Cattle Guards

CATTLE GUARDS
>
> For those of you who have never traveled to the West or
Southwest, cattle guards are horizontal steel rails placed at fence
openings, in dug-out places in the roads adjacent to highways (sometimes
across highways), to prevent cattle from crossing. For some reason the
cattle will not step on the guards, probably because they fear getting
their feet caught between the rails.
>
> A few months ago, President Obama received a report that there
were over 100,000 cattle guards in Colorado. Because Colorado ranchers
had protested his proposed changes in grazing policies, he ordered the
Secretary of the Interior to fire half of the guards immediately.
> Before the Interior Secretary could respond and
presumably straighten him out, Vice-President, Joe Biden intervened with
a request that before any guards were fired, they be given six months of
retraining.
> And we PAY these people???

Daylight Savings Time

The fateful day day has arrived and we all "spring forward" one hour for the start of Daylight Savings Time. In October 1884, delegates from 25 nations met in Washington, D.C., for the International Meridian Conference. They agreed to establish a single world meridian, which passed through the Greenwich Observatory, and create a universal day that began at midnight Greenwich Mean Time.

The delegates also discussed the creation of a worldwide system of 24 time zones, each one hour apart. Though the measure was not passed by the conference, it was gradually adopted by most countries over the next five decades.

The above is a brief history of the establishment of time zones. In the early 1800s almost every town had their own time zone so to speak and that forced railroads to have several clocks in each railroad station which at times created much confusion as to when, where & at what time the train departed. Daylight Savings times was started in 1918 for the usual political reasons (in other words who knows why) and we still have it today to give us more light which should result in less use of energy. I know my father liked it as it us more time to work cattle and do repairs on the ranch/farm before dark. Does Daylight Savings Time really accomplish anything, who knows?

Have a fun day & don't take no wooden politicians.

LSU and the State Budget

Yesterday I heard on the radio that there is a 20% budget cut across the board at LSU and a number of Professors and Instructors may be laid off. Students gathered at the LSU football stadium to protest. The story within a story is the baseball coach got a $100,000 raise and one of the football coaches got around a $200,000 raise per year for the next three years. I made sales calls on various Professors and Instructors at LSU and everyone was very upset not only by the budget cuts but especially the Democratic like arrogance of the politicians to do just the opposite with the athletic department. I know that athletic scholarships have made it possible for some of the greatest minds in this country to go to college, but where is the balance/ Shouldn't the football coach take a pass on the raise?

On another note there will be a play later this month at the Swine Palace (yes there really is a place) next door to the Agronomy building entitled, "Self Defense or Death of Some Salesmen". Glad yesterday was my last day at LSU for awhile, at least till open season on sales reps is over.