WE Blog

We’re busy and tired. Everything costs too much.

I just paid 80 dollars in property taxes for an old small camper. I’m just too decrepit to use a tent anymore. Plus the cost of going out is outrageous. The ONE thing I truly enjoy as a family outdoor activity in the summertime now equals as much as I’d probably pay to drive to a vacation spot.

As was said yesterday on another thread, what came over the State Senate committee chaired by Sen. Carol McGinn who voted NOT to eliminate entrance fees to all of our state parks? Not only would this provided incentive for citizens to enjoy a healthy recreational opportunity, but it would promote economic activity in many small towns around these parks in the form of groceries, gasoline, fishing/hunting supplies and restaurant purchases. Don’t small towns desparately need economic activity? Or do we ignore those needs, and remark, “Oh we are afraid of city dwellers who will commit crimes, litter and invade our privacy?” Fear can keep us from improving the lives of everyone.

“We can always have the nanny state and the enviros telling us how to live. Go fly a kite Libs.”

You are as deep as a dime, aren’t you george?

Those who bemoan the loss of human connection with nature = liberals

Reflexive, no thought put into into your post, and you reflect badly on your “fellow” conservatives who probably share the cultural concern listed above.

Do you really think only people who identify as liberals are concerned about this?

The situation, however, is more complicated than the header above would indicate. One of the most popular channels in this video age is Animal Planet. That being said, the situation is grim. When I was a kid, it was cool to see places that looked so different from where I grew up, places with mountains or ocean or desert. Part of it though, was it was different. Now, kids can be plugged in wherever they go. Now kids don’t even look out the window, and whine whenever they have to go somewhere where the cell phone plan won’t reach.

The liberals will find a way via the legislature, courts, to force them to care.

It is part of the democrats creed “we care”. Evidence exists to support them adding it to statue.

Whether the people like it or not.

I may well live closer to nature than many, we live out in the country and have planted over 1500 trees in our 26 years on the place. We do daily walks, even in the snow. I play golf 3-4 times a week. Right now I have cabin fever because of it has snowed so much since the first week in December. It’s the global cooling. When I not in the computer whining. I work out in my beautiful wood shop making artsy things. The whole point is I don’t need a good doer to tell me get out enjoy nature and get some excuse. That’s my problem not somebody elses. Obviously I’m a conservative and proud of it. I watch TV as little as possible, but will confess I spend time on the computer doing arts, graphics and designing plans for my woodworking. How about that.

There you said it Kelly, I’ve always wondered what small town folks have against Wichitans. They seem to treat us like criminals, they must watch too much news, Wichita is just big enough that some crime happens every day so the news reports it, and the people from small towns I guess think people are running around wichita stark raving mad, committing crimes, because they hear about crime ridden Wichita every day on the news.

When its warm out, I go take one of the dogs to pawnee praire park a couple times a week, and spend about three hours walking around. It’s a patch of nature in Wichita, but its hard to get lost in it. You eventually see a house, or Kellogg, and theres sidewalks all over the place.

Is Obama Elvis or did he plant these women to make himself look super-heroic? Ima say he’s a scoundrel like the rest of um. But here comes the DEFENDERS! to save him…

“People will be kicked out of their homes and forced to exercise in nature.

Then and only then, will more people experience nature.”

You are dense aren’t you. Where has anyone suggested forcing people outside? There is a difference between encouraging people to get out and about with nature and forcing the same.

Well, keeping folks OUT of the state parks makes it easier to drain the water with no one to notice. And it makes folks less invested in preserving water based recreation, which will ALSO make it easier for ethanol, irrigation, and wasteful municipalities to drain our lakes.

Hays and Russell did in Cedar Bluff, got turned away from Kanopolis so OTHER municipalities and their industries could drain it, and now are setting their sights on Lake Wilson to slake the thirst of their ethanol plant and big irrigators.

And yes, if they want to talk about REAL economic development, tourism, etc. our precious lakes and rivers provide waaaaaaay more new money into communities than ethanol, wind or coal ever will.

Kelly?

“Not only would this provided incentive for citizens to enjoy a healthy recreational opportunity, but it would promote economic activity in many small towns around these parks in the form of groceries, gasoline, fishing/hunting supplies and restaurant purchases. Don’t small towns desparately need economic activity?”

no shit

WHY do you think the four counties surrounding Cedar Bluff SCREAMED so loudly when Hays and Russell, with the AID of governor leadership pulled the plug on a MAJOR economic engine out here?

And yet you support them and the governor who made it all possible? And now Janis Lee, Eber Phelps, Dan Johnson and the whole hee haw gang are on the wrong side of the coal plant? They are all FOR this water sucking sucker?

Hypocrisy much?

Economic development out here is all about population and water. They go together, and all the coal fired and ethanol plants wont put it together.

And by all means, you Wichitans are MORE than welcome out here to hunt, fish, birdwatch, etc. I have NEVER heard anyone complain when you visit Cedar Bluff, what is left of the Smoky Hill River, etc.

PLEASE BE OUR GUESTS!

Yea, lets just get more city slickers to go out and explore nature, and feed the wild animals, and throw their food wrappers, pop cans, and trash everywhere.

“a concern was expessed for our children. Too many kids spend too many hours in front of the TV, game system, and computer screens.”

So whatchagonna do LibDave? Legislate a solution?

All of blogging sure as hell are not setting much of an example!!!!!

If it’s not muddy, I walk from my office to my car through the company’s wooded campus. It’s a walk of maybe 80 yards or so, on a path over a small foot bridge, and through some of the tallest damn maples and pines I have ever seen. I don’t know what’s in the Virginia water, but the damn trees here shoot straight up forever. It’s a gorgeous, if short, walk.

That, unfortunately, is the extent of my outdoor activities. Even on the weekends, even when it’s nice like today, the only time I’m liable to get outside is my daily drive ( :oops: ) to the YMCA. Hell, I even prefer my hamster-on-a-treadmill exercise crap to real outdoor exercise. Which is admittedly pathetic.

But hell, there is no time. M–>F I’m out the front door by 6:30am, and I don’t get home until around 6:30pm. I have convinced myself that I need a lot of downtime (doing little more than lolling about and picking lint from my nether regions), so in my off hours I look for ways to minimize my discretionary “away” time. Which translates to pounding a stairmaster for 30 minutes (600 or so calories, or 1,200+/hour, so it’s at a fairly intensive level) or throwing some free weights around for maybe 45 minutes a day. In my defense, if it’s not football season then the television never comes on before 5pm, and that’s on the weekends. I have almost no friends away from work, and not even a girlfriend these days. In my defense, I do read a lot. Er, perhaps missing the point here though. :oops:

What are you going to do? Hell, I got goals to meet (prof and financial), but in meeting them I sometimes feel like a coffee-sucking hamster with overly developed quadriceps who spends more time in his car in one day than he spends outside in a whole damn week.

The biggest problem, of course, is that I love it. :neutral:

Maybe we should all join the Sierra Club, not. Why is it the green peacers who try to tell us what to do, their way. How many of you were Boy Scouts & Girl Scouts and your kids and now Grandkids. I know I sure lived in the great outdoors when I was. But sorry or not we did not have the nanny state getting bigger. I have seen this same article on the web elsewhere. The Eagle is always behind, needing something to arouse our attention. Had to come in for a time out to check the comments. Now back to work in the shop getting my exercise.

“So whatchagonna do LibDave? Legislate a solution?”

Did anyone say anything about legislation? Don’t be so dense.

Taz, I wasn’t putting the blame on the kids, or anyone. Just making a point. Just maybe, with dialog, we could convince parents to monitor thier childrens activities. Maybe realise that jounior could stand a little fresh air and exerise.

“Just maybe, with dialog, we could convince parents”

And how are you going to do that?

Thanks for proving my point.

Golf. That is one of the problems that keeps folks from enjoying the outdoors and participating in outdoor recreational activities.

But of course you’re going to say that golf IS an outdoor activity.

Yes, it is, but before the popularity of golf skyrocketed in the Sixties, families participated in outdoor activities together. After Dad discovered golf, he was gone every Saturday, most Sunday afternoons and once or twice during the week.

The family activities of hunting, fishing, camping and hiking went by the wayside. No one saw Dad again, he was at the course.

In the Sixties, my family used to rent a cabin in Northern Michigan every summer. We went boating, fishing and water skiing.

My father got a hole in one in 1967 - and that was the end of that - we never went fishing again.

Probably more to it then the love of golf that made Dad go away.

“Dammit kids, I TOLD you to go outside and play. Can’t you see your dad is very busy BLOGGING!!?”

Now THAT’s funny!

george: “This study was funded by the Nature Conservancy whose goals as a environmental organization is working the preserve, plants, animals and natural communties and so. They have goals similar to the Sierra Club.”

Like the old saying goes: “Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt”

The Nature Conservancy is a private organization that works with doners so as to make PRIVATE purchases of land to preserve natural areas. Quite a lot of their membership and support comes from people who are political conservatives. Their “goals are similar” to the Sierra Club in that both try to preserve nature, which is a laudible goal. But the Conservancy has a method of doing so that not only effective, but brings people together. A number of conservatives I know support the Conservancy because they can see as environmentalism consistent with the “free market” and private enterprise.

“What may I ask are they trying to do in this Social service area of saying watching videos is a cause of obesity, lack of socializtion, etc.? Is that to say as parents we can’t do our own parenting and control the TV, Computer and video games. Does this lead into control of the switch by others, you bet it does. Guess what, it will only get worst. It takes a village to raise our children. No it does not, it’s the parents job not somebody else’s.”

George, you are responding to something in your own mind. No one is pushing for the government to mandate taking kids outside.

KFG -

Why do I feel like you’ve rammed a lance through my chest? After all, it sounds a little bit like we agree on most of these issues. As for my support of Sen. Lee . . . the Governor, I think the Democratic Party is much more likely to bring about serious water conservation than the Kansas Farm Bureau-captive Republican Party. Look how little was accomplished with water conservation during the Graves administrations? The Sebelius Admin has helped to provide funds for the City of Wichita aquifer replenishment program (pumping water out of the Ark River, purifying it, and then pumping it underground), has halted for the moment the coal-plant project that would claim billions of gallons of water, and is trying to encourage wind power generation. The Sebelius Admin may not have done everything correctly (I know, there is your target), but I think we are making much more progress than the Republican-controlled legislature would prefer. Certainly much more control than the KFB would like. After all, they view water as a mineral resource to be mined and used as cheaply as possible. When it is used up, their attitude is that they will do something else that is economically feasible, but only when the natural resource is played out.

“Coming up next the nannies and nanny state will do your thinking for you.”

Going by your posts “george” you should take advantage of all the help with thinking that you can get.

It’s not just parents. It’s the culture.

Everything is reduced to the short and gaudy and flashy. Even if you totally kept your kid away from TV and the net, they’d still be exposed to it.

And Kansas does not help its citizens in this area. We are 49th of 50 for public spaces.

“In my opinion it’s the environmental groups who want to Control the Switches in our lives.”

Everyone has opinions, George, but there is a considerable difference between informed opinion and just plain opinion. Your opinion attributes intent to “environmental groups” that is not only just plain factually wrong, it’s downright incoherent.

You strike me as someone who engages in the following thought pattern, “I am a conservative therefore here is what I think about a, b, c, d, and e. Since I accept this label, I really don’t have to learn about a, b, c, d, or e, I just have to refer back to my label and that tells me all I need to know.” That kind of shallow thinking is tragic and short sighted (and in case you are wondering, I am tired of some self described liberals who take this point of view as well, but I think that they are far rarer than self described conservatives).

Do you have feeders out for them American Way? Bluebirds are known “yard pets” if you have a well supplied feeder.

No regular, we can’t seem to attract them. They nest in the four acres behind our house that the deck faces. Today, it almost “looked” like they were coming to the feeders (and she has four out back and five in front including the suet bags).

But they didn’t. Wife made me trudge out in the mud and put the BB house back up. Darn sparrows would be in it all winter if I left them out.

I heard something about mealybugs/live food for them. But sounded like a lot of work and gruesome to the wife, if I brought THOSE into her spaces.

Wow Momma, you have a pop-up?

So seventies of you. Regardless, is more cost effective to have self-paying parks. You put your money in a box for the day/night use.

We don’t need a bunch of pimple faced twenty year olds carrying guns in the parks for 8 bucks an hour.

You would be better off just joining in on the partying by the partyers.