Thomas N. Trosin, CF, CTF, CJF

I am a Kansas Basketball fan. Don't know why, just always have been. With that little insight, personally, if I were a NCAA basketball referee I would had T'ed up Bill Self for taking advantage of a stoppage of play in the KU - K- State game yesterday. But the game was close and I can understand why they didn't do it. They didn't want to interfere with what was a great game. You learn that if you ever take an officiating class and I respect those men for their decision.

Super Bowl Sunday, a day that is a defacto national holiday and for many people an excuse to call in sick the following Monday, the group Focus on the Family will run a 30 second commercial featuring Tim Tivo and his mother Pam. It is being called an anti-abortion ad. I think it's an opportunity for a young man to thank his mother for risking her life so that he could have his. Not exactly what I would be pimping if I were Dr. James Dobson (founder and leader of FotF) if I had the 2.5 mil to drop on a commercial during the big game, but you have to go with what you got.

Personally I would find a child of a woman who became pregnant out of wed lock and upon informing the father was abandon. A mother who had the option of abortion, but carried the child to term and let the cards fall where they may, but come hell or high water she was going to give that child the best life she possibly could. A child of a woman who made the decision not because of health concerns, family support or lack of it, or faith, but because she viewed the child she carried as a responsibility. I'm sure such a person exists in this day and age. They go along and make your life better every day by making sure your breakfast order is correct or that your dry cleaning is done to your satisfaction. I have met one that makes sure that the commercial air liner he is piloting lands safely and you reach your destination (no his names not Sullenburger.) But such is complacency of modern religion so Tim Tivo is what you get because he is famous and a born again Christian.

If I do begrudge FotF for one thing it's definitely not for this commercial, but it's for the help that 2.5 Million plus (production costs) would have provided for families in the position of the woman and child I described. Pam Tivo's ticket is punched after this years NFL Draft and if it isn't, then I will take exception to Tim Tivo and this commercial.

Labels: Dr. James Dobson, KU Basketball, Super Bowl Ad, Tim Tivo

Call me a liberal, that's fine, but your wrong.

Every other day or so I get another what I'll call anti Spanish email or post on Facebook concerning announcements on business lines that ask (in Spanish of course) for Espanol press 2 or 8 or 4 or whatever.

My righty friends will claim that this is work of the Obama Government or the ACLU, or the liberals, but it's not. It's businesses that want every one's money. Funny thing about corporate America is that they like money and they don't really give two shits where it come from as long as it adds to their bottom line. People who speak spanish want to buy things much in the same manner as english speaking folks and I would think that they would have the same expectation of service as I would when dropping cash on a computer, a big screen TV, or when leaving my money in someones custody. So I am of the opinion of, who cares, it took 3 seconds away from my phone call that will likely end in frustration anyway. I have better concerns when I call Chase Bank, Sears Service, Gateway, or any of the hundred other institutions that ask if you speak spanish to punch another number.

If you doubt me, take Paul Jones Jr. a running quarter horse trainer, well not just a running quarter horse trainer, at the moment he's THE running quarter horse trainer. I think if I asked him if the ability to speak fluent spanish has helped his business or not, I'm sure that the answer would be yes. When I first met Paul all those years ago, he had six or seven horses stabled at Los Alamitos, now he has won the training title there for something like 8 or 9 consecutive years. Over those years you might have noticed the rise in spanish surnames in the owners section of the form as well, many of them he's trained for and showed kindness to. There are now quite a few trainers of Mexican decent at Los Al, but when Paul started you could count them on one hand, and being a business savy person, Paul had the advantage over trainers who didn't speak spanish I'm sure.

I guess if I have a point, it's don't hate. It's business, nothing personal. If you don't like those recordings then make your vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere. Chances are you will be looking for awhile to find some bank or other business that doesn't say "Para español aprieta ocho."

We Interrupt my current train of thought to bring you the following:

The San Fanciscio Chronicle reports that if 958 people voted in California Tom Campbell would loose to Barbara Boxer in Novembers Senate race. Further of the 958 more are likely to vote for Campbell in the June primary over Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore. Politico.com did report that despite the numbers Fiorina is polling better among male Republicans than Campbell, but Campbell is polling better among women. With no report, I am only left to presume that DeVore is still maintains his lead with Fox watchers who wear their tinfoil hats with a jaunty tilt.

Update to yesterdays blog post. Spanish candidate Al Ramirez stated on his Facebook page that he is still wants 10,000 signatures on his petition to run for Senate, which is 7,000 more than required by the Secretary of State, which should provide a safe cushion when it comes time to validate signature; good idea, better safe than sorry.

If there is a candidate who's back is against the wall at the moment, it's Ramirez. His name wasn't even mentioned in any of the California Papers on-line reports about the latest field poll or on Politico.com. I guess that whole theory that you need to be recognized by the SoS before your a candidate still holds water. Besides the signatures, Ramirez needs money, but he needs to get his ducks lined up first. Good luck Al you and your views deserve equal time.

More on Money: Apparently everyone in the race is gripping for cash right now except Fiorina. Papers report this morning that Campbell wasn't able to transfer any of his gubernatorial funds to his senate campaign, DeVore's campaign stated that they raised $665,000 as of the 11th of January almost exactly half of what Fiorina was able to raise in the same period. Further Fiorina has lent her campaign an additional $2,500,000.

Further update: Carley Fiorina was in California before I was but then left to got to college in Maryland. I stand corrected.

Labels: Al Ramirez, campaign cash, Carly Fiorina, Chuck DeVore, polls, SF Gate, Tom Campbell

First a correction.

Brother Price wrote: " Yellow Dog is a perjorative term, dear brother".

I think he meant pejorative, which bummed me out, first because my brother is a multiple spelling champion and that the word when spelled correctly, means "derogatory". Denigrating the Swedish side of my family was not my intent but I couldn't come up another phrase that would clearly state that they would vote for a yellow dog before they voted for a Republican.

Brother Price continues: "Please regard the fact that the part of your family that is nearer to Asgard has and had nothing to do with the south, "

True Fact as the lovely and Honorable Peggy Frackrell would say. Both sides of my family are from the mid-west originally.
With all apologies. Noted.

A continuation of Wednesday's rainy day post.

I think its clear that I am not a Barbara Boxer (D-CA) fan. Not for the reasons you might think, but needing to refer to her in a distinguished title, something I thought was reserved for Judges only added to it. I don't like her, I even voted for Bill Jones and I'm a moderate. She's dismissive, she thinks she knows about where I live even though she rarely comes down here, and I haven't liked any of her hair styles. The straw that broke the camels back was in 2004 when she had a comfortable lead on the aforementioned Mr. Jones. She demanded and got more campaign money from the Democratic National Committee. Why would you do that? She damn sure didn't need it and it only served to hurt democratic candidates in other parts of the country. No telling what she did with that money either. Perhaps she will come forward and let us know one day in a tell all book. Hopefully soon, she'll have plenty of time on her hands. All that said before you go out to beat the Senator you gotta win a primary.

By law in California, you can only vote for partisan candidates if you are a member of their party. If you go vote on primary day, and you are listed as an independent or decline to state, you will be handed a ballot with only propositions and other non partisan positions such as city counsel, Judges, etc. This was the result of a fear that people would "ballot load," which was a politicians explanation that people would jump from their own party to elect a weaker candidate. This came to fruition in the 2008 Presidential election when people jumped party lines in South Carolina to vote for Hillary Clinton in order to stop Barack Obama's winning streak. So I guess there is a point to it.

None the less it's not fair, I shouldn't have to register with either party to decide who represents me in congress and that decision begins at the primary level. Decline to state is the third largest voting segment in the state and nearly eclipses those who are not registered to vote at all. I decline to declare allegiance to either party because I don't believe in their entire platform. I am just as down on "tax and spend", "cap and trade", as I am on "refund and war" and "a corporation has the same rights as a person".

When voting reform came to California, it would have been so simple to make a law that said only decline to state and independent voters would have the option to vote in either primary and that if you were registered party member you were stuck where you were. That's not happening because political parties are greedy and in this day and age where the next campaign begins immediately after the last, who can blame them. It is defiantly better if the parties have us all wedged in to convenient little boxes so they don't have to do much outreach. It is easier to poach from another party or move money from a weak campaign than it is to try to figure out independent voters.

At any rate, when I re-register to vote next week it's going to be as a Republican, so I can have my say on who runs against the Senator. Her supporters will say my reasons are silly, maybe they are. But California needs selfless representation in Washington and I can't see the Senator getting off of her high horse (HA! horse reference) to think about the people of California.

Sunday- a horseshoeing post of some sort

Labels: California Primaries, Price, the Senator

Keeping in mind that I realize that I bill this as a "horse" blog, there is other stuff that interests me. Politics for one has been a family fascination on both the sire and dam side (there, that will keep it horsey.)

My Mother's side is chalk full of yellow dog democrats, heck we're Swedish so there has to be a bit of social consciousness. My Father's side is immutably republican, not conservative in the current definition; they have hearts. Thus by nurture, I have become decidable moderate, which pisses my father off because I'm the most conservative of his 4 boys and he perceives me as liberal, and pisses my brother Price off because he thinks I'm too conservative. Mom on the other hand is all good because she enjoys our political conversations.

So while the rest of America (especially Fox) was incorrectly commenting on how the election back east was a "Federal Referendum" on Obama last night, I was holding out hope that it is possible to defeat a dismissive, aloof, female, democrat.

Long has the California Republican Party tried to dislodge our (California's) Junior senator, Barbara Boxer to no avail. The CRP has ponied up tomato cans Bruce Herschensohn, a T.V. commentator who banked his campaign on the "flat tax", former state Treasurer Matt Fong who was defeated by the cheer "Fong is Wrong", and Bill Jones who is best known for authoring California's three strikes law, but is mostly forgettable. So it's no wonder that she is still around.

So last night as my heart leap with joy, this morning my hopes were violently dashed on the rocks of reality. Oh joyous was it for me to learn on the other side of the slate was; Tom Campbell, who has the charisma of a rock and absolutely no haberdashery sense. Chuck DeVore who's web page was running a shout out from a woman from Texas this morning. Al Ramirez who pains to point out on his website that he is Spanish and not Mexican. Finally, Carly Fiorina, who is recovering from cancer, so I won't make light of her for the time being.

The fact that only Ramirez has posted an opinion on the environment (DeVore does address water), should concern everyone because historically a Republican with no environmental position generally lean, though sometimes unintentionally, to the side of industry. Further none of them are Cal Bred (another dash of horsey.) Now I realize that this sounds hypocritical because I didn't get here until 1983, but I still beat 3 of the 4 out here, Campbell being the lone exception.

None of them are coming anywhere near where I live in the low high desert with the exception of Campbell who has one appearance listed in North Hollywood, 35 miles to the south. So much for getting in your pick up truck. But to be fair, as a person who has seen what little of the state that he has, all by pick up truck, which I'll wager is more than Scott Brown clocked in all of Massachusetts, it's no picnic.


Friday- California Senate Race and California's Honked Up Election Laws.

Labels: Al Ramirez, California Senate Election, Carly Fiorina, Chuck DeVore, Pick Ups, the Senator, Tom Campbell

and water is for fighting, is an old very old adage. It goes back to one of the water wars in Americas past history, I’m not quite sure which one.

As I watched the Rose Parade with dread and the imagination of potential Yankee immigrants that might want to escape the clutches of winter (it’s true), I thought about putting on my Facebook page something to the effect of “Yankee’s stay home! We have beautiful weather, but no money, no jobs and no water."

Whatever the reason, California is running out of water. I know, but it’s true. NASA scientists recently gave a lecture using satellite imagery that showed beyond what we knew about the low level in our reservoirs that we are running out of ground water as well. The debacle over the Delta Smelt is merely inconvenient.

Danvers Child who is a farrier and current editor of the American Farriers Association’s “Professional Farrier” once said that proper horse care involves salt by the handful and water by the bucket, if you are one of the lucky few to had privledge to work for mama Carol you learned this. If we allow ourselves to put the question to thought, it takes a lot of water to take care of a horse properly. They need water to drink, water to bathe them, water to help keep their environment clean and as fly hostile as possible. Horses (especially race horses) need ice to help reduce swelling, water to keep the dust down in work and competition areas. Water to swim in during recovery, and perhaps soon at a vet clinic near you, water to wake up from surgery.

The horse business has problems enough. First and foremost there is already a negative perception of the business not only from the far left, but from people who had bad experiences as owners, we have no advocates in Sacramento, the horses that are bred here are perceived as being lower quality by the rest of the world add to that, all facets of the horse business have charlatans that continue to muck it up for those of us who have taken the time to learn and become true professionals. California’s water crisis is only going to complicate matters further.So what can we as a business do to stem this?

First thing is quit hose bathing horses. I realize sponge bathing horses takes more time, but in the grand scheme of things it takes only 10 gallons of water to bathe a standard horse (a little more for warm bloods of course) with a short coat versus a water horse that on average pressure can let out 5 gallons a minute. If you insist on hose bathing your horse, then turn off the water when you are doing things like scrubbing legs or manes and tails.

Talk to your vet about how much water your horse should be drinking in a day’s time and monitor that with buckets or water tubs and get away from the automatic watering devices.

Last thing is stuff that you do around your house. Check for leaking hose bibs, plant climate friendly plants around your barn, if you run an ice machine make sure that it is as efficient as possible.We as an industry need to be proactive about this, because when the environmentalists and the state come knocking, and they will, we want to show that we are a responsible people not only to our horses, but to our community as well.