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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| 900 hay bales dropped to |
| 2007-01-04 |
| LAMAR, Colo. - National Guard troops headed for snowbound fields in trucks piled high with hay Thursday and prepared their helicopters to resume an emergency haylift that had already dropped more than 900 bales across Colorado's rangeland in an effort to save stranded and starving cattle. Using smaller helicopters, ranchers landed near frozen streams and used sledgehammers to chop ice from the water for the livestock to drink. The situation on the snowbound plains is getting dire. Typically, cattle can survive only five to 10 days without food or water in good conditions, state veterinarian John Maulsby said. For the cattle in eastern Colorado and on the Kansas and Nebraska plains, it has now been a week since a blizzard dumped up to 3 feet of snow and whipped up 10-foot-high drifts. |
| Posted by:Brett |
| #3 I'll have to start sending emails about relative state/federal responsibilities to the TV news editors if I catch statements like that again. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-01-04 20:20 |
| #2 Another thing most people don't know is the National Guard doesn't own the equipment or the weapons. The Department of Defense does. Tell the States to buy their own equipment. What, it's too expensive and anyway Uncle Sam has provided it for so long the Governers think the State owns it? Ask 100 people what the National Guard is for and 90% will tell you it's for helping in State emergencies like tornados, floods, and hurricanes. Wise up. The National Guard exists at the sufference of the Federal Government. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-01-04 20:17 |
| #1 -- I've been watching the TV news from the affected areas over the internet. Every commentator mentions that the National Guard is restricted in its relief operations by the fact that its heavy-lift choppers are all in Iraq. The choppers in use are not suitable for dropping sufficient hay bales. -- I wonder how long it will take before the general public figures out that gas stations can pump fuel during power failures if they install emergency generators. This is a no-brainer. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-01-04 20:06 |