo Attacks Man!

Besides being dangerous and possibly destructive, there is the issue of diseases including brucellosis and tuberculosis which remain endemic in the free-ranging herds in and around National Parks.

The diseases represent a serious management issue for the Federal and States governments, local Indian Tribes, and of course Ranchers.

Disease management strategies and initiatives began in the 1950s, and have yet to result in a reduction of the incidence of either disease.

Brucellosis is a disease that occurs in bison and other livestock. Brucellosis infection of cattle causes abortion or premature calving of recently infected animals, most often between the fifth and eight month of pregnancy.

Millionaire Ted Turner is the largest private owner of bison with about 50,000 on several different ranches, but it was reported that many of his bison had Brucellosis. And yes, there was a fear of it spreading.

Although Federal and State regulations have helped to control this disease, there is still a threat. And yes, it is a threat from wild bison herds that most ranchers are frightened of  - simply because it can possibly wipe out a herd of cattle.

So faced with a Buffalo problem, what's a rancher to do?

"They want everything," fourth generation rancher Dustin Hofeldt said. "All the fences gone, all the cattle out of here - they just want this to be a giant game refuge."

Dustin Hofeldt is one of many plaintiffs who successfully sued to block future bison relocation. The reason is simple, he is one rancher who is no stranger to bison problems.

In 2005, he shot and killed five in a single day after they had escaped from a neighboring reservation and were harassing his cattle.

Last year, he claims bison broke his fencing and ate his hay, costing him $20,000.

Now I know that $20,000 is not that much money to wealthy Liberals who want to turn the earth back into what it was before man walked upright, but to a rancher with ever increasing expenses like feed and fuel bills going through the roof - $20,000 is a lot of money that most ranchers just don't have.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer said that ranchers like Hofeldt and other opponents are being irrational.

"In a hundred years, this herd will still only grow to a few thousand, and we have 3 million cattle in Montana," Schweitzer said. "I think there's room for them to coexist."

What can ranchers do to protect their herd from buffalo who may break fences, eat their crops, threaten their cattle and subsequently threaten the livelihood of their families?

It's terrible to say, by I really believe that until a solution can be found on the part of the states to keep the wild buffalo population fenced in behind a secure boundary, ranchers and farmers who raise cattle and grow crops will have to do the same as Dustin Hofeldt has done - and that's to protect theirs from that which may destroy it.

Attorney Cory Swanson, who is representing ranchers and other bison opponents, asks, "Where does it stop? How widely are the buffalo going to spread, how much damage are they going to cause and where will our interests be protected?"

Cory Swanson worries that bison, which are currently classified as livestock in Montana, will be considered protected wildlife.

That would severely limit what ranchers can do when bison escape containment and do the type of damage that happened to Dustin Hofeldt.

The Evil "White" Ranchers?

Yes, believe it or not, there are some out there who are comparing what ranchers like Dustin Hofeldt need to do to protect his ranch to the senseless killing of buffalo in the Old West.

They are blaming white ranchers for wiping out millions of bison, yet they refuse to face facts about who is responsible for their return from the brink of extinction.

Fact is that the bison population has been growing for decades - thanks to ranchers.

Domestication by Whites prior to the 20th century met with limited success, but today's buffalo ranching is big business. 

Bison ranching offers an alternative to beef ranching, reaching customers willing to pay more for a product that has a historic and nutritional significance.

Bison are now raised for meat and hides. The majority of bison in the world are being raised for human consumption.

Bison meat is lower in fat, calories and cholesterol than beef, pork, chicken, with even half the fat of turkey.

Bison meat is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef, a fact which has led to the development of "beefalo" - a fertile cross-breed of bison and domestic cattle.

Nearly all of the buffalo in Montana and elsewhere are bred with cattle and raised as livestock for their meat.

In 2005, about 35,000 bison were processed for meat in the U.S., with the National Bison Association and USDA providing a "Certified American Buffalo" program with birth-to-consumer tracking of bison via RFID ear tags.

There is even a market for kosher bison meat - these bison are slaughtered at one of the few kosher mammal slaughterhouses in the U.S., and the meat is then distributed nationwide.   

A bison's typical weight can range from 700 to 2,200 pounds (between 318 to 1,000 kg). The heaviest wild bull ever recorded weighed 2,800 pounds (1,270 kg). But, when raised on ranches, the bison can grow much heavier. 

Because of ranchers, there are approximately 500,000 bison, mostly plains bison, on about 4,000 privately owned ranches.

Under the IUCN Red List Guidelines, commercial herds are not eligible for consideration in determining a Red List designation, therefore the total population of bison calculated in conservation herds is approximately 30,000 individuals and the mature population consists of approximately 20,000 individuals.

Of the total number presented, only 15,000 total buffalo are considered wild bison in the natural range within North America free-range -  not confined primarily by fencing.

The American buffalo was what the Native Americans relied on for thousands of years.

But despite this fact, and even though they are the closest relatives of domestic cattle native to North America, bison were never domesticated by Native Americans.

Today, Indian tribes have teamed up with well-financed Conservation Groups. The American Prairie Foundation has been buying up land from ranchers in hopes of one day owning a 3-and-a-half-million-acre wildlife reserve.

The state of Montana is requiring that the Indian tribes build higher electrified fences to keep the bison from getting out, Governor Schweitzer is confident that there will not be escapes.

But for me, I really don't know how anyone can say emphatically that "there will not be escapes" when only time will tell.

The tribes understand that it's in their best interest to do everything they can to keep the buffalo from escaping the reserve and venturing out into the Great Plains where they once roamed freely years before Coronado brought the horse to this land, years before the ranchers or the advent of the automobile in a time long past.

Tom Correa

RANDOM SHOTS! Drunk in Seattle, Global Warming Guru "Alarmist," George Zimmerman, and Much More!

FIRST SHOT!

Taking Away Our Liberties

To many in America, at the heart of this next election is the question of the loss of American Liberty.

Like it or not, our freedom, our liberty, will not be taken from us in one swift action by the government - but instead piece by piece through regulations and restrictions and demands from the State.

Right now, Americans are fighting mad about over-regulation coming from the Federal, State and Local governments. It's effecting every American, even local farms are in a fight to stop growing regulation.

In Haverhill, Massachusetts, family farmer Marlene Stasinos is having to jump through hoops just to raise a few pigs for her family.

The Stasinos family have been farming in and around Haverhill for three generations, but she says backyard farming is under attack. Their farm has been a farm for over 200 years.

“It's tough to grow local when the regulations stop you,” she said.

Last year, Stasinos and her husband Chris were raising eight pigs on her 139-acre hay farm. Then the local City of Haverhill Board of Health stepped in.

"They told us no," she recalls. "We couldn’t believe it."

She says the board told her her barn was too close to the road and too close to her home.

"This barn has been here for 200 years," she said, pointing out that for most of that time, it housed livestock. "They used to build barns close to the main road to make it easier to get the meat to market."
As insane as it sounds, the City of Haverhill has rules that require livestock be kept more than 100 feet from a home and more than 300 feet from a property line.

City of Haverhill, Ma, Board of Health, Stabling Regulations

"If every farm in Haverhill followed those rules," Marlene Stasinos said. "There would be no farms left."

She says local rules and regulations make growing local untenable.

"Unfortunately, it's going to put us out of business," she said. "We are not going to be able to continue farming if the regulations keep squeezing us."

Hogwash, says attorney Arthur Aidala, who says regulations are necessary whenever you’re raising animals.

"These are animals people are going to eat and people are living right next to," he says, and like a true beurucrat goes on to say, "You have to regulate them."

Yes, he said, "people are living right next to [the pigs]!

Why worry about who lives next to 8 pigs housed in a barn located on 139 acres? Why not allow 8 pigs on 139 acres?

That's right, the Stasinos family have 139 acres. So no, this isn't some city lot in the middle of town - this is in a rural area zoned for agriculture. And yes, they are raising only 8 pigs!

"No one is saying they can't raise the pigs," countered Aidala, "what we are saying is if you are going to raise the pigs, we want you to maintain certain standards so that everyone's health and safety is secure.”

Peter Carbone of the City of Haverhill Board of Health agrees. Sounding like Obama, he says, "This is a work in progress." He also says that the city of 60,000 is debating the issue, "There could possibly be a vote in May.”

The Stasinos, and other farming families, have gotten some help lately. The City of Haverhill, and pointedly Peter Carbone, have come under fire from farming groups throughout Massachusetts who say if Haverhill’s rules are adopted by other towns -  it will be the end of local farming in Massachusetts all together.

"First they get rid of pigs," said Rich Bonnano, president of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation, "then they're going to come after chickens, then maybe beef."

Rich Bonnano says the City of Haverhill set its rules with no idea about what it takes to raise animals. He says the town and other towns like it will end up with no local food.

"It's an attack on the buy local movement," Bonnano said.

Peter Carbone says he is just concerned about people’s health and safety. It sounds like he's just trying to justify his position by coming up with nonsense like bothering family farmers.
“Pigs aren't a risk to anybody's health,” counters Stasinos, who says, “over-regulation is the real health problem.”

“We won’t be able to grow food if they keep over-regulating us,” she said.

The irony is that Haverhill started out as a farming community, and per the 2010 census about 7.0% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.

Since almost 10% of the population in below the poverty line, I can't help but wonder how town lawmakers can make it harder for its people to raise their own food - and still sleep at night?

SECOND SHOT!
 

Congress to charge Attorney General Eric Holder with Contempt

House GOP leaders said Friday they are pursuing a plan to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and the Justice Department in contempt for “stonewalling” them over information regarding the administration’s failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking program.

GOP Rep. Darrell Issa confirmed to Fox News that House Speaker John Boehner gave him and others on his House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the authority to drafted a contempt of Congress resolution.

“We have a few other options (but) to a great extent we’ve been stonewalled by the Justice Department,” said Issa, R-Calif.

The news of the document and the extended meeting in Boehner’s office was reported first by The Los Angeles Times.

“We have issued a subpoena,” Utah GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a member of the oversight committee, said earlier on Fox News. “We have bent over backwards to be patient and take time. (Holder) is leading us down a path where we have no other choice.”

The resolution, if approved by the GOP-led House, could force Holder to release thousands of pages of documents related to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ program.

Holder and other Justice Department officials say they are cooperating with Congress’ investigators.

The Fast and Furious program was run by the ATF’s Phoenix office from 2009 until early 2011. It allowed illegal gun purchases with the expectation of tracking the weapons to Mexican Drug Cartel leaders. However, of the thousands of guns the feds smuggled into Mexico, hundreds of guns disappeared and eventually turning up at crime scenes all over Mexico.

"The Justice Department has not fully cooperated with the investigation into gun-walking that occurred in Operation Fast and Furious.The House Oversight Committee continues to make necessary preparations to hold Attorney General Holder in contempt if the Justice Department refuses to change course and stop blocking access to critical documents," a House Oversight Committee spokesperson said.

"While the committee continues to move toward consideration of contempt, it is important to note that the next step in the process of contempt must be made by the Oversight committee Reports, based on anonymous sources, that decisions for consideration of contempt on the House floor have already been made are inaccurate.”

It is import for people to remember that both President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder refuse to take responsibility for the gun running operation.

At this time, Obama can be proud of the fact that no one is being held accountable for the deaths - of both Mexicans and Americans - that have resulted from the criminal act of allowing any guns to leave this country and enter another.


Since we know what and where it was done, why hasn't the News Media asked Obama to explain who is being held responsible for this? And ask, why did his administration OK this criminal act?

THIRD SHOT!

Global Warming Guru says "I made a mistake!"

British Environmental, the man that most in the Global Warming movement called a "Guru," James Lovelock admits he was an "Alarmist" about Climate Change in the past.

James Lovelock, the maverick scientist who became a guru to the environmental movement with his “Gaia” theory of the Earth as a single organism, has admitted to being “alarmist” about climate change and says other environmental commentators such as Al Gore were too.

Lovelock, 92, is writing a new book in which he will say climate change is still happening, but not as quickly as he once feared.

He previously painted some of the direst visions of the effects of climate change. In 2006, in an article in the U.K.’s Independent newspaper, he wrote that "before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable."

Yup, I'd say that that was like yelling Fire in a crowded theatre for no reason.

But now, the professor has a different story as he openly admitted in a telephone interview with MSNBC - believe it or not - that he now thinks he had been "extrapolating too far."

His new book reflect his new opinion that global warming has not occurred as he had expected.

"The problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing. We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books – mine included – because it looked clear-cut, but it hasn’t happened," Lovelock said.

"The climate is doing its usual tricks. There’s nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now," he said.

"The world has not warmed up very much since the millennium. Twelve years is a reasonable time… it (the temperature) has stayed almost constant, whereas it should have been rising - carbon dioxide is rising, no question about that," he added.

He pointed to Gore’s "An Inconvenient Truth" and Tim Flannery’s "The Weather Makers" as other examples of being unwarranted "alarmists."

In 2007, Time magazine named Lovelock as one of 13 leaders and visionaries in an article on “Heroes of the Environment,” which also included Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev and Robert Redford.

"Jim Lovelock has no university, no research institute, no students. His almost unparalleled influence in environmental science is based instead on a particular way of seeing things,” Oliver Morton, of the journal Nature wrote in Time.

“Humble, stubborn, charming, visionary, proud and generous, his ideas about Gaia have started a change in the conception of biology that may serve as a vital complement to the revolution that brought us the structures of DNA and proteins and the genetic code."

Lovelock also won the U.K.’s Geological Society’s Wollaston Medal in 2006. In a posting on its website, the society said it was “rare to be able to say that the recipient has opened up a whole new field of Earth science study” – referring to the Gaia theory of the planet as single complex system.

However Lovelock, who works alone at his home in Devon, England, has fallen out with the green movement in the past, particularly after saying countries should build nuclear power stations to help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by coal and oil.

Many in the Global Warming Industry won't admit that they made a mistake. Many outside of the self-serving Environmental movement believe it is a well organized swindle, completely intentional on their part to do nothing but rake in the dollars with bogus scams like making people and companies buy "Carbon Credits".

All just a Con Artist's dream!

FOURTH SHOT!

State of California May Allow Others - Besides Doctors  - to Perform Abortions

Believe it or not, this might sound fabricated - but it's not!

Because of a study in which non-physicians performed more than 8,000 abortions, liberal California lawmakers are now proposing a bill that would allow people who are not doctors to terminate pregnancies.

The Los Angeles Times reported this last week that the measure would significantly expand the number of abortion providers by allowing Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Midwives, and Physician Assistants to perform the most common first-trimester abortion procedure.

The bill’s supporters, including Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, say the results of a five-year study by the University of California at San Francisco prove that non-physicians can perform abortions as safely as medical doctors.

Tracy Weitz, an associate professor who led the state-authorized study, said 41 midwives, nurse practitioners, and medical assistants performed more than 8,000 first-trimester abortions, which she described as "medically very simple with very rare complications."

Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, said she was surprised abortion advocates would support a bill "lessening the medical requirements for someone who can do an abortion."

"That does nothing to promote safety or protect women's health," she said.
According to the Times, Carol Tobias also said the bill shows that "California is out of step with the rest of the country," compared to what other states are doing to impose tougher restrictions on abortions.

It's typical for the leftist who run the State of California to first argue that women who want abortions should be able to do so in hospitals legally, and now they reverse themselves and want to make back-alley abortions acceptable.

The twisted logic of the liberal mind is an assault to the senses of sane men and women.

FIFTH SHOT!


9mm Kel-Tec PF-9

 Why did George Zimmerman carry a gun?

Well, unlike what you might hear in the Liberal News Media - no, it wasn't to shoot saintly black teenagers!

Fact is, George Zimmerman and his wife began carrying handguns after repeated encounters with an extremely scary pit bull.

The volunteer neighborhood watch Captain continued carrying a weapon as he did his job to secure a gated community in Sanford, Florida, as a string of burglaries had many neighbors frightened for their safety.

The Zimmerman's both took firearms training courses and got handguns and concealed carry permits in late 2009 after a pit bull named Big Boi menaced Shellie Zimmerman near their home. That's a full three years before George Zimmerman's was attacked by Trayvon Martin.

Reports indicate that Big Boi later went for a dog owned by Zimmerman's mother-in-law, prompting the Zimmermans to contact Seminole County Animal Services and to buy pepper spray.

After a third encounter with the dog, Zimmerman called authorities and an officer who came to the house advised him to take up arms.

"Don't use pepper spray," the officer told the Zimmermans, according to a friend who relayed the conversation to Reuters who reported this sequence of events. "It'll take two or three seconds to take effect, but a quarter-second for the dog to jump you. Get a gun."

That November, Reuters reported, the Zimmermans heeded that advice and bought two guns in early December.

George Zimmerman selected a lightweight Kel-Tec PF-9 which is a  9mm.pistol. It is not clear if that was the same gun that killed Martin on February 26th after he was attacked by the teenager.

Zimmerman, 28, who claims he acted in self-defense after Martin attacked him, has been charged with second-degree murder. After being released from jail on $150,000 bail, he has gone into hiding fearing for his life.

The Liberal News Media, and Black politicians like Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama, have drummed up a desire for vengeance within the Black community. And yes, there are those in the Black community who have a lynch mob mentality and are already threatening riots in the streets if they don't get what they want in the way of a death penalty conviction. 

SIXTH SHOT!

Energy Independence means Dig, Drill, Discover, and Deregulate .... 
or Lose the Election!

President Barack Obama’s horrible Energy Policies are so unpopular with the American people that those policies may be all it takes to give Mitt Romney a victory in November's Presidential Election, says Republican Congressman Representative Morgan Griffith.

"In my district, we just got another rate increase request from one of the power companies," said the Virginia congressman who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "People are starting to realize that a lot of this is caused by Obama polices and they’re not happy about it."

But it is not just the cost of energy that is affected by the White House’s energy policies, jobs are disappearing too, he said.

Griffith, whose district in extreme southwest Virginia includes much of the state’s coal mining industry, is proposing a "4-D Solution" to the country’s energy woes: Dig, Drill, Discover, and Deregulation.

"A big part of what’s happening out here is we’re not allowed to dig and discover the things that we can use and we also have regulations that are causing energy prices to go up," he said.

Representative Griffith and millions of other Americans are not very happy with Obama for his stated goal of pushing energy prices up.  And yes, Obama thinks his wit, mocking others, sly comments, and a smile will make people forget it's his fault that we're in this horrible situation.

A situation that's forcing Americans to make choices between buying gas for their cars to get to work, or pay their mortgage on time, or even buy food for their children.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-candidate Obama talked up his Cap and Trade Proposal, telling the San Francisco Chronicle "Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers."

He said this as if this is OK! And yes, as my wife says, it's amazing that anyone voted for him knowing that he said such a thing.

Griffith called Obama "a true believer that we shouldn’t be using any of the fossil fuels: oil, natural gas, or coal."

"He’s staked out a position on that and, except for natural gas, he’s going to stick with that position."

He said the only reason the president is not gunning for natural gas already is due to fears about his re-election prospects. "He realized if he didn’t have something to turn to besides algae, he was going to be in deep trouble ."

But if Obama beats Romney in November, natural gas will be his next target, Griffith predicted. "After the election, when he feels more flexible, natural gas will be in the sights of his attempts to drive up those costs of fossil fuels."

Griffith said Obama's refusal to give the green light to the Keystone XL pipeline is just one part of the president's assault on American energy. "It is the easiest one for folks to understand," he said.

"Obviously that has an impact on our energy," he said. "People understand that he’s not in favor of using North American resources to help us with our energy needs."

But stringent new regulations aimed at reducing emissions from power plants are hurting just as badly, Griffith added, saying a new coal-powered plant in his district is so clean it will cut emissions by 95 percent — but that is still not good enough for the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).

"Plans for future coal-fired power plants are all being scrapped as we look across the board," added the freshman House member. "Everyone who’s got one on the table has got to be thinking about whether or not they’re going to go forward."

As far as gasoline is concerned, Griffith believes prices have probably peaked and may even start to come down, but that has more to do with international events than Obama’s policies.

"I'd be much more comfortable if we were drilling for our own oil and we had become energy independent, but this president doesn’t have any intent of going that direction," he said. "He wants to rely on Brazil or the Saudis and I’d rather rely on Americans."

"We’ll have to see what the prices do. If they start to go back up in late summer, it will have an impact on the presidential election, as those people who are in the middle of it and are just trying to survive, realize that this president’s policies are a complete failure."

Like millions of Americans, I believe that "Dig, Drill, Discover, and Deregulation" is the only way out of us being held hostage by foreign oil and the Democrat Party.

I'm hoping that Obama gets a Pink Slip in November and is shown the door as a result of his arrogance and unwillingness to CHANGE!

SEVENTH SHOT!

Feds Out Of Control: EPA Official Uses Word "Crucify" When Talking About It's Methods

For a great example of the sort of attitude that one of the most power hungry agencies in the United States Federal Government has these days, here a story about a top administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who has apologized for using the word "crucify" when describing the agency's enforcement policies.

Besides actually using the word "Crucify," he had to apologize for saying the EPA makes examples of people and firms in the oil and gas industry.

EPA Region 6 administrator Al Armendariz issued a written apology Wednesday after video surfaced of him at a meeting in Texas in May 2010. 

Armendariz was answering a question about EPA enforcement. Instead of keeping it some what professional, he didn't even come close to keeping it professional in his answer.

The video shows him saying that in the Middle Ages, the Romans would enter a troublesome town, "take the first five guys they saw and crucify them." Then the town would be "really easy to manage for the next few years."

He then said "the EPA similarly makes examples of oil and gas companies" not complying with the law.

If this is what's going on in the EPA, if this is their attitude, than there should be a Congressional Investigation into their practices immediately.

• The Border Patrol is finding agents taking cash for running guns and looking the other way as drugs and people flow across our Southern border.
• The GSA is spending money like no body's business and taking pictures of each other in the act of doing it. 
• The Secret Service is out whoring around in Foreign Capitals - great examples of America there.
• The EPA is talking like they are the supreme power in the land.
• Obama wants the IRS to be the watchdog over a person's healthcare choice and actually fine Americans who don't buy into Obama Care.

Friends, the Federal Government is completely out of control. It needs to be reined in quickly, if not, I fear big trouble will follow.

LAST SHOT!

Drunk In Seattle!

In Washington state, some folks don't go in for trendy special style coffees made from goat droppings.

Instead, beer is their drink of choice. And folks, according to a brew-master friend who lives in Washington, there are well over 60 breweries there.

Of course, problems are sometimes associated with beer just as with any alcohol beverage. Like anyone, I can recall some very interesting problems when I was drinking more than I should. And yes, looking back to those days, I have to admit that some situations that I'd gotten myself into were a lot funnier than others.

But trust me when I say that I never topped this man in Seattle, Washington, who called the Police to report his car stolen.

Seattle police arrested a "highly intoxicated" man Saturday after he reported his car stolen, only for officers to find him sitting in the passenger seat when they responded to the 911 call. Imagine that!

The man was facing charges of making a false police report, The Seattle Times reported.

According to the Seattle Police Department, the man made the call just after midnight, claiming his 2009 Audi had been stolen and that he gave chase but the thief drove away.

When police arrived at the scene, they quickly found the car - and yes, the man was sitting in it.

Police said he made the call because he did not want his friend, who he felt was also inebriated, to drive his Audi. It was not clear to the Police or anyone else with a few brain cells still in tact exactly how reporting his car as stolen would prevent the friend from taking the wheel.

The car was being driven by the friend when police found them. And according to police, the man was right about the condition of his friend, who was subsequently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

One unconfirmed report said that the Police noted the OBAMA 2012 bumper sticker on the Audi and immediately understood what kind of jackass would call the Police when he's sitting in his own car!

Story by Tom Correa