Punishing the Innocent

   A number of people have asked me, now that we are back from Christmas vacation what are we doing on the farm? Isn't it a slow time of year? Yes, and no.

   

   We are pre-irrigating cotton ground. We are working to finish pruning the almond trees by the middle of the month.

  Speaking of the almonds. A few of you have asked if the cold weather hurts the almonds. Actually, we need some more cold weather now to set a proper crop later. Almonds and other fruit and nut trees need a certain amount  of "chilling hours" to be properly dormant. In spite of the weather in recent weeks, we are not quite there yet. UC Davis has a cool website that helps us monitor our local chilling hours. So, my apologies to those who are freezing in this weather, we need a few more weeks. That being said, I hope things are properly warm and dry next month when the trees start blooming.

   And then there are always projects around the shop. So we are busy refurbishing a pump and getting equipment ready for the Spring rush. Yes, there is less field than the busy times of year. But, the more we use our down time to prepare for the busy times the better off we are. Less boredom now and less excitement later.

   Oh, by the way, I will be doing a reading of stories from my book, This Week on the Farm, at Peeve's Public House in Fresno on February 5th at 7pm. Come on down for a pint and an interesting evening with friends. You can find more on Peeves at http://peevespub.com/

Punishing the Innocent

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright January 2015

            Among the new laws in California for 2015 is another example of punishing the innocent.

            If a farmer employs a contract labor and the labor contractor shorts his employees the farmers can now be held liable. Excuse me, why not punish the contractor?

            Workers not getting paid is a terrible thing and must end. But, why not punish those who short change their employees? Your newspaper deliverer does not work for the Bee. If the paper person does not get paid by the Bee, are you liable? I wouldn’t think so. The workers would go after the Bee. As they should.

            Have you noticed this has been the pattern lately? You have doubts? Fair enough. How about college campus rapes? This was one of the big stories of 2014. Rape is already illegal. So is consuming alcohol for people under 21. But, in response to this national epidemic instead of punishing rapists and people who sell or give alcohol to minors every student at Fresno State will no go through training on the subject. Excuse me? Rape is a horrible crime. The problem of alcohol on our college campuses is getting worse. Instead of dealing with the issue head on, those in charge wring their hands and institute more “training”.

            I’m sure you can think of other examples. While the Governor is letting people out of jail for “minor” drug offenses and we have redefined many felonies down to misdemeanors,  you and I have a larger bundle of laws stacked on our necks each year. Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?