The Riley Factor #112

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
November 15 2011, Issue No. 112
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- Riley and Gabby run until they drop every morning.  Then a day full of naps readies them for their late afternoon run.  Cool weather has made the daily swims now a rare occurrence.  Even the goldfish now surface for feeding only on the warmest of sunny afternoons.

Planting and Plowing -- No real farming going on this late in the year.  We picked the final apples on November 1st - bumper crop this year - best ever.  Carrots and parsnips were pulled from the ground in the first week of November.  And the crops are gone for 2011.

And They're Off -- A horse is a horse, of course, of course.  And no one can talk to a horse, of course.  That is, of course, unless the horse is the not so famous Rio or Lady.  The two equines always come running when we are at the fence and love to put one of their giant eyes about six inches from your face and stare into your mind.  Unless I am totally misreading them and all they want is more apples and grain.

The Herd of Four -- Always somewhat a sad time of year, it is approaching butchering season for one or two of the steer.  Eli, the Holstein, is 27 months old and about 2,000 pounds.  That would convert to 900 pounds hanging weight and about 600 pounds trimmed and packaged.  The two Dexters, Michael and Raphael, are 31 and 32 months old, respectively, and weigh about 1,000 pounds each.  This would translate into about 1,100 pounds hanging weight and 700 pounds trimmed and packaged.  Butchering is scheduled for mid-December.  More to follow.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Plenty of firewood remains to be cut and split.  We still have about a half dozen large trees on the ground out back near the upper pond.  And the equipment shed has about a hundred 18-inch lengths just waiting to be split.  Good work for warmer fall days.  As deer hunting season approaches (November 19 - December 11, here in New York's Southern Zone), we are seeing more deer wandering around the fields and trails.  One day while mowing the second field, I saw a good-sized doe with a similarly-sized buck, about six points on the rack.  They stood still as I approached them on the tractor from about 200 yards and did not move at all until I got about 25 yards from them and had to turn.  Then, the pair slowly wandered through the hedge row into the third field.  Beautiful animals.  Hunters say that deer possess an internal clock that knows when hunting season starts, at which time the deer vanish for about three weeks, before slowly returning in mid-December.  Who knows.  But as deer season approaches, they are still roaming and plentiful.

Fowl Weather -- It must have been a plot.  Our American White Broad Breasted Turkeys grew much more slowly this year than our turkeys in either of the last two years.  So slow was their growth that they were not ready for Thanksgiving.  For which they (presumably) gave their own thanks.

And in a related story, I recently read a piece on having fun with your chickens.  (Yes, I know that says a lot about my life, but I digress).  The article suggested naming your chickens.  My two favorite names from the article are --  Egghead and Gregory Peck.  And the article also suggested naming your chicken coops.  The author named her first chicken coop, which was a small coop on wheels, 'Hennebago'.  Her final coop, a large stationary model, she named 'Coop d-Etat'.  What barnyard hilarity.

Visitors -- Barbara stayed with us for nearly a week in the wake of the late October snow storm that created such widespread power outages in Western Mass.  At its worst, 87% of the City of Agawam was without power, with Southwick and West Springfield not far behind.  It took Western Mass Electric over a week to get most people back up on the grid.  In Suffield, CT, Susan's sister, Beverly, fared much worse, and was without power for well over a week.  And Barbara and Barbara Jean returned to visit for a few days in mid-November.

Rest in Peace --                      Norman Brennan, July 1952 - November 15, 2011

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.)


Quotes of the Month --

     Effort requires no talent. -- Rod Marinelli, Defensive Coordinator, Chicago Bears

     History is history.  Tomorrow's history is being written today. -- Mike Tomlin, Head Coach, Pittsburgh Steelers

     Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. -- John Wooden, late legendary basketball coach, UCLA

      In 1950, spending for social programs was only one percent of the total Federal Budget.  As the economy grew, social programs expanded to include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Unemployment Compensation, Supplemental Security for the Disabled and educational programs.  In 1983, as the United States pulled out of an ugly recession and brought inflation under control, social programs consumed 26% of the budget.  In fiscal year 2012, they’ll eat up an estimated 57% of the budget. -- Janet Tavakoli
  
     It's very simple. If you spend more than you earn, you lose your butt. -- Senator Alan Simpson


Facts of the Month --
     Population -- As of October 31, 2011, there are 7 billion people on planet Earth (it took 12 years to increase from 6 billion to 7 billion Earthlings).  Here's the build-up:  
          2011     7 billion (12 years)
          1999     6 billion (12 years)
          1987     5 billion (13 years)
          1974     4 billion (15 years)
          1959     3 billion (17 years)
          1942     2 billion (25 years)
          1917     1 billion (a few million years to create the first billion people on Earth)
         
          But world population growth is slowing.  The World Population Model predicts that the 8 billion population level will be achieved 17 years down the road, in 2029, and that planet's population will begin to decrease before the end of the 21st century.  The planet's peak population is expected to occur in 2059, at just short of 8.8 billion.

     Unemployment -- We have all heard for a couple of years now that the unemployment rate is over 9%.  As of October 28, 2011, the rate according to the government was 9.1%.  But here's the breakdown -- the unemployment rate is 13.1% for those individuals without a high school diploma, while it is 4.4% for college graduates.  It is generally believed that the true unemployment rate is not 9.1%, but is in reality over 15%, when you consider unemployed individuals who are no longer able to collect unemployment compensation and when you consider those individuals who were previously full-time employed and are now working part time.  -- Patricia Powell, CEO Powell Financial Group, November 5, 2011

Bumper Sticker of the Month --
ELECTILE DISFUNCTION: the inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either party for the 2012 election year.

Commentaries of the Month --

The Latest New Useless Federal Bureaucracy -- WASHINGTON (MarketWatch, November 2, 2011) — The infant Consumer Financial Protection Bureau needs more oversight, Republican lawmakers said Wednesday at a hearing as a top bureau official defended the agency’s work.  “My fear is that there are simply no checks and balances. It could easily become a loose cannon,” said Rep. Spencer Bachus, a Republican of Alabama, at the hearing of the House Financial Services financial institutions and consumer credit subcommittee. Treasury Department consultant Raj Date detailed the CFPB’s accomplishments over its first 100 days, such as examining large banks, and working to clarify mortgage documents and student loans. The bureau has already hired about 700 employees, including chiefs to lead offices supporting older Americans and military service members.  --   Another useless federal agency.  Another 700 government bureaucrats on the federal payroll.  Another complete waste of tax dollars.  We do not need any more regulation of financial transactions or markets.  We have too many existing rules, regulations and federal employees.

WOMAN

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?" "Because I'm a woman," she ...told him.
"I don't understand," he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will."

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?"

"All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.  The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said, "When I made the woman she had to be special.   I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort.  I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.  I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.  I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.  I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.  I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.  And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed."

"You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.  The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides."

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
                           9 ... Green Bay Packers 25, Atlanta Falcons 14 / Patriots 30, Jets 21
                         16 ... Green Bay Packers 24, St. Louis Rams 3 / Patriots 20, Cowboys 16
                                        (And then there was one)
                         23 ... Green Bay Packers 33, Minnesota Vikings 27 / Patriots (bye week)
                         30 ... Green Bay Packers (bye week) / Steelers 25, Patriots 17
     November    6 ... Green Bay Packers 45, San Diego Chargers 38 / Giants 24, Patriots 20
                         13 ... Green Bay Packers 45, Vikings 7 / Patriots 37, Jets 16

And then there's this --

After two years of the Obama Administration ... Here's your "change"!

 

	January 2009	TODAY	% chg	Source
Avg.. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S.	$1.83	$3.95	115.8%	1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)	$43..48	$99.02	127.7%	2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)	$38..74	$91.38	135.9%	2
Gold: London (per troy oz.)	$853.25	$1,504.50	90.5%	2
Corn, No..2 yellow, Central IL	$3.56	$6.33	78.1%	2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL	$9.66	$13.75	42.3%	2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb.. Fob	$13..37	$35.39	164.7%	2
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall	7.6%	9.4%	23.7%	3
Unemployment rate, blacks	12.6%	15.8%	25.4%	3
Number of unemployed	11,616,000	14,485,000	24.7%	3
Number of fed. Employees	2,779,000	2,840,000	2.2%	3
Real median household income	$50,112	$49,777	-0.7%	4
Number of food stamp recipients	31,983,716	43,200,878	35.1%	5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients	7,526,598	9,193,838	22.2%	6
Number of long-term unemployed	2,600,000	6,400,000	146.2%	3
Poverty rate, individuals	13.2%	14.3%	8.3%	4
People in poverty in U.S.	39,800,000	43,600,000	9.5%	4
U.S.. Rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings	5	9	n/a	10
Present Situation Index	29.9	23.5	-21.4%	11
Failed banks	140	164	17.1%	12
U.S.. Dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate	89.76	82.03	-8.6%	2
U.S.. Money supply, M1, in billions	1,575.1	1,865.7	18.4%	13
U.S.. Money supply, M2, in billions	8,310.9	8,852.3	6.5%	13
National debt, in trillions	$10..627	$14..052	32.2%	14

Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history.

Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane. ……..27 times faster, it would be doing 7,555 MPH!

 

Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC;
(13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury

The Riley Factor #111

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
November 1, 2011, Issue No. 111
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- Riley has been limping around of late - has a pain in the center of his right front paw.  Nothing serious, but slows him down a bit.

Nancy -- Susan's older sister, Nancy, has rejoined us at Rock Creek Farm, arriving on October 19.  Nancy previously spent a little over a year with us, leaving in the spring of 2010.  This time, she moved into the larger bedroom in the brick house, so the former 'Nancy Room' will need a new name.  (Back in Hopkinton, we still call the bedroom where our foreign exchange student, Moritz Gottschalk, spent the 1999-2000 school year with us 'The Moritz Room'.  Probably destined never to change, as long as we own the house.)  Nancy brings with her Gabrielle, her six-year-old Belgian Tervuren, a large, beautiful and extremely well-behaved dog, bred for herding sheep and other animals.  Last time Gabby saw Riley, he was a young puppy who she grabbed by the collar and tossed around like a rag doll.  She still herds him around a bit, and skillfully gives him the collar tackle, but with a little more effort required than before.  Gabby appears much larger than Riley, owing to her thick fur coat, but actually weighs a few pounds less.  Like in wrestling, and most other endeavors, it is all about the technique.

Planting and Plowing -- Farming is done for the year.  Just a few winter vegetables to pick - carrots, parsnips, Butternut squash, Long Island cheese squash, Australian butter squash, etc.   And we still have tomatoes and peppers growing in the greenhouse, and the last of the apples are still hanging-on on the larger trees in the orchard and back yard.  Then to rototill-under the vegetable gardens for the winter rest.

And They're Off -- Rio and Lady are still content to roam the pasture day and night, and will take apples whenever offered.  Most of the apples have been picked, so they are down to their last few weeks of 2011 apple fest.  I hope they understand seasons.

The Herd of Four -- Oh Boy.  Rural Theatre in Fort Plain.  Rated R.  October 18 marked the day that our new 24-month old Jersey Heifer, Lily, went into heat.  No science behind telling when that occurred.  We awoke to loud mooing and more mooing, much more noise from the barn than usual, from all four members of the Herd.  When we saw Lily with Eli, Michael and Raphael, the Band of Three Steers, she was the object of their collective desires.  About once a minute, one then the next then the next bull charmer would jump-up on her.  No flowers.  No dinner.  No nothing.  If they delayed a bit, Lilly would jump-up on one of them.  Alack and alas, as they are all-three steers, no actual mating was destined to occur with Lily-the-Fertile.  The jumping-up went on for a couple of hours, and we caller neighbor Ken Smith, who works for Select Sires.  Soon, Ken arrived with his collection of bull semen.  (Oh the hobbies some people have).  We made our selection, and once we captured Lily from among her love ponies, Ken artificially inseminated her.  It was all over in 10 minutes.  (Let's just say the AI Process involves a glove that covered Ken's arm from his finger tips to his shoulder, and leave it at that.)  We let Lily out, and she was again in the pasture running with the bulls.  Count 278 days (average gestation period for a Jersey) and we should expect delivery of a new calf on or about July 22, 2012, plus or minus a week or so.  Then the dairy farming begins.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Still cutting firewood around the edges of the woods and from trees fallen across various roads and trails.  About six large trees remain lying to be removed.  great exercise, and a great way to spend sunny fall afternoons.  We have also been collecting some kindling to fill the upstairs and downstairs boxes.

Fowl Weather -- Flocks of geese are overhead, flying southward.  Our two egrets and lone blue heron make daily rounds back and forth between our two small ponds, occasionally stopping at the watering hole in the pasture.  With all the goldfish in the ponds, they are most likely making a feast of it, but we have not yet heard anything except tales of the big one that got away.  We also have a pair of ring-neck pheasants dividing time between our second and third fields, nesting in the hedge row, we think.  Beautiful birds, especially the male.  Every once and a while, Susan has been feeding them deer corn and oats.

Visitors -- As fall settles in, all quiet in Middle-of-Nowhere.  Susan's mother Barbara dropped-in on October 29 for a few days R&R.  We were lucky in that the bulk of the big October snow storm mostly missed us here in Middle-of-Nowhere.  Some places in nearby Western Massachusetts got over 20 inches of white, and power outages are widespread and serious.

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.)


Rest in Peace -- Long-time Family Friend

                                             Brent Davidson  --    June 14, 1960 - October 31, 2011


Quotes of the Month --

     I have always found that anger is the enemy of instruction. -- Phil Jackson

     I could end the deficit in 5 minutes.  You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. -- Warren Buffett

     Difficulties are simply things to overcome. -- Mike Yacino, Massachusetts GOAL

     The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. -- Ralph Nader

     The guy that shot Qaddaffi was wearing a Yankees cap.  If he were wearing a Red Sox cap, he probably would have missed. -- David Letterman

     Until a man reaches out, you never know how long his arms are. -- Marshall Matt Dillon

     The true level of taxation is the level of government spending. -- Unknown

      Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now. -- Vince Gill

      Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. -- Adidas
     Here is the fact of the age.  People believe nothing.  They believe everything is spin and lies.  When people believe nothing, they believe anything. -- Peggy Noonan, in The Wall Street Journal

Facts of the Month --
     Recently, Joe Biden said in a speech that private sector jobs have been unaffected by the economy, and it is the government workers who have borne the brunt of unemployment woes.  Well, had Mr. Biden consulted the facts, he would have found that 2.5 million workers in the private sector have become and remain unemployed since Obama became president.


Bumper Sticker of the Month --
                                                             Milk Cows - Not Taxpayers


Commentaries of the Month --

     Warren Buffett's Proposed Congressional Reform Act of 2011:

1. No Tenure / No Pension.  A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.  All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

   
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
                         9 ... Green Bay Packers 25, Atlanta Falcons 14 / Patriots 30, Jets 21
                       16 ... Green Bay Packers 24, St. Louis Rams 3 / Patriots 20, Cowboys 16
                                        (And then there was one)
                       23 ... Green Bay Packers 33, Minnesota Vikings 27 / Patriots (bye week)
                       30 ... Green Bay Packers (bye week) / Steelers 25, Patriots 17

The Riley Factor #110

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
October 16, 2011, Issue No. 110
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- Riley has been wandering leash-free in the woods while Susan and I cut some trees down and up.  He generally stays within 20 yards of us, and usually within 10 feet.  He loves gnawing on sticks and finding mud puddles to splash in.  After three or four hours, he generally collapses upon our return to the yard, sometimes falling asleep right on the lawn or patio.

Wedding Wishes -- We wish our German-Italian friend Moritz Gottschalk wonderful wedding wishes on his October 15 wedding in Cyprus.  And all the best to his parents Uschi and Joachim on gaining a new daughter, Sanya, Moritz's bride.  Moritz spent a school year with us, 1999-2000, while on a foreign exchange attending Hopkinton High School.  And we have visited with Moritz and his parents here in the U.S. and in Italy a few times since then.  How fast time flies.
Planting and Plowing -- Farming has been rather dormant, but one morning on our routine run with Riley, Susan saw eight deer in the third field.  They were standing and grazing on uncut hay and the left-behinds from recently cut & combined oats.  Riley was oblivious to them all, and was sniffing and snorting as usual, pretending to be the great hunter.  The deer watched the human/dog team suspiciously, but did not run off.

And They're Off -- Rio and Lady clamor for apples every time we ride or walk by the pasture.  They snort and stomp hoping to be fed or tossed a few of the round snacks - green, red or yellow, they have little preference for any specific varieties.

The Herd of Four -- Also part of the apple clamor, Eli, Lily, Michael and Raphael run for apples whenever the feeding looks imminent.  Unlike the horses, who chomp and chop them with their big horse teeth, the cattle like medium and small-sized apples popped whole into their mouths for grinding and crunching.  Especially with Eli and Lily, the feeding process resembles popping quarters into slot machines at your favorite casino.  We await any payoff.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- On good weather days, Susan and I have been chain-sawing trees in the woods that fell across logging roads during Hurricane Irene and other storms this year.  We are down to the last half dozen trees or so.  Some are manageable in size, while others are gigantic.  In the first week of October, we cut about two cords of firewood, some of which still needs splitting, some was stacked as is.  Great exercise and a great time being in the woods in sunny warm weather.  We thought we had basically zero damage from Hurricane Irene. Which is what we did have in the yard and barn area.  But in the middle of the woods, several large trees, 8" to 15" in diameter, snapped-off just above ground level or tipped-over roots and all.  We have found several tees like this, mostly lying across trails and logging roads, within 100 feet of the fields.  Who knows what lurks deeper in the woods where we travel only once or twice per year?

Fowl Weather -- After a week gone missing, one of our French Guinea Hens returned from wandering around Fort Plain.  Slight limp, but otherwise no worse for the wear.  Susan's prayers were answered, as she felt bad for what was our lone remaining Keet, who was roaming aimlessly until her friend returned to make a flock (of two).

Visitors -- As fall settles in, all quiet in Middle-of-Nowhere.  Ames, Debbie and Cameron joined us for a couple of days, mid-month in October, while Barbara and Nancy dropped in for the afternoon on the 15th.

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.)

Quotes of the Month --

     Just Win Baby. -- Al Davis, 1929-2011   

     Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The nerds. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. -- Steve Jobs, 1955-2011, Apple Inc.'s Corporate Manifesto

      You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. -- Dr. Adrian Rogers

     "The laws that forbid the carrying of arms .... disarm only
those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.
Such laws make things worse for the assaulted
and better for the assailants. They serve rather to encourage
than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be
attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. -- Thomas Jefferson

     Said of those Occupy Wall Street protesters currently hunkered-down in New York and other cities ... Win-less, parasitic bloodsuckers ... Meet the Flea Party -- Anne Coulter

Facts of the Month --

     The real unemployment rate is 16.5%, not the 9.1% that was reported today. -- Peter Schiff, economist, author, October 7, 2011

Commentaries of the Month --

     It is the moral obligation of society to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves.  But we must also insist that those who can take care of themselves do so. -- Joe Granoff

     President Obama has encouraged the idea that the government owes you a living.  Medical benefits.  Unemployment benefits.  Welfare payments.  Food stamps.  Disability payments.  Retirement without work.  Entitlements for everyone.  Well, what the government owes everyone is the same thing ... opportunity. -- Stuart Varney

     This financial crisis was not created by Wall Street.  It was created by the government attempting to have everyone own a home.  The Democrats pushed FNMA and FHLMC to give everyone a loan.  The Fed reduced interest rates to 1%.  Government failed everyone.  And these Wall Street protesters are against capitalism and now want even bigger government. -- Brian Wesbury

Investing 101 - Advice From Some of the Best

     "Be patient with winning trades; be enormously impatient with losing trades. Remember it is quite possible to make large sums trading/investing if we are 'right' only 30% of the time, as long as our losses are small and our profits are large." – Dennis Gartman
     "It's Far Better to Buy a Wonderful Company at a Fair Price than a Fair Company at a Wonderful Price." – Warren Buffett
     "Do you really like a particular stock? Put 10% or so of your portfolio on it. Make the idea count. Good investment ideas should not be diversified away into meaningless oblivion." – Bill Gross

     "We're getting hurt, but I'm a long-term investor." -- Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal
     "You learn in this business … If you want a friend, get a dog." – Carl Icahn

From the Infamous Malcolm ...

Did you notice who Obama threatened when he wasn't getting his way on raising the debt ceiling?

He threatened to not pay: 

 

  Social Security Retirees, Military Retirees, Social
  Security disability and Federal Retirees.

Now ... Let this sink in really good -

   He did not threaten to stop payments to illegal aliens

   He did not threatened to take frivolous benefits such as Internet access away
from violent inmates

   He did not offer to fire some of the thousands of unnecessary federal employees
that he hired

   He did not offer to cut down on his or his wife's frivolous gallivanting around

   He did not threaten to not pay the senators and representatives or any of their
staff

   He did not threaten to take benefits away from welfare recipients

   He did not threaten the food stamp programs

   He did not threaten to not pay foreign aid

   He did not threaten to cut back on anything that involves his base voters

The list could go on and on. Obama is in full political re-election mode!

• Why are we allowing this person to destroy this wonderful country with his

selfishness and his lies?

• His type of change is killing our country. He needs to be stopped and only our

votes can stop him.

• Do not forget about his tactics when it's election time. Vote Obama out of the

Presidency in 2012.

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
                         9 ... Green Bay Packers 25, Atlanta Falcons 14 / Patriots 30, Jets 21
                       16 ... Green Bay Packers 24, St. Louis Rams 7 / Patriots 20, Cowboys 16
                                        (And then there was one)

And Then There's This --

    You know your lawn is too long when ... a stranger knocks on your door and asks if he can harvest the mushrooms growing in your front lawn by your driveway, because they are edible and some of the largest he has seen growing wild in the many years he has been mushrooming. -- at the back door and in the driveway @ Rock Creek Farm, October 2, 2011

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.