The Riley Factor #108

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
September 20, 2011, Issue No. 108
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- Happy Birthday Riley ... who turned two years old on September 3.  Riley was born in South Dakota on September 3, 2009, and was acquired by CJ at a pet store in Braintree, MA, when Riley was 12 weeks old.  The rest is history.  On one recent morning, from another room where she was sweeping the floor, Susan shouted-out, "Riley, if you're out there in the other room shedding, I'm going to shave your ass."  I said back, "Well, you have two choices, he's either shedding or chewing."  Susan replied, "Riley, I'm going to have your teeth pulled too."

Tales from the Amish Auction -- We went to the annual fall consignment auction at the Mohawk Valley Produce Auction site, run to benefit Amish medical expenses.  The second item offered for sale was a white cardboard box about a foot square.  The auctioneer yelled to his helpers, "Open the box!", and out flew a large white chicken.  The next 10 minutes were spent watching 10 Amish boys run around trying to catch the world's fastest chicken.  Unfortunately, the Amish are not big fans of America's Funniest Videos, so no one was around to capture the hilarity on tape.  For those interested in Chicken Auctioning, there was a second chicken in the box, and the pair sold for $5.50.

Tales from the Amish Social Calendar -- Susan planned to attend an Amish bridal shower on September 8, for Annie Kanagy Jr., who is engaged to marry Aaron Miller (wedding planned for November 1), but the torrential rains and local flooding caused postponement of the shower.  Susan did not fully appreciate my humor when I said, "So, you and your Amish buds will have to delay partying like it's 1899".

Planting and Plowing -- Fall farming season is arriving.  We recently baled the straw that remained from the combining of the wheat and oats, for use as animal stall bedding.  And on the last official day of summer, we baled 213 bales of second cutting hay.  Now, we are debating whether to plant winter wheat and oats for harvesting next summer, or wait until spring to do the planting.  In any event, we will soon plow or rototill the fields.

And They're Off -- Apples, apples everywhere this year - huge difference from 2010, when a late spring hard frost killed-off about 80% of the apple crop in these parts.  Horses whinny and stomp around for apples every day now.  And the steer are not far behind.  All would eat apples non-stop, if allowed.  We limit them to a few apples each per day.  And this >>> Recently, one morning at about 8AM, there was a knock on the door.  A passer-by was reporting that Lady was wandering around the pasture with the hay feeder stuck on her head.  The hay feeder is a 40-pound wooden structure about four feet long, three feet high and two feet wide (think wooden bath tub on 12-inch legs), into which a bale or two of hay is placed daily for the animals to eat.  The horses and steer frequently knock it around or over when it is empty, but it has never drifted more than a few feet from its appointed location next to the barn until Lady decided to make a head-wear fashion statement.  At least this is better than the story I heard last week, where a cow stuck her 11-inch head into a 10-inch culvert pipe, and the owner had to spend a half hour's labor and three pounds of butter to free the animal.

The Herd of Three -- Moo, eat, moo, eat, drink, clamor for apples, poop, repeat.  The bovine life is a simple one.  Developing into connoisseurs, they love the McIntosh and red delicious apples, but routinely reject the yellow pear apples.  Not possessing any biting teeth, cows must be fed apples that are small enough to fit entirely in their mouths.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Deer have been very scarce this summer.  We rarely see any.  Same for the wild turkeys.  Two nights in a row, however, we did hear a pack of coyotes running around the field across the street and in our pasture.  With our horses and steer spending nights outside the barn lately, the coyotes don't linger in the pasture for long - but they do love to howl and yip.

Fowl Weather -- The turkeys are growing like weeds, having moved-up from their July 12 hatchings to their current size, each roughly the size of a small chicken.  The chicken chicks, who were all hatched on or around July 1, are also growing well, each now about 2/3rds the size of a full-grown chicken.

Visitors -- Quiet times as fall approaches.  Those inseparable identical twins, Barbara and Betty, stopped-in for a little barbecue on Labor Day.  And fully recovered from his recent bout with mononucleosis, CJ spent most of a mid-September vacation week here at The Compound.  On his first day, we baled about 120 bales of straw, left in the fields from the recent wheat and oats combining.  A few of the bales were a bit damp and therefore heavy, some as much as 60-70 pounds vs. 30-40 pounds or so for the dry bales, and after they were all stacked in the barn, CJ exclaimed in an unguarded moment, "I'm beat.  Your retirement is harder than most people's work."

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 --

      No day shall erase you from the memory of time. -- 9/11 Memorial

Facts of the Month --

 

     WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The 46.2 million people in poverty in 2010 was the largest group for the 52 years that data has been published, the Census Bureau reported.  The number of people in poverty rose for the fourth consecutive year as the poverty rate climbed to 15.1% -- the highest since 1993 - up from 14.3% in 2009.  Meanwhile, real median household income in 2010 was $49,445, down 2.3% from the prior year.  Those with health insurance ticked higher to 256.2 million from 255.3 million in 2009.

Commentaries of the Month --

     The Democrats are the party of welfare, higher taxes, spending and debt.  A year from now, as the presidential election approaches, the Democrat Party will be on its way out. -- Stuart Varney, FOX Business Channel, September 2, 2011

     The Environmental Protection Agency has become the Environmental Punishment Agency.  It has scrapped its environmental role in order to push its own political agenda. -- Steve Forbes

     Polls? ... Naaah ... Polls are for strippers and cross country skiers. -- Sarah Palin

     Only the free market can create prosperity ... not government-backed loans or government subsidies. -- Andrew Napolitano

     No man is wealthy enough to buy back his past. -- Oscar Wilde

     'Community Organizer' is just today's politically correct term for 'Socialist'.

NFL --

     Opening day ... September 8 ... Green Bay Packers 42, New Orleans Saints 34
                             September 18 ... Packers 30, Carolina Panthers 23

     NFL's Most Valuable Franchises (Forbes Magazine):
          1.  Dallas Cowboys          $1.85 billion
          2.  Washington redskins   $1.55
          3.  New England Patriots  $1.40
          4.  New York Giants         $1.30
          5.  New York Jets            $1.22
          6,  Houston Texans          $1.20
          7.  Philadelphia Eagles     $1.16
          8.  Chicago Bears           $1.09
          9.  Green Bay Packers    $1.08
          10.Baltimore Ravens        $1.08

     All 32 NFL franchises are included on the list of the most valuable 50 sports franchises in the world.  The average value of an NFL team is $1.04 billion, and, on average, an NFL team currently has annual revenue of $265 million and makes an operating income profit of $30.6 million per year.

And Then There's This --

     Susan and I were out for dinner the other evening at the Sprout Brook Country Store, which includes a small restaurant - to get a mental picture, we call the place Hooterville (think Uncle Joe, Sam Drucker, Mr. Haney, Oliver and Lisa Douglas, Billy-Jo, Bobby-Jo and Betty-Jo; not Hooters).  On the wall was proudly hanging a sign that read,"The menu has two choices, Take It or Leave It."

The Riley Factor #107

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
September 1, 2011, Issue No. 107
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- One recent afternoon, at the beginning of one of his two-mile runs, the Golden One was tossed into the penalty box for felony assault of a French Guinea Fowl.  No idea what got into Riley, but he chased three, caught one, and dragged it around by the neck.  No harm, no fowl-foul, but nevertheless a guilty verdict.  As judge, jury and prime witness, I sentenced Riley to a few hours of no fun and no food.

Hurricane Irene -- After days and days of nonsensical television weather forecasting and warnings by governmental officials, the most recent 100-Year-Storm blew in and blew out in 12 hours.  It was a six-two storm here - a one-pumper - six inches of rain outside and two inches of water in the basement.  One pump in addition to our ever-present sump pump drained the cellar in a few hours.  Winds were 50 mph and less, so no real damage - just a few branches down.

In Memoriam -- On August 29, Isaac Miller was killed in a haying accident.  Ike was the 18-year-old son of our friends Melvin and Fanny Miller, and brother of our friends Elam, Aaron, Ruben and Lizzy Miller.  Ike was killed when mowing one of the fields across the road from the family home on Phillips Street in Fort Plain.  Ike loved to sing, and is no doubt now singing among the angels in heaven.  The Miller family runs various local businesses -- Melvin retired from farming and now operates Mohawk Valley Harness Shop, Elam has a barn supplies business, Aaron runs E&A Fence Co., Ruben runs the Miller family farm, and Lizzy is a teacher at one of the local Amish school houses.  Fanny found Ike in the morning, being dragged by one of the horses from the team that was pulling the mower, a gas-engine-powered discbine weighing a ton or so.  No one has been able to determine exactly what happened.  A very sad event.  Susan spent some time with the family on the afternoon of the accident, and we attended the Amish wake the next afternoon, with about a couple of hundred of the Millers' friends - a nice affair that presented a beautiful open-casket viewing of Ike.  He will be buried in the local Amish Cemetery, which coincidentally is on Miller land, right next to the field on which Ike had the accident.  Isaac Miller, 1993-2011, Rest in Peace.
Planting and Plowing -- Large, juicy apples are hanging on the four big, older McIntosh trees and one large hybrid apple tree in the orchard.  The two apple trees in the back yard are also full of fruit.  With a week to go in August, it is still early in the season, but we have eaten many, and all the horses and steer love them, so a new regimen has been added to the daily animal feeding routine.  Of course, it is advisable to enter the pasture well-armed with apples, because the horses and steers swarm you wanting more and more apples to eat.  A better approach is to stand on the other side of the pasture fence and feed the animals over the rail, or toss a few onto the nearby ground.  One evening, we fed the fivesome about a dozen apples each (some were small, but many were tennis-ball-sized).  The lone plum tree in the back yard has already produced about three dozen dark red plums.  Extremely sweet, the fruits rarely make it back into the house, at least when I see them first.  I did find that plums are one of the few foods that The Riley will not eat.

The Herd of Three -- Soon to become the Herd of Four, Susan talked with Bradley Chadwick and our Jersey dairy cow, Lily, will be arriving in a couple of weeks.  Since Bradley had heart surgery a month ago, he was unable to have Lily bred, so it will be up to us to get Lily artificially inseminated (known as 'AI').  We are supposed to watch the cattle, and when we see Eli, Michael and Raphael jumping-up on Lily, the theory is that we will know Lily is in heat, and we have to contact the AI Specialist to arrange a pregnancy.  (You will recall that the members of our Herd of Three are all steers, and alack and alas, are without the requisite equipment to actually breed, although reportedly they will attempt to do so).  (Many thoughts and lines come to mind here, but I will avoid them all in the interest of good taste).  Stay tuned for the play-by-play on this rural theater production.

And They're Off -- Down in front of the barn on the morning after Irene, we were unloading a few bags of bedding, when Lady took a bite out of the Silverado.  Yes, that's right, a bite out of the pick-up.  When did they start making vehicle trim out of plastic?  There is now a horse's-mouth-size bite missing from the rear passenger side of the pick-up.  And I know the horse that bit it, since I saw Lady and Rio licking and nibbling at the truck, and as I yelled at them to move along, I saw Lady take a bite and spit-out the made-in-Detroit plastic.  It is a good thing for her that there are no more glue factories in the U.S.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Our great blue heron has been spending afternoons fishing in the edges of the lower pond, made easier as the fish get larger and naturally turn color from their camouflage-black to orange.  Every time we get near, the blue-gray flying behemoth takes-off and heads for either the watering hole in the pasture or towards the upper pond.  Once, we also inadvertently chased the big bird from the water's edge at the upper pond.

Fowl Weather -- One afternoon when I was out in the back barn working on the combine, I heard some honking and looked out the door to see a flock of about 25 geese circling the wheat field that we had just combined.  The Canadian fliers did one 360-degree circle around the field and landed right in the middle.  They were still there in the field a couple hours later when I surrendered and headed for dinner.   For several days afterward, late each afternoon, the geese returned to the same spot.

Visitors -- During my first three years at Noble Partners in Boston, 2005-2008, I worked closely with Robin Norton, our chief operating officer.  He and his son, Duncan, a sophomore at St. Paul's in New Hampshire, were scheduled to visited us here in Middle-of-Nowhere the last weekend in August, but both Hurricane Irene and CJ's bout with strep throat and mononucleosis created a postponement.

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 --

     When you win, you're not as good as you think you are, and when you lose, you're not as bad as you think you are. -- Bill Belichick, Head Coach, New England Patriots

     When your stock goes up, you're not as smart as you think you are, and when your stock goes down, you're not as dumb as you think you are. -- Gene McQuade, CFO, Fleet Financial Group

Facts of the Month --

     A cubic yard of water weighs 1,700 pounds.
Commentary of the Month --

     Obama has no new ideas.  All that the Democrats want is more money, your money, so they can give it to others who will vote for them and keep them in power. -- FOX Business Channel
        
     My three-point plan to fix the economy is simple.  (1)  Eliminate the minimum wage law.  (2)  Eliminate unemployment compensation.  (3)  Eliminate all legal and illegal immigration for people who are low-wage workers. -- Anne Coulter

And Then There's This --
    

President Obama walks into Bank of America to cash a check.

 

As he approaches the cashier he says "Good morning Ma'am, could you please cash this check for me?"  Cashier: "It would be my pleasure sir. Could you please show me your ID?"

 

Obama: "Truthfully, I did not bring my ID with me as I didn't think there was any need to. I am President Barrack Obama, the president of the United States of America !!!!"

 

Cashier: "Yes sir, I know who you are, but with all the regulations, monitoring, of the banks because of impostors and forgers, etc., I must insist on seeing ID."

 

Obama: "Just ask anyone here at the bank who I am and they will tell you. Everybody knows who I am."

 

Cashier: "I am sorry Mr. President but these are the bank rules and I must follow them."

 

Obama: "I am urging you please to cash this check."

 

Cashier: "Look Mr. President this is what we can do. One day Tiger Woods came into the bank without ID. To prove he was Tiger Woods he pulled out his putting iron and made a beautiful shot across the bank into a cup. With that shot we knew him to be Tiger Woods and cashed his check."

 

Another time, Andre Agassi came in without ID. He pulled out his tennis racquet and made a fabulous shot whereas the tennis ball landed in my cup. With that spectacular shot we cashed his check.  So, Mr. President, what can you do to prove that it is you, and only you, as the President of the United States ?"

 

Obama stood there thinking, and thinking and finally says: "Honestly, there is nothing that comes to my mind. I can't think of a single qualification I'm good at."

 

Cashier: "Will that be large or small bills, Mr. President?"

The Riley Factor #106

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
August 21, 2011, Issue No. 106
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- I have checked with most of the businesses in Canajoharie and Fort Plain, all the businesses with which we regularly interact, to see if they are pet friendly and allow dogs inside.  A bit unexpectedly, all are -- True Value Hardware, Ace Hardware, Curtis Lumber, Fisher Auto Parts, Agway, IBA, Tractor Supply.  (Yes, yes, I realize there is a theme here - topic for another day.)  So, we have started bringing Riley into the stores.  He is a big hit.  Somewhat surprisingly, his behavior is exemplary.  He is calm, quiet and barely needs a leash.  He stops and makes friends with everyone he sees.  Several people have asked to have their picture taken with him.  Riley has always behaved perfectly when traveling in the SUVs and the pick-up.  Now, he loves going into the stores.  People are very friendly when we are wandering around with a dog in tow.  The other day in Agway, Riley was calmly licking the shins of the lady standing behind us in line (the first line ever seen by me in Agway, but there was a sale on wheel barrels, which apparently brought folks out of the woodwork).  When Riley and I got to the counter to order some animal feed, Riley put his front paws on the counter and poked his considerable nose over the edge to see what was going on.  The manager and the cashier laughed.

Pennsylvania -- Susan just got back from a couple of days in Big Valley, Pennsylvania.  No, she didn't see Heath, Nick or Audra.  But she did spend two nights in an Amish home.  She drove the big rig six hours to the western part of the state, with Israel Kanagy riding shotgun.  They visited friends and family of the Kanagy's and had some giant feasts for dinner and breakfast.  On the day she left for home, breakfast included sausage casserole and fish, along with the usual dishes of eggs, biscuits and other bakings.  One of Annie's sisters, Sally, remembered having iced coffee with Susan a year ago, and asked if Susan would take her out to try it again.  Of course, Susan needs no prompting to go for coffee.  Flavored no less.  I have visions of Susan's picture hanging in Amish post offices all over the land with a warning - "Beware of this woman who brings English civilization into our community".  Susan slept late one morning (5:30AM) and missed the 4:00AM morning breakfast.  She and Israel returned home with 42 bushels of peaches.  Annie and Jesse climbed aboard for the return ride to New York.
Planting and Plowing -- August 17 marked the completion of the combining for all this year's wheat.  Harvesting of the oats began the same day.  Followed by the obligatory one more break-down of the combine.  First it was one chain, then a second chain, then a belt, and now the primary clean-grain elevator.  Oh well, it gives me something to do when I'm supposed to be relaxing and enjoying retirement.  I remember the days not so long ago, when I didn't even know what a combine was, much less a primary clean-grain elevator.

The Herd of Three -- Summer nights generally see Eli, Michael and Raphael spending the nighttime hours outside wandering the pasture.  The Herd of Three has taken to finding a place somewhat close to the barn and plopping-down for a snooze, becoming the Heap of Three.  One morning, we were up early and saw the threesome all lying on their sides snoring, in the corner of the pasture nearest to the yard and the street.  They were not impressed when Riley ran down to them, not even bothering to lift a single head between the three of them upon his energized arrival.  The horses prance around in the background, sometimes deciding to roll back and forth on their backs for fun.

Horses -- 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 Lady.  Only three years old, Lady loves to stand a foot from your face and give you that sideways one-eye stare directly into your eyes while you speak to her as if she can understand English.  Rio the Elder long ago gave-up on trying to make sense of these humans who insist on climbing onto his back and trying to make him walk, run, turn and stop on command.  Give Rio his daily doses of grain and hay, and he will obligingly be the one-trick pony of your dreams.  Most nights, the horses also have been spending nights out in the pasture.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Summer is in full form, which means the woods are almost as dark as night, except between the hours of 10AM and 3PM.  Outside of those hours, bring a flashlight.  Slowly, and not so surely, we are clearing the old logging roads.  So some year, the woods will be much more navigable.

Fowl Weather -- The great blue heron has returned to the lower pond.  It appears that he is fishing for goldfish who venture too close to the shoreline, of which there are many.

Visitors -- No visitors this week - all quiet on the western front.

Blog -- The Riley Factor's own 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 do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quotes of the Month --

     Gun ownership is at an all-time high, violent crime near a 30-year low.  The anti-gun groups, they don't deal in common sense.  They deal in emotionalism and lies. -- Sarah Palin

     There are competing visions about our Country's future.  One consists of more government and less freedom, and one consists of less government and more freedom.  Right now, the prevailing vision in Washington, D.C., is that of government, more and more government. -- Senator John Thune, SD

     The people are entitled to a government that stays within the confines of the Constitution, and you know it. -- Judge Andrew Napolitano

     When the government launches a program to help, watch out. -- Steve Forbes

     The scariest words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' -- Ronald Reagan

Facts of the Month --

     By weight, one-quarter of the all the biomass on planet Earth, one-quarter of all living things, are ants.
Commentary of the Month -- Editorial

          Government Administrators Increasingly Control Life in America

Solving the Country's current financial woes can be accomplished by one single straightforward action.  Following is a list of the federal departments and agencies that are completely useless and wasteful, and should be dissolved, with all underlying employees fired.

  U.S. Department of Education - completely superfluous, duplicates state & local oversight
  U.S. Department of Energy - 17,000 employees who do nothing but set rules and monitor them
  U.S. Department of Agriculture - more employees than there are farmers in America
  Environmental Protection Agency - completely run amok, promoting insane regulations
  Federal Housing Authority - one of 15 federal agencies regulating housing; a huge waste
  Federal National Mortgage Association - ibid
  Department of Housing and Urban Development - ibid
  National Labor Relations Board - 2,000 employees focused on putting money in union hands
  U.S. Department of Commerce - 47,000 employees driving global marketplace competitiveness
  U.S. Department of Transportation - 60,000 employees oversee federal highway, air, railroad, maritime and other transportation administration functions (and every state also has a DOT)

Although there are more, these are the biggest offenders, and biggest wasters of our time and our tax dollars.  (If you have a very strong stomach, click on the following link to see dozens and dozens of duplicative, wasteful departments and agencies: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread730827/pg1).  These organizations are bloated, overstuffed bureaucracies filled with employees who do nothing to improve the U.S. and exist essentially to further their own existence, adding no value to life in America.  The employees are those worst of government regulators - those administrators who exist and function without any direct day-to-day oversight by elected officials, and who create new regulations and who interpret rules and regulations without any checks or balances, leaving citizens with virtually no recourse when encountering their so-called areas of regulation.  These departments and agencies result in much higher taxes for you.  They should all be unceremoniously dissolved and done away with.

    -- Editor, The Riley Factor
                   
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The Riley Factor #105

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
August 17, 2011, Issue No. 105
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- The Golden One turns two years old on September 3.  He was born in South Dakota and joined us in December 2009 via CJ and a south shore pet store.  He is a great dog to have in the family - hard to believe he has been with us nearly two years already.  Normally calm, in control and not bothered by anything or anyone, we did find recently that fireworks drive him crazy - almost uncontrollable, running in circles, staring at the sky and cowering under any nearby chair or table.

Hitchhiker -- The other day while on the way to Cobleskill for supplies, Susan picked-up a lone hitchhiker (Yes, hitchhikers do still exist.  Apparently.)  This man was probably 75-80 years old and weighed all of 100 pounds.  He stood, arm and thumb extended, dressed in full military uniform, and was on his way to the food pantry in Schenectady, a trip he makes three times per week.  He lives in a mobile home on the outskirts of Sharon Springs and owns no car.  Twice a week, he also ventures to the food pantry in Albany.  All his trips are made via hitchhiking.  A collector of military artifacts, he served for two years in the NY National Guard many years back.  A very gentle old soul is he.

Planting and Plowing -- In early August, we combined four of our five acres of hard red winter wheat and soft white semolina wheat, before the combine decided enough was enough and broke the rear feeder beater.  (Don't ask - I couldn't begin to understand.  Or explain.  But I will repair it.)  Also broke a drive chain, which I will also repair.  Then, on to combining the rest of the wheat and all the oats.

Horses -- CJ's friend Brittany was successful in calming-down Lady enough to accept the fly spray designed to rid horses of those mid-summer flying pests.  Prior to Brittany's calming influence, Lady ran from Susan and me whenever she saw us with spray bottle in hand.  Rio and the steer don't mind the spray and look forward to their daily fly relief.

Herd of Three -- Eli, our 1,500 pound two-year-old Holstein, has developed the new habit of standing in the water troughs during the day.  While it may cool-off his feet, the other animals no longer drink from the vessels once Eli has completed his daily foot baths.  It may be tough to solve this riddle, although the arrival of cooler temperatures may do the trick.  Probably needless to say, there is no way to move a 1,500-pound steer unless he wants to move.  Of course, at times, we do play a game, that around here we like to call Slap the Bull.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- In the woods, the old logging roads still lurk, waiting for me to get up and clear them for use by those who prefer not having to lug-along a chain saw when riding the trails.  CJ plans to spend a week here in September, and we may get some chain-sawing done then.

Fowl Weather -- The 23 chicken chicks, all hatched on or about July 1, and the 9 turkey chicks, hatched on July 12, are all growing like mad.  Day-by-day, they venture further outside of their little coops, never straying too far from one another or too far from the mother hens.

Visitors --  August 12 was a big day on the ranch, with my aunt Eva Paige House visiting with her husband Dick House and daughter Su-Ann Paige.  Eva was originally married to Wayne, my mother Barbara's youngest brother, who died 20 or so years ago.  Eva and Dick traveled all the way from their place in North Carolina, and were near the end of a month-long motor-home journey around the northeast, which included visiting Dick's cottage in Maine and also Eva attending her Agawam High School 60th class reunion.  Coincidentally, Eva was a classmate of Ames Slate, Susan's father, and Eva actually grew-up in Agawam, less than a mile from where I enjoyed my misspent youth, at 16 Alfred Court.  My cousin Sue now lives in Schenectady, less than an hour from Fort Plain, and is a fellow Harley Davidson rider.  Sue promised to return to the compound some day on her bike.  We had a great time, spending most of the day riding around the fields, trails and woods, and recollecting days gone by.  We also fed the fish in the lower pond and spent quite some in and around the barn with the horses, steer, turkey chicks and chicken chicks.  Eva and Sue held the turkey chicks, who loved the attention.  As usual, around the house, The Riley was in the middle of everything and everyone, tail madly wagging and nose madly poking.

CJ arrived around midnight on the 12th, with girlfriend and other friends, Jen Nieves, James Godino, Andy Brooks and Brittany Josselin.  They were here for their second annual Warrior Weekend, which included running a nearby 5K cross-country road race over a course that included a dozen obstacles - things such as fire pits, water pools, ladder climbs, obstacle walls, cargo nets and the like.  Race day was preceded by a day of speeding around the trails on the ATVs, firing paintball and a late night bonfire.  We did another bonfire Sunday night, after the great race.

Stevie and friend Crystal Raymond also dropped-in on their way back from a long weekend in Chicago.  The NY Compound was a busy place that included Stevie and Crystal sleeping in the living room on Saturday night, as all the guest rooms at the inn were full.

Blog -- The Riley Factor's own 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 do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quotes of the Month --

     Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill

     The government does not create jobs.  The private sector creates jobs, and prosperity. -- Monica Crowley

     President Obama demonizes the rich, then he parties with them. -- Stuart Varney

     You could take all the money away from all the rich people and give it to the poor people, and in 10 years the rich people would have it all back again.  There is a reason the rich people have it in the first place. -- Jonas Max Ferris


Facts of the Month -- The impact of illegal aliens in the U.S.

  1.  $11 to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.

  2.  $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and who cannot speak a word of English.

  3.  $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for Education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. 

  4.  $3 Million dollars a day is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.  30% percent of all federal prison Inmates are illegal aliens. 

  5.   $90 Billion dollars a year is spent on Illegal aliens for welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.

 

   6. Nearly one million sex crimes have been committed by illegal immigrants in the U. S.
    
Commentary of the Month --

     Obama Administration Rejects IBM offer to Reduce Health Care Costs

Samuel J. Palmisano, the Chairman of the Board and CEO for IBM, said in
a recent Wall Street Journal interview that he offered to provide the
Obama Administration with a program that would curb healthcare
claims fraud and abuse by almost one trillion dollars but the Obama
White House turned the offer down.

"We could have improved the quality and reduced the cost of the
healthcare system by $900 billion...I said we would do it for free to
prove that it works. They turned us down."

Speaking with FOX News' Stuart Varney, Mort Zuckerman, Editor-in-Chief
of US News & World Report, said,

"It's a little bit puzzling because I think there is a huge amount of
both fraud and inefficiency that American business is a lot more
comfortable with and more effective in trying to reduce. And this is
certainly true because the IBM people have studied this very carefully
And when Palmisano went to the White House and made that proposal, it
was based upon a lot of work and it was not accepted. And it's really
puzzling...These are very, very responsible people and don't have a
political ax to grind.

In Mr. Obama's shunning of a private sector program that would have
saved our country almost $1 trillion in healthcare expenditures,
presented to him    as he declared a "crisis in healthcare," he proves
two things beyond any doubt: that he is anti-Capitalist and anti-private
sector in nature and that he can no longer be trusted to tell the truth
in both his political declarations or espoused goals.

The Riley Factor #104

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
August 4, 2011, Issue No. 104
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- The hot days of July are a bit rough on The Riley, with his long golden coat.  Swims are more frequent, but the pond water is so warm, swims are becoming more like baths.  As the goldfish in the lower pond grow in size, Riley has taken to the occasional fishing trip ... so far, the big one has still only gotten away.

Planting and Plowing -- We spent two of July's hottest days rebuilding the small hay wagon.  Lloyd Vanalstine lent his shaded and fan-equipped garage for the construction, and painting was done in the back yard under the pine tree.  The two new larger hay wagons went back to Elam Miller for painting, as they were picked-up early (just after being built, but before painting) for use during the late June haying.  Next up - combining the wheat.

Horses -- Rio and Lady are still much fun to be around.  They love attention and are fond of placing their considerably-sized noggins on our own heads or shoulders, especially on Susan's (she's just the right height).

Herd of Three -- Eli, Michael and Raphael stood out in the pouring rain on July 29, the first real rain, except for a couple of hour-long showers, that we have had since June 29, a full month.  On the hottest of days, they spend days in the barn or under the overhang and nights outside in the pasture.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- On Stevie's last visit, she wandered off to Pet Smart or Pet World or Pet Something and bought 40 two-inch goldfish, and added them into the upper pond.  A day later, the newbies were seen happily swimming.  The 48 large goldfish that we put in the lower pond in April 2010 have multiplied like bunnies, now numbering a couple of thousand at least.  When we feed them late each day, they surface and roil like a (tiny) shark feeding frenzy.  More and more of the little black ones are turning their natural orange color.

Fowl Weather -- The 9 turkey chicks are growing, about tripled in size since their hatching on July 12.  The 23 chicken chicks (all hatched around July 1) are running around like 23 miniature penguins ever seeking their escape, like Hogan's Heroes (Susan is Hogan, I play both the parts of Colonel Clink and Sergeant Schultz).  The mother who hatched one chick strolled into the back yard one afternoon with the little one in tow.  The 3 chicks who were naturally hatched by mother hens sitting on their eggs spend 100% of their days staring at their respective mothers and following them within a foot of the hens wherever they roam.  All 32 chicks love it when Susan picks-up and hugs them, often falling asleep in her hands.

Visitors --   Brother Greg and 11-year old daughter Kelly flew-in from sunny south Florida for a July 25-29 first-time visit to the NY Compound.  Stevie joined-in for the family fest.  We traveled to Niagara Falls for a day of sightseeing, and also to Amherst MA another day to wander around UMass and visit with my aunt Phyllis and my cousin Tom, who is a manager at the University of Massachusetts Library.  We also worked-in a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and visits with Annie Kanagy and Lloyd Vanalstine.  A great time was had by all.  Greg's wife Christine was busy spending the week in Toronto on business.

In early August, Stevie returned and kidnapped Susan for the long-spoken-of mother-daughter voyage to ... Niagara Falls, Susan's first time ever visit to the Falls.  Armed with passports, they ventured to the Canadian side, did some Falls hiking, and dined on Canadian cuisine.  A good time was had by both, eh?

Blog -- The Riley Factor's own 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 do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quotes of the Month --

     California has made as many mistakes as Yogi Berra reciting Shakespeare. -- Gordon Gekko, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

     You're only as good as your last at-bat. -- Tom Comer (no doubt sourced elsewhere)
    
     You want to walk off the stage while they are still clapping for an encore. -- Jerry Seinfeld

     The definition of 'insanity' is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. -- Albert Einstein
    
     Never spend all of your income.  Always put away a large chunk for use in the future. -- Stuart Varney, FOX Business Channel

     Poor people are not poor because rich people are rich. -- Star Parker, Center for Urban Renewal Education

     Don't trouble trouble, until trouble troubles you. -- Ward Cleaver, to June, when discussing whether to have a talk with The Beaver

Facts of the Month --
  States with 10 highest tax burdens paid by residents (income tax, sales tax, property tax):
   10.  PA      5.  RI
     9.  ME     4.  WI
     8.  VT      3.  CT
     7.  MN     2.  NY
     6.  CA      1.  NJ (highest in the U.S., also 3rd worst business environment in U.S.)
     (Editor's note: it's hard to believe that MA is not in the top 10 highest taxed states)

  States with lowest resident tax burdens:      10.  NM      5.  WY
     9.  LA       4.  TN
     8.  SC      3.  SD
     7.  NH      2.  NV
     6.  TX       1.  AK (Alaska residents actually receive a check from the state for their share of oil company taxes, rather than paying income or sales taxes)

     $50 dollars saved per week (or $2,600 saved per year), earning 5% per year, grows to $325,000 in 40 years.
Commentary of the Month --

                    on the monstrosity of government controlling citizens

     If it were just economic, we would survive, but it is not. We have now in place the apparatus to take our relatively benign Fascist State to the next stage of its inevitable evolution, a far more intrusive police state. There are no rules now, except that which the state will ultimately impose. The Empire is destroyed but does not yet know it and there will very likely be war as our outposts around the world are probed during the chaos. -- Tim Straus, Eastons Point Capital

                    and, on government's increasing financial regulation ....

     The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) is now the law of the land. This Rube Goldberg monstrosity offers 2,319 pages for lawyers to explain; 243 rulemakings for regulators to conjure up, and investment managers and bankers to worry about and lawyers to interpret; and 67 studies to ensure that no professor or graduate student goes hungry. This opportunity (to fix Wall Street) was squandered and used instead to publicly vilify and to punish Wall Street firms by creating a bill stuffed with virtually every item on the Democrat Party’s financial markets regulation wish list. Dodd-Frank also promotes a wide variety of public policy objectives that have nothing to do with the cause of the crisis or the failure of AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.  Dodd-Frank is almost twice as long as the NASA operating manual for the space shuttle (which is 1,176 pages long). How can a law 2,319 pages long possibly make any sense? What were these people thinking? -- Ron Resnick, Counsel Works

In Memoriam ...

     Arthur Joseph Fuchs, August 4, 1920 - December 1, 2001
     Barbara Arlene Paige Fuchs, April 26, 1922 - July 23, 1978

          " ... He noted that first came the date of birth
          And spoke the following date with tears,
          But he said what mattered most of all
          Was the dash between those years.... "
                                                from The Dash, Linda Ellis

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

The Riley Factor #103

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
July 24, 2011, Issue No. 103
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- It is no fun wearing a fur coat during the 90-degree heat wave days.  Riley is a good sport and continues on his daily runs on the trails, but really all in anticipation of dropping into the pond for long soaks at runs ends.  The pond fish are not bothered at all by him any more, swimming within a foot or two of Riley as they feed during his swims.

Planting and Plowing -- The wheat is starting to turn golden brown, and will be ready for combining by early August.

Horses -- Brady Barrett and Stevie became rider numbers 2 and 3, each putting Rio through his paces.  Lady looked-on longingly as if she was not invited to the party, which she wasn't.

Herd of Three -- Steer are steer and that's that.  Content to roam the pasture day and night.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Went into the woods for the first time this year on July 16 and continued clearing a few of the logging roads.  Much work still required - will need some chain-sawing.

Fowl Weather -- Nine turkey chicks have joined the flock.  These Broad-Breasted American Whites were hatched in town on July 13 and should be in the 20-30 pound range by mid-November.  Riled is fascinated with them and likes to lie next to their cage and stare at them as they run around under the heat lamp.  They get along well with the 23 recently hatched chicken chicks.

Visitors -- Barbara the Elder and Nancy dropped-in over July 4th weekend, and joined us at Fort Plain's 4th on the 3rd party and fireworks.  Stevie was here July 4-6.  Greg and 12-year old daughter Kelly are scheduled to visit from south Florida for the last week of July.  When I told Greg it would be warm and to expect temps around 85 degrees, plus or minus 5 degrees, he said they would be bringing sweatshirts -- ahhh the Florida life.

Blog -- The Riley Factor has its own official blog site, located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/, and you can see all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Best Political Bumper Stickers --

     1.20.13 ... The End of an Error

     Pro Life, Pro God, Pro Gun, Anti Obama

     Obama ... Why Stupid People Shouldn't Vote

     Bankrupt America ... Yes We Can

     Honk If I'm Paying Your Mortgage

     ObamaCare ... Call Us When You're Shovel Ready

     And We Thought Carter Sucked

     OBummer

Quote of the Month --

     The problem with this administration is that they are academics, they've never had real jobs.  They want to punish companies that succeed and subsidize companies that fail.  --  Chris Tekola   

Fact of the Month (with some editorial commentary) --

     A person working for the federal government is more likely to die at work than to be fired or laid-off.  A couple of departmental examples - during the last fiscal year, neither the Federal Communications Commission nor the Federal Trade Commission laid-off or fired even a single employee.
     Government employees have not suffered the unemployment woes of the private sector over the last few years - their unions and administrators make them think they are forever entitled to taxpayer money and government employment, without any performance  or quality standards.  Unlike in the private sector, taxpayers have no alternatives - what are you going to do when you encounter unhelpful or incompetent government officials, go to another government?  The only hope for a reasonable and rational future is for citizens to take at the voting booths.  Elect official who realize the government is overstuffed with useless federal and state departments and programs, and see the need for government payrolls to be reduced by half.


Commentary of the Month --
          A Bit of Poetry and Time Machine
Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan , or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

 
For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.




We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince, Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.



We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.


Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

 
And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
 
We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice..

 
We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.


Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.


We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.


For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis  ;was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

 
We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led.


And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.


We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.

 
And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.


We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

 
And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.


Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.


And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.


We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made Me, Me.


There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill


And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.


But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.
They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.


So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

The Riley Factor #102

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
June 17 2011, Issue No. 101
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- We are experimenting with allowing Riley outside with us, untethered by leash or other tie-down.  He is about a C+/B- student.  Some days, Riley will stay within 50 yards of Susan for hours when Susan is out in the greenhouse or gardens, without wandering away at all.  Other days, he runs immediately into the pasture to chase chickens or guinea fowl back and forth, following the menace he secretly hides deep within his golden dog brain.  Overall though, he is making progress and behaving fairly well....  To be continued.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish -- The Pond Experiment -- A little over a year ago, we put four dozen carp (think gold fish, 3-6" long) into the lower pond.  Most of the fish were orange, with a few being silver with orange and black spots, and one fish was totally black.  We did not see much of them swimming last summer and fall, but also didn't see any floaters or escapees.  The pond is about 100 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep at the center, so they can tend to get lost.  Well, we now see hundreds of one to two inch long fish swimming about, mostly black, with some orange, and also some black and orange or black and silver.  And many of the original big fish are also still swimming around.  It is peaceful to sit by the pond in early morning or early evening and toss pond fish food into the water to see the feeding frenzy.  The Riley loves to swim around when they fish are feeding, and they don't mind him much.

Planting and Plowing -- The last of the planting was done on June 6, with the final few rows of sweet corn going into the ground in the greenhouse garden.  The corn is already growing, and a few small tomatoes, cucumber and squash are showing.  The potato plants are looming large, hopefully developing subterranean crops.

Horses -- In the great heat, Lady and Rio are inclined to remain in their stalls all day.  They do consume large quantities of water, sometimes 10 gallons per day each in the barn, in addition to what they gulp from Rock Creek.  When pasturing, horses and cattle get 70% of their fluid needs satisfied from eating grass.

Herd of Three -- The cattle are content, with much mooing.  On one day of pouring rain, the herd got caught on the other side of Rock Creek.  All day, they ate grass while being rained on -- leather coats were shrunk to fit.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Deer sightings are everywhere these days, mostly does with their recently born fawns.  One day, Susan came across a mother leading her newborn fawn out in the trails -- the fawn was so small that it first appeared to be a rabbit, but was really the smallest deer she has ever seen, with legs only about six inches long.  The next day, The Riley locked his radar onto a large doe and chased her back and forth around the trails.  Both were running about half speed, not really wanting to run away or catch anything.  On our way to Amsterdam one day in the pouring rain, on three separate occasions miles apart, we saw beaver waddling next to or crossing route 5S -- very peculiar-looking creatures, complete with buck teeth and wide flat tails.

Fowl Weather -- The French Guinea Fowl apparently learn nothing from seeing their brethren run down by speed demons on route 163.  Of the original batch of 16 chicks that arrived in April 2010, only three remain.  The past couple of weeks have been especially bad, with four of the Keets being hit by traffic.  I fear that the remaining trio should be placed on our endangered species list.

Visitors -- One for the record books >>> With her last appearance in Fort Plain, Stevie has visited us here in Middle-of-Nowhere every month for a year straight.  And she says in a recent e-mail, "I'm riding one horse next time I come up! Be prepared!"

Blog -- The Riley Factor has its own official blog site, located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/, and you can see all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Best Lines --

     Best headline this week following Boston Bruins' Stanley Cup victory, after a 39-year hiatus from the team's last hockey championship in 1972 >>> "Out of Hibernation"

     Best headline, from the New York Post, following President Obama's harsh criticism of NY Congressman Anthony Weiner's photo sexting >>> "Obama Beats Weiner"
     Best new opening pick-up line, from movie Hall Pass  >>> "Do these bar napkins smell like chloroform to you? ...  Just kidding.  Can  buy you a drink?"

Quotes of the Month --

     Any success I have ever had has come form working hard. -- Tim Thomas, goalie, Boston Bruins

     Blessed are the cheese-makers. -- Monte Python

     Job creation on main street has collapsed. -- National Federation of Independent Businesses, June 3, 2011

     Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. -- Thomas Edison

     You cannot trust Chinese companies.  You cannot build a small or large fortune in China without committing high crimes and misdemeanors.  That is their way of life.  That is why China is doomed to fail. -- Gordon Chang, Author
    
     China is a totally corrupt country, to which we have given a pass due to its economic might. -- Doug Schoen
     You did not bear the shame.  You resisted.  You bestowed an eternally vigilant symbol of change by sacrificing your impassioned lives for freedom, justice and honor. -- Memorial to the German Resistance, Berlin

     Unnecessarily restrictive gun control laws empower bungling bureaucrats, and make it harder for law abiding citizens to access guns to defend against criminals. -- Robert Farago

     Nothing is so healing as the human touch. -- in 2005, final words of Bobby Fischer, former world chess champion
Facts of the Month --

     25% of the world's food supply is lost to spoilage.

     Jobs lost during the Obama Administration: 2.5 million.  Jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007: 6.8 million.

     More people access the Internet now by smart phone than by PC. -- John Reed, CEO, Robert Half Technology

Commentary of the Month --

The High Cost of Cheap Meat

Published: June 2, 2011, New York Times

The point of factory farming is cheap meat, made possible by confining large numbers of animals in small spaces. Perhaps the greatest hidden cost is its potential effect on human health.
Small doses of antibiotics — too small to kill bacteria — are fed to factory farm animals as part of their regular diet to promote growth and offset the risks of overcrowding. What factory farms are really raising is antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which means that several classes of antibiotics no longer work the way they should in humans. We pay for cheap meat by sacrificing some of the most important drugs ever developed.
Last week, the Natural Resources Defense Council, joined by other advocacy groups, sued the Food and Drug Administration to compel it to end the nontherapeutic use of penicillin and tetracycline in farm animals. Veterinarians would still be able to treat sick animals with these drugs but could not routinely add the drugs to their diets.
For years, the F.D.A. has had the scientific studies and the authority to ban these drugs. But it has always bowed to pressure from the pharmaceutical and farm lobbies, despite the well-founded objections of groups like the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization, which support an antibiotic ban.
It is time for the F.D.A. to stop corporate factory farms from squandering valuable drugs just to promote growth among animals confined in conditions that inherently create the risk of disease. According to recent estimates, 70 percent of the antibiotics sold in this country end up in farm animals. The F.D.A. can change that by honoring its own scientific conclusions and its statutory obligation to end its approval of unsafe drug uses.

The Riley Factor #101

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
June 17 2011, Issue No. 101
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- We are experimenting with allowing Riley outside with us, untethered by leash or other tie-down.  He is about a C+/B- student.  Some days, Riley will stay within 50 yards of Susan for hours when Susan is out in the greenhouse or gardens, without wandering away at all.  Other days, he runs immediately into the pasture to chase chickens or guinea fowl back and forth, following the menace he secretly hides deep within his golden dog brain.  Overall though, he is making progress and behaving fairly well....  To be continued.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish -- The Pond Experiment -- A little over a year ago, we put four dozen carp (think gold fish, 3-6" long) into the lower pond.  Most of the fish were orange, with a few being silver with orange and black spots, and one fish was totally black.  We did not see much of them swimming last summer and fall, but also didn't see any floaters or escapees.  The pond is about 100 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep at the center, so they can tend to get lost.  Well, we now see hundreds of one to two inch long fish swimming about, mostly black, with some orange, and also some black and orange or black and silver.  And many of the original big fish are also still swimming around.  It is peaceful to sit by the pond in early morning or early evening and toss pond fish food into the water to see the feeding frenzy.  The Riley loves to swim around when they fish are feeding, and they don't mind him much.

Planting and Plowing -- The last of the planting was done on June 6, with the final few rows of sweet corn going into the ground in the greenhouse garden.  The corn is already growing, and a few small tomatoes, cucumber and squash are showing.  The potato plants are looming large, hopefully developing subterranean crops.

Horses -- In the great heat, Lady and Rio are inclined to remain in their stalls all day.  They do consume large quantities of water, sometimes 10 gallons per day each in the barn, in addition to what they gulp from Rock Creek.  When pasturing, horses and cattle get 70% of their fluid needs satisfied from eating grass.

Herd of Three -- The cattle are content, with much mooing.  On one day of pouring rain, the herd got caught on the other side of Rock Creek.  All day, they ate grass while being rained on -- leather coats were shrunk to fit.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Deer sightings are everywhere these days, mostly does with their recently born fawns.  One day, Susan came across a mother leading her newborn fawn out in the trails -- the fawn was so small that it first appeared to be a rabbit, but was really the smallest deer she has ever seen, with legs only about six inches long.  The next day, The Riley locked his radar onto a large doe and chased her back and forth around the trails.  Both were running about half speed, not really wanting to run away or catch anything.  On our way to Amsterdam one day in the pouring rain, on three separate occasions miles apart, we saw beaver waddling next to or crossing route 5S -- very peculiar-looking creatures, complete with buck teeth and wide flat tails.

Fowl Weather -- The French Guinea Fowl apparently learn nothing from seeing their brethren run down by speed demons on route 163.  Of the original batch of 16 chicks that arrived in April 2010, only three remain.  The past couple of weeks have been especially bad, with four of the Keets being hit by traffic.  I fear that the remaining trio should be placed on our endangered species list.

Visitors -- One for the record books >>> With her last appearance in Fort Plain, Stevie has visited us here in Middle-of-Nowhere every month for a year straight.  And she says in a recent e-mail, "I'm riding one horse next time I come up! Be prepared!"

Blog -- The Riley Factor has its own official blog site, located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/, and you can see all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Best Lines --

     Best headline this week following Boston Bruins' Stanley Cup victory, after a 39-year hiatus from the team's last hockey championship in 1972 >>> "Out of Hibernation"

     Best headline, from the New York Post, following President Obama's harsh criticism of NY Congressman Anthony Weiner's photo sexting >>> "Obama Beats Weiner"
     Best new opening pick-up line, from movie Hall Pass  >>> "Do these bar napkins smell like chloroform to you? ...  Just kidding.  Can  buy you a drink?"

Quotes of the Month --

     Any success I have ever had has come form working hard. -- Tim Thomas, goalie, Boston Bruins

     Blessed are the cheese-makers. -- Monte Python

     Job creation on main street has collapsed. -- National Federation of Independent Businesses, June 3, 2011

     Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. -- Thomas Edison

     You cannot trust Chinese companies.  You cannot build a small or large fortune in China without committing high crimes and misdemeanors.  That is their way of life.  That is why China is doomed to fail. -- Gordon Chang, Author
    
     China is a totally corrupt country, to which we have given a pass due to its economic might. -- Doug Schoen
     You did not bear the shame.  You resisted.  You bestowed an eternally vigilant symbol of change by sacrificing your impassioned lives for freedom, justice and honor. -- Memorial to the German Resistance, Berlin

     Unnecessarily restrictive gun control laws empower bungling bureaucrats, and make it harder for law abiding citizens to access guns to defend against criminals. -- Robert Farago

     Nothing is so healing as the human touch. -- in 2005, final words of Bobby Fischer, former world chess champion
Facts of the Month --

     25% of the world's food supply is lost to spoilage.

     Jobs lost during the Obama Administration: 2.5 million.  Jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007: 6.8 million.

     More people access the Internet now by smart phone than by PC. -- John Reed, CEO, Robert Half Technology

Commentary of the Month --

The High Cost of Cheap Meat

Published: June 2, 2011, New York Times

The point of factory farming is cheap meat, made possible by confining large numbers of animals in small spaces. Perhaps the greatest hidden cost is its potential effect on human health.
Small doses of antibiotics — too small to kill bacteria — are fed to factory farm animals as part of their regular diet to promote growth and offset the risks of overcrowding. What factory farms are really raising is antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which means that several classes of antibiotics no longer work the way they should in humans. We pay for cheap meat by sacrificing some of the most important drugs ever developed.
Last week, the Natural Resources Defense Council, joined by other advocacy groups, sued the Food and Drug Administration to compel it to end the nontherapeutic use of penicillin and tetracycline in farm animals. Veterinarians would still be able to treat sick animals with these drugs but could not routinely add the drugs to their diets.
For years, the F.D.A. has had the scientific studies and the authority to ban these drugs. But it has always bowed to pressure from the pharmaceutical and farm lobbies, despite the well-founded objections of groups like the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization, which support an antibiotic ban.
It is time for the F.D.A. to stop corporate factory farms from squandering valuable drugs just to promote growth among animals confined in conditions that inherently create the risk of disease. According to recent estimates, 70 percent of the antibiotics sold in this country end up in farm animals. The F.D.A. can change that by honoring its own scientific conclusions and its statutory obligation to end its approval of unsafe drug uses.