Why Do Livestock Inspector in New Mexico Need Armed Escorts?

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For decades they didn’t need to be protected by armed escorts, now they are suddenly assigned them. What’s going on in New Mexico?

When inspectors in New Mexico begin surveying 32 livestock scales along the increasingly dangerous Mexican border later this month, they’ll have armed escorts at their sides.

It will mark the first time armed deputies will travel with New Mexico Department of Agriculture inspectors, who certify the scales used to weigh livestock, Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos said.

“These scales that the ranchers use to ship their cattle are in isolated areas,” Cobos told FoxNews.com. “And the administration decided since those inspectors and personnel are not armed, they wanted to be able to concentrate on their work without worrying about their security.”

Cobos said that beginning on July 26, deputies will accompany inspectors to the scales in a corridor that stretches southwest from Interstate 10 at Las Cruces to the New Mexico-Arizona border, along Luna, Hidalgo and Grant counties.

“It also helps the deputies become more familiar with the ranches and their particular layouts,” Cobos said. “It’s a benefit to all of us.”

It’s an interesting article and you should give it a quick read if you haven’t already, but the subtext here seems to be that there is no guarantee of law and order anywhere near the Mexican border. The destabilized Mexican state is leaking it’s chaos over the border and we are basically powerless to stop it.

East St. Louis Police Service “Gutted” by Layoffs

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The bad economy is to blame, but not as much as the civil service unions who (thanks to the poor educational system courtesy of the Teacher’s Union) don’t understand that when a city runs out of money … it runs out of money:

Rev. Joseph Tracy said he’s tired of going to funerals. And now, he suspects he’ll be going to more of them.

“It’s open field day now,” said Tracy, the pastor of Straightway Baptist Church here. “The criminals are going to run wild.”

Gang activity. Drug dealing. Cold-blooded killing. Tracy worries that a decision to shrink the police force by almost 30 percent will bring more of everything.

The pastor voiced his concern on Friday at a raucous special City Council meeting at which East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks announced that the city will layoff 37 employees, including 19 of its 62 police officers, 11 firefighters, four public works employees, and three administrators. The layoffs take effect on Sunday.

Parks said the weak economy has robbed the city of badly need money. For example, revenue from the Casino Queen was $900,000 below budget expectations last year. There are no signs of improvement, Parks said.

“I want our citizens to know we have some of the bravest police officers and firefighters in the country,” Parks said. “But we don’t have the money to pay them. We have to have fiscal responsibility.”

City officials wanted police and fire unions to accept a furlough program that would have required employees to take two unpaid days in each twice monthly pay period. If accepted, emergency responders would have seen a pay cut of about 20 percent for the rest of the year.

Parks said the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement. On Friday, he stared at a standing-room only crowd and told his emergency response chiefs words they didn’t want to hear: “Tell your workers to start packing their things.”

The news spurred shouts from the crowd.

“The blood is on your hands,” yelled Michael Hubbard, an East St. Louis police officer.

No actually the blood is on your Officer Hubbard. The police were asked to man up and accpet some austerity measures in an atttempt to kep them employed, they said no. I guess the police think money grows on trees.

East St. Louis is already a war zone though. Losing police will make things much more unsafe. And this is just one of many towns that will be forced to make this decision in the coming years.

The I.R.S. Has a Policy for Collecting Taxes on Bartered Goods and Services

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I was reading this interesting piece about bartering in Boise, Idaho when I got to this section which gave me pause:

Lest you consider setting fire to your Federal Reserve notes and embracing bartering as your sole means of survival, note one thing: The tax man always wants a piece of the action. The IRS explicitly states that “Barter dollars or trade dollars are identical to real dollars for tax reporting. If you conduct any direct barter–barter for another’s products or services–you will have to report the fair market value of the products or services you received on your tax return.”

“It has been my experience that the IRS pursues bartering aggressively because it can be considered earned income,” said CPA Aldon Holm. “If a business owner or individual provides a service or product that normally would be considered taxable, they have the responsibility to report that income and pay the appropriate taxes. Whenever an individual or company is audited, part of the audit is to discover barter income. They know it’s out there and growing, and they want their share.”

Also, don’t be fooled by Craigslist’s relative anonymity. They’re always watching.

“The State Tax Commission has employees who scour Craigslist for unregistered businesses,” explained Holm. “If they find someone who is operating a business without reporting to the state, they will pursue that person or business and seek compliance with all income and sales taxes laws.”

Sure enough, I read the I.R.S. policy on bartering and all you Galts out there are going to be expected to fork over some money. If you’re using Craigslist or some other website to organize barters get ready for a tax bill.

Good News! EPA Looking to Regulate Farm Roads

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You know how those big farms that feed us all have those little side roads that allow them to move their equipment and crop around in their day to day operation? The Environmental Protection Agency says they generated too much dust, by which the mean dirt flying into the air when a car drives on it, which they seem to think is bad for the Earth which is literally where this “dust” comes from.

This won’t cause an increase in food prices at all:

OKLAHOMA CITY — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering a crackdown on farm dust, so senators have signed a letter addressing their concerns on the possible regulations.

The letter dated July 23 to the EPA states, “If approved, would establish the most stringent and unparalleled regulation of dust in our nation’s history.” It further states, “We respect efforts for a clean and healthy environment, but not at the expense of common sense. These identified levels will be extremely burdensome for farmers and livestock producers to attain. Whether its livestock kicking up dust, soybeans being combined on a dry day in the fall, or driving a car down the gravel road, dust is a naturally occurring event.”

Many in the Oklahoma farming industry are opposed to the EPA’s consideration. One farmer said the possible regulations are ridiculous.

“It’s plain common sense, we don’t want to do anything detrimental,” said farmer Curtis Roberts. “If the dust is detrimental to us, it’s going to be to everybody. We’re not going to do anything to hurt ourselves or our farm.”

Roberts, a fourth generation farmer and rancher in Arcadia, said regulating dust in rural areas will hurt farmers’ harvest, cultivation and livelihood.

“Anytime you work ground, you’re going to have dust. I don’t know how they’ll regulate it,” Roberts said. “The regulations are going to put us down and keep us from doing things we need to be doing because of the EPA.”

Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Mike Spradling said the rules could be detrimental to farmers across the Sooner State.

“We as an organization do not feel dust is a pollutant,” Spradling said. “It would almost be impossible to comply with what’s being addressed now from the EPA as in agriculture. We’re doing everything we possibly can.”

“It’s just common sense, we don’t like dust in the morning but it’s something we got to live with,” Roberts said.

Here’s a copy of the EPA policy which various hippies and idiots who have no idea how farmers get their organic fruits and nuts to them (Hint: it involves trucks and dirt roads) claim isn’t that onerous. Yeah, doesn’t look like it’s a scheme to put farms out of business at all.

Better stock up on corn, I have e feeling we’re going to see shortages in the next few years.