So how bad is it ?

One of the questions I am getting more and more is "So how bad is it?"  "It' is the corn and bean crop. 

"It" is bad enough a neighbor destroyed 450 acres of irrigated seed production because it did not pollinate in the heat.  And I don't know of anyone carrying adequate crop insurance on seed corn ... this year. Next year WILL be different.

 

I'll be honest, I have a couple fields I have not even been in. I'm not sure my heart is strong enough.  Here are a few photos of places I have been

You have probably seen this one taken east of Mom's on the sand knob.  Not at all unexpected

This was taken south of Walnut Prairie east of the block building

I'd say a large part of the field is a total loss.

But this was south of Olive's.  According to the soil survey this is the best soil I farm.

 If you look closely you notice zip ... zero ... nada.  No ears at all on most stalks.  The ones that do have ears look like this:

I know, I need to get out on the 80 and True's and look.  I just want to make sure we have a full crew for the ambulance before I do.  In 1983 I won a yield contest with an 86 bushel yield from the west 80.

I don't think this year will be that good.

We doubled cropped almost all the wheat ground.  If it is not watered it looks like this

That is over 6 weeks after planting.  The weeds are not even growing.

Here is where it was watered.

 That was taken10 days ago.  The rows have closed now.  The non-irrigated looks just like it did.

Romans 8:28 still works:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him

But at times it stretches your faith.

I don't talk politics very much

I don't talk politics much.  There are more important things than politics.  I listen and may comment occasionally, but don't mistake listening with agreeing.   But I have made enough comments I think most know I am not a big fan of the current President.  So a fair question is why?

I guess I have trouble explaining things that to me are so obvious.

To my extremely political friends, a reminder I don't care which party you are affiliated with.  To my single topic friends, I do think some things are more important than others, but I also think we need a "big picture" viewpoint.  And if we don't agree, I hope we can still be friends.  I don't even agree with my wife 100% on everything, but we usually get along pretty well.

I found this on a farmer's forum I usually avoid, because it is mostly about politics and other junk.  Not sure who wrote this, but thank you to the one who did for taking the time to put it all together.  When you see all this in one spot it causes you to pause and ponder.  Or at least I think it should.



Oh, and if you think this goes on and on and on ... that too is scary.

WHEN - he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Muramar Kaddafi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it was pointed out that he was a total newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he refused to wear a flag lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he surrounded himself in the White House with advisors who were pro-gun control, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he said he favors sex education in kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his personal background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezco - a man of questionable character and who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home - people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he started appointing White House Czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist /Communists, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he stood before the Nation and told us that his intentions were to "fundamentally transform this Nation" into something else, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed cabinet members and several advisers who were tax cheats and socialists, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed a Science Czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Cass Sunstein as Regulatory Czar who believes in "Explicit Consent," harvesting human organs without family consent and allowing animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual and organizer of a group called Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network as Safe School Czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Mark Lloyd as Diversity Czar who believes in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth, who supports Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - Valerie Jarrett, an avowed Socialist, was selected as Obama's Senior White House Advisor, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Carol Browner, a well-known socialist as Global Warming Czar working on Cap and Trade as the nation's largest tax, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as Green Energy Czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for Health and Human Services Secretary could not be confirmed because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - as President of the United States , he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn't matter..

WHEN - he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his actions concerning the Middle East seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time ally, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops early-on when the Field Commanders said they were necessary to win, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions, and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc., people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he claimed he was a Christian during the election and tapes were later made public that showed Obama speaking to a Muslim group and 'stating' that he was raised a Muslim, was educated as a Muslim, and is still a Muslim, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn't matter.


WHEN - he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State , people woke up--- but it was too late.

Add these up one by one and you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that Barrack Hussein Obama is determined to turn America into a Marxist-Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this do an Internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph.

Will it read as above or will it be a more happy ending for most of America ?

WHEN - November 2012 comes, it will matter who you vote for!

You didn't build that.

If you don't follow political news any better than I do you may have wondered what all this "You didn't build that" stuff involving the President is about. Comments, advertisements, speeches, Facebook postings, everywhere you see references to it

 

In a speech in Roanoke, Virginia last week Mr. Obama said “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."

 Depending on how you approach that statement I can agree or disagree. If he had said "you didn't build that all by yourself" or you didn't build that without others" and skipped the last sentence, I don't think it would have become a political statement.  In fact, I'd be the first to agree with it.

None of us do it alone.  We have support, we have employees and contractors, we use roads and bridges, we were taught by someone else. It is never one person all by their self.  If nothing else, they have customers

The argument can be made the president was saying that public investment in education, infrastructure and research fosters private business. In return, so the argument goes, successful business leaders have an interest in supporting government programs.

But the way it came out, it fit exactly  into what the Romney campaign has been saying, that the president fails to understand how business and private enterprise work. Most of the time, Obama carefully balances his arguments about tax fairness and the role of government with other references to the importance of individualism. His stump speeches are typically peppered with lines like “we’re not a country that believes in handouts, we believe in working for what we get,” and “we believe in individual initiative and self-reliance.” 

But with the “you didn’t build that” line, Obama made people set back and wonder if his real faith lies in the power of government, not private enterprise.

That's what it is all about.

Struggling with a decision

I'm struggling with a choice we made this evening. I think it was right ...

Some of us were standing around talking after evening services when the preacher same looking for advice. Ken's been here less than a month and still not up on all our ways of doing things.

A guy called wanting assistance. He's in Chicago, car broke down, needs a room for the night, wants us to pay for it by credit card over the phone. Gave a pone number for a Motel 6, which checked out legit. Tells preacher he lives here, been here a few times with his girlfriend.  He gave a name, said he was a big red headed guy. Preacher said "Can I call you back?"

6 of us are talking, 2 elders and a life long member and our wives. None of us recognize the name. I call him back on my cell phone on speaker. Nobody recognizes his voice or the name of his girlfriend he said he came with. He said he was always told if you needed help call the church and he needed help. Told him I'd call back.

Maybe he called the wrong church.  I call the Baptist Church.  Nope, name didn't sound familiar.

Nice thing about a small town is someone knows everyone. We call 3 people. Two never heard of him. Third does. She tells me where he lives, and enough about him to give him some validity, then says "He's bull____________ you"  (Yes, Mom.  I called _____.)  She suggested giving him the Sheriff's number.

So here's my struggle: The guy is somewhat legit. He is living in York, he is registered at the Motel 6 in Chicago area (Come to think of it, how did he do that with no money to pay for the room?), He might really have a need.

But his story didn't add up, he didn't give me anything to validate himself, none of the 6 of us recognized him.

The $46 for the room isn't the issue. Paying the motel isn't the issue (I'd have just charged it to a personal credit card and then called and cancelled it after that transaction.) The issue is how do we decided when the line has been crossed between doing good and being a good steward of God's money?

That tree seems shorter than it was.

M a y b e there's a reason for that.  Pup and I moved an LP tank I bought home Monday afternoon, but I didn't have all the blocks I needed to set it.  So I got some blocks and Monday evening went around back to place them.  That tree seems ... oh.

Maybe that will just wait until it is cooler.

Wonder if Jim wants some more firewood?

And as you can tell by the sky, they were getting a shower north of us a ways.