Texas Tries a New Farming Strategy: Prayer

Ah, Texas. (4.00 / 2)

Gotta love 'em. The more times change, the more they remain the same.

A Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union

In all the non-slave-holding States, in violation of that good faith and comity which should exist between entirely distinct nations, the people have formed themselves into a great sectional party, now strong enough in numbers to control the affairs of each of those States, based upon an unnatural feeling of hostility to these Southern States and their beneficent and patriarchal system of African slavery, proclaiming the debasing doctrine of equality of all men, irrespective of race or color - a doctrine at war with nature, in opposition to the experience of mankind, and in violation of the plainest revelations of Divine Law. They demand the abolition of negro slavery throughout the confederacy, the recognition of political equality between the white and negro races, and avow their determination to press on their crusade against us, so long as a negro slave remains in these States.
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They have proclaimed, and at the ballot box sustained, the revolutionary doctrine that there is a "higher law" than the constitution and laws of our Federal Union, and virtually that they will disregard their oaths and trample upon our rights.
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We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.

That in this free government all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states.
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For these and other reasons, solemnly asserting that the federal constitution has been violated and virtually abrogated by the several States named, seeing that the federal government is now passing under the control of our enemies to be diverted from the exalted objects of its creation to those of oppression and wrong, and realizing that our own State can no longer look for protection, but to God and her own sons

- We the delegates of the people of Texas, in Convention assembled, have passed an ordinance dissolving all political connection with the government of the United States of America and the people thereof and confidently appeal to the intelligence and patriotism of the freemen of Texas to ratify the same at the ballot box, on the 23rd day of the present month.

Adopted in Convention on the 2nd day of Feby, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one and of the independence of Texas the twenty-fifth.

I dunno, Rick. Maybe God is just confused?

By the way, gentle readers, do not ever let anyone try to tell you the Civil War was not about slavery.

I hope this was not too off topic, tomorrow being Easter and all.

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by: count @ Sun Apr 24, 2011 at 03:28:23 AM UTC

It's a damn shame... (4.00 / 2)

...that Molly Ivins isn't around to bless us with some choice commentary on this

Only that good ol' Texas populist perspective could adequately describe the fella she dubbed Gov. Good Hair

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by: RaucousRooster @ Sun Apr 24, 2011 at 17:02:31 PM UTC

Texas agriculture (4.00 / 2)

Rain dances and prayers probably won't end this drought, and they certainly will not recharge the Ogallala aquifer. Texas already can't maintain its reservoirs during a drought. What happens if Texans lose the ability to irrigate? Will Texas become the first U.S. state to abandon industrial agriculture?

How Bad Is the Ogallala Aquifer's Decline in Texas?

Kate Galbraith
6/17/2010

But the aquifer's levels are declining sharply here. In a dry growing season last year, the High Plains Water District, which includes all or part of 15 Panhandle counties, recorded an average drop of 1.5 feet, the most since 1997. The rains have returned, but the 2007 state water plan projects that the Ogallala's volume will fall a staggering 52 percent between 2010 and 2060, as corn and cotton growers continue to draw from its depths. The consequences for farmers could be severe: The use of big pivot irrigation - the lifeblood of the Panhandle - could be cut back severely in 10 to 20 years if current usage patterns continue, researchers at Texas Tech University estimate.
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In general, he says, Texans are probably pumping the Ogallala at about six times the rate of recharge.
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Randy Criswell, the city manager of Canyon, in the Panhandle, says Canyon had purchased rights to another aquifer, the Dockum, in the last three years. (The Dockum is slightly deeper than the Ogallala and in some parts more brackish.) One reason was that the field of Ogallala wells that the city relies on for water - while never the most prolific wells in Texas - do not produce as much as 20, 30 or 40 years ago, he said. "It absolutely, without a doubt, has diminished with its ability to produce water," Criswell said.

Perhaps Texas Tech - or, you know, Monsanto - is researching commodity crops that don't need water.

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by: count @ Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 06:05:06 AM UTC