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South Texas ranchers paying price for Biden’s border crisis

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112323 border crisis

By Morgan Luttrell 
U.S. Representative,Texas District 8

Every day, the lives and livelihoods of people across this country are severely affected by the millions of illegal immigrants flooding into the United States.

As revealed in the House Committee on Homeland Security’s investigation into the costs, causes, and consequences of the border crisis, this is especially true for those who make their living and feed their families on the front lines of this chaos.

America’s farmers and ranchers along the southwestern border face the harsh reality of President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s border crisis every day as they are forced to bear the cost of the damage caused by illegal immigrants who trespass on their property attempting to evade apprehension by Border Patrol.

The South Texans’ Property Rights Association, which represents 500 South Texas ranchers, said that although illegal immigrants trespassing on their properties has always been a problem, it is getting exponentially worse under this administration.

This border crisis is costing farmers and ranchers a fortune, as illegal immigrants leave property damage, piles of trash, and damaged crops in their wake. These people must often spend their hard-earned money to secure their farms and ranches from the devastating consequences of Biden’s border crisis.

For many ranchers, facing the cost of repairing damaged fences is a weekly occurrence. This means that if a damaged fence is not caught in time, livestock can escape, leading to additional costs. For example, ranchers can lose up to $6,000 for a middle-aged cow, $3,000 for a bull, and $700 for a calf.

Illegal immigrants are also damaging water lines along the border, with one rancher noting he lost 130,000 gallons of fresh water. In an area where water is not always easy to come by, there is no way to truly quantify the lasting effects of this loss. Rancher John Sewell of Uvalde said just fixing the damage caused by the trespassers is in and of itself “a full-time job.”

In these situations, the damage is not just limited to equipment and homes. A rancher in Maverick County, Texas, said he had rocks thrown at him by trespassers, and they even beat his dogs with sticks.

Unfortunately, these examples of threats, harassment, and assault are becoming all too frequent, leading many ranchers to take extra precautions to protect their property, livestock, and families.

In March 2023, a South Texas rancher, Debbie Douglas, told NewsNation she has had to spend over $13,000 on new security equipment to address the constant trespassing on her property by illegal immigrants. This is money that farmers and ranchers could put toward other investments, rather than security measures caused by the border crisis.

Simply put, in an industry like agriculture, in which the margin of profit is already small, the Biden and Mayorkas border crisis is only adding insult to injury. These unexpected costs can lead to ranchers losing their property.

Under this administration, encounters at the southwestern border reached an all-time high in fiscal 2023, with almost 2.5 million encounters. This is the stark reality at our southwestern border, yet Biden and Mayorkas continue to stand firm on the same policies that put ranchers and farmers in this position.

Whether Mayorkas’s failure to secure the border is due to sheer incompetence or intentional subversion of the laws passed by Congress, the people have spoken, repeatedly.

Mayorkas and Biden must respond. We cannot ignore this problem any longer. America’s farmers and ranchers are the bedrock of our economy. We cannot allow them to continue to pay the price for this preventable crisis.

 

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I’m thankful for our four-legged family member

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From The Editors Desk Emily WootenI’ve never been an animal person. I respect animals. I think many of them are beautiful and I know that several of them have very high levels of intelligence. I’ve just never felt the need to have one … and especially not in the house. I know people whose pets are like their children. And that’s great for them. It was just never my thing.

During the summer of 2017 I underwent major surgery that was followed by a six-to-eight-week period of convalescence. That same summer, Molly, the dog that belongs to one of our friends, had a litter of puppies. They were cute as can be – three-quarter beagle and one-quarter Jack Russell terrier. In fact, our friend was weaning the puppies from their mother and looking for good homes for them around the same time I came home from the hospital. I began receiving text messages with pictures and videos of these little puppies. And c’mon. We all know there’s nothing cuter than a litter of little furry puppies crawling all over each other, frolicking in a pile.

On some legally-prescribed high-powered narcotics at the time – the kind that are bound to affect one’s judgment – I caved and that is how we came to be the owners of a sweet little rambunctious bundle of energy. His original name was Fuzzy Frank but we wanted to select our own name for him. I suggested Hamilton, as in Alexander Hamilton who had recently experienced a huge surge in popularity thanks to the Broadway musical. However, our daughter wanted to name him Cooper after Sheldon Cooper, one of the beloved characters on The Big Bang Theory, one of our TV shows. She prevailed and that’s okay. He’s much more of a Cooper than a Hamilton anyway.

Cooper spent a little time indoors until he got old enough to put outside, which was the intent all along, that he would be an outdoor dog. And he was an outdoor dog for his first four years. But then Winter Storm Uri viciously arrived in February 2021 and we brought him inside. After having him inside for the better part of a week, we discovered how much we enjoyed his presence and how much he had become part of our family instead of something outside that was always hungry for attention.

It seemed as if everything changed overnight. He quickly learned the rules and respected them. He knows he is not allowed on the furniture or in the bedrooms. Once he truly integrated, he became less needy and we all fell into an easy rhythm, spending time together and enjoying each other’s company until time to put him in his kennel at night when we go to bed.

This past fall, he suddenly became very ill and wasn’t himself at all. We were worried that we would lose him and we went through a somber three to four-week period. A trip to the vet yielded test results that weren’t good, although we did come home with a plethora of meds for him. We really felt his days were numbered.

Around this same time, I read an article about Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, a breed of Portuguese dog that has an average life expectancy of some 10-14 years, that died in October at the age of 31 years and 165 days old. Bobi lived on a farm in the village of Conqueiros in Portugal with his owner, Leonel Costa, and four cats. He was born on May 11, 1992, when his owner was just 8 years old. Bobi holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s oldest dog ever, having claimed the title from Bluey, an Australian cattle dog, who died in 1939 at the age of 29 and had held the record for almost a century. In an interview earlier this year, Costa told the Associated Press that Bobi’s secret to a long life was good food, fresh air and lots of love. I couldn’t imagine the anguish Costa must have felt after having loved Bobi for nearly 32 years.

Not long after that, to our great relief, Cooper mysteriously got well and became himself again. And while I’m not doubting the efficacy of his meds or the professional and loving care he received from Dr. Darden, our veterinarian, I know deep down that Cooper should not have survived, not based on the results of his blood work that we all saw with our own eyes.

Around the time we were commiserating about our poor dog’s future or lack thereof, a series of cute dog videos began showing up in the feed on my social media and very uncharacteristically, I began watching them and enjoying them. I am now one of 202,000 people who follow talesofdogsonline on Instagram. I highly recommend it. The videos make me happy and make me laugh, so much so that I don’t always realize how much I’m into it. Not long ago I overheard my husband inquiring about my laughter with our daughter and she responded, “I think she’s watching dog videos again.”

During this time of thanksgiving, of course I’m thankful for my family, our friends, our health, our home, our jobs and the comfortable lives we live. However, I’m especially thankful this year for Cooper, for his role in our family, his unconditional love and the things that he continues to teach us.

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Pseudo intellectualism offers no solutions

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FromEditorsDesk Tony CroppedBy Tony Farkas

The definition of the term pseudo intellectualism is an apt description of the state of affairs in this country, particularly regarding social issues.

Someone fitting this description wants to win arguments, or impress people with their knowledge or virtue, instead of attempting to arrive at the truth.

Pick an issue and you can see how that plays out.

The current transgender “discussion” is exactly that, with both sides saying something with equal conviction but nothing remotely making sense results.

Same thing with the gun debate. One side says no guns equals safety, the other side says all the guns equals safety, and nothing comes from that.

My current favorite thing is the marches and demonstrations and protests over the Hamas attack on Israel. Thousands of people are throwing virtue hissy fits over Israel being an aggressor, and I end up asking myself what the point of that is.

See, someone who’s approaching things in a pseudo-intellectual manner seems to think that they know it all and will loudly proclaim that to the world. Problem is it’s just smoke and mirrors, signifying nothing since there is nothing proposed to end the conflict, nor will there be.

I’m certainly not advocating running over to the Middle East to join the fight, but I am saying that screaming and hollering and gluing yourself to pavement in the middle of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade accomplished, well, squat.

Aside from the notoriety gained, demonstrations are meaningless. Personally, I’ve always thought that the phrase “raising awareness” was a code for “I got nothin’ else.”

Naturally, those same PIs will seek some authority figure to right the wrongs, such as passing legislation to make misgendering people a hate crime or enacting draconian regulations to regulate carbon emissions to save the climate.

The arguments for that are pseudo intellectual as well; we’ll let an authority figure make our decisions for us, that way we can say we’ve done something while expending extremely little effort. One of my favorites always was people saying that since I pay taxes to the government, and the government is taking care of the little people, that it means I’m taking care of the little people.

Here’s the thing, we were admonished to do good works, not to allow good works to be done in our name.

It’s one thing to squall about injustices, it’s completely another to actually do something, and in case the message wasn’t clear, whining isn’t doing something. You want to help Israel and Palestine, go help them. Get up and get moving.

You want to end gun violence, get up and start educating people. Get up and help people in distress before problems escalate.

You want to help the environment, start campaigns for recycling or conservation. Create your own compost, grow your own crops, capture your rainwater.

If you allow others to solve problems, then you run the risk of losing rights and liberties. Aside from keeping control of your fate, the feeling of accomplishment will be more satisfying than any time spent protesting.

Tony Farkas is editor of the San Jacinto News-Times and the Trinity County News-Standard. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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A stylish way to improve men’s health and well-being

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By Tom Purcell

GrowYourBeardHopefully, the rugged beard I’ve been sporting will motivate at least one of my fellow men to take better care of his health this November.

Every November, you see, two charitable organizations, Movember and No-Shave November, raise funds by encouraging men to not cut or shave their facial hair.

Both organizations have made November an enjoyable month for we men to share photos of our thickening mustaches, beards and other long hair.

The idea is to get men thinking and talking about mental health, suicide prevention, prostate, testicular and colon cancer, and other illnesses affecting men.

According to a December 2022 report by the CDC men live, on average, about six years fewer than women.

There are a number of reasons why, explains HuffPost, and they don’t include any men jokes.

For starters, several studies show men are less likely to talk about their health and more likely to deny anything is wrong.

Avigail Lev, a licensed clinical psychologist in California, explained to HuffPost that because men are conditioned by society to deeply repress and suppress their emotions, they avoid seeking support for health issues when they need it.

Too often, we put off colonoscopies and prostate tests — limiting our doctors’ ability to detect and correct cancer in its earliest stages.

We ignore symptoms, pretending to ourselves nothing is wrong — giving whatever it is free reign to get worse until something really is wrong.

We think it isn’t masculine to engage a counselor when we are suffering a bout of depression — which is one reason why 60 men die from suicide around the world every hour of every day.

Too often, men self-medicate their medical problems or worries away through destructive social behaviors, such as smoking, drinking alcohol or using drugs — habits which are sure to destroy good health.

Add to this that men are much more likely to make poor dietary choices — for example, fast food that is loaded with artery-clogging fats — and it becomes clear why male health is so much worse than it needs to be.

But we can and must do better on the men’s health front — and every other front.

Men and boys are struggling in our country like never before.

It’s wonderful that so many of our girls are flourishing in school and the workforce, but our boys are falling behind at alarming rates.

New York Times columnist David Brooks cites the statistics:

“By high school, two-thirds of the students in the top 10 percent of the class, ranked by GPA, are girls, while roughly two-thirds of the students at the lowest decile are boys.”

Brooks notes that men are especially struggling in the workforce — if they’re working at all: One in three males with only a high school diploma — 10 million men — is now out of the labor force.

Men are increasingly isolated with far fewer friends than women, according to an American Perspectives Survey, leaving them with much less support to navigate the growing life and health challenges they face.

The great hope for all good people is for all of us to flourish regardless of our age or sex.

We all hope that our dads, uncles, brothers and sons become the healthiest, most productive people they can be.

Maybe seeing a face with a new mustache or beard this November will spark the robust discussion we need to help men improve their health and realize their full potential as flourishing human beings.

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Focusing on the right things is sometimes trying

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FromEditorsDesk Tony CroppedBy Tony Farkas

For most folks, this week is for reminding ourselves about the things in life that are important, for giving thanks to God and everyone for the many blessings we enjoy throughout the year and our lives.

Even me, who dodged a health issue recently, has plenty to be thankful for.

What keeps coming to the front of my mind, though, is the bizarre and frankly non-Thanksgiving topic of accountability.

Recently, newly minted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson released the tapes of the Jan. 6 “insurrection,” which have been scrutinized quite a bit. However you interpret that, it seems that what actually happened was in no way what was widely reported or even investigated by the execrable J6 committee.

Yet, has anyone involved from the media on up said word one about any of the mischaracterization?

It was also widely reported that Trump was colluding with Russians, had hookers and other suspect peoples in hotel rooms, all of which had been debunked. Has anyone, including the person responsible for the report, Hilary Clinton, backtracked at all?

The hallmark of proper discourse is admitting when you’re wrong. When such lies are perpetuated, even when proven false, speaks not to solving problems but to vile attacks and winning at all costs.

More than just “mischaracterizations” of events, there is a tendency in government to ignore problems that have occurred based on bad legislation, which in turn was based on bad or unfounded information. Numerous examples of this exist — the Affordable Care Act is one such — yet instead of scrapping the bad idea, the government tends to double down on its inability to solve problems by making more problems.

I saw a comparison online the other day that illustrated this perfectly.  In the 1960s, we were told the oil would be gone within a decade.

In 1970s, we were warned about a new ice age coming; in the 80s, it was acid rain destroying crops; in the 90s, it was the destruction of the ozone layer; in the 2000s, it was global warming, or climate change if you prefer, which will destroy the ice caps.

These were presented to us as matter-of-fact, Nostradamus-level predictions and that we, through the benevolent auspices of our kind and all-knowing government, would only need to pay more taxes and follow regulations that were more and more stringent, and we’ll reverse the trend.

Just like the necessary and oh-so-effective COVID protocols, which required shelter-in-place and masking mandates, forced vaccinations and the destruction of the education system to “flatten the curve,” all of which were found to be ineffective and unnecessary.

The taxes and regulations remain in place, and not a person responsible for any of it has come forward to take responsibility for the overreach, much less try to rectify the problems that cropped up through poorly thought-out remedies.

You could say that we should be thankful for a kind and benevolent government that tries to keep us safe from the evils in the world, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the intent. The intent is control, and we at least can be thankful with live in a country that will allow us to hold them accountable, since it won’t happen any other way.

Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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