After looking into it, I found out that he is apparently trying to promote some sort of Wildlife Museum in San Juan…although others say he is sending a message to his political opponents. I just thought this was the strangest and yet oddly cool Christmas card I have ever seen. If a huge wildcat were devouring its prey right in front of you I don’t think you would smile so calmly and pleasantly. And check out the little girl on the left- she is just the cutest smug thing.

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

In this video he explains how it was part of the Museum promotion (although nowhere on the card does it say that) and how so many people have been superimposing themselves on the Internet with the killing scene. He said it is because Boricuas (Puerto Ricans) have limitless imagination. I do have to say that it is one of the most unique holiday greetings and they say that there is no such thing as bad publicity. So kudos to that.

In other odd holiday cheer closer to home (in our home), check out Schnoodle with really long arms. haha

Have a bizarre (and fun) Christmas one and all!

I am not sure how much CRIM, sellos y estampillas (property taxes, seals and stamps) normally cost, but it sounds like with this program they will be waived for a period of 5 years if you buy a house between September 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011! 

We’ve received conflicting information about property taxes in Puerto Rico and housing in general. It’s hard to find accurate information as every person we talk to has a different interpretation. Some people have even told us there is no property tax!? In any case, it sounds like good news for people like us who may buy a Puerto Rican house within this time period.

To read more about this new law check out this Caribbean Business article or this blog post.

“The fresh eggs from the recalled firms are being diverted to USDA-approved facilities for pasteurization,” Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Patricia El-Hinnawy said Wednesday.

Well honestly, that is about the expected result.  Instead of fixing the problem (large scale centralized food production) we come up with another quick fix.

I just find it amusing (especially after raising a few hens in our backyard) that there is all this hoorah about some eggs.  People really should just take matters into their own hands and raise a few themselves.  But as we’ve seen, the government does NOT want that. 

I mean just think.  People could be responsible for themselves and there wouldn’t be a need for a .gov agency to oversee EVERY single egg this country produces and consumes.  It really is laughable the lengths we Americans go to in order to feel safe.

Show me your papers

Britton and I have been thinking that life is like that Talking Heads song, Once in a Lifetime. “You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?” Sometimes Britton and I just look at each other and smile knowing that life is but a dream. You never know how one moment will lead to another. Yesterday, for instance, our cat and chickens were on the front page of the news.

It is sad, really how the whole chicken debate turned out. Mostly for people who will continue to live here and try to make this city a better place. I have tried, and believe me, it can be done, but it is HARD work. It is underappreciated work.

But Britton and I are ready to move on both literally and figuratively. We booked our next trip to Puerto Rico in mid-March! We are going to find a house! We are super excited. I can’t wait for the next moment when I look up and ask myself, “how did I get here?”, and then I’ll remember; what a strange life it is going gently down this stream.  

At the council meeting there was a large group that showed support for changing the ordinance in regards to backyard hens. A veterinarian, several well educated folks and basic hard working people. There were a few people who were against this change and they were against it for reasons of commercial scale operations, disease and one because she was allergic to feathers. One lady (this was the best one) was against it because chickens can be used to smuggle drugs. Yes once again, they are the root of all evil.

When it came time to vote the council members in support Mike Finn, Donna Sapienza and Sandy Elder provided the reasons for their support and I do appreciate that. The council members who voted no didn’t provide any rhyme or reason to their decision. They had no valid reason except that they didn’t agree with what I am doing in my backyard even if it has no effect on them. Since the vote was a tie, it didn’t pass.

I’m disappointed in our local governments ability to listen to the public and make a decision that empowers the individual.

Drawing by Rob Smith, Jr

Here we are at the finale, finally. How this issue got so big, I have no idea. People have been keeping chickens in Greeley, legally and as pets for many years, but this time it has the attention of the city and state. Apparently almost all the local radio stations and news stations were talking about them this morning. 

Britton and I just kind of chuckle to ourselves that we were a large factor behind this whole thing, and didn’t even want to be. We just wanted to be left alone to run our lives as we see fit. We weren’t bothering anyone; no one, including our next door neighbors even knew for almost 2 years that we even had them!

We aren’t too worried about the outcome. Either way, we get to keep our chickens. Both options are also actually not ideal. Option 1 is to keep it the way it is which is confusing because they allow 1 chicken for every 1/10 of an acre of land as part of the commercial livestock code. There is also another code, the domesticated animal, or pet code, that says “domesticated birds” are allowed, and there is no limit. So under that code, anyone with any chickens as “pets” would be fine.

Option 2 is the proposed code. To me, this is actually worse than option 1, but at least it legitimizes people having more chickens than the commercial code specifies. Option two is not ideal because it gives government WAY too much power and creates a problem where there isn’t one. To see the proposed code, go here.

The main arguments against chickens in general I hear are 1) smell or noise, 2) Greeley’s image and 3) they belong in the country. While I have already addressed those, I thought I would  give another response.

1) They do not smell any more than a dog or cat. If you keep their coop cleaned and especially if you allow them to free range in your yard like we do, there will not be any build up. If people keep a reasonable number as they would any other pet (say 4-6), there will be no smell to speak of. They are not noisy birds. From our front yard you could not tell we even had them. After we were in the newspaper the first time talking about our hens and got turned in by someone, the code enforcer thought she had the wrong house because she couldn’t see, smell or hear anything coming from our backyard.

2) Greeley’s image. Ah, yes. This is the ever lasting debate about Greeley. If you are not from Greeley, maybe you don’t even know this, but apparently Greeley has an image problem. I don’t think Greeley has too bad of an image. I’ve lived here my whole life and have never felt threatened, unsafe, or that our city services weren’t adequate. The only things I can think of is that we are an agricultural community with an economic base in feedlots and slaughterhouses. While I don’t agree that that is how we should raise and process beef and I think Greeley is a great case study of what our food system should NOT be doing, that is the reality.

With that basic fact, we have the occassional awful stench that hovers over Greeley, lower overall wages (and therefore lower cost of living which I think is great!), more poverty than elsewhere and the associated problems that poverty causes to a community.  Many of the people living in poverty come from Central America and Mexico to make a better life here and this is really what this chicken debate boils down to: racism. People are afraid we will turn into a “3rd World Country”. People have actually said this to me.

There are so many things wrong with these statements, but let me put it to you this way. Chickens and dogs live in developing countries. They also live here. Are dogs (or chickens) inherently bad just because in some areas their laws are different than ours? I agree that we need humane laws (like the current ones we have in Greeley), that chickens  -and dogs- should be fenced, that dogs and cats should be spayed and neutered and kept out of the streets. But this is not a reason to ban them altogether. Chickens don’t make “3rd World Nations”. They also don’t cause image problems, nearly every city in Colorado allows chickens. Many large, metropolitan and “hip” places (with great images) allow for chickens.

3) Chickens belong in the country…or…your backyard interferes with my backyard. Why do chickens belong in the country? Because that is the social norm? Do you realize that over 90% of the population lives in cities? And it’s only growing moreso. There are fewer and fewer “farmers” and unless we want all of our food and therefore our ability to be self-reliant and self-sufficient to be wiped away completely, we had better protect our ability to grow our own food, raise our own pets and know a little bit about what it’s like to live without the government or food conglomerates supporting us.

We should be allowed to be a little different. If we don’t have tolerance of others who are different, who try to live life differently in a way that is beneficial to them what’s to say that your differences won’t be on trial next? If your backyard can have 10 dogs (which in Greeley they can any number of pets), why can’t mine have 4 hens?

Chickens Chapter 18 52 035 FINAL DRAFT 12 29 092