The article below gives a nice overview of what is happening in Wyoming on the Food Freedom front. What I would like to draw everyone’s attention to is the last bit of the article:

“The changes are in response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s revisions to the food code, which provides the latest scientific information on food safety.”

I’ve ranted about the Food Code, and how horrific it is because every adopted version automatically adopts all updates by inference. The Food Code is not law, not regulation, but FDA initiatives and guidelines. The States, counties and municipalities adopt this wallowing behemoth and sign a blank check for future impositions on their citizens. It’s not law, it’s soft law gone wild.

Here’s the article to get an idea of what the Food Code brings into being with no elected official oversight:

Trusting God will save the farm

Mountain Grove, Missouri (CNN) — Thunder clapped and rain fell just before Bionce, Sassy and the rest of Mark Argall’s prize-winning dairy herd went up for auction.

Had the storm come a few weeks earlier, and if the drought had eased, it might have saved the cows — some of which were named with a bit of poetic license (“You can spell names however you want,” he said) for pop-culture divas and celebrities.

As it was, however, Argall’s pasture was so dry that his cattle had nothing to eat, and the farmer was losing $75 a day just trying to feed them.

When I was doing my radio show on Liberty News Radio, I had the opportunity to have Pat Trask on for an hour long interview. This was right after the Geertsen Seeds ruling that was supposed to require a full enviornmental impact study to be done before GMO (Round Up Ready) Alfalfa was allowed to planted en masse. I can’t go into all the ins and outs of how that ended up being pushed by the wayside right now, but suffice to say, the USDA did what they do best and approved a dangerous and destructive product despite the ruling. The following article will give you some insight into this issue. If possible, please support this suit….

Organic farmers are among the plaintiffs suing Monsanto. (photo: Annie Corrigan/WFIU)

Farmers Fight Monsanto’s Threats and Intimidation

By Dave Gutknecht, Co-operative News

21 August 12

major lawsuit against Monsanto was denied in at the district court and has been appealed. On July 5, 2012, seventy-five family farmers, seed businesses, and agricultural organizations representing over 300,000 individuals and 4,500 farms filed a brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., asking the appellate court to reverse a lower court’s decision from February dismissing their protective legal action against agricultural giant Monsanto’s patents on genetically engineered seed.

The plaintiffs brought the pre-emptive case against Monsanto in March 2011 in the Southern District of New York (Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association et al. v Monsanto) and specifically seek to defend themselves from nearly two dozen of Monsanto’s most aggressively asserted patents on GMO seed. They were forced to act pre-emptively to protect themselves from Monsanto’s abusive lawsuits, fearing that if GMO seed contaminates their property despite their efforts to prevent such contamination, Monsanto will sue them for patent infringement.

Lead plaintiff in the suit (and the main source for this report) is the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (www.osgata.org), a not-for-profit agricultural organization made up of organic farmers, seed growers, seed businesses and supporters. OSGATA is committed to developing and protecting organic seed and its growers in order to ensure the organic community has access to excellent quality organic seed – seed that is free of contaminants and adapted to the diverse needs of local organic agriculture….read the rest here.

Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/sports/ci_21169780/tables-turned-humane-society?refresh=no#%23ixzz22nUjiV1D#ixzz22raNO4Q3

In the saga of the Shropshire sheep, charges have been levied against the owner and Michael Schmidt. Here is the press release:

Farmers Could Face 14 years on Alleged Conspiracy

Canadian Officials Raid Farms After Farmer Proposes Compromise on Assessing Disease in Rare Breed Sheep

Ontario, CA–August 6, 2012— (GlobeNewswire)  On August 2 2012 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) raided the farms of Ontario farmer Michael Schmidt and Montana Jones in connection with the disappearance of Jones’ herd of genetically rare Shropshire sheep.  CFIA brought 20 officers and multiple police cars to conduct the 7:00am raid on the Schmidt’s farm.  During the 8-hour raid, officers confiscated all electronic recording devices from the home and farm, including computers, cell phones and cameras.  Schmidt and Jones both faces possible conspiracy charges that could result in up to 14 years in prison.

In March of this year, a group calling themselves the “Farmers Peace Corps” claimed responsibility for the disappearance of the sheep that were destined for slaughter due to a connection with the disease Scrapie.  While Scrapie is not transmissible to humans and causes no threat to people, it is seen by the CFIA as a threat to other sheep.  In June, the Shropshire sheep were found and immediately destroyed by CFIA.  They all tested negative for the disease.  CFIA is refusing Jones the appropriate compensation for her sheep.

The raid on Schmidt’s Glencolton Farm and Jones’ farm, and possible charges against them both, come in conjunction with an announcement Schmidt made on behalf of Farmers Peace Corp.  In the statement, Schmidt stated, “The actions of the CFIA remind me of the history of my native Germany, where genetic cleansing became a tragic and horrible national policy.”

During a follow-up meeting with CFIA investigators, Schmidt asked them to examine their current policy of mass eradication.  “I told them we need to find an exemption to the killing program, like they have in England,” says Schmidt.  “However, rather than constructive dialogue we get this response: police with guns, a raid and these potential criminal charges. The destruction of these rare healthy sheep and this raid are not about Scrapie.  They want to show who calls the shots here.”

Information about farm raids: FarmFoodFreedom.org Further information about Glencolton Farm thebovine.wordpress.com

Jill Richardson wrote a great article about just two of the very serious issues with the version of the Farm Bill under consideration right now. I have copied it below and encourage anyone who is interested at all in having a decent food supply to read it.

Also of note, Congress is considering drought relief legislation that they are indicating will be approached as a single issue in a single bill. Keep your eyes on that process because whenever there is something they believe they must address quickly it is always a bit dangerous for the rest of us.
Here is the excerpt from Richardson’s article:

fter a series of court defeats over the past few years, Monsanto and friends are trying to use Congress to make an end-run around the courts and current law. Lawsuits brought by opponents of genetically engineered (GE) crops resulted in the temporary removal of two products – Roundup Ready Alfalfa and Roundup Ready Sugarbeets – from the market. If the biotechnology industry and the legislators they support have their way, future GE crops will not suffer the same fate.

Genetically engineered crops are plants that have had genes from other species inserted into their DNA. “Roundup Ready”crops like alfalfa and sugarbeets fall in a class of GE crops called “herbicide tolerant” crops, which are engineered to survive exposure to Monsanto’s bestselling herbicide Roundup. Farmers spray their entire fields with Roundup, killing only the weeds. Monsanto profits by selling both the seeds and increased quantities of Roundup herbicide.

The “Big 6” pesticide and genetic engineering corporations – BASF, Bayer, Dupont, Dow, Syngenta, and Monsanto – have made millions while providing everyone else with questionable benefits and enormous risks. The riskiness of genetically engineered crops comes in part from their ability to cross-pollinate crops in other fields, spreading their genes far and wide. Once a new genetically engineered crop is introduced, the genie is out of the bottle, and those genes are in our food supply for good. Therefore, it’s in everyone’s interest (except for the biotech companies that stand to profit) to thoroughly examine any new crop before allowing it on the market…..(full article here)

Focus on Freedom Conference

Anyone who can make this conference will be rewarded with good information and a chance to be surrounded by other people who hold freedom near and dear. It is always a good time. This year there are great deal of candidates for all levels of office. If you need to know more about them, I encourage you to attend.

12th Conference on Private Property Rights
July 28 – 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
YMCA Mountain Grove, Missouri

Directions to the YMCA, E. 9th & YMCA Drive
On Highway 95 in Mountain Grove, turn east on E. 9th,
Between Casey’s & Town & Country Bank, Go to YMCA Dr. on right

Conference Agenda (not written in stone)

8:30 a.m. — Coffee and doughnuts (Thanks to Kim Kosmicke)
9:00 a.m.  — Opening prayer  – Pledge of allegiance—Welcome
Updates from various OPRC Chapters
9:30 a. m. to 10:30 a.m.— Ray Cunio – Agenda 21
Latest developments and positive actions to take.
10:30 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.— Break
10:40 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.— Doreen Hannes  “Lemonade is a Controlled Substance”
The progressing control of our food choices and what we can do about it.
11:30 a.m. to Noon —Dirk Shea—”How a Constitutional Sheriff Protects a County’s Citizens.” The importance of the Sheriff’’s office & its relevance to citizen’ rights.
Noon — Presentation of the c. Russel Wood Memorial REAL Conservationist Award
12:05 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. — Lunch on your own at area restaurants.
1:00 p. m. — Bob Parker—”How Big Government is Destroying the Economy”
1:45 p. m. to 4:00 p.m.—Candidates for offices at Federal level first, then State level, followed by local level.

Your vote is important! Vote August 7th!

While it isn’t surprising to me at all that people want to verify the quotes that reporters are ascribing to them, the implications of this particular method are a little bit more than frightening. That you must clear quotes from the White House, that they come back heavily redacted to the reporters, and that the reporters discuss this on the grounds that they remain anonymous is, well, a little Orwellian. Isn’t it? You can read the story here.

Then the real issue behind the issue is rather thoroughly laid out in this article which clearly points to a very serious issue within our society. For starters, the massive corporate consolidation within our nation is a major problem in not only media, but agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, retail outlets, and more.

The consolidation of all sectors and control of information to the majority by only a few leads one to recall what was reportedly a quote from Henry Ford, “You can have any color you want, so long as it’s black.”

The problem seems to me to be that we have a government that doesn’t enforce the laws on the books that are actually beneficial to the freedom to profit from our labor, and the breaking up of monopolies under various federal acts just isn’t happening. This leads to the thinking that the federal government must bail out corporations that are “too big to fail”, while the same entity (the government) doesn’t enforce the laws that are meant to halt the danger of things becoming “too big to fail”. Inevitably, this top heavy control paradigm leads to the thing that really should be “too big to fail”…That being our freedom and our nation and the opportunity for individuals to make it or break it on their own merit and effort.

There is no bail out available for the failure of principles. The sacrifice of decency on the alter of corporate consolidation and continued campaign contributions keeps the charade rolling on. As we choose our candidates for state and federal offices it seems to me that we must push them on the issue of breaking up this excessive consolidation.

I realize that there is a fair argument that our votes don’t even count, but I am also certain that the abysmal turn outs at primaries and the continuous return of the same people into positions that can effect positive change are largely responsible for our situation.

Get as informed as you can and try to make a difference by deciding who it is you have to choose from as your representatives.  As I am fond of saying, and as appears to hold true to history, it all comes down to the consent of the governed.

$25 Million of Dirtwork at Bird’s Point

Last year I did a rather thorough piece on the aftermath of the Bird’s Point Levee intentional breach. If you are unfamiliar with that issue, please read my article here. Just for a little back ground, it was recently reported in the South East Missourian that $25 million had been spent on the “restoration” of the levee thus far. Then, on June 20th, it was reported in the same paper that work couldn’t progress on the project (restoring the levee to 55 feet) because the Army Corps of Engineers had received an objection in their reward of contract for an additional $20million.

Today, it was reported that work would begin again on the levee restoration project.

To put this in perspective, if you paid $250 per hour to 10 dozer operators, you would spend $20,000 per day. At that rate, for $25,000,000 in tax payer dollars, you could have 10 dozers working full time for 3.4 years! 1250 days. If you add the new expenditures of $20 million to it, you would have ten dozers working 8 hours a day, five days a week for the next 6.16 years.

The breach in the levee was 2 full miles long. When I was in school, a mile was 5,280 feet. That means that the two-mile breach is 10, 560 linear feet. Thus, to date, nearly $2400 per linear foot has been spent on bringing the “levee” a fair bit short of its original height. After the disputed $20 million is spent, the cost per linear foot will be $4261 per linear foot.

This is the government’s idea of restoring a levee.

While they may be out there somewhere, I have never found any figure given for the cost of blowing the perfectly working levee up. So whatever the cost of a couple of barges hauling pumpable explosives up the Mississippi might be, add that to the University of Missouri’s projected crop loss of $85 million, and you have a massive expense to the entire nation. One that is currently nearly 16 trillion dollars in debt, can ill afford these kind of boondoggle expenses.

On March 25th of this year, my family and I found ourselves in the general area of Bird’s Point Levee and drove down the entire length of the blown out section. Here are the photos of your tax dollars at work, with a little commentary from time to time to help you with understanding what you are looking at in the photos.

The plastic was already torn away when I took this pic. The green material feels rather like a scrubee pad for doing dishes, and like there is sand behind the green material.

A lonely dozer at the end of the breach.

The sandbags are really expensive here!

The bottom line is, who is being treated respectfully and fairly by the way this issue is being handled? The Citizens? With over $120 million of losses if you bother to figure crop loss into the equation? Or the undisclosed entities making $4k per linear foot if this job is ever completed?

This is a shovel ready job….Bring yours!

===I was made aware that there was actually a third breach at the levee. It was at a location known as Seven Island Conservation Area. The footage on the three breaches are: the main breach referred to as Bird’s Point, 9,000 feet, Seven Island breach, 800 feet and Donaldson Point is stated as being 4700 feet.

This should clear up any confusion caused by not having complete information. This issue is huge, and the cost has yet be fully tabulated. The effects on lives is impossible to calculate.===

©Doreen Hannes

The First Amendment to the US Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

July 4^th is the day that we are supposed to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence from tyranny at the hands of the King of England. That document, along with the Federalist Papers and the US Constitution are the foundational documents of this Nation. The US Constitution is rapidly becoming void where prohibited by law, and often treated as void when it isn’t actively prohibited. It simply isn’t being upheld by many of those who take oaths to do exactly that.

As a matter of fact, it was thoroughly trashed by the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Healthcare Act just prior to being soundly violated by both Sheriff’s Deputies and Park Rangers at the Army Corps of Engineer  (ACE) run Lake Wapapello in Missouri’s 8^th Congressional District. It is very likely that this same type of challenger candidate suppression is taking place all across the country, and it is past time that the American people understand the depth of the hijacking of our political processes.

A little background

Southern Missouri has had the same Congressional Representative, Jo Ann Emerson,  for almost 16 years. Emerson was born in Washington DC, grew up to be a lobbyist and then married the late Missouri 8^th District Congressman Bill Emerson. When he passed away she ran for his seat, and she has held onto Emerson’s name and Congressional seat ever since. This is a very conservative district, and the fact that Emerson has remarried Ron Gladney, a Democrat and prior Union lobbyist, had not been common knowledge.

Then, two years ago, she was challenged by Bob Parker of Raymondville, Missouri, and for the very first time, an upstart challenger with a shoestring budget, received 35% of the vote in the 2010 Republican primary, largely due to exposing Emerson’s actual voting record during her tenure. After the Primary, Parker continued about his business as a rancher, realtor, and property rights advocate, and began another serious run for the seat in early 2012.

In the 2010 election, Parker set the foundation for his growing posse of grass roots supporters, dubbed “Parker’s Rangers”. The 2012 election had tons of new supporters come on board and take it upon themselves to hit the streets and public events in this hot summer spreading the word that there is a real choice for conservatives in the Republican Primary on August 7^th.  Their mission is to visit as many events as possible, sometimes several in one day, displaying large “Parker for Congress” signs in their pick up trucks, handing out information if allowed, and visiting with their fellow citizens about the upcoming primary. Simply put, they are intent upon creating visibility in the only way open to those who are not the favored choice of the now traditional political machine.

Mission Not Allowable

Several of the Parker Rangers found their mission took them to Lake Wapapello for the Annual 4^th of July Fireworks display, and this is where they ran into Park Rangers, who denied them the ability to exercise their right to peaceably assemble and show their support for Parker at this large public event.

The Parker Rangers trucks lined up before being forced to leave Lake Wapapello under protest.

On June 30^th, which we all know is not Independence Day, but simply the day the Army Corps of Engineers chose to celebrate our Nation’s independence, Eldon Wright and six other Parker Rangers pulled into the public parking lot at the Eagle Point Recreational Area at Lake Wapapello. Eldon says that not long after they’d parked their trucks, and snapped a few pictures, Park Ranger Becky Hays pulled up and told them they had to leave because there “is no politicking allowed” on Federal land.

Mr. Wright informed Hays that this was a violation of their Rights and went to the Bill Emerson Memorial Visitors Center to see if he could speak with someone higher in the Chain of Command. That was fruitless and he retuned to the parking lot for continued conversation with Becky Hays, who was now joined by two Sheriff’s Deputies and two other ACE Park Rangers.

The Park Rangers and Deputies initially insisted that the Parker Rangers leave the event. The authorities then requested that the Parker supporters show their identification. One supporter had the temerity to ask, “Am I being detained?” An official denied that they were being detained, and that particular supporter said, “Since I’m not being detained, I’m leaving.” The official then replied, “Well, you are detained now.”

Mr. Wright stated that he requested the identification and badge numbers of the officials, but they ignored his request. He later found the name of one of the Deputies from Butler County, which has a contract to assist the park when they ask for help, and was able to learn the names of three of the officials actively engaged in preventing the Parker supporters from displaying their signs in the public parking lot. They are Butler County Deputies Frank Castille and Tim Darnell and Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger Becky Hays.

The officials ran checks on the supporter’s identification. Not surprisingly, the checks came up clean. The ACE Park Rangers also took photographs of all the vehicle’s plates of the Parker supporters and sent the one supporter who was not a driver away from the rest.

Some of the Parker Rangers at Lake Wapapello

Regrettably, the Parker supporters failed to take pictures of their exchange with the authorities. The supporter with the camera was understandably just shocked by being threatened with arrest over something so essential as our basic right to free speech.

When the Parker supporters were told they would have to leave, Eldon pointedly asked Ms. Hays on who was responsible for issuing the order to refuse access to those with campaign signs on their vehicles. Mr. Wright said, “She then went over to her car and made a call on her phone, then came back and said that it was against the law to display candidate signs on federal property. She never did give any of us the statute or regulation number that she claimed we were violating.” They also were never told who gave the order to enforce this regulation against freedom of speech at an Independence Day Celebration.

To the Parker Rangers, it seemed very inconsistent. Just a few weeks prior to the Independence Day Celebration at Lake Wapapello, there had been a Wayne County Republican Committee Candidate Forum at the lake, and a myriad of signs were displayed and large amounts of literature changed hands at that event.

During conversation with the ACE Park Rangers and the Deputies, the threat of a fine was communicated as well. One of the officials pointed to another pick up in the parking lot with a sign promoting Democratic Candidate for Judge, Steven Mitchell in the truck bed and said, “We couldn’t find the driver of that truck, but he has a ticket waiting for him.” You can click on this link for the pdf of the ticket, and then this link for the sheet that has the regulation circled that is cited as their authority to prevent campaign signs. Legal action is likely in process on this issue.

Interestingly, after threatening the Parker Rangers with arrest, demanding their identification papers, photographing their vehicles and generally intimidating them, the Park officials then said that they could all stay at the event; but there was a catch. Mr. Wright explained, “They said we could stay, IF we parked our trucks inside this grove of trees where no one could see them.” None of the Parker supporters were thrilled with this offer. Eldon said, “ Finally, we just told them no. I told them we will leave, but we will leave under protest; you are violating our Constitutional rights, and we will leave under protest.”

Since Bob Parker has been actively engaged in protecting private property rights for more than a decade there is some basis for a suspicion that was voiced that the Parker Rangers were being specifically targeted by ACE. Parker isn’t often kind to the Army Corps of Engineers when they interfere with private property use. You can read a very descriptive article on the intentional breach of the Bird’s Point Levee here and see why this may be a legitimate concern for Parker supporters. This is an issue that may come more to the fore as events unfold regarding the actions of the ACE Rangers at Lake Wapapello on June 30^th.

Full Speed Ahead

These same Parker Rangers joined other Parker supporters and continued to attend numerous Independence Day Parades and celebrations all across the largest Congressional District in Missouri on the 4^th of July. Despite being shut down at one of the largest celebrations, they are determined to keep spreading their message of  true independence throughout the District. Like lovers of liberty across the nation, they are tired of non-representative representatives. Politics as usual is simply not an option any longer.

There is a very high probability that legal action will be lodged against both the Deputies, who reportedly said, “We’re just doing what they tell us to do” and the ACE Park Rangers involved in this event.

Eldon Wright told one of the Deputies, “The fact of the matter is you’ve committed a Federal level criminal act, and I am not going to quit on this.”

Elected Representatives all over the nation, at every level of government, are receiving the same message, “We are the People, and We are not going to quit.”