Grouse

The State of NC Department of Fish and Wildlife sends a letter to a home/landowner asking for permission to access a creek on his property to document the decline in a certain species of unheard of frogs. The property owners' response in the second letter is EPIC. Letter from NC Dept. Of Fish & Wildlife: Dear Landowner: NCWRC Staff will be conducting surveys for foothill yellow-legged frogs & other amphibians over the next few months. As part of this research we would like to survey the creek on your property. I am writing this letter to request your permission to access your property. Recent research indicates that foothill yellow-legged frogs have declined significantly in recent years and are no longer found at half their historic sites. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated and will help contribute to the conservation of this important species. Please fill out the attached postage-paid postcard and let us know if you are willing to let us cross your property or not. If you have any concerns about this project please give us a call. We would love to talk with you about our research. Sincerely Steve Niemela Conservation Strategy Implementation Biologist ***************************** ****************************** ****************************** ***************************** RESPONSE FROM LANDOWNERS: Dear Mr. Niemela: Thank you for your inquiry regarding accessing our property to survey for the yellow-legged frog. We may be able to help you out with this matter. We have divided our 2.26 acres into 75 equal survey units with a draw tag for each unit. Application fees are only $8.00 per unit after you purchase the "Frog Survey License" ($120.00 resident / $180.00 Non-Resident). You will also need to obtain a "Frog Habitat" parking permit ($10.00 per vehicle). You will also need an "Invasive Species" stamp ($15.00 for the first vehicle and $5.00 for each add'l vehicle) You will also want to register at the Check Station to have your vehicle inspected for Non-native plant life prior to entering our property. There is also a Day Use fee, $5.00 per vehicle. If you are successful in the Draw you will be notified two weeks in advance so you can make necessary plans and purchase your "Creek Habitat" stamp. ($18.00 Resident / $140.00 Non-Resident). Survey units open between 8 am. And 3 PM. But you cannot commence survey until 9 am. And must cease all survey activity by 1 PM. Survey Gear can only include a net with a 2" diameter made of 100% organic cotton netting with no longer than an 18 in handle, non-weighted and no deeper than 6' from net frame to bottom of net. Handles can only be made of BPA-free plastics or wooden handles. After 1 PM. You can use a net with a 3" diameter if you purchase the "Frog Net Endorsement" ($75.00 Resident / $250 Non-Resident). Any frogs captured that are released will need to be released with an approved release device back into the environment unharmed. As of June 1, we are offering draw tags for our "Premium Survey" units and application is again only $8.00 per application. However, all fees can be waived if you can verify "Native Indian Tribal rights and status". You will also need to provide evidence of successful completion of "Frog Surveys and Your" comprehensive course on frog identification, safe handling practices, and self-defense strategies for frog attacks. This course is offered on-line through an accredited program for a nominal fee of $750.00. Please let us know if we can be of assistance to you. Otherwise, we decline your access to our property but appreciate your inquiry. Sincerely, Larry & Amanda Anderson.

If any of you guys think any GOP candidate isn't going to be smeared and attacked with character assassination by the Dems and the leftist media just as bad as Trump was, you're deluding yourself. Look what they did to Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and even Barrett. No matter who runs as a Republican, they will suffer the same lies and attacks from the left, designed to get low info voters to hate them. The media will refuse to present any Republican's views or policies to the public and force them to speak to the people directly through another media, like twitter, if they don't get banned from it for telling the truth. That's why Trump used it. He was left with no other option. Look how Biden is handled with kid gloves by the media. Look how Trump is still attacked. Forming an opinion of a man based on any info gleaned from the vile cesspool of leftist media in America, is foolish. It isn't factual nor actual journalism. It's propaganda from the party that wants to subject you to their control. Voting for anyone the left and it's media lapdog supports, is voting for your own demise.

When a President and his son are compromised, it’s hard to do more than he is doing. Just a thought.

This is a great example of the difference between this administration and the last one. It's laughable to see some on here still thinking the prior administration was bad compared to this one. "Secretary of State Antony Blinken prioritized giving us his music playlist via the U.S. State Department's official Twitter page over the Christmas holidays just a few weeks ago — not once, but eight times — while the omicron variant was raging and Russia was amassing an estimated 190,000 troops along the Ukrainian border. Let that sink in. While Russia was bolstering its military forces preparing to invade Ukraine, America's top diplomat was working on his Spotify playlist. Obviously, Blinken should've been implementing tough sanctions on Russia as a deterrent — before it invaded Ukraine — and taken other critical steps to rally NATO defense forces to avert war and/or prepare for the worst. But instead, we got Taylor Swift's latest jam." —Adriana Cohen

For the record, just before Trump left office, political analyst Byron York noted a partial list of how Trump kept Putin on his side of the Ukraine border: "1) Bombed Syria, Russia's main client, and unleashed the U.S. military in Syria, including against Russians; 2) Armed Ukraine; 3) Ended the Iran nuclear deal; 4) Browbeat NATO allies to increase defense spending; 5) Approved $130 billion in new defense spending; 6) Added low-yield nuclear weapons to the U.S. arsenal; 7) Started research and development on a new missile after Russia deployed a missile that did not comply with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty; 8: Shut down Russia's consulate in San Francisco; and 9) Pumped more U.S. oil and gas, making the U.S. more energy independent. And on top of that, Trump kept earlier sanctions on Russia and added new ones himself." At the time, even CNN's leftist talkinghead Fareed Zakaria declared, "The dirty little secret about the Trump administration was that [Trump] was pretty tough on the Russians."

As political analyst Katie Pavlich put it: "What you're seeing now, as this Russia-Ukraine war starts to play out, [is] the administration trying to brace Americans for higher gas prices. And the reality is that Joe Biden is now seeing his climate change agenda collide with this national security foreign policy crisis overseas." One benefit of the U.S. having been virtually energy independent, she adds, was that "you don't have to worry about wars in foreign lands far away affecting prices here." At least not as much. She warns that Biden will use Russia as a "convenient excuse" and scapegoat for higher prices here "when the policies of this administration are really the reason why they're up."

Given that Russia is a world leader in oil production and the second-largest producer of natural gas, energy prices are bound to keep rising. In fact, analysts fear $125 per barrel is just around the corner, perhaps pushing gasoline to an average of more than $4 per gallon. Californians already paying upwards of $6 per gallon can only sigh and shake their heads. "That border way over there doesn't matter," some say. Well, check again. It matters. Energy prices aren't going up solely because of Russia's invasion, of course. Biden launched his radical climate agenda on his first day in office, setting about to undo Donald Trump's great work to unleash the American energy juggernaut. It's all aimed at making Americans pay more for energy because the fossil fuels that drive our economy are "bad" according to the distorted moral code of the ecofascist Left. If you voted for, or support Joe Biden, you support leftist ideology. Even if you aren't aware of it. You own this.

It will be interesting to see how Biden spins his impotent response to this invasion into a standing ovation from equally impotent Democrats, during his State of the Union speech next Tuesday. It can't be stated strongly or often enough that, as was the case in Biden's surrender and retreat from Afghanistan, every drop of Ukrainian blood shed is the direct result of Biden's abject ineptitude.

The media is lying to you. They are conducting rigged polls and asking questions designed to make Biden look good right now. If people were simply asked if they think Biden is doing a good job for America and it's citizens, the approval number would be about 15% at best. BTW, if asked if Satan is doing a good job for America and it's citizens, that approval number would be about 15% too.

Biden slapped sanctions on two Russian financial institutions and a couple of Russian oligarchs. The Wall Street Journal editorial board argues this isn't nearly enough: "All Russian financial institutions deserve to be cut off from the outside world, and their dollar transactions restricted, until Russia withdraws from Ukrainian territory." Senator Ben Sasse called Biden's effort "too little too late." He added: "First, these sanctions should have happened before Putin further invaded Ukraine — not after. Second, economic sanctions now need to more aggressively target Putin's oligarchs to make sure they feel real pain. Third, we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that today's incremental sanctions will deter Putin from trying to install a puppet government in Kyiv." Indeed, remember Putin's motivations. He's not going to be deterred by a few sanctions, and in fact he's spent years making economic moves to shield himself from the pain. Not to worry, says Biden. There will be "costs." For American citizens "here at home." After he's done everything he could to weaken American energy production, Biden now insists, "I'm going to take robust action and make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours." Meanwhile, oil prices approached $100 a barrel Tuesday. Obviously, you'll pay even more for gas, which is already up 40% over a year ago, thanks to Biden's provocative weakness. Energy prices more generally will also be affected. Putin waited until Biden was president. Put another way, Putin didn't pull this stuff when his supposed stooge Donald Trump was in the White House. Trump's policy was to squeeze Putin on the energy front and generally project American strength to deter such action. It worked. Trump described Putin's strategy as "genius" because Russia's strongman can claim to "be a peacekeeper." Trump also rightly described the situation as a "disaster" that "never would have happened" under his administration. And, he warned, "China's going to be next." CNN just didn't think those comments were worth including in the story. Trump also noted that Biden "has no concept of what he's doing." Putin is all too aware of that. The unfortunate reality is that Biden's dithering and failure — particularly in Afghanistan — invited a genuine crisis simply because Putin saw an opportunity.

Butch The Rooster Sarah was in the fertilized egg business. She had several hundred young pullets and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs. She kept records, and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced. This took a lot of time, so she bought some tiny bells and attached them to her roosters. Each bell had a different tone, so she could tell which rooster was performing from a distance. Now, she could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells. Sarah's favorite rooster, old Butch, was an excellent specimen but, this morning, she noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! When she investigated, she saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets hearing the roosters coming would run for cover. To Sarah's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak so that it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job, and walk on to the next one. Sarah was so proud of old Butch she entered him in a Show, and he became an overnight sensation among the judges. The result was that the judges awarded old Butch the "No Bell Peace Prize" and awarded him the "Pulletsurprise" as well. Old Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the unsuspecting populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention? Vote carefully in the next election. You can't always hear the bells.