This is the first I have been able to get online at all to update anything on Vernon Hershberger’s hearing today. Here is the word from:

Channel 3000 in Madison, Wisconsin

Farmer Accused Of Selling Raw Milk Stays Free

Judge Declined To Revoke Bond

Updated: 7:48 pm CST March 2, 2012

BARABOO, Wis. — A Sauk County farmer accused of selling food and dairy products without a license, including raw milk, appeared in court on Friday while his supporters rallied nearby against the prospect of him facing jail time.Vernon Hershberger said he came to court prepared to go to jail because of a bond violation as he faces several misdemeanor counts, but Judge Guy Reynolds declined to revoke his bond.Prosecutors had sent a letter to the judge saying that they believe Hershberger had violated terms of his pre-trial release by continuing to sell raw milk and other products on his farm, based on a recent state Department of Agriculture visit.During Friday’s proceedings, Hershberger represented himself. He said that he didn’t violate any terms and doesn’t sell raw milk. He said he simply cares for animals and procures their food for members of a private club.”I have no jurisdiction about what happens. The food belongs to the other people, and I do not have jurisdiction to tell them what happens with that food. (I) just wanted you to know,” Hershberger said.He said he’s prepared to go to jail, and that the Department of Agriculture visits trespassed on his privacy.”We don’t sell milk. I want to get that clear. We don’t sell milk. All we have is a big pantry on the farm where the owners can come in and get their milk,” he said.Reynolds said that he wasn’t going to take any action on Hershberger’s bond. He said that the state must file a formal motion before he could.”The court isn’t going to respond to letters. The court takes action on properly served and filed motions,” he said. “And that’s true for both sides to this controversy.”However, the judge did have a message for Hershberger.”I admonish you, Mr. Hhershberger, that you are to follow my bond conditions, he said. “And I expect you will. And if you don’t, you can be separately prosecuted for that.”Attorneys with the state Department of Justice who are prosecuting the case, declined to say why they didn’t file a formal motion with the judge to revoke Hershberger’s bond.Meanwhile, Hershberger’s supporters rallied on the steps of the Sauk County courthouse before the farmer’s Friday afternoon appearance. Some said that they’d be willing to go to jail in defense of their freedom to drink raw milk. The protesters signed a “declaration of food independence,” and said that they’re prepared to fight.Canadian farmer Michael Schmidt said that they’re mustering support.”Who is willing to go to jail for your food rights? Hands go up, friends. We all count on you,” he said.The judge tentatively scheduled a trial on the four misdemeanor charges for Sept. 25.Prosecutors still have to file responses to Hershberger’s claim that a judge has no constitutional authority to hear the case.

In Baraboo, on March 2nd, there will be a rally outside the courthouse where the State of Wisconsin intends to prosecute Vernon Herschberger for distributing food to members of his cooperative. This man, who they paint as a criminal for providing food, faces over $10,000 in possible fines, and up to three years in jail for allowing his partners in food production to access their food.

Now one has to wonder, why is it that a country, truthfully beyond the point of bankruptcy, with massive issues with illegal immigration and serious drug smuggling, problems would care to spend so much time and energy on the persecution and prosecution of farmers supplying food to people who want food outside of the anonymous consolidated corporate food system?

Food is a controlled substance. Growing food that isn’t approved by the powers that be is deemed an act that is dangerous for all concerned. The time when people could decide for themselves what they wish to eat is simply archaic, and evidently, now a revolutionary act.

On March 2nd, there will be an opportunity for people to stand up and show their support for not only Vernon Herschberger, but every individual, in their right to eat food of their choice, from sources of their choice, without the intervention of agencies and tyrants.

If you are nearby, or far away and able to do so,you should be at the Sauk County Court House at 11:am on March 2nd. This could well be viewed as the Lexington Concorde of the food freedom movement. The entire freedom movement should be supportive of Mr. Herschberger, and anyone who thinks they are smart enough to decide for themselves what they want to eat should take this opportunity to stand for justice and the most basic of human rights.

Please support Vernon Herschberger and help bring the insanity of the current regime into the light of public awareness by adding your presence to the rally.

If we cannot decide what we want to eat, we cannot pretend that we are free.

©National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association 2012

On February 1, 2012 Paul Pierce, agent of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), told Mennonite farmer and butcher Arlin Bender that DATCP is charging him as a criminal for professionally butchering meat belonging to his friends and neighbors. A lifelong butcher, Bender moved to a Mennonite community in Wisconsin in the summer of 2010 from New York, where he had owned a butcher shop with several employees for decades. Bender, who has a heart condition, wanted his wife to be near their children in Wisconsin should anything happen to him. Following is Bender’s story, in his words, of events after he settled in Wisconsin.

In the summer of 2011 I called the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to ask about processing deer. They told me there were no restraints, so I placed an ad in the local shopper paper to process deer; I didn’t include anything else in the ad. After I placed the ad other butchers told me that was a big mistake, “You’re gonna be in trouble,” they said. Two days later I got a caller who said, “You cut up beef?” I asked him where he got my name and number, and he said, “From the ad, I figure if you do deer you do beef also.”

I am getting older and I don’t want to handle the big stuff [like large beef animals]. The man said he had four beef, but I was suspicious when he did not identify himself, and I assumed he was from the government. The local butcher told me that if someone does anything, like sell a side of beef, they get a phone call wanting to know who’s processing the beef, where is it coming from, and more questions.

Around the beginning of November a man pulled in at our house one day when I wasn’t home. He asked my wife, Sharon. where I was, but he would not identify himself, and then said he’d be in touch. A week or so later he called back, identified himself as Patrick Cherek, an investigator with DATCP, and told us a specific day and time he would be coming out, and I said I would be there. He didn’t come when he said he would, and we were in the house eating when he finally arrived. We invited him in and said we’re going to finish our dinner. He told me I had to stop any butchering beef and other non-deer animals and asked me about my history as a butcher, which I told him. He referred to the ad I had placed and said it was the first indication he’d had. I said I wasn’t planning to stop – I only cut up meat for friends and neighbors, not for the public. He said he would notify the District Attorney’s office, and that he, Patrick, had never lost a case, then he rattled off some sections of code. “I am ordering you to cease and desist,” he said, and added that he would mail me something, but I never got anything in the mail.

Cherek came back on January 5 [2012]. He just pulled in, he hadn’t given prior notice, he had someone with him, and he walked into my butchering shop without knocking. He told me I could not mix someone’s pork and spices with their venison. I told him that back in New York as long as we used USDA approved ingredients it was o.k., so I was surprised at that. The other guy, who had identified himself as Timothy Eddy, was trying to tell me what I had to do to be legal with the shop. A whole list of things. I said I would check into it. Cherek wanted to see everything I had there. I told him, “You aren’t touching a thing until you have papers.” He looked at me like “how dare you talk to me like that,” then went outside and called someone on the phone. He came back in, told me they weren’t going to seize the meat that day, but I could not release the meat in the freezer – that belonged to other people – unless he, Cherek, was there to see them pick it up. I replied, “I don’t think so, how are we supposed to work out for you to be here when they get it?” He answered, “That’s the way it is,” and left.

I started calling around. I called Countryside Magazine to get some information about the law, and they referred me to the University of Wisconsin in Neillsville, who referred me to someone in Madison, Dr. Jeff Sindelar [Assistant Professor /Extension Meat Specialist, Univeristy of Wisconsin]. I called Sindelar that Friday morning and left a message. He called me back Friday evening and told me the men from DATCP had given me wrong information; they were trying to tell me I had to be like a federally licensed processing plant, and that there is an exemption for custom processing. Since that conversation, he would not give any further information when the attorney I later hired called him, saying that it was a DATCP issue and he did not want to be involved any further.

After speaking with Sindelar, I called a neighbor who told me to “call this lawyer” who, for a couple hundred dollars, can get this all straightened out. The neighbor told me to come over and he would take me to the lawyer’s house, which we did, that Friday evening. The lawyer, Alan Billings, told me, “I’ll make a couple calls and get it all worked out.” He told me to go home and not worry about it. He didn’t call back till Tuesday. While I was on phone with Billings on Tuesday, January 10, up came Cherek with a man later identified as Paul Pierce [Chief, Regulatory and Technical Services, DATCP] and a county deputy Sheriff. I have a daughter, 21, who was outside and they asked her where I was. She pointed to me through the door’s window, and the officer approached the door. I went outside to meet him and he asked where is Arlin Bender? I said, “I am he,” and he looked startled, saying he was there with the others. I handed him the phone – the lawyer told me not to make any confrontation. The officer spoke with the lawyer on the phone, I don’t know what was said, then the officer handed the phone to Paul Pierce. Again, I did not know what was said. Then they handed the phone back to me and Billings told me he had told the two men that “we” did not want to have any confrontations, and we ended the phone call. Then I asked the men, “I thought you needed a search warrant to be on private property,” and they said, “Not when there is contraband involved.” I did not know, and still do not really understand what “contraband” is. When they said they wanted to come in to the shop again without a warrant I hesitated. They said, ” We will give you five minutes.” I said I wanted to talk to someone from my church. Pierce said, “We will give you five minutes or we will take this to the District Attorney.” I went into my shop and tried to call my church. I was not able to reach anybody from church. I tried to call my neighbor and left a message on his machine that these men were here, and I thought they going to confiscate his half a beef that was hanging in my walk-in cooler.

I let them into the shop then. They went into the walk-in freezer first and put red tags on all the meat. I said all the meat in the freezer is mine and my son’s. They said it didn’t matter, that they were seizing it all. I said that meat is my son’s. Cherek said it doesn’t matter, he doesn’t live here and he can’t keep his meat here, and Pierce agreed.

They came out of the freezer and went into the walk-cooler and put red tags on all the meat in there as well and told me there was a $5000 fine for each tagged piece of meat that gets disturbed. Two of the lambs that were hanging in the cooler were mine. I figured we would be shutting the freezer and cooler off soon; I was planning to have all the meat cut up that week then shut them both down. I told them the two lambs were mine, and they said, “It doesn’t matter, how do we know it’s yours?” I told them the guts and hides were still out there in the barrel.

They did give me permission then for me to cut up my lambs. The next day, on the 11th, I had a collapse, passed out, not responding to the family, because of the stress. My family took me to the doctor who put me on anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medication. After I stabilized from the medication, I realized I would not be able to get the other people’s meat cut up before it spoiled, because of DATCP putting the tags on it and my health condition. I called the attorney, Alan Billings and told him to get the meat out, because I did not want to be responsible for it spoiling.

On Friday January, 13th Billings and someone from a licensed butcher came onto the property, with my permission, and took the meat that belonged to other people to the licensed butcher. They took a small beef that was another Mennonite family’s, two hogs, that were someone else’s, and a half beef that was the neighbor’s, and took it all to another butcher. The people picked them up from the other butcher, as far as I know. The attorney had told us they were coming on the 13th and that we should not be there, so we weren’t. We learned what had actually happened from a neighbor who recognized the other butcher’s vehicle. Billings later mailed me a paper that showed it had been signed for by the other butcher.

I called my neighbor to see if he got his meat back He asked me if Billings was working for me or not; Billings had told him that if the place where his meat was taken charges more than I charged I’d have to pay the difference, as though Billings had been working for Cherek and Pierce instead of for me. [Billings declined to comment on this, citing confidentially].

After that we did not hear anything from DATCP for almost three weeks. During that three weeks, I spoke to people active in the food rights movement, called the District Attorney myself, and considered dismissing our attorney. However, before I could contact Billings, he sent me a letter stating that because of me contacting the District Attorney and others that he would no longer provide his legal services for me.

On February 1, we received a call from Paul Pierce that he was going to contact the District Attorney to ask him to file criminal charges against me. He also reminded me that if I removed the tags from the meat I would incur further charges. I responded that he did not need to come back, that the meat was mine and my son’s and he has no jurisdiction over it and that some of the meat they tagged was venison over which they have no control.

We heard nothing further until February 8, when a deputy sheriff again showed up, this time with a notice for me to appear in court on February 13 for a hearing about a temporary restraining order.[End of Arlin Bender’s statement].

Information about farm raids at www.FarmFoodFreedom.org

Should you wish to express yourself, here is the phone number for Ben Brancel, the Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture: 608.224.5015

Below is an article describing a potentially new bacteria that is causing methane back up and blowing up giant hog barns….To me, it is just one more reason to farm small and diversified and stop this factory food production.

Anyway, in light of Huber’s revelation about a new pathogen linked to glyposphate, the 40% mortality rate in animals fed this GMO stuff, the corn ethanol insanity and feeding of distillers grains with who knows how much genetically modified corn, etc, this seems like yet another indictment of the system.

Here’s the article with the link to the news source underlined:

 A team is investigating foam that has caused Midwest swine barns to unexpectedly explode. 

2012 / 02 / 07 by Kali Dingman

A few years ago, hog farmers throughout the Midwest noticed foam building on top of their manure pits. Soon after, barns began exploding, killing thousands of hogs while farmers lost millions of dollars. A team of University of Minnesota researchers is looking to find a fix for the foam that is plaguing hog farms.

The foam traps gases like methane and when a spark ignites it causes an explosion. About a half dozen barns in the Midwest have exploded since the foam was discovered in 2009. In mid-September 2011, a barn in Iowa was added to the growing number of barns taken down by the foam. In the explosion, 1,500 pigs were lost, and one worker was injured.

Not only does the foam cause explosions but it also reduces manure storage volume and dirties the hogs. The foam can reach heights of 4 feet. Farmers are encouraged to knock it down with water. The researchers conduct their studies on commercial farms in Minnesota and surrounding states.

Chuck Clanton, a bioproducts and biosystems engineering professor, said the team’s current approach is targeting how different microorganisms — primarily bacteria — developed in the manure pit. They think that a new set of species has formed in these pits in the last few years.

Larry Jacobson, another professor in the department, and his team haven’t found a solution for the foam but have discovered ways to curb its growth. “We’re treating the symptoms but not getting to the cause,” he said.

The researchers still aren’t sure what causes the foam. But they have noticed a correlation between adding dried distillers grains in soluble — a product of the ethanol production process increasingly used in livestock diets — to the hogs’ diets and the foam, although that solution is too simplistic, Jacobson said. “It’s very frustrating when you have two identical buildings sitting next to each other with same management, genetics, diets, etc. One foams, and the other does not,” Clanton said.

Pork production is an important source of income for Minnesota farmers and a billion-dollar industry in the state. According to data from the Minnesota Pork Board, the state’s pork farmers earned $2.1 billion in gross income from hog sales in 2010.

The state’s farmers have a lot at stake when this foam starts developing on their hog farms. The average pig production building holds 2,000 or more pigs and costs about $600,000 to build. A heavier pig weighs about 250 pounds, and, within a few weeks of market, a barn filled with heavy pigs would be worth about $300,000.The cost of cleanup after an explosion combined with disposing of the dead hogs could easily cost a farmer up to $1 million, Jacobson said.

Not only will this research benefit the pork producers and their hogs but also the insurance companies of the facilities, Clanton said. Funding for this research came from the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, Rapid Agriculture Response Fund and the Minnesota Pork Producers Association.

The researchers will continue to search for a solution to the foam. “So far, we are still working hard to understand the new phenomenon,” said assistant professor Bo Hu. “We’re trying to provide suggestions for farmers.”

©Doreen Hannes

Debe Bell of Jefferson County Colorado was convicted of 35 counts of animal abuse on January 27th, 2012. Her crime was that she had 193 rabbits in 184 cages and that 4 or 5 of these cages were severely laden with manure. Twenty-five of the 193 rabbits were kits. That’s what baby rabbits are called. I spoke with Debe about the court ruling and garnered a significant amount of information that Channel 7 out of Denver didn’t pretend to be interested in. If you look at the link provided, you can scroll down to see the previous stories done on the rabbit raid by Channel 7, and judge if the headlines alone are emotional enough to convict someone.

The spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Mark Techmeyer, said that the rabbits were in an “overheated” 84-degree barn. This temperature was taken on a 94-degree day after several hours of having the swamp cooler unplugged and the door to the barn open. He also said there were dead rabbits in the barn. Ms Bell said “One rabbit had died that morning while I was at work. About 15 adults and who knows how many babies died after they removed the rabbits from my barn.”

A veterinarian from the Foothills Animal Shelter reportedly testified that she thought 80 degrees was too high and that 72-degrees as a maximum would be a better temperature requirement. However, if one simply thinks for a minute, should rabbits fail to survive temperatures over 84 degrees, we wouldn’t have rabbits in North America. The fact is that the optimum temperature range for rabbits is from 50 to 80 degrees F. It should also be noted that “optimum” is not equivalent to “required”.

Techmeyer also said that the rabbits were “aggressively thirsty”. This terminology is being used to describe behavior that those who raise rabbits see as normal rabbit attitudes. They say they were “aggressive” because when the cage doors were opened, many of the rabbits jumped forward to the door; but lots of rabbits do that. Sometimes they will even jump out of the cages when the door is opened. It’s just what they do. Other rabbits will cower at the back of their cage in seeming terror. Those rabbits are more timid types, but it does not, in any way, indicate that the rabbit has been abused. These are just typical rabbit behaviors, and what they indicate is that the subject is a typical rabbit.

Ms Bell said that the judge would not allow the rabbits to be referred to as livestock. It is an important distinction because when something is considered as a pet instead of a resource there is a personification of the animal that takes place in the psyche of the listener.

Initially, Debe was charged with 25 counts of animal cruelty. The Prosecutor ramped it up to 55 counts after the rabbits had been seized and spayed or neutered. The jury threw out the 20 charges of cruelty on dead animals that were found in her freezer.

Ms Bell said that when the jury was told that this was a animal cruelty case involving rabbits, literally half of them rolled their eyes, indicating to her that they thought the entire issue was ridiculous. Despite that, they found her guilty of 35 cruelty charges that the prosecutor would like to get separate convictions on. There is an 18 month jail term possible for each count against her. A little math shows that it is potential of 52.5 years in jail for the 59 year-old rabbit breeder.

In a previous article, I covered the photos taken to assist the prosecution in indicting and convicting Ms Bell. And again, I have to say that in particular, the manure in the cages shown is not good, and I am not defending that as evidence of good animal husbandry. But the larger issue is that there was no warning given, no warrant on site until six hours after the House Rabbit Society and the Sheriff came and began removing the rabbits from Bell’s barn, and no attempt by the authorities to allow Ms Bell to correct the problems shown in these photos. Also, no mention was made of Ms Bell’s contention that her 4-H kids were scheduled to come on Saturday, two days after the raid, to clean the barn and cages.

According to Ms Bell, a member of the House Rabbit Society was overheard to say that if the raid on her rabbitry went off well they were then going to go after the “one on 104th”. That is exactly what happened. There are now two other rabbit breeders in Colorado currently facing animal cruelty charges related to the anonymous tip line with up to $2,000 in awards available for tips resulting in convictions. One of these breeders is facing 57 counts of abuse, with potentially 18 months of jail time for each offense.

At question here is the very basis of our legal system. As a brief overview, Ms Bell was reported via an anonymous tip line that pays for convictions, the Sheriff and House Rabbit Society were on her property removing her rabbits without a search warrant, the rabbits were spayed, neutered and adopted out before any conviction was assessed. So due process, security in our property, and the right to face our accusers are all on the line in this case.

There will be an appeal made in the case, and Ms. Bell expects the appeal process to last approximately two years. She remains optimistic about the process. She said, “As the process continues, we will be able to get more legitimate knowledge into the record.” She feels that if the information is fairly assessed, she will be exonerated in the long term.

I wish I were that optimistic.

I just received the information regarding the verdict in Debe Bell’s trial for animal cruelty on her rabbit herd. I spoke with Debe for several hours after the incident came to my attention and wrote this article regarding that conversation here.

It is repugnant to my senses that this Denver News station had the audacity to state that Debe Bell’s barn was overheated at 84 degrees on a 94 degree day. I would love to see the transcript from this trial. If the jury was not mentally engaged to consider that FACT that if rabbits couldn’t survive 84•F temperatures there would be no rabbits in nearly all of North America, there is some serious neglect going on in the defense of Debe Bell.

I will do my best to try to speak with Debe and lay my hands on documents to cover this issue fully as it deserves. But for now, read this amazingly slanted piece from Channel 7 in Denver. More to come on this issue along with a dog raid here in my neck of the woods.

I just came across this bit of news. This man actually tried to do the right thing in an agency that is completely off it’s rocker. I met him at the R Calf USA Annual Convention right after his appointment was confirmed. A great number of the members of R Calf were tremendously excited because they knew J. Dudley, and truly believed that he could get the Anti-Trust laws that are on the books enforced. Unfortunately, he was just one card in the entire stack, and couldn’t achieve anything really positive against the corporate stranglehold of consolidation that is so evident in every segment of agriculture and the food supply.

He tried, and for that I commend him. That he couldn’t get it done ought to really illustrate the depth of the problem we face in this nation as a result of allowing this consolidated, centralized system to continue.

Buy local, buy direct, and reclaim your right to eat what you want to eat from those you want to procure it from. Don’t think the USDA is going to help you get anything positive done, folks. They are Uncle Sam Destroying Agriculture……

Here is the article on J. Dudley Butler:

I will be on the show for my regular monthly appearance in just a few hours here. There are so many things happening on the food freedom front that it is a full time job to keep up with them! I am going to provide links for the articles I hope to be speaking about in this post.

Since people who read my blog are generally a little more interested in actual documents than your average bear, I believe you will find the comments on this page to be really interesting. There is a commenter who read the agreement that those who wish to download the “free” access to the genome mapping of the cocoa tree by Mars, and the fabulous USDA (and more) will find more than intriguing. The agreement effectively nullifies any actual free access. This article is from the Scientific American, and well worth a read!

Another topic I hope to discuss is the massive consolidation of our food supply as discussed in Grist here. the issue is that Walmart is taking over the retail end of our food supply. It is something of a pet peeve for me, as there can be no food freedom when megalithic corporations control the distribution or the actual access to market of the food. While this article draws a few unsubstantiated potentials, like that the 10.5% increase in obesity in America is because of the proliferation of Walmart Super Centers, it is still an excellent piece, and draws out many very pertinent and important facts for people to keep in their minds as they go about their grocery shopping.

I also hope to discuss the latest perfect illustration of why it is insane to continue to interface with the federal government. Just this morning I received the news that Obama rejected the petition to legalize raw milk sales. Here is an article, from Bill Marler’s amazing propaganda machine that is a tremendous generator of revenue of fear mongering for all Americans, that explains the Obama Administrations belief that raw milk should have controlled access.

Meanwhile, the Raw Milk Freedom Riders intend to be at the County Sheriff Project’s massive event in Las Vegas to help promote the proper Constitutional position of the County Sheriff. This is a truly worthwhile and peaceful attempt at using the law as it stands, and the proper parameters of jurisdiction to constrain the out of control Federal government.

Regarding that jurisdiction and the persecution of people who simply provide food to others who want it, Vernon Hershberger, the Amish farmer who has been under attack from the Wisconsin DATCP is going to court on January 11th at the Baraboo (incedentally, Baraboo is home to the Ringling Bros Circus!) because he is such a criminal. If you are near, you should go and support him. There will be a rally at 12:00 in front of the courthouse. His appearance is scheduled for 1:00pm.

It never ceases to amaze me that we can sit here and say we are free when we can’t even decide for ourselves what food we want to eat.

As for me,  simply because an agency desires to control some aspect of my life does not -in any way- legitimize their authority to do so. If we don’t have the right to eat foods of our choice from providers of our choice, then we are not free.

Lastly, there is a movement amongst a segment of the raw milk community to establish “standards, certifications and protocols” to be APPROVED to sell raw milk directly to consumers. I hope to find the time to write about it in detail this week, but we must never, ever, under any circumstances, believe, that just because a quasi governmental bureaucratic group wants to control something via certification, that the certification is a true indicator of quality or that the lack of certification indicates a lack of quality. It’s kind of like the Stockholm Syndrome en masse. Changing one group of kidnappers for another!——More to come on this front.

And last, but not least, the Consent of the Governed Rally in Jefferson City was excellent! Kudos to Ron Calzone and all those who worked on the event to make such a tremendous kick off to Missouri’s legaslative session!

For those in Missouri, please do all you can to come to the Capitol and join with other Patriots to set the tone for the legislative session this year. This is a great opportunity to network with these other groups and to help each other stay on top of issues important to freedom in our state throughout the session…..

Rally Day: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 Jefferson City, MO — 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Join Us at the Consent of the Governed Rally

To citizens eager to see an end of “politics as usual” there is nothing more frustrating than seeing their senator or rep voting for bills because “the leadership says so” or “you vote for my bill and I’ll vote for yours.” Some of those rascals just need to be sent packing in November, but some of them are good folks dealing with issues they just don’t know how to handle — they need some principled “tools” to help guide them to the right decisions.

You can be a key component in providing those tools. Here’s two things you can do to that end: 1) Learn how the first five clauses of the Missouri Constitution can guide a legislator on 95% of the issues he faces. 2) Develop a relationship with legislators, especially your own, so you can “help” him apply principles in those first five clauses and also hold him accountable for doing so.

This coming Wednesday is your opportunity to do both at the 2nd annual Consent of the Governed Rally at the Capitol in Jefferson City. There, four excellent speakers will explain how the Preamble and Sections 1 through 4 of the Missouri Bill of Rights form the foundation for all of Missouri governance and constitute a simple formula for evaluating legislation. You will then have an opportunity to help present a framed parchment of those clauses to your representatives and explain to them that We’re From the People and We’re Here to Help!

Wednesday, Jan., 4 is the opening day of session and an excellent opportunity to introduce yourself, share the issues you are most passionate about, and learn what makes your representative or senator tick. Tactful face-to-face communication is the number one way YOU can build influence with public officials. Our subtle message will be that we are a resource and will be the statesman’s best friend but a nemesis to politicians who insist on destroying the Republic!

We want to encourage them to stand against the tide–to stand with citizens and not lobbyists.

For liberty, Sponsors of the Consent of the Governed Rally

P.S. Will you help support the cost of providing one of these beautifully framed and matted document to our legislators by making a small donation to help us cover the cost? You can do this by going to http://www.mocc.spruz.com.

P.S.S. Concerned Women of America can help you encourage your state represetnative and senator through out the legisative session with a program called “Encourage a Legislator.” You can learn more about this program at the rally or by emailing Ginger Yoak at encourage@missouri.cwfa.org.

Thank you to our financial sponsors: Leaders Level ($250+) James Coyne, Coyne Agency Paul Hamby, Hamby Dairy Supply Friend Level ($50+) Bev Martin James Holland Bev Ehlen Susan Calhoun Scott Maxwell Jim Holland Ike Skelton, Skelton’s Key & Lock Mid-MO Patriots Warren County Patriots Concerned Women of America

Co-Sponsors Franklin County Patriot,s Missouri Campaign for Liberty Missouri First, Concerned Women for America, Mexico Patriot Tea Party, Sullivan 9/12 Missouri Precinct Project, Crawford County Campaign for Liberty, Cooper County Tea Party, Branson Tea Party Coalition, Eureka Tea Party, Mid-MO Patriots, St. Louis Tea Party Coalition, Lebanon Tea Party, Sikeston Tea Party, I Heard the People Say, Capital TEA Party, God and Country Show Me Patriots, Eagle Forum, Cape County Tea Party, Conservative TV Online, Callaway County Patriots, Macon County Patriots, Ozarks Property Rights Congress – 7 Chapters in South Central and SW Missouri

Every day seems to bring a new outrage (or fifteen) from our would-be rulers. Some of them are downright hilarious if you possess the proper dark, and somewhat jaded, sense of humor. While my indignation is real, I have to keep laughing at the insanity of this stuff or I would just sit in a corner and cry. And what fun would that be? But I have to say that I prefer the more common BS to the Bureaucratic Sabotage we continually face. At least real manure has some inherent value.

Today, as I was getting my links together for a radio show, I received an article regarding a report detailing the latest thoughts from the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) of the United Nations. The FAO is the “global authority” on agriculture and the one the WTO looks to first to determine how best to starve serve the people of the planet to make all of this “sustainable” for those who should be here.

Now don’t hurt yourself laughing at the stupidity of this. These people are serious, and since we all need to eat to live, the seriousness of this mindset has to be addressed. You can read the article here and link through to the FAO for the full report from there as well. Here’s the first bit that got me:

“ “It is hard to envisage meeting projected demand by keeping twice as many poultry, 80 percent more small ruminants, 50 percent more cattle and 40 percent more pigs, using the same level of natural resources as currently,” the report said.

Production increases should instead come from improving efficiency of livestock systems in converting natural resources into food and from reducing waste, said the report published on FAO’s website (www.fao.org).”

One must wonder what “level of natural resources” the speaker is actually talking about. Land? Water? Grass? Grain? Animals? People? Fuel? All of these and then some? What exactly are the “natural resources” referenced?

The FAO is the agency of the UN that actually conducted a study on cow farts and methane gas produced by cattle as potentially creating global warming. Really. The original backpacking cows were in Argentina, but now there are several studies being done here in the states. They actually spend money on having cattle wear backpack fart measuring devices.

The report is titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow”. You can read the overview at the link through Wikipedia and download it through there as well.

Next thing you know those pushing for carbon credits will have people wearing the same backpacks to determine the amount of annual flatulence created by consumption of black beans in human populations. Maybe there will be control groups of non-bean consumers, bean consumers with Bean-O added and bean consumers au natural. Hopefully I didn’t just provide them with another method of squandering the monetary resources of the global populace.

The second, and more sinister part of the article was this:

“Large-scale, intensive animal-rearing farms, which will be the main drivers of increasing livestock output, should also reduce pollution generated from waste and greenhouse gases, cut the use of water and grain needed to produce livestock protein and recycle agro-industrial byproducts, the report said.

The farms should also be able to respond to climate-change challenges such as drought and water shortages, as well as to fight off animal diseases, some of which may threaten human health, the report said.”

It is Animal Farm.

If you will recall, in Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, the critters chase the farmer off the farm and take over. At first, there seems to be more equality for all the animals, and then the harsh reality of life begins to set in and the pigs completely take over.

The chickens are to lay more eggs with less feed.

The animals are all supposed to produce more with less input, except the pigs, of course, because they are the “brains” of the outfit and deserve to be more equal than the other animals.

Boxer, the big, dependable, ole work horse, continues to push himself to insane levels, continually repeating the mantra, “I will work harder”, to try to achieve the Utopia set forth by the (pigs) rulers as the goal. He doggedly adheres to this axiom until he dies from exhaustion.

In my mind, Boxer represents the American Dairy farmer almost perfectly. Working 12 to16 hours a day seven days a week just isn’t enough. They should work more and get bigger so they are less efficient and produce lower quality product so they can be less satisfied with their work and receive less compensation for their labor at the end of the 16-hour work day.

Yet another load of bureaucratic sabotage.

What they say is this: “Grow more food with less material and reduce use of resources and waste along the way. We will monitor and surveille your every step and put you out of business and off the land if we want to to preserve the earth in it’s purest wild state. And if you fail to feed those extra people under our terms, well, it’s your fault…..You need to work harder.”

Too bad we can’t use backpacks to measure the gaseous output of bureaucrats. We’d likely find that bureaucrats are responsible for climate change….if there were any.

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