OR - Militia members occupy federal building in Oregon after protest #1

[Tawny]

Yeah but then dairy farmers come in and mess with the paradigm lol.

Um, they clearly pick the milk from blossoming milk plants. There are many varieties of milk plants. Half gallon, soy, almond, full gallon, heavy cream plants...

 

[flourish]

Actually I'm into cheese, so the cheddar tree is my fave

 

[pappa rob]

":whistle:Home, home on the range:....." They wanna be sure "their woman" dresses like a "lady". Make her wear a 1950's housewife getup. They're done with the chaps and cowboy hat thing when their woman needs to get with the program and do their cooking and clean their toilets. It's her job.

I was thinking about saying something like that, but with my name I'd end up with all kinds of arrows in my backside..

 

[flourish]

I'm behind and tired. Did they request underwear really? If so, were they requesting lds garments or "gentile" undies?

 

[pappa rob]

I really don't think they thought they'd still be there. They were planning, by now to be spending time in the hoosegow. Now they're all gussied up with nowhere to go, but to jail I hope.. So for now they're stuck at Ranchero de Retrasado..

 

[EllieBee]

Wow! I really appreciate this background and local insight. Very helpful in understanding the dynamic of the thing.

Yes, ranchers are cowboys with land and management skills. Many also graze their cattle on Federal (BLM) land.

The Harney County ranchers haven't been out there that long, either. Maybe 2 generations (grandparents of current ranchers). These ranches were homesteaded not long before WWI. And the ranches are colossal. A "small" ranch with 18000 acres. Some of them have their own planes.

The issues these ranchers have are not new. They seem to be forgetting this. These issues were there when they homesteaded the land. It's like buying a property knowing it floods. But these families (I don't believe) didn't buy their properties; they homesteaded them.These were Native American lands. And now they're complaining about the gift?

I think it's off the wall for them to be complaining that the Feds don't intervene when Malheur Lake's levels are too high, but then they want the Feds to stay out of "their business".

The current arrangement, with these huge ranches dominating the scene doesn't seem to me to be realistic. For one thing, Burns is a poor community. It's not as though these ranchers are giving paychecks to one and all. And because they've siphoned off such a large chunk of area resources, there's a seriously impacted Native American community.

Plus, the major new source of money coming into the Burns area is from birdwatchers. I kid you not. This started way back, in the '80's or before. Without the wildlife refuge, there is no diversity in the local economy. And with babyboomers having a harder time being super active ('cos they're getting older), birding is a growing enterprise.

Add to this, the appeal of the wild horses on Federal range land....

Add to this the Steens Mountain wilderness, which is so far out there it's not frequented that much now, but with cities squeezing backcountry enthusiasts further and further out to find wilderness, this represents a considerable cash future.

Just to give you an idea, Nike (yes, the shoe manufacturer) has for years held a high altitude running camp on Steens Mountain every summer. This is $$ in the local economy.

There was also an issue about grazing near water sources in some areas. I was less well-informed on this topic as it pertained to environmental problems, but it seemed to me that cattle had been there long enough that their presence was integrated into the local ecology. This was my uninformed perspective only.

I'm not dissing the ranchers on the legal side of this. I actually empathize with them on some counts, namely nature can be fickle and destroy one's lifestyle. However, it seems that a balance was struck in an agreement between all parties, and there was a clear direction going forward.

 

[EllieBee]

Lol, and I have relatives who are multi-generational hog farmers......

Yet, I have, in the past referred to myself as a cat rancher.

Perhaps they are interchangeable?

Yeah but then dairy farmers come in and mess with the paradigm lol.

 

[EllieBee]

Um, they clearly pick the milk from blossoming milk plants. There are many varieties of milk plants. Half gallon, soy, almond, full gallon, heavy cream plants...

French vanilla creamer?

 

[pappa rob]

Um, they clearly pick the milk from blossoming milk plants. There are many varieties of milk plants. Half gallon, soy, almond, full gallon, heavy cream plants...

Don't forget milk weed.. yuck!

 

[RickshawFan]

Yeah but then dairy farmers come in and mess with the paradigm lol.

Right, but that's not a dairy area....

There also used to be a lot of sheep in this part of Oregon. There may still be some up on Steens Mountain,and Burns has a significant Basque community (descendants of shepherds), but sheep do not seem to be a high visibility resource any more. I have never seen any there (but maybe I'm missing the obvious).

One way to get a feel for ranch vs. farm in Oregon would be to look at fly-over photos.

For instance, crop fields in eastern Oregon:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...KwRc6644N9QGfEOeIIw1rKoA&ust=1452720550966277

Vs. rangeland in eastern Oregon:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...vcTfDCF5Hm_ROpTnJ34SBc9A&ust=1452720690297091

 

[RickshawFan]

I'm behind and tired. Did they request underwear really? If so, were they requesting lds garments or "gentile" undies?

They really did. Church affiliation of said undies not at issue. However, I bet they intended for them to have camouflage prints so looky loo media cameras can't catch them at a compromising moment.

 

[RickshawFan]

Some photos from that area so y'all can get an idea of scale, terrain, etc.

Steens Mountain (yes, just one big mountain in the middle of nowhere); those black dots are cattle; green grass is at a ranch and likely used as a hay crop (hard to tell); see how big that ranch has gotta be?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...S2Hu6eNDbp8yLCHUXmMR1b0Q&ust=1452721376114244

This is what the terrain is like around there (there are hardly any roads, and most look like this!):

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...X9CBlH2yGm6JyydWMoAKy2UQ&ust=1452721645624480

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...X9CBlH2yGm6JyydWMoAKy2UQ&ust=1452721645624480

Did I say remote?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...fqsesUSl-xCl5RpJ0Iu6pMgw&ust=1452722453296518

A major hot springs. See what I mean by "tourist potential"?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...X9CBlH2yGm6JyydWMoAKy2UQ&ust=1452721645624480

An idea of what a town looks like (population 12):

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...0yBxfhaU4gS5vhHMJss7cW3Q&ust=1452722661891185



Factoids: I once set my cruise control to 95 mph in that area so I could make the 6:30 dinner bell in Frenchglen (photo above).... Sometimes there's no gas for over 100 miles, and even then only during the day (no 24/7)...there's a bar in another community not too far away where the cowboys pull into the barroom on horseback (most places, you have to leave your horse outside).

If you ever get a chance to go to this area, by all means, go. It's hard to believe there are places that remote in the US. Travel from Burns, through FrenchGlen, and down to Winnemucca: nothing, nothing, nothing except an occasional ranch or a wild horse....

 

[i.b.nora]

Takeover Day 11: Bundy group plans community meeting

Ammon Bundy announces Friday evening meeting in Burns
KTVZ News Bend, OR
By Wanda Moore
POSTED: 1:38 PM PST January 11, 2016
UPDATED: 2:22 PM PST January 12, 2016

BURNS, Ore. - The armed activists occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon said Tuesday they plan to hold a community meeting later this week to explain themselves and inform residents when they'll leave.

The Oregonian reports (Link) that a leader of the anti-government group, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, told reporters on Tuesday that the meeting will be held 7 p.m. Friday evening at an as-yet undetermined location in Burns, 30 miles north of the refuge.

*

As potential federal charges stack up, there's no sign of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies staged at the nearby Burns Airport moving in, but some more foes of the Bundys' actions have made an appearance.

Folks like Garrett VeneKlasen of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, who said Monday, "I came here form New Mexico to tell all these people to get the hell off of my land."

Then there's Mark Heckert of Washington state, who had a cardboard sign reading: "Get the flock off my wildlife refuge."

"I never thought I'd say that, but I'm here to oppose the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge," Heckert said.

To Heckert, it's all a way to take away federal land belonging to the American people and sell it off to big corporations -- a "huge land and money grab."

*

Bundy said his group is not accessing computers used by refuge employees, but do have access to government files and are looking through them, as well as using government vehicles on the site and posting a new sign over the wildlife refuge's sign, proclaiming it the "Harney County Resource Center."

Harney County schools reopened Monday for the first time since Bundy and his followers seized buildings at the refuge on Saturday, Jan. 2.

*

It's been a costly step-up in security and the like, according to Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, who put the cost at "$60,000 to $70,000 a day -- and we're gong to send Mr. Bundy the bill," he told the crowd of about 200.

And he had a plea for the locals, and probably others as well: "No matter how you feel, do not bring food and supplies up to the refuge."

Internet radio show host Pete Santilli was thrown out of the meeting, to the applause of many, after interrupting several times.

Ward had a more pointed version of a familiar message for the occupiers: "There's an hourglass, and it's running out. Go home."
​

 

[bluesneakers]

https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=08506f9b1ae1192a1eb7a7ce842e66f6&oe=570AD0D6

 

[bluesneakers]

Self-delete

 

[ohreally]

Takeover Day 11: Bundy group plans community meeting

Ammon Bundy announces Friday evening meeting in Burns
KTVZ News Bend, OR
By Wanda Moore
POSTED: 1:38 PM PST January 11, 2016
UPDATED: 2:22 PM PST January 12, 2016

BURNS, Ore. - The armed activists occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon said Tuesday they plan to hold a community meeting later this week to explain themselves and inform residents when they'll leave.

The Oregonian reports (Link) that a leader of the anti-government group, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, told reporters on Tuesday that the meeting will be held 7 p.m. Friday evening at an as-yet undetermined location in Burns, 30 miles north of the refuge.

*

As potential federal charges stack up, there's no sign of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies staged at the nearby Burns Airport moving in, but some more foes of the Bundys' actions have made an appearance.

Folks like Garrett VeneKlasen of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, who said Monday, "I came here form New Mexico to tell all these people to get the hell off of my land."

Then there's Mark Heckert of Washington state, who had a cardboard sign reading: "Get the flock off my wildlife refuge."

"I never thought I'd say that, but I'm here to oppose the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge," Heckert said.

To Heckert, it's all a way to take away federal land belonging to the American people and sell it off to big corporations -- a "huge land and money grab."

*

Bundy said his group is not accessing computers used by refuge employees, but do have access to government files and are looking through them, as well as using government vehicles on the site and posting a new sign over the wildlife refuge's sign, proclaiming it the "Harney County Resource Center."

Harney County schools reopened Monday for the first time since Bundy and his followers seized buildings at the refuge on Saturday, Jan. 2.

*

It's been a costly step-up in security and the like, according to Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, who put the cost at "$60,000 to $70,000 a day -- and we're gong to send Mr. Bundy the bill," he told the crowd of about 200.

And he had a plea for the locals, and probably others as well: "No matter how you feel, do not bring food and supplies up to the refuge."

Internet radio show host Pete Santilli was thrown out of the meeting, to the applause of many, after interrupting several times.

Ward had a more pointed version of a familiar message for the occupiers: "There's an hourglass, and it's running out. Go home."
​

Some people just cannot take a hint. The town wants them to leave now. Not to have a discussion about it on Friday. This should be interesting.

 

[i.b.nora]

Good video, in the style of Ken Burns:

Letter from an Oregon Militiaman

[video]https://youtu.be/9d8-rM9up7E[/video]

 

[seattlechiquita]

I can see a GoFund Me slogan.... :hilarious:

Undies for the Fundies...

 

[pappa rob]

https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=08506f9b1ae1192a1eb7a7ce842e66f6&oe=570AD0D6

You forgot they're going to need a good supply of clean panties for when the you know what hits the fan..

 

[RickshawFan]

I can see a GoFund Me slogan.... :hilarious:

Undies for the Fundies...

Undies for Bundys :hilarious:

Tighty Whities for Fly-By-Nighties

Skivvies for Dippies

Panties for Ranties

Liners for Whiners

Jockeys for Posses

Unmentionables for Detentionables

Pantstas for Gangstas

Butt Hugs for T***gs (rhymes with Smugs, no racial overtone)

Knicker Twists for Terrorists....

Briefs for Thiefs....

BVD's for PVD's (personae non grata)


Dare I say LMAO?