The Riley Factor #109

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
October 2, 2011, Issue No. 109
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- One Saturday morning, The Riley and I were driving around Downtown Fort Plain doing the typical errands (feed store, hardware store, bank, etc.) and as we rolled slowly around a corner, a small boy crossing the street hand-in-hand with his mother looked at Riley, who was calmly sitting in the passenger seat of the pick-up, and the boy shouted, "Look - a pony!"  His mother reassured him that it was just a puppy.  Nevertheless, the boy stared in amazement.  I think I saw Riley suck-in his stomach a bit.

Sold ... A Bargain -- Recently, we spent a couple of evenings at local auctions.  In beautiful Downtown Fort Plain, the entertainment included the owner of the auction house throwing-out one of the bidders for conduct unbecoming, or some such infraction.  Parties had to be restrained.  The next night in beautiful Downtown St. Johnsville, we saw among other things a collection of a dozen bureaus, a dozen desks and a dozen night stands, all nearly brand new in cherry finish, sell for the might sum of one dollar.  No explanation.  Over the two night stand, we acquired such treasures as ... a bugle, a cannon ball, a bell, a Tonka fire engine, an Esso tanker truck bank, a pot belly stove, a Jarts game (remember those lawn dart games of the 1960s? Well, they are now illegal in all 50 states, according to the auctioneer), a 3-foot in diameter steel Coke sign, and several other 'gems'.

Planting and Plowing -- Probably no more planting this fall, unless we decide on some winter wheat and/or winter oats.  I recently mowed-down all the fields that were used this year for wheat, oats and hay.  And Susan did rototill the recently combined-and-cut fields nearest to the house and out by the upper pond, about 10 acres in all, destined for grain planting in the spring.

And They're Off -- Lady and Rio spend most of their days, whenever they see us, trying to coax us into getting and giving them more apples.  They are addicted to the fruit.  Hand feeding is best, but it is hard to keep up with their appetites.  Luckily, we have a few apple trees within throwing distance of the pasture.  The steer manage to get the half-eaten hand-me-downs, although you can feed apples to Eli and Lily as fast as you can feed quarters into a slot machine.

The Herd of Three -- On September 28, the Herd of Three officially became the Herd of Four, with the addition of Lily, a two-year-old Jersey cow.  Lily is a favorite of our friend, Bradley Chadwick, who is downsizing his farm a bit.  He is 75, just had heart valve replacement surgery, and has six remaining head of cattle, three horses, three goats, and other assorted animals running around his 265 acre spread in nearby Ames, NY, where he lives alone.  Lily is soon to be bred via artificial insemination (AI), assuming that Susan and I can identify when she is in heat and call the AI GUY in time to visit us and perform The Act.  This should make for some great rural theater.  Stay tuned.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Low and behold, after seeing only a few deer this year, one late summer morning, we did see in the third field one average-sized doe and one giant doe - actually Riley saw them first and the chase was on.  Riley lost.  The large doe was almost as large as a horse (no rack, so it wasn't a buck).  We saw the pair of deer again that afternoon, but not since.  And one morning, Susan saw 8 deer standing in one of the mowed oats fields, happily munching on left-behind grain and grass.  Most of the maple and selected other trees already are showing yellow foliage.  Oaks, chestnuts and beech are still full green.

Fowl Weather -- A couple of new birds have joined the Great Blue Heron in the ponds -- a Great White Egret and a Dark Morph Egret.  Beautiful to watch, about two-feet in height and wing span, with sharp pointed beak, 5 inches or so long.  On the chicken front, one red chicken has become the gang leader of a pack of a dozen or so of the new Jersey Giant chicks (hatched July 1, now almost the size of a full-grown chicken).  They roam all around the yard, garden, around the pond, into the garage, into the equipment shed.  And they are noisy.  And to complement the cacophony, when the egrets are around, the two remaining French Guinea Hens squawk their little orange and gray heads off - no love lost between those two breeds.

Visitors -- Stevie spent the first weekend of October with us, as the rains continued to fall in beautiful Middle-of-Nowhere.

Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/.  It contains all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and search through our Internet site, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quote of the Month --
 
     My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me, as we change it. -- Barack Obama (during his 2008 presidential campaign)

     Those who have little have nothing to lose. --  Paladin, Have Gun-Will Travel

     And on the morning after the completion of the Red Sox 2011 collapse, the most extreme in the history of baseball ... "If there are any Red Sox fans living in upstate NY, they are probably jumping off their barns". -- Greg Fuchs, insulated deep inside sunny south Florida

Facts of the Month --
     Here are the true facts about income taxes, according to the IRS, September 21, 2011:  
          >>  The top 1% of American taxpayers pay 38% of all income taxes paid.
          >>  The top 5% of American taxpayers pay 59% of all income taxes paid.
          >>  And, 51% of American households pay zero federal income tax.

          >>>>  The so-called 'wealthy Americans' not only 'pay their fair share', but they pay the majority of all federal income taxes collected, financing and providing for all the government and all the federal programs, agencies and departments for everyone.

Commentaries of the Month --

Income Tax Structure

If Congress fails to adopt a more permanent tax structure before the end of 2012, the income tax rates and the estate and gift tax would revert to pre-2001 law, ushering in across-the-board increases for all classes of taxpayers.  Although there is nearly unanimous support at the White House and in Congress for preventing tax increases on low- and middle-income taxpayers, there are deep disagreements over what to do about tax rates for higher-income individuals — typically defined as singles with income above $200,000 and couples with income above $250,000. -- Deloitte Tax LLP

The 10 Best Things the Government Has Done for You

1.) Protecting our freedoms. Our political and economic rights are the foundation of our democracy and capitalist economy.
2.) Giving away the land. The United States developed as one of the most egalitarian nations in history, mostly because the government gave away millions of acres of land and sold more at rock-bottom prices to regular people who worked that land and made it productive
3.) Educating everybody. Our economy and democracy would be impossible without an educated, skilled populace. From the beginning of our nation, offering free and universal public education has been one of the most important functions of government.
4.) Helping us retire with dignity. Social Security and Medicare keep millions of Americans out of poverty, allowing them to live out their lives in dignity. And these essential programs are provided by government at far less cost than would be possible from the private sector.
5) Improving public health. Many of us owe our lives — literally — to the government. The greatest advances in longevity are due to public-sanitation measures such as water treatment, sewer systems and trash disposal.
6.) Building our transportation networks. Every major mode of transportation — from canals to airports — has received critical financial support from the government.
7.) Investing in communications. Communications networks, like transportation systems, create lots of external benefits that cannot be easily recouped by the builder. That makes them perfect for public investment.
8.) Building our energy supply. Most energy investment comes from private companies, but the government has played its role. Government-built hydroelectric dams provide a lot of power in the Northwest and Southeast, and all nuclear-power plants can trace their lineage to the Manhattan Project.

9.) Inventing the future. The space program and defense research continue to spin off benefits to our economy. Because NASA and the Pentagon demanded (and paid top dollar for) highly reliable and lightweight components, advancements in medicine, electronics, communications, materials and manufacturing were accelerated by decades.
10.) Defeating totalitarianism. The United States has faced few serious external threats in its 235 years of independence. When it did, the government spent trillions of dollars to defend us from the forces of fascism and communism.

NFL --

     September 8 ... Green Bay Packers 42, New Orleans Saints 34 / Patriots 38, Dolphins 24
                    18 ... Green Bay Packers 30, Carolina Panthers 23 / Patriots 35, Chargers 21
                    25 ... Green Bay Packers 27, Da Bears 17 / Bills 34, Patriots 31
     October     2 ... Green Bay Packers 49, Denver Broncos 23 / Patriots 31, Raiders 19

And Then There's This --

    Today's Dialogue of the Day, brought to you by the vacationing CJ, from somewhere around here in Upstate New York ...

       CJ:  I think I've diagnosed your affliction.
       Me:  I didn't know that I had an affliction.
       CJ:  You're unable to relax without toiling.