The news looked as bleak as it ever had - nothing new there. China was still trying to figure how to stabilize itself after the rest of the world couldn't afford their cheap junk anymore. Pakistan was still deep into a three sided civil war, as India was sniffing at Kashmir. Again. Britain was mired in debt, as Wales threatened succession. Bodies were still piling up in Iraq. A new Pope was being sought...
Headlines from the US were a mix of violence, unemployment, and political rhetoric. Nothing new there, either - at least in the last 5 decades. California, once the worlds 4th largest economy, was reporting 14.9% unemployment. Sacremento was still locked down after the rioting from the past month, as residents interviewed while leaving the state capitol were telling of door-to-door searches, unexplained detainment and disappearances of loved ones. Arizona was still crying foul after their Federal funding was revoked over the never-ending immigration dilemma. The bodies of 16 Texas Rangers had been found in remote part of west Texas, ironically near a drug cartel border crossing...One 20 second feature really caught his attention out of all the other chaos; the video clip was showing military helicopters landing on a ranch in southern Colorado, troops deploying in full battle armor as they took up offensive positions. The video abruptly ended, but only after several shots were heard from the backround noise in the clip. The anchor was rattling on about some "domestic terrorism" investigation, then switched to another personality as she showcased some giant cupcake from somewhere in New Jersey. Mike thought it was funny that none of the people in that video clip looked very happy either.
The incident that had caught his eye from the news had begun a few months back and had captured the headlines for the first few weeks. As far as Mike was concerned, the ordeal had actually began with the Colorado governor signing a significant piece of legislation that, in effect, forced Colorado ranchers and farmers to keep at least half of their production in Colorado. The Feds and the state were going to be the financiers of the deal, as well as the only customers. The only catch was the fact that they were only going to be paying 45 cents on the dollar. That little tidbit of information had been kept undisclosed for the most part, at least until the law had been signed. Obviously, it hadn't gone over well.
The Denver news had covered a few days worth of protests, an "illegal assembly" or two, and a handful of suicides. Then coverage of anything even related to the bill, its passage, and the ensuing outcome just vanished.
Mike got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to make coffee. Their little kitchen was cramped, but they both spent most of their time in there, at least when they had a chance to be at home. After a near disaster with precious $20 a pound store brand coffee, and the added chicory to make up for the necessarily weak brew, he headed back to the laptop to dig up something online about the ranch story from the news. What little he found was disturbing.
Apparently, a group of 8 ranches down in Las Animas County had worked with one another to drive their collective herds across the state line into New Mexico. The state and the Feds didn't approve, and asked New Mexico authorities to intervene, in good faith of course. New Mexico had refused, and the Feds sent in a "team" to deal with the ranchers and drive 20,000 head of cattle back into Colorado. Somewhere in all of the jurisdictional maneuvering, the cattle had ended up being asserted as Federal property. Colorado, ever dependent on Federal tax dollars, folded and looked the other way. Now, almost 50 people associated with the 8 original "breakaway" ranches had been detained, 4 others had been gunned down in "standoffs", and the couple that ran the ranch on the border where the cattle had actually crossed were being sought as "domestic terrorists". The video clip being aired on a select few networks was still being speculated upon, but most were assuming the "terrorists" had been found. They weren't expected to survive.
Mike had a sick feeling in his gut, not only from what he was reading, but also because he was seeing that more and more non-network news sites and blogs were disappearing. There was rampant speculation of the causes, but he saw the simplicity for what it was. If you asked questions, you got shut down. Or worse. Detained without charges worse. Disappeared worse....
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