And little goats eat ivy

Those with time on their hands over the next two weeks might want to mosey over to Fayetteville's Wilson Park for a bit of poison-ivy-eatin' greedy goat ganderin' (sorry, couldn't resist).

It's not every day that we're treated to the spectacle of a herd of happy goats slowly munching municipal poison ivy and other invasive plants that have invaded the popular family park.

Connie Rieper-Estes, who owns Greedy Goats of Northwest Arkansas, is providing boer and nubian breeds to devour these plant pests that includes tenacious, bushy honeysuckle and thick, shrubby privet.

From the goats' perspective, this opportunity offers as many choices as a Golden Corral at Easter.

Kristina Jones, a volunteer and coordinator for the city's Parks and Recreation Department, told reporter Joel Walsh the battle with these invasive and noxious plants has gone on for years. Until this gathering of goats, the problem was usually resolved with chain saws and herbicides. Clearly, this innovative method keeps the goats fat and sassy while being far more civilized and environmentally friendly, especially in a city park.

And it appears from Jones' comments that if this program works well, it could become the norm as Fayetteville acquires future parklands.

Going goat to clear the poison ivy and others wouldn't be groundbreaking. Cities such as Knoxville, Tenn., and Boston already use goats and other animals to maintain control over their invasive ivies, weeds and bushes.

Boozman gets fiery

It was downright refreshing to see our senior senator, John Boozman--better known for his mild-mannered, congenial demeanor--publicly expressing some fiery exasperation the other day.

It's good to have a person in his influential position stand up and, in effect, scream "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" Please senator, tell me your ire wasn't just for the media.

I'm talking about Boozman's comments made during and after a hearing by the Federal Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee he chairs.

In that session, those responsible for the Office of Personnel Management and its data breach that exposed personal information about millions of fellow Americans tried to explain how their disgraceful bumbling and incompetence could have allowed such a devastating security lapse.

In an interview with Fox Business' Neil Cavuto, the Republican senator called the inept agency's failure a "sloppy, shoddy job" of protecting vital personal data. I'd have called it criminal negligence and called for multiple firings, beginning with the clearly inept director, Katherine Archuleta. Yeah, go ahead, call me Donald Trump.

"The American people have lost faith in their institutions," Boozman said upon opening the hearing. "The last thing they will do is trust Washington to solve a problem when it can't even protect the personal information of those it employs. There needs to be a dramatic change in the status quo."

Amen! That's the kind of straight talk I hope both Arkansas senators will shout long and loud, then put action behind their words to make sure genuine change occurs on behalf of our population. Enough of the lies, the obvious and ugly political agendas over truth, the corruption, resulting scandals and wholesale incompetence.

Now feel free to ask how I truly feel about the many far less than courageous or capable people we must depend upon today as "leaders."

Intervening voices

In response to my recent column describing distinct yet disembodied voices that warn some among us of impending calamity, I received a couple of interesting reactions from readers.

Ted Smith of Hot Springs Village told me, "I experienced something very unusual [in a parking lot]. When I was ready to leave, the parking spot beside me and the one ahead of it were empty. I was getting ready to pull through forward instead of backing up. But a pickup came in from the other side and pulled into the spot beside me. I thought, 'aw shucks,' now I have to back out. My attention was on the pickup. I started backing when I distinctly heard: 'Ted!' I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the two people walking behind my car. If I hadn't been alerted, I'd probably have backed into them. Who alerted me? I clearly heard my name. No one was with me and no one was standing beside the car to say my name. I believe it was God who called my name and averted an accident."

Ron Wood of Fayetteville wrote: "This happened when I was 19 and about ready to start Bible college. I was riding home on my Honda motorcycle in Lakeland, Florida, turning left off a four-lane highway onto a two-lane road that curved around the lake.

"Just as I leaned into the turn and started accelerating into the banked S-curve, I heard a distinct voice say, 'slow down! Danger ahead!' It startled me. I relaxed my grip on the throttle. Just ahead I saw, on the other end of the S-curve, a vehicle had stopped in their lane but left the driver's door open into my lane. If I hadn't slowed, I'd have smashed into that door. I've thought a lot about that event. I now fit it into the category of hearing ... from an angel who by speaking spared me injury or death."

Have a similar story to share, valued reader?

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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].

Editorial on 06/27/2015

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