Retired generals rising up against Iraq war (click here)
By ERIN SOLAROGUEST COLUMNIST
Alexis de Tocqueville once remarked that in a democracy, the greatest pacifists are the generals. In America, this has often been true but rarely obvious. Our time-honored and intense tradition of civilian supremacy means that senior officers, active or retired, rarely express misgivings or dissenting opinions in public -- certainly not while a war is going on.
And yet, since mid-March, we have witnessed a veritable "Revolt of the Generals," a situation having nothing to do with men on horseback but, potentially, a great deal to do with offering some perspective and restoring some sanity to this increasingly war-weary republic.
Retired generals are speaking out against this war and the civilian leadership that thought it up and messed it up. Retired, yes. But all senior generals are (or at least consider themselves) members of a rather exclusive club, and when they speak out, it's not impossible that they express the opinions of their active peers....
BIOS:(click here)
Lieutenant General Robert G. Gard, Jr. (USA, Ret.): A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1950, Robert Gard earned an MPA in 1956 and a Ph. D. in Political Economy and Government in 1961 - both from Harvard University. He retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant general in 1981, following 31 years of distinguished service. General Gard's military assignments included a three year tour in Germany, and combat service in Korea and Vietnam. Assignments during his military career included executive assistant to the Secretary of Defense, the first Director of Human Resources Development for the U.S. Army, and Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. General Gard also served as President of the National Defense University and was a fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations.
In 1981/82, General Gard was a visiting professor of international relations at the American University of Paris, and was the director of the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies from 1982 to 1987. From 1987-1998, General Gard served as president of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He has written for well-known periodicals that focus on military and international affairs and lectured widely at U.S. and international universities and colleges, and at academic conferences. He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations. In 1996, General Gard joined Veterans for America as its military advisor. He has been active in VFA's efforts to enact an international and U.S. ban on the production, sale, transfer, and use of antipersonnel landmines.
Brig. General John H. Johns (USA, Ret.): Dr. John H. Johns served as a combat arms officer in the Army for over 26 years, retiring as a brigadier general in 1978. During his career, he served in command assignments up to Assistant Commander of the 1st Infantry Division and Director of Human Resources Development for the Army General Staff. He has taught leadership and ethics at the U.S. Military Academy, the Army War College, the U.S. Military Academy, and the Naval Academy. He served four years as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense before resigning to become a Professor of Political Science at the National Defense University at Ft. McNair. He is an adjunct professor at the Federal Executive Institute, where he lectures on "Values and the U.S. Constitution" and teaches a one-week course in ethics. Dr. Johns has an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from the University of Alabama. He holds Masters? degrees from Vanderbilt (psychology) and George Washington University (international affairs) and a Ph.D. from American University (sociology). He is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College, and The National War College.
Senator John Boccieri: State Senator John Boccieri, a New Middletown, OH resident, served three terms as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives for District 61 before being elected to the Senate in 2006. A former Air Force officer, Boccieri was stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base. In his role as staff officer, he supported Presidential visits to Arkansas and also worked on base-wide support of three treaties- Open Skies, Chemical Weapons Compliance, and START II Treaties. As a commissioned Lieutenant in the military, he worked with base-wide support for the Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force, the State Department, the White House Communications Staff, the Secret Service, and Air Force and Marine Advance Agents. While on active duty, Boccieri continued to pursue his interest in government by earning masters degrees in public administration and business from Webster University, St. Louis Missouri. Currently, Boccieri is an Air Force Reserve Major and aircraft commander aboard the C-130 aircraft, stationed at Youngstown Joint Air Reserve Station. He recently deployed in 4 rotations to support our troops in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Boccieri has served our nation in over 40 countries and has eleven years of service in the U.S. Military.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
You can just feel the love, can't ya? Bush gets an excuse to continue with a new everything.
US report calls for Iraq exit in five years (click title of entry, thank you)
8 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States should halve its military presence in Iraq within three years and completely pull out within five years, the latest US report on the war-scarred country said Sunday.
Only then will Iraq's government, which has so far been a "disappointment," take on its own security responsibilities to rebuild the nation, the report by the United States Institute of Peace said.
"The United States faces too many challenges around the world to continue its current level of effort in Iraq, or even the deployment that was in place before the surge," the report said.
A sustainable military presence "is likely no more than half the current level within three years, with a view to removing all units within five years, when all US bases should be turned over to the Iraqi government," it said....
Mr. Robert Gates, Former US-CIA Director and Col. Saeed Bin Bleila, Director for Dubai Naturalization and Resident Department and Mr. Ali Al Kamali, M.D, Datamatix
Dr. Robert M. Gates was sworn in on December 18, 2006, as the 22nd Secretary of Defense. Before entering his present post, Secretary Gates was the President of Texas A&M University, the nation’s seventh largest university. Prior to assuming the presidency of Texas A&M on August 1, 2002, he served as Interim Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999 to 2001.
Secretary Gates served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 until 1993. Secretary Gates is the only career officer in CIA’s history to rise from entry-level employee to Director. He served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 1986 until 1989 and as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser at the White House from January 20, 1989, until November 6, 1991, for President George H.W. Bush.
Secretary Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional, serving six presidents. During that period, he spent nearly nine years at the National Security Council, The White House, serving four presidents of both political parties. Secretary Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has twice received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received CIA’s highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.
He is the author of the memoir, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insiders Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, published in 1996.
Until becoming Secretary of Defense, Dr. Gates served as Chairman of the Independent Trustees of The Fidelity Funds (click here), the nation's largest mutual fund company, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc. (click here), Brinker International, Inc.(click here) and Parker Drilling Company, Inc.(click here- granted it's not Halliburton) Dr. Gates has also served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Council on Education, the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. He has also been President of the National Eagle Scout Association.
A native of Kansas, Secretary Gates received his bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, his master’s degree in history from Indiana University, and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. Dr. Gates is 63, and he and his wife Becky have two adult children.
Gates really gets around, won't you say? A real Boy Scout to come to Georgie's aid like this.
So, here we have more sidling up to the Saudis and more aggression in the Middle East in a primarily Shi'ite majority nation. Why do I get the feeling as though Bush's administration just doesn't 'get it.'
When trying to 'calm nerves' in the Middle East it would be better to pursue diplomatic relations and joint efforts with neighboring countries than continue to pursue crony interests under a different venue of cabinet and generals.
Five years is what the Arab League has stated it would take for them to retool to take over the Ameican operations in Iraq. There is no peace coming into Iraq even in five years, just more of the same with higher death tolls. Further occupation by Arabs isn't the best solution for Iraq. There are too many dead and estranged from their own country now.
Five years to instill 'nation building' at the high cost of lives and potential continued occupation that would alter the face of Iraq permanently in it's populous is a form of genocide and I have already been here with that discussion before.
CAIRO, Egypt: Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Sunday called for talks between Arab countries and Iran over Iraq, dismissing suggestions that Tehran would fill a power vacuum in the war-torn nation in case of U.S. troop withdrawal.
"There should be a consensus between the Arabs and Iran over Iraq," Moussa told reporters after a meeting of Arab diplomats. "Iran and the Arabs should be on one side."
Last week, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that a power vacuum is imminent in Iraq and said that Iran was ready to help fill the gap. He suggested cooperation with "regional friends like Saudi Arabia."
Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on how Iran could fill a power gap but his remarks appeared to reflect Iran's eagerness for an increasing role on its neighbor's political scene.
Sunni Arab countries have expressed grave concerns about what they term as Iran's meddling in Iraq especially in backing Baghdad's Shiite-led government....
"There should be a consensus between the Arabs and Iran over Iraq," Moussa told reporters after a meeting of Arab diplomats. "Iran and the Arabs should be on one side."
Last week, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that a power vacuum is imminent in Iraq and said that Iran was ready to help fill the gap. He suggested cooperation with "regional friends like Saudi Arabia."
Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on how Iran could fill a power gap but his remarks appeared to reflect Iran's eagerness for an increasing role on its neighbor's political scene.
Sunni Arab countries have expressed grave concerns about what they term as Iran's meddling in Iraq especially in backing Baghdad's Shiite-led government....
And I have been here before as well. The only way to descalate the tensions in the region is for Iraq's neighbors to work out differences and peace agreements including the fact Iraq's primarily Shi'ite region will have open relations with Iran regardless of any nation building strategy to prevent it.
Currently, Southern Iraq is receiving humanitarian aid from Iran and that needs to continue. I don't see Iran as anything but a full partner with Southern Iraq. It just has to be and the USA had to have known that if Mr. Gates with all his CIA experience was in the pipeline ready to step in for Rumsfeld at a moments notice.
By the way Steven Hadley ain't all that either (click here). He is primarily a paper pusher with a law degree. In other words, he's a good stenographer as an Undersecretary to any initiative. He has absolutely no understanding of miltiary operations or has any room to criticize generals or be frustrated with outcomes of an illegal war.
I am sure we all remember the Iraq Study Group and the Regrouping of The Bush Strategy for Iraq while dismissing the group's recommendations.
The Bush White House then came out with 'The Surge.' (click here)
The media has been giving Bush's Surge a break. It has pushed the 'idea' every chance possible that 'the surge' would lead to a victory in Iraq when nothing else will. One might note that a full 45% of people in this poll state the Bush strategy makes no difference. It doesn't. The illusion of any stability with 'the surge' is in An Albar province.
Basically, Bush threw out the baby with the bath water after the Iraq Study Group. He literally eroded every general so far into retirement or some oblivious position while Rumsfeld left to make clear a new strategy against the American people: A change in the Cabinet and a change in generals would lead to victory in Iraq.
See, up to now, all the people involved with the Iraq War didn't do it right. After all, Steven Hadley knew what he was talking about. There had to be a way to 'hold' and 'rebuild.' Had to be. So, under Petraeus the USA military took more deaths, injuries but they were holding An Albar.
So, with all new leadership it would be easy to sell the nation on Bush's Real Brain strategy and overcome any and all problems of the past. All new folks, all forgiven. Yep, it wasn't 'the Iraq Surge' Bush was counting on, it was 'The Surge' in ratings of his administration against the USA populous that would be the result which would continue the war and the war funding of course.
That is General Casey. Second from left, next to General Abuzaid. No Casey isn't retired, but, he relinquished the speakers podium to Petraeus.
MOSQUE BOMBING After the February attack on a Shiite shrine in Samarra, sectarian violence soared, dealing a blow to U.S. strategy.
Chaos Overran Iraq Plan in ’06, Bush Team Says (click title to entry above. thank you)
...General Casey repeatedly argued that his plan offered the best prospect for reducing the perception that the United States remained an occupier — and it was a path he thought matched Mr. Bush’s wishes. Earlier in the year, it had.
But as Baghdad spun further out of control, some of the president’s advisers now say, Mr. Bush grew concerned that General Casey, among others, had become more fixated on withdrawal than victory.
Now, having ousted Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Bush sees a chance to bring in a new commander as he announces a new strategy, senior military officials say. General Casey was scheduled to shift out of Iraq in the summer. But now it appears that it may happen in February or March....
But as Baghdad spun further out of control, some of the president’s advisers now say, Mr. Bush grew concerned that General Casey, among others, had become more fixated on withdrawal than victory.
Now, having ousted Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Bush sees a chance to bring in a new commander as he announces a new strategy, senior military officials say. General Casey was scheduled to shift out of Iraq in the summer. But now it appears that it may happen in February or March....
This brings us to today for the most part. We have to get to the 'reasons' behind the continued mess in Iraq, but, Casey is now Chief of Staff at the USA Army. Needless to say, he didn't meet Steven Hadley's expectations either. Poor, Hadley insisted the generals needed to 'clear and hold' so the reconstruction could ensue. But, Mr. Hadley just didn't understand why it was so blastedly tough getting to 'the hold' part.
Then there was this general with this Arab sounding name. What was it? Abu...Abu...Abu Ghraib...no, no...that was under Franks. Hm???...oh, I know.
Newly promoted General John P. Abizaid expresses his thanks to outgoing Commander of United States Central Command General Tommy R. Franks during a private ceremony held in Tampa, Florida. General Abizaid assumed command of The United States Central Command in ceremonies held later in the day. Monday July 7, 2003 - (Central Command photo by Gary P. Bonaccorso) (click here)
...General Abizaid. That's right, the fellow that followed Franks in Iraq. He must be Republican.
..."I've read repeatedly dozens of times that I announced (former Army Chief of Staff) General (Eric) Shinseki's replacement a year-and-a-half in advance," the secretary noted, adding, "That's just false. It's been repeated 50 times. I can't imagine why responsible journalists do it."...(click here)
General Abizaid Smacks Down McCain’s Plan To Send More U.S. Troops To Iraq (click here)
Today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid rejected McCain’s calls for increased U.S. troop levels in Iraq, saying that he “met with every divisional commander, Gen. Casey, the core commander, Gen. Dempsey” and asked them if bringing “in more American troops now, [would] add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq and they all said ‘no.’” Watch it: (video)...
Today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid rejected McCain’s calls for increased U.S. troop levels in Iraq, saying that he “met with every divisional commander, Gen. Casey, the core commander, Gen. Dempsey” and asked them if bringing “in more American troops now, [would] add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq and they all said ‘no.’” Watch it: (video)...
That explains this generals retirement and there is this 'thing' the Bush White House is always trying to 'pin on' others. I clearly remember at the very beginnings of the war, commanders under Blair and Bush stated clearly they were under orders to disband the Iraqi military. I remember Bush even stating he wanted to rid Iraq of all their former government and military. So, I don't know why Bush continues to play this game of 'dodge ball' with the responsibility of disbanding the Iraqi military. He was he that wanted it done and it resulted in an insurgency. Just that simple. I remember it very clearly actually.
UPDATED: Questions linger on Iraq army's disbanding (click here)
Web Posted: 09/06/2007 11:49 PM CDT
Sig ChristensonExpress-News Military Writer
It remains one of the biggest questions of the Iraq war: Who decided to disband the Iraqi army?
A book out this week, more than four years after the decision helped spark the Iraqi insurgency, offers an answer that has spawned a controversy of its own. President Bush, the book says, claims to have been unaware of the order.
The White House doesn't take issue with "Dead Certain," but the former administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, and his military counterpart at the time, retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, say Bush is evading responsibility for one of the war's biggest blunders.
"I think there's some distancing that's going on," Sanchez, who led coalition troops in the first year of the occupation, told the San Antonio Express-News. "In very broad terms, there's an effort on the part of politicians to distance themselves from the decisions that created strategic vulnerabilities for the country."
"I think there's some distancing that's going on," Sanchez, who led coalition troops in the first year of the occupation, told the San Antonio Express-News. "In very broad terms, there's an effort on the part of politicians to distance themselves from the decisions that created strategic vulnerabilities for the country."
The book by former Texas Monthly writer Robert Draper says that Bush thought the Iraqi army would be retained until after Bremer announced it had been disbanded. Draper quoted Bush as saying, "Yeah, I can't remember. I'm sure I said, 'This is the policy, what happened?'"
In an interview with the Express-News, Draper said, "I was astonished that he was unable to remember how he felt about so consequential a policy being reversed. You'd think that would be a memorable moment. Apparently it was not."...
Pace contradicts claims by other U.S. military, administration officials
Here is a Memorial Day photo of General Peter Pace, Bush and Rumsfeld in 2006. Yep, Pace was asked to step aside by Gates. Still yet another retired general. Anyone guess by the title of this entry why Pace might not be at the Pentagon any longer? Not much more to say about this. Yet.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - A top U.S. general said Tuesday there was no evidence the Iranian government was supplying Iraqi insurgents with highly lethal roadside bombs, apparently contradicting claims by other U.S. military and administration officials.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces hunting down militant networks that produced roadside bombs had arrested Iranians and that some of the material used in the devices were made in Iran.
“That does not translate that the Iranian government per se, for sure, is directly involved in doing this,” Pace told reporters in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. “What it does say is that things made in Iran are being used in Iraq to kill coalition soldiers.”...
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces hunting down militant networks that produced roadside bombs had arrested Iranians and that some of the material used in the devices were made in Iran.
“That does not translate that the Iranian government per se, for sure, is directly involved in doing this,” Pace told reporters in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. “What it does say is that things made in Iran are being used in Iraq to kill coalition soldiers.”...
VISITING THE TROOPS — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers poses for a picture with deployed U.S. soldiers at the Kabul, Afghanistan, Airport on March 16, 2005. Myers is in Afghanistan to meet with U.S. troops and talk directly with military leaders. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen
March 17, 2005 - Retired General Richard Myers. He's the one in the middle back row wearing the hat with five stars on it. He akinned the Iraq War to the most important military deployment since WWII. You know I just don't 'get it.' But, it could be because I'm an Independant and not a Republican Neocon. But, if we were to akin Hilter to Saddam which he wasn't, then Saddam is already dead and when Myers was with the Joint Chiefs the USA had already put Saddam in prison. So, what about Iraq was exactly like that of WWII. I mean the coalition didn't even remotely resemble the Allied Forces. I'm not being glib here. This is a five star general and leader of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. How can he so casually state there were any similarities between the war in Iraq and WWII. Not even close. He is thinking Bin Laden is Hilter like? You've got to be joking. Bin Laden doesn't even lead a sovereign government with resources and a military. Give me a break here.
At any rate, he is still another retired general under Bush. Adding up, huh? I think Boykin is still around in the military. Could be wrong about that. He isn't leading at Minot is he?
I found this interesting though. While our military was deployed in a Muslim country that was supposed to be accepting each other as equals in the face of ethnic differences, Myers decides to talk to the Saudis about military-military issues. Did he for one minute consider the fact these engagements had an effect on any insurgency in Iraq? These actions by the leader of the Joint Chiefs was no small measure when realizing the opposite border of Iraq was building nuclear capacity to defend Shi'ites, namely Iran. I don't think I appreciate the 'coziness' of USA generals or commander and chiefs with any one particular ethnicity outside Iraq when the miltiary soldiers were trying to build confidence in the people within Iraq, a majority Shi'ite country. Seems a little self defeating to me.
Myers Meets Saudis, Discusses Military Relationships (click here)
By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 17, 2005 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff met here with his Saudi counterparts to discuss mutual issues March 16.
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said the talks were good and furthered the U.S.-Saudi military-to-military relationship.
Myers met with Defense Ministry officials, including Defense Minister Prince Sultan. They discussed military exercises, U.S. training of Saudi forces, and Iraq. It was the chairman's first trip to Saudi Arabia since 2003.
Myers said in an interview following the meetings that the Saudis generally are pleased with the progress being made in Iraq. "A stable Iraq on their border is an advantage to them," he said.
But there is some Saudi trepidation about foreign terrorists being driven from Iraq and "looking for a home" in Saudi Arabia, the general said. There have been several terrorist attacks launched in the kingdom in the past year, and Osama bin Laden has established al Qaeda cells in the country. Saudi police and National Guard forces have been seeking out the al Qaeda cells and captured four suspected terrorists recently, said embassy officials.
Myers said the Saudis discussed what they could do to tighten their country's long border with Iraq and suggested some things the Americans can help the Iraqis do to control crossings on their side.
But normal military-to-military relations dominated the talks. Since the end of Operation Southern Watch, the relationship has been based on training and exercises, the general said. About 500 U.S. troops are in Saudi Arabia helping to train the Saudi National Guard and the regular Saudi armed forces.
The United States and Saudi Arabia will conduct regular exercises. "We have some air exercises scheduled in Saudi happening soon," the general said. Other exercises will be held in conjunction with other Persian Gulf countries, and still others will happen in the United States.
The exercises run the gamut from command post exercises involving few troops to larger ones featuring military forces. The Saudis said they would like to hold exercises featuring ground forces. Myers said the United States would like to do that also, but noted the Saudis understand U.S. ground forces are committed elsewhere right now.
He said he expects the Saudis will at least send military observers to the Bright Star '05 exercises in Egypt later this year.
The U.S.-Saudi military relationship goes back to a meeting between Saudi's King Abdul Aziz and President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard the USS Quincy in 1944. Since then, thousands of Saudis have trained in the United States.
Rumsfeld defends general who commented on war and Satan
I just can't let Don get away with the Boykin 'thing' either.
Friday, October 17, 2003
Posted: 10:22 PM EDT (0222 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are defending a new deputy undersecretary of defense "who has reportedly cast the war on terror" in religious terms.
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, whose promotion and appointment was confirmed by the Senate in June, has said publicly that he sees the war on terrorism as a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
Appearing in dress uniform before a religious group in Oregon in June, Boykin said Islamic extremists hate the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christians. ... And the enemy is a guy named Satan."...
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, whose promotion and appointment was confirmed by the Senate in June, has said publicly that he sees the war on terrorism as a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
Appearing in dress uniform before a religious group in Oregon in June, Boykin said Islamic extremists hate the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christians. ... And the enemy is a guy named Satan."...
Now, I don't know about you, but, that view of the world is mostly indefensible. How, is anyone to believe a mission in Iraq will work when these jerks nearly made the USA out to be every Muslims' enemy? Explain that to me. Leads me to wonder what the heck anyone answering that poll was thinking. I would have hung up on the pollster if given those choices. Jeeze !
And so what's Rummy up to today? I don't know about today, but, yesterday he was off to Hoover Institute. I thought they had a thing against gays. Oh, this isn't J. Edgar. No wonder.
1 day ago Rumsfeld Headed to Hoover Institution (click here)
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former U.S. secretary of defense who resigned under fire after directing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will be a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, the research center announced.
Rumsfeld will serve on a task force of scholars and experts who will focus on issues pertaining to "ideology and terror," the conservative think tank announced Friday in a press release.
"I have asked Don to join the distinguished group of scholars that will pursue new insights on the direction of thinking that the United States might consider going forward," said John Raisian, the institution's director.
Rumsfeld resigned in November, a day after congressional elections that cost Republicans control of Congress. Dissatisfaction with his handling of the Iraq war was cited by many as a major element of voter dissatisfaction with Republicans during the last national election. In addition, a number of Republican lawmakers in Congress urged President George W. Bush to dump Rumsfeld.
The Hoover Institution, a well-funded Republican think tank, has a long list of former officials on its roster. Former commander of the U.S. Central Command, Retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, is serving as a fellow. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has also stated publicly her desire to return to Stanford in 2009.
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former U.S. secretary of defense who resigned under fire after directing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will be a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, the research center announced.
Rumsfeld will serve on a task force of scholars and experts who will focus on issues pertaining to "ideology and terror," the conservative think tank announced Friday in a press release.
"I have asked Don to join the distinguished group of scholars that will pursue new insights on the direction of thinking that the United States might consider going forward," said John Raisian, the institution's director.
Rumsfeld resigned in November, a day after congressional elections that cost Republicans control of Congress. Dissatisfaction with his handling of the Iraq war was cited by many as a major element of voter dissatisfaction with Republicans during the last national election. In addition, a number of Republican lawmakers in Congress urged President George W. Bush to dump Rumsfeld.
The Hoover Institution, a well-funded Republican think tank, has a long list of former officials on its roster. Former commander of the U.S. Central Command, Retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, is serving as a fellow. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has also stated publicly her desire to return to Stanford in 2009.
Then there was this bizarre Lt. General William Boykin. Very starnge man. Maybe he came up with the poll and it's results. Don't know really.
In June 2004, Stephen A. Cambone, a top Pentagon official, ordered his deputy, Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, to look into allegations of detainee abuse at Camp Nama. (click here)
Strange thing about Boykin. He was linked to the investigation of abuse in Iraq. Strange bunch. Even stranger war. How any general can justify any presence in Iraq considering the hardship suffered and continuing today is beyond me.
The Iraq War did strange things to people. Generals began to minister to the public in churches to explain why God was on their side. Hm. Indeed.
In late 2003, Maj. General William G. Boykin (serving as Deputy Undersecretary for Intelligence under Stephen Cambone) took a lot of heat when the press suddenly noticed a bunch of his wacky statements. Before being placed in charge of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the former Delta Force commander had recently made several in-uniform appearances at church congregations to explain why Jesus is on America's side.
Speaking of Somali militia leader Osman All Otto, captured in 1993: "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol." After this comment started drawing flak, Boykin backpedaled: "Comments to Osman Otto in Mogadishu were not referencing his worship of Allah but his worship of money and power; idolatry."
Regarding the convoluted election of President George W. Bush: "Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. He's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this." On another occasion, Boykin put it this way: "George Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters in the United States. He was appointed by God."
In a slideshow program he presented at various church groups, Boykin showed a photo he had taken from a helicopter over Mogadishu in 1993 depicting black patches in the sky. "Whether you understand it or not, it is a demonic spirit over the city of Mogadishu. Ladies and gentlemen, that's not a fake, that's not a farce."
Another comment from the slideshow: "Well, is he (Osama bin Laden) the enemy? Next slide. Or is this man (Saddam Hussein) the enemy? The enemy is none of these people I have showed you here. The enemy is a spiritual enemy. He's called the principality of darkness. The enemy is a guy called Satan."
Regarding this last point, magician and celebrity atheist Penn Jillette responded thusly:
A guy? A guy? A guy named "Satan." We can't even find a guy named Bin Laden, and now we're looking for an evil tooth fairy? Satan's not a guy, it's just someone else's imaginary friend. How did we end up fighting a war against a sock monkey?
According to Boykin, his religious conversion broke up his marriage: "My wife of 25 years [...] walked in and said, 'I don't love you anymore, you're a religious fanatic, and I'm leaving you.'"
Into the void left by General Shinseki was General Tommy Franks. You'll remember him for his speech at the Republican National Convention 2004
Franks and Rumsfeld
JIM LEHRER: Joining us now is Retired Army General Tommy Franks who just addressed this convention. General, welcome.
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS: Thanks a lot, sir. It's great to be with you.
JIM LEHRER: You said this was a time for choice--
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS: Right.
JIM LEHRER: --and-- you chose-- made a choice between George W. Bush and John Kerry. Did you -- should your choice be interpreted as you looked at both of them and decided that John Kerry wasn't up to the job or a negative about him or more positive about --
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS: The latter case. I think - I think it's sort of like this discussion - the dots that we've had concerning intelligence and the whole WMD thing and Iraq, what I did was I started with a sheet of paper and I started putting dots on this piece of paper and determined the issues that I thought were important to me and my family and all of that.
And then I used them as metrics, and I measured the performance of both candidates against that. And at the end of the day I decided that the right thing for me to do based on my beliefs was to be vocal in support of the president.
Did any Democrat but me ever feel 'left out' of the loop? Somehow ONLY what the Republican' agenda was mattered to the Fomer General Franks. Why am I concerned about how generals are 'party affiliated' these days?
That brings me right back to the observations I made about 'the poll' that appeared in The New York Times. How can Americans know which general to trust, especially when they obviously are acting in the best interest of a Neocon party/agenda. It's a bizarre poll no matter which way one looks at it. I don't know whom dreamed it up, but, they sure as heck didn't think it through. Very odd.
The thought processes have to be...and whom would you trust? Bush, Congress or the General?
Poll Participant :: Gee, I don't know. I guess the guy with the big guns. Yeah, you know they fly nukes on B52 Bombers overhead so I guess one really shouldn't question them too much or next time it might be you, right? So, of the three, I'd have to say Generals, but, I really don't know why. I think generals are 'party-neutral' right?
At any rate, Tommy Franks had some kind of charges in Brussels pending against him so he felt insulted or something and he retired.
The Only American General that counted, never left his post until his responsiblities got bizarre.
General Eric Shinseki Consoles Brian's Family at Arlington National Cemetery (click here)
General Eric Shinseki retired from his leadership when it was demanded of him to lead a mission into Iraq. General Shinseki has never been proven wrong about his estimation of lacking a sufficient military to secure Iraq. There are precious few after him I respected. General Shinseki was one of few to actually serve in Afghanistan, by the way. The Brits and NATO are there now, they kicked Bush out. The USA troops in Afghanistan are serving under the direction of NATO, not the USA commander and chief.
The war in Afghanistan was going well until he retired. He was mostly victorious when he entered Afghanistan. His military was met with accolades and donkeys to facilitate their movement to victory. Not only that but they were met with welcoming Russian medical outposts by the chance the soldiers found peril. That must have been interesting; having Russian military physicians greet American soldiers to ensure their well being on the battlefield. Bouy, it ain't that way no more !
There is this 'testimony thing' Bush is trying to pull off that is supposed to justify more killing in Iraq...
... while he sets his sites on Iran.
I thought a brief review of generals since Bush took office might be appropriate. See there is a strategy within a strategy. The one in particular I am thinking about is the 'strategy against the American people.' I thought this was an odd poll actually. The 'idea' people would trust generals over the general's commander and chief is just strange. The generals are doing their commander and chief's bidding, otherwise, they may as well pack up and head to the court marshall, because, generals take orders, they have a career and I haven't got the foggiest idea where people polled would put that much credence in a general under orders from a commander and chief with a 95% disapproval rating. It's a bizarre poll and it only leaves Americans with three lousy choices.
...Only 5 percent of Americans — a strikingly low number for a sitting president’s handling of such a dominant issue — said they most trust the Bush administration to resolve the war, the poll found. Asked to choose between the administration, Congress and military commanders, 21 percent said they would most trust Congress and 68 percent expressed the most trust in military commanders....
So...to, the generals.
I thought a brief review of generals since Bush took office might be appropriate. See there is a strategy within a strategy. The one in particular I am thinking about is the 'strategy against the American people.' I thought this was an odd poll actually. The 'idea' people would trust generals over the general's commander and chief is just strange. The generals are doing their commander and chief's bidding, otherwise, they may as well pack up and head to the court marshall, because, generals take orders, they have a career and I haven't got the foggiest idea where people polled would put that much credence in a general under orders from a commander and chief with a 95% disapproval rating. It's a bizarre poll and it only leaves Americans with three lousy choices.
...Only 5 percent of Americans — a strikingly low number for a sitting president’s handling of such a dominant issue — said they most trust the Bush administration to resolve the war, the poll found. Asked to choose between the administration, Congress and military commanders, 21 percent said they would most trust Congress and 68 percent expressed the most trust in military commanders....
So...to, the generals.
General
there was a decorated general with
a heart of gold, that likened him to
all the stories he told
of past battles, won and lost, and
legends of old a seasoned veteran in
his own time
on the battlefield, he gaine
drespectful fame with many metals
of bravery and stripes to his name
he grew a beard as soon as he could
to cover the scars on his face
and always urged his men on
but on the eve of a great battle
with the infantry in dream
the old general tossed in his sleep
and wrestled with its meaning
he awoke from the night
just to tell what he had seen
and walked slowly out of his tent
all the men held tall with their
chests in the air, with courage in
their blood and a fire in their stare
it was a grey morning and they all
wondered how they would fare
till the old general told them to go home
I have seen the others
and I have discovered
that this fight is not worth fighting
I have seen their mothers
and I will no other
to follow me where I'm going
Take a shower, shine your shoes
you got no time to lose
you are young men you must be living
go now you are forgiven
but the men stood fast with their
guns on their shoulders not knowing
what to do with the contradicting orders
the general said he would do his own
duty bout would not extend it not further
the men could go as they pleased
not a man moved, their eyes glazed
straight ahead till one by one they
stepped back and not a word was said
and the old general was left with his
own words echoing in his head
he then prepared to fight
I have seen the others
and I have discovered
that this fight is not worth fighting
I have seen their mothers
and I will no other
to follow me where I'm going
go now you are forgiven
General
This band also has another link worth noting. Thank you. (click here)
a heart of gold, that likened him to
all the stories he told
of past battles, won and lost, and
legends of old a seasoned veteran in
his own time
on the battlefield, he gaine
drespectful fame with many metals
of bravery and stripes to his name
he grew a beard as soon as he could
to cover the scars on his face
and always urged his men on
but on the eve of a great battle
with the infantry in dream
the old general tossed in his sleep
and wrestled with its meaning
he awoke from the night
just to tell what he had seen
and walked slowly out of his tent
all the men held tall with their
chests in the air, with courage in
their blood and a fire in their stare
it was a grey morning and they all
wondered how they would fare
till the old general told them to go home
I have seen the others
and I have discovered
that this fight is not worth fighting
I have seen their mothers
and I will no other
to follow me where I'm going
Take a shower, shine your shoes
you got no time to lose
you are young men you must be living
go now you are forgiven
but the men stood fast with their
guns on their shoulders not knowing
what to do with the contradicting orders
the general said he would do his own
duty bout would not extend it not further
the men could go as they pleased
not a man moved, their eyes glazed
straight ahead till one by one they
stepped back and not a word was said
and the old general was left with his
own words echoing in his head
he then prepared to fight
I have seen the others
and I have discovered
that this fight is not worth fighting
I have seen their mothers
and I will no other
to follow me where I'm going
go now you are forgiven
General
This band also has another link worth noting. Thank you. (click here)
Gabrielle moving through eastern N.C. without much of an impact
I went out to take a look and the storm wasn't much of a storm. Basically, the way I see this tropical storm is an 'anti-cyclonic' heat transfer system. The clouds, especially at the periphery were dry and the clouds were 'typical' heat transfer clouds. These huge cloud masses packing a lot of heat in a few 'cloud types' but absolutely no rain. Some of the clouds were dark and looked like they could be storm clouds, but, basically it was a heat transfer system with an anti-cyclonic spin.
The weather services, no matter the station, did a great job. I am confident there were lives saved especially considering the sea swells and the fact boat services were suspended. I appreciate all the broadcast news considering one never knows these days what exactly we are facing until these storms make landfall. This one was atypical and should be investigated for it's 'dryness' and 'anti-cyclonic' flow. I appreciate all the news coverage and I am confident it gave enough people pause when they might have ventured into a dangerous surf and undertow.
By MIKE BAKER Associated Press Writer
HATTERAS, N.C. - A mostly punchless Tropical Storm Gabrielle washed ashore Sunday in North Carolina, crawling slowly along the state's famed Outer Banks without chasing vacationers from the shore or surfers from the beach....
...If anything, residents of eastern North Carolina were annoyed that Gabrielle failed to dump much rain inland. All of the state's 100 counties are experiencing drought conditions, 91 in a severe drought or worse, and there was hope the first storm of the Atlantic hurricane season to reach the state would prove to be a blessing.
While some spots did get some decent rain - nearly 5 inches in Harlow in rural Carteret County, and about an inch in nearby New Bern and Beaufort - Gabrielle was mostly a tease.
"We're glad we didn't have any flooding or wind damage, but the rain would have been nice," Jarema said. "The coast got some rain, but they were the ones with the least problems from the drought."...
Prayer to End Climate Change
By CARRIE McGOURTY
Sept. 7, 2007
Religious leaders from all over the world met at the mouth of a melting glacier in Greenland today to say a silent prayer for the planet, appealing to mankind to address the impact that humanity is having on life on Earth.
Religious leaders from all over the world met at the mouth of a melting glacier in Greenland today to say a silent prayer for the planet, appealing to mankind to address the impact that humanity is having on life on Earth.
A group of nearly 200 scientists, theologians and government officials sailed into the ice fields of the Illulissat Icefjord, the largest glacier in Greenland that is bearing the brunt of global warming.
The pope delivered a message via video from the Vatican while religious leaders of Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths prayed silently.
"We're all in awe of this spectacle," said Neal Ascherson, a spokesperson for Religion, Science and the Environment (RSE), the group coordinating the event....
With little fanfare, war protester reaches goal of nationwide trek
Bill McDannell Walks 3000 miles for Peace! (click here for You Tube statement)
By Michael Stetz / San Diego Union-Tribune
LAKESIDE – Bill McDannell walked from Arlington National Cemetery to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday.
Once he reached the steps, he stopped and shed a few tears.
He had done it.
He had walked 3,185 miles from Lakeside to Washington, D.C. He had walked across the United States.
“I was overcome,” said McDannell, who began his walk in November to protest the war in Iraq.
No reporters met him at the end of his quest. No TV cameras were there. Other than occasional local TV reports and newspaper articles in mostly small-town America, he was unable to attract much media coverage.
At the end, it was just McDannell, his wife, Jonna, and their two dogs. Tourists buzzed around the Capitol, oblivious to his accomplishment, he said.
It was surreal and wonderful at the same time.
“I really wish I could describe it. I can't,” McDannell said.
McDannell had hoped, of course, that his effort would draw more attention, that in some small way a man from Lakeside could have some impact on the national conversation regarding the war.
But the war goes on and shows no sign of ending anytime soon. And that fact is not lost on him.
“Our measure of success was arriving,” said McDannell, 58, a former Methodist minister.
Why didn't national TV crews pick up McDannell's story, the same way they did when Steve Vaught, a San Diego man dubbed “Fat Man Walking,” trekked across the country to lose weight? McDannell thinks it's because he just wasn't gimmicky enough.
He didn't wear a glow-in-the-dark Uncle Sam suit, he said.
“I didn't talk like a freak. I didn't act like a freak,” McDannell said. “I offered no entertainment value.”
Now what?
He and his wife are broke, having sold their double-wide trailer to finance the walk. For now, they're staying with McDannell's son in Alexandria, Va.
McDannell hopes to meet with members of Congress, to call for a quick end to the war.
“The anti-war left is actually the disgusted middle,” he said.
After lobbying Congress, McDannell might walk some more to protest the war. Maybe he'll hike to the state capitals in New England this fall and then do the same in the southeast in the winter.
For now, though, he's just trying to savor this moment.
“I did it for a cause I believe in,” McDannell said. “A country I believe in.”
By Michael Stetz / San Diego Union-Tribune
LAKESIDE – Bill McDannell walked from Arlington National Cemetery to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday.
Once he reached the steps, he stopped and shed a few tears.
He had done it.
He had walked 3,185 miles from Lakeside to Washington, D.C. He had walked across the United States.
“I was overcome,” said McDannell, who began his walk in November to protest the war in Iraq.
No reporters met him at the end of his quest. No TV cameras were there. Other than occasional local TV reports and newspaper articles in mostly small-town America, he was unable to attract much media coverage.
At the end, it was just McDannell, his wife, Jonna, and their two dogs. Tourists buzzed around the Capitol, oblivious to his accomplishment, he said.
It was surreal and wonderful at the same time.
“I really wish I could describe it. I can't,” McDannell said.
McDannell had hoped, of course, that his effort would draw more attention, that in some small way a man from Lakeside could have some impact on the national conversation regarding the war.
But the war goes on and shows no sign of ending anytime soon. And that fact is not lost on him.
“Our measure of success was arriving,” said McDannell, 58, a former Methodist minister.
Why didn't national TV crews pick up McDannell's story, the same way they did when Steve Vaught, a San Diego man dubbed “Fat Man Walking,” trekked across the country to lose weight? McDannell thinks it's because he just wasn't gimmicky enough.
He didn't wear a glow-in-the-dark Uncle Sam suit, he said.
“I didn't talk like a freak. I didn't act like a freak,” McDannell said. “I offered no entertainment value.”
Now what?
He and his wife are broke, having sold their double-wide trailer to finance the walk. For now, they're staying with McDannell's son in Alexandria, Va.
McDannell hopes to meet with members of Congress, to call for a quick end to the war.
“The anti-war left is actually the disgusted middle,” he said.
After lobbying Congress, McDannell might walk some more to protest the war. Maybe he'll hike to the state capitals in New England this fall and then do the same in the southeast in the winter.
For now, though, he's just trying to savor this moment.
“I did it for a cause I believe in,” McDannell said. “A country I believe in.”
Movie and a Book
Dan Radliffe LIVE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pneoZiW8qYk
December Boys Trailers & Video Clips (1 video)
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809420758/video/3328557/20070710/149/3328557-700-flash-s.39256080-,3328557-1000-flash-s.39256081-,3328557-100-wmv-s.39256065-,3328557-700-wmv-s.39256074-,3328557-1000-wmv-s.39256075-,3328557-100-flash-s.39256076-,3328557-300-wmv-s.39256068-,3328557-300-flash-s.39256077-,3328558-6800-qtv-s.39256090-,3328558-10300-qtv-s.39256093-,3328558-2700-qtv-s.39256086-
Apple Trailer
http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_independent_pictures/decemberboys/trailer/
Book explores the epic fight of 2003
By Nick Jimenez (Contact)Sunday, September 9, 2007
In 2003, the state's top political leaders devoted months to one subject that had very little to do with the issues that were most important to most Texans. Instead of figuring out a way to create excellent public schools or restore a highway system that had once been the envy of the nation, or work on fixing an overburdened Medicaid program for the sick and poor, the governor, the top legislative leaders, the state's most powerful member of Congress and many of their most powerful supporters worked on only one thing, redistricting.
http://www.caller.com/news/2007/sep/09/book-explores-the-epic-fight-of-2003/
Fayetteville Observer
Drought forces farms to thin their herds
By Sarah A. ReidStaff writer
SMITHFIELD — In a typical August, H.B. Powell expects 500 to 600 cows to pass through the gates of his auction house each week.
In the past two months, he has auctioned 800 to 1,000 head a week.
Pastures that have withered because of drought and record heat — combined with hay and water shortages — have caused some cattle farmers to cull herds early to reduce feed costs this winter.
“We had a busy summer,” Powell said Thursday as he took a break from tagging the hundreds of bovines waiting for the auction block.
“This time of year should be our slower time, but with the drier weather we have a lot of people who want to sell cows.”
In the past six weeks, the number of cows and calves headed to auction has increased 50 percent to 100 percent from last year, according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=271490
Smithfield lays off 25 truck drivers
By Venita JenkinsStaff writer
TAR HEEL — Twenty-five Smithfield Packing Co. truck drivers were laid off last week as part of a plan to streamline the hog processing plant’s trucking fleet, which has prompted a complaint filed by a union.
Smithfield decided to consolidate fleets at its Tar Heel plant and at Premium Standard Farms in Clinton after Smithfield purchased the company in May. The drivers were notified in July about the cutbacks.
Most of the drivers have accepted other positions within the Tar Heel plant, said Dennis Pittman, a spokesman for Smithfield.
But some have decided to take jobs elsewhere.
The Labors International Union of North America, which represents some of the drivers, filed an unfair labor practice against Smithfield with the National Labor Relations Board on Aug. 24, said Steve Lanning, director of organizing for the Mid-Atlantic region.
The union says that Smithfield failed to negotiate and bargain in good faith regarding the layoffs, Lanning said.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=271668
Goldsboro News Argus
Farmers look for alternatives to keep cattle fed this winter
Come December, Johnny Weaver will be out of stored feed for the 18 cross-bred cows he raises in Kenly.
But agronomists think there is still hope for herds of grazing livestock like Weaver's -- if local farmers turn to lower-quality nutritional resources like corn stubble and cotton gin waste.
The state's Department of Agriculture and the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service held a workshop Friday at Cherry Research Farm to help local farmers do just that.
Drought conditions have become "exceptional" in the state's westernmost counties. And a wide swath of eastern counties, including Wayne, are now under "extreme" drought, the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council says.
The lack of rain means not only a terrible season for soybeans, cottons and corn -- it also means that fodder crops for cattle and other grazers are critically short.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/farmers_look_for_alternatives_to_keep_cattle_fed_this_winter/index.shtml
2007 N.C. ABC scores categorize 32 schools
Rankings for the 32 Wayne County Public Schools have been made on the heels of the ABCs/AYP results, announced Thursday by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
As the annual test score composites are tallied, the status of each school is determined.
Northwest Elementary School was again named "School of Distinction," while there were 19 schools ranked "School of Progress," eight "Priority Schools," and three receiving no recognition.
The previous school year, 2005-06, there were 13 "Schools of Progress," nine "Priority Schools," six with no recognition and one categorized as low-performing.
To go back further would not be a fair comparison, said Dr. Craig McFadden, the school district's assistant superintendent for accountability, since the standards were revamped with the 2005-06 school year.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/2007_nc_abc_scores_categorize_32_schools/index.shtml
Drive under way for donated school supplies
SunCom Wireless at 225 N. Berkeley Blvd. will be collecting donations of school supplies for Wayne County elementary school children at the store through the end of September.
Community members are asked to donate school supplies such as staples, tape dispensers, rulers, paper, Post-it® notes, file folders and any other school-related materials. Larger items such as DVD players, overhead projectors and media carts are also needed and may be dropped off at the SunCom store as well.
For a complete list of the schools' needs, contact Heather Golden at hgolden@suncom.com or call 344-8583.
School supply drop-off times are as follows:
*Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
*Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
*Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m.
By News-Argus StaffPublished in News on September 9, 2007 02:03 AM
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/drive_under_way_for_donated_school_supplies/index.shtml
WCC will host forum on environmental contracting
The N.C. Military Business Center and Wayne Community College are hosting an Environmental Contracting Forum Thursday.
The forum will bring together representatives from military installations and federal and state agencies to discuss environmental products, procurement and sustainability issues.
Military installations will be represented by Luci Fernandez, sustainability planner, Department of Public Works Environmental Branch, Fort Bragg; Donald "Buck" Abrams, chief of environmental flight, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base; Louie Cook Jr., Environmental Affairs Department, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point; and John Townsend, Environmental Management Division, Camp Lejeune.
Representatives from federal and state offices will include Shana Love, USDA Bio-based Program and the USDA Advantage Purchasing Program, Donna Stankus, U.S. Green Business Council; and Rachel Eckert, N.C. Division of Pollution Preven-tion and Environmental Assist-ance.
The forum will be held on the campus of Wayne Com-munity College at the Wayne Learning Center and will feature a general session in the morning along with breakout sessions and a business expo throughout the day.
Registration is available online at www.ncmbc.us, or by calling 910-323-4958. Walk-ins are welcome. Fees payable by check only to Fayetteville Technical Community College.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/wcc_will_host_forum_on_environmental_contracting/index.shtml
Festival set for this Saturday at Cherry Farm
Those who want to know a little more about farming will have their chance this weekend at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems' Fall Festival.
The event, which is set for Saturday, will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the CEFS Small Farm on N.C. 581 west between Cherry Hospital and O'Berry Center.
Featured will be speakers and exhibits on the latest in organic farming and gardening, along with food and entertainment.
At 11 a.m., Sarah Ash, a nutrition professor at N.C. State University, will speak on eating healthy from the garden, followed by an 11:30 a.m. demonstartion on how make biofuel from vegetable oil.
At noon, Wayne County's horticulture agent, Jessica Hyatt, will discuss rain gardens, with Amy Griner of the N.C. Crop Improvement Assoc. speaking at 12:30 p.m. on organic certification.
At 1 p.m., N.C. State research technician Ken Fager will discuss back yard organic gardening, followed by a 1:30 p.m. presentation by graduate students Cary Rivard and Suzanne O'Connell on grafting tomatoes for disease resistance.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/festival_set_for_this_saturday_at_cherry_farm/index.shtml
Park group gets grant to help with trails
Goldsboro's Parks and Recreation Department is one step closer to having enough resources to complete plans to create a new park at Stoney Creek.
The department recently received notification that the city has qualified for the Recreation Trails grant, which will bring $32,744 to the project, new Parks and Recreation director Sonya Shaw said.
"We are excited about it, and the (Stoney Creek Park) Alliance is as well," Mrs. Shaw said.
Alliance member Sissy Lee-Elmore agreed.
"It's an opportunity to enhance the area that we already have," she said. "This is our first sizeable grant, and we're proud to get started."
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/park_group_gets_grant_to_help_with_trails/index.shtml
Cheney Observer
National Journal: FBI Beefs up for Corruption Probes
By Paul Kiel - September 7, 2007, 1:40 PM
If it seems like the FBI has been mighty busy investigating public officials lately (and it certainly seems that way to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and others), it's no accident. As Peter Stone reports in August's National Journal (not available online), the FBI has put a major emphasis on bagging crooked pols:
The increased emphasis, of course, goes beyond just Jack Abramoff, who's at the center of what investigators call "Operation Rainmakers." Stone reports that the Justice Department has hired an expert to train "65 FBI agents in election law nuances so they could better identify corruption." And it means going where the corruption is, even if that means shipping extra agents up to sleepy Alaska:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004067.php
Republican US lawmaker's aides summoned to court in probe of links with convicted lobbyist
WASHINGTON: A grand jury has subpoenaed two top aides of a Republican lawmaker to testify in a federal probe of ties among the congressman, his wife and jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The subpoenas from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia were issued to Rep. John Doolittle's chief of staff, Ron Rogers, and deputy staff chief, Dan Blankenburg. They were announced on the House of Representatives floor as Congress returned from its August recess Tuesday after the aides informed House leaders about the subpoenas, as required under House rules.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/04/america/NA-GEN-US-Lawmaker-Lobbyist-Subpoenas.php
Doolittle Attacks Critics As 'Weasels'
By ERICA WERNER 09.07.07, 5:55 PM ET
WASHINGTON -
Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., denounced his GOP critics as "weasels" Friday even as his chief of staff appeared before a federal grand jury investigating Doolittle's ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Doolittle also told reporters on a conference call Friday that he believes the Justice Department's long-running probe "borders on harassment."
Prosecutors are investigating connections between Doolittle and Abramoff including payments that Doolittle's wife, Julie, got from Abramoff even after a fundraiser she was paid to plan got canceled.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/09/07/ap4095043.html
California Congressman's Legal Troubles Worsen, Fellow Republicans Line Up To Challenge Him
9/4/2007 7:36:54 PM
Rep. John Doolittle, the conservative California congressman who has been the focus of a widening corruption probe, is facing primary challenges in the upcoming June election from a growing number of fellow Republicans. Among them: U.S. Air Force reservist Eric Egland, who appeared in a campaign ad for Doolittle last year; Auburn City Councilman Mike Holmes, who received 33 percent of the Republican primary vote against Doolittle last year; and state Assemblyman Ted Gaines, once a Doolittle ally who now says the congressman has lost the "moral ability to lead."“John Doolittle is and has been an embarrassment to the Republican Party,” Holmes told RTTNews. His and others' impetus for entry into the race to unseat the ninth-term congressman is Doolittle's strong ties to former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now in prison on an array of fraud and conspiracy charges related to his work on behalf of his Indian tribe clients.Doolittle is believed to be the only sitting member of Congress to be under active investigation for his ties to Abramoff.
http://www.rttnews.com/FOREX/politicalnews.asp?date=09/05/2007&item=2
On returning money, Republicans have a short memory
Predictably, Republicans are all over this. And yet again, they make it like shooting fish in a barrel.
NASHVILLE — While some politicians are giving away money received from controversial contributor Norman Hsu, the Tennessee Democratic Party and Harold Ford Jr. have no such plans because the money has been spent.
Well, here's some other contributions.
Members Who Decline to Return Donations From Abramoff and/or from Abramoff Clients/Associates
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/silence/archives/2007/09/on_returning_mo_1.shtml
Delayed reactionStudent returns to college to find arrest warrant for his part in an April protestBy GIL SMART, Associate editorSunday News
Published: Sep 09, 2007 12:15 AM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa - It was back to school time for Eugene Johnson on the campus of American University late last month. In addition to the books and the class work, the 19-year-old student from New Holland had something else waiting for him:An arrest warrant.This, Johnson thought, was strange. Yes, he and dozens of other students had participated in a protest when Karl Rove, former top adviser to President George W. Bush, was on campus. But that was back in April. Though the event got slightly unruly and resulted in disciplinary action by the Washington, D.C., school, neither police nor the Secret Service arrested anyone at the time.That five months later authorities saw fit to charge Johnson and five other AU students struck the 2006 Garden Spot graduate as strange. And maybe dubious.
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/209235
GOP threepeat? Tough but doable, some say
Looking forward is the key to keeping seat, say analysts.
Click-2-Listen
By Ken HermanWASHINGTON BUREAUSunday, September 09, 2007
WASHINGTON — President Bush's next and last big political challenge is one for the ages, something last accomplished about a half-century before women got the vote.
"My political agenda is this," Bush told the Republican Governors Association this year: "More Republican governors, take back control of the House and the Senate, and make sure we keep the White House in 2008."
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/09/09/0909bush2008.html
Simpson to Be Questioned by House Panel Investigators
By Bob Johnson
The Associated Press
Friday 07 September 2007
Montgomery, Alabama - Attorneys for a congressional committee will question an Alabama lawyer under oath next week about her claims that a Republican campaign operative talked about White House influence over the investigation of former Alabama Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman.
Rainsville attorney Jill Simpson, who was a campaign worker for Republican Bob Riley when he defeated Siegelman in 2002, will be interviewed privately Sept. 14 by two staff attorneys in the office of the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, Simpson's attorney, Priscilla Duncan, said Friday.
Duncan said she had been talking to committee staff members for several weeks to set up the interview.
In a letter to Duncan, House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said the interview with Simpson would be under oath and would be transcribed. Conyers said the transcript would be confidential initially and that a decision on releasing it would be made later by Republican and Democratic committee leaders.
Conyers said Simpson would be questioned by two people - a member of the committee's minority staff and a member of committee's majority staff.
In an affidavit made public in May, Simpson said she was a campaign worker for Riley in northeast Alabama and heard the GOP operative's statement on Nov. 18, 2002, during a conference phone call. She said it was made with Riley's son and campaign manager, Rob Riley, campaign adviser Bill Canary and attorney Terry Butts.
Simpson quoted Canary as saying Siegelman would not be a political worry in the future because Canary "had gotten it worked out with Karl and Karl has spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice was already pursuing Don Siegelman."
Simpson has said Canary was referring to Karl Rove, the White House political adviser with whom Canary had worked.
Bill Canary and Rob Riley have said they have no recollection of the conversation with Simpson. Butts has denied that the conversation occurred.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090907E.shtml
People don’t forget the connection to the Saudi Empire and the security plans for the Twin Towers while Marvin Bush was on the Board of Directors of that security firm. Six years later, folks are completely aware of that reality and willing to judge the false patriotism the Bush Family exhibits to our country.
#104 — September 7, 2007 @ 12:57PM — Theodore Trout [URL]
Wirt D. Walker III, a distant relative "in the Walker branch of the Bush family," according to a former colleague, and Mishal Yousef Saud Al Sabah of the Kuwaiti ruling family. Walker and Al Sabah also headed KuwAm, the backer of Stratesec and Aviation General.Stratesec was founded as Securacom (formerly the engineering firm Burns and Roe Securacom). It was reinvented shortly after the first Gulf War, and thereafter marketed large security contracts to big clients, including the World Trade Center, Washington's Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport, various municipalities and airlines. Marvin Bush and Wirt Walker Chairman and CEO of Stratesec from 1999 to the company's liquidation in 2003. Walker had served as a director of the company since 1987.Securacom did security detailing for the World Trade Center. In 1992 Burns & Roe became Securacom: its management changed hands accompanying an infusion of capital from the ruling family of Kuwait, the Al Sabahs, two of whom joined its board. At this time Marvin Bush also joined the board, clearly connecting family and Al Sabah interests and presumably part of a bigger package of Bush family rewards after the U.S. kicked Iraq out of Kuwait.Marvin was a director of Securacom a.k.a. Stratesec from 1993 until fiscal year 2000.
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/09/04/143308.php#comment-629588
No one could demoralize a military quite like Dick Cheney. And whom exactly flew the nukes out of Minot?
To stay in U.S., grab a book or rifle
By Dan Moffett
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Except for Halliburton shareholders, broadcast gab freaks and Al-Qaeda recruiters, it's hard to find people who are benefitting from the war in Iraq.
You certainly would not expect the children of illegal immigrants to wind up in the ever-shortening Iraq winners column. But, strangely enough, some of them might.
A chain of unintended consequences that reaches from here to Baghdad could have a beneficial link for college-bound illegal immigrants. It goes like this:
As the war moves into its fifth year, the strain on the U.S. military is growing intolerable. And the Army can't make recruiting quotas. And Congress - especially Republicans who support the war effort - are inclined to take extraordinary measures to fill uniforms. And one of the leftover ideas from the summer's failed attempt at immigration reform is called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.
The Dream Act, as it is popularly known, calls for giving permanent residency to illegal immigrants who complete two years of college or two years of military service.
And so, conservative lawmakers who otherwise might recoil at the thought of giving even limited amnesty to illegal students have no problem at all saying yes if part of the deal also involves giving amnesty to illegal soldiers.
The Pentagon has about run out of ways to lower recruiting standards - the Army has turned to offering $20,000 enlistment bonuses to 42-year-olds and overweight high school dropouts - and is desperate to put bodies in uniforms. This is the wrong time to make immigration status a barrier to service, when it seems almost nothing else is.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/09/09/a2e_moffettcol_0909.html
Loophole Halliburton
Iran terminates Halliburton contract over fears of espionage
5 Sept. 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- The new hardline Iranian government terminated a natural gas subcontract because of concerns that nuclear secrets could be leaked to Halliburton and its former chief executive, Vice President Dick Cheney. One of Iran's largest private oil companies, Oriental Oil Kish, based in Dubai, awarded the subcontract to Halliburton last January for the purpose of developing natural gas off Iran's coast. But the new Iranian government became alarmed that a senior member of the country’s nuclear negotiations team, Sirus Nasseri, also serves as the vice chairman of the board of directors of Oriental Oil Kish. Government officials feared Nasseri might compromise the nation's nuclear secrets while working with Halliburton on the natural gas project. So, the contract was terminated in August.
http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/iran_terminates.html
Playing with fire: Halliburton’s ties with terrorism
By Jason Leopold - posted Thursday, 1 September 2005
Scandal-plagued Halliburton - the oil services company once headed by US Vice President Dick Cheney - sold an Iranian oil development company key components for a nuclear reactor, say Halliburton sources with intimate knowledge into both companies’ business dealings.
Halliburton was secretly working at the time with one of Iran’s top nuclear program officials on natural gas related projects and sold the components in April to the official's oil development company, the sources said.
Just a few weeks ago, a National Security Council report said Iran was a decade away from acquiring a nuclear bomb. That time frame could arguably have been significantly longer if Halliburton, whose military unit just reported a 284 per cent increase in its second quarter profits due to its Iraq reconstruction contracts, was not actively providing the Iranian Government with the means to build a nuclear weapon.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3777
Oriental Oil Kish activities suspended in Iran
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - ?2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, August 23 (IranMania) - Oriental Oil Kish has been barred from continuing the projects it has at hand or has commitment to implement pending judicial inquiries into its activities, said a senior National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) official.
Mohammad Reza Moqaddam, NIOC director for planning affairs, told ISNA that the NIOC has the authority to ?halt the activities of companies involved in financial corruption as well as those which have just begun to do so?....
…ISNA reported that Oriental Oil Kish, which is also registered in the UK, managed to turn into an international company after it entered into cooperation with a major US company, Halliburton, the scandal-plagued oil company that Vice President Dick Cheney once ran.
The joint venture won the development project for phases IX and X of the South Pars, marking the first post-revolution presence of a US company in Iran?s energy projects.
Halliburton?s business ties with Oriental Oil Kish first surfaced in January, when the Iranian company said that it gave some contracts of the South Pars natural gas drilling project to Halliburton Products and Services, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Halliburton.
In May and under mounting pressure from lawmakers in Washington, Halliburton decided to end its deals with its Iranian partner, but continued acting in an advisory capacity to the company. Currently, the US law doesn?t prohibit foreign subsidiaries from having business with Iran as long as the subsidiaries are truly independent of the mother company.
Mortgage Crisis, Job Loss...Recession?
Following News of Job Loss, Economists Worry All Signs Point to an Impending Recession
In the wake of news that 4,000 jobs were lost in August, new fears are arising about the state of the economy.
The job loss represents the first monthly decline in four years -- prompting speculation that we're headed for a serious economic slowdown, or even a recession.
For Jim Dell'Anno, who lost his job as a mortgage broker, the news is nothing new. Like millions of other Americans, he's living proof that the housing and credit crisis, which has roiled the financial world, has caught up with the real world.
"It doesn't shock us at all when things like this happen," he said.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3575248&page=1
Oops? The USA Military was going to bomb whom and then say oops? I don’t think so. If the USA were ever to use nuclear warheads for any purpose it felt it needed to go to that extreme over, I would hope the intended nation for attack would have time to realize the extent they had pushed this country. I find this act more than troubling. These missiles were loaded on the wings for deployment. When is Bush and Cheney going to be impeached?
Was a Covert Attempt to Bomb Iran with Nuclear Weapons foiled by a Military Leak?
Michael E. Salla, M.A., Ph.D.
Critically exploring whether or not there was a covert attempt to instigate a catastrophic nuclear war against Iran is illuminated through an introduction using the recent B-52 Incident. On August 30, a B-52 bomber armed with five nuclear-tipped Advanced Cruise missiles travelled from Minot Air Force base, North Dakota, to Barksdale Air Force base, Louisiana, in the United States. Each missile had an adjustable yield between five and 150 kilotons of TNT which is at the lower end of the destructive capacities of U.S. nuclear weapons. For example, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of 13 kilotons, while the Bravo Hydrogen bomb test of 1954 had a yield of 15,000 kilotons. The B-52 story was first covered in the Army Times on 5 September after the nuclear armed aircraft was discovered by Airmen. LINK
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2007/09/07/01751.html
B-52 mistakenly flies with nukes aboard
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writerPosted : Wednesday Sep 5, 2007 22:03:04 EDT
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
A B-52 bomber mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, resulting in an Air Force-wide investigation, according to three officers who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the incident.
The B-52 was loaded with Advanced Cruise Missiles, part of a Defense Department effort to decommission 400 of the ACMs. But the nuclear warheads should have been removed at Minot before being transported to Barksdale, the officers said. The missiles were mounted onto the pylons of the bomber’s wings.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/marine_nuclear_B52_070904w/
Businessman quits as fundraiser for Romney
Robert Lichfield of Utah is linked to the largest contribution in the 2006 Maine governor's race.
By KEVIN WACK
Staff Writer
September 8, 2007
Robert Lichfield, a controversial Utah businessman linked to an organization facing civil allegations of child abuse and also connected to the largest contribution in the 2006 Maine governor's race, has resigned from a fundraising position with Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
Lichfield is named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed by more than 100 families alleging that their teenaged children were mistreated at "behavior modification" centers associated with the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, an organization that Lichfield founded.
Until he resigned from the Romney campaign, Lichfield was co- chairman of its Utah finance committee.
Lichfield's role with the former Massachusettts governor's campaign has come under scrutiny since the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reported in May on both the civil lawsuit and Lichfield's connection to contributions totaling $250,000 to a political action committee established in Maine by the Republican Governors Association.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=132630&ac=PHnws
11 unauthorised pig farms to shut down in Romania
AFP
Eleven unauthorised pig farms belonging to US company Smithfield in Romania are to be shut down following an outbreak of swine fever, the head of the national sanitary and veterinary authority said Friday.
The agency will also send a veterinary doctor to each of Smithfield's 25 farms in western Timis county to monitor whether sanitary standards were being respected and to oversee the killing of some 40,000 pigs from the two farms where the outbreak occurred, ANSVSA director Radu Roatis said.
Veterinary authorities found this week that 11 Smithfield farms -- revised from 10 initially -- had not been authorised to operate in Romania.
http://www.romanianewswatch.com/2007/08/11-unauthorised-pig-farms-to-shut-down.html
Bringing it home
Local meat processing is on the rise as more consumers want to know where their food comes from
By Alison Arnett, Globe Correspondent August 30, 2007
BENSON, Vt. -- As John Wing shows a visitor through his chilled cutting room at Over the Hill Farm, he knows he's at the forefront of a movement. "Eat locally" and "know where your food comes from" are hot catchphrases. And what Wing and his five-man crew do each day -- slaughtering and processing beef, veal, pork, lamb, buffalo, and goat -- is vital to that movement.
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/08/30/bringing_it_home/
Living high on the hog
The bargaining debacle of the hour involves our good friend Smithfield, the largest pork producer and processor in the world. There’s been quite a bit of hubbub over at the company’s Tar Heel, NC packing plant, where workers slaughter some 32,000 hogs per day (yep, you heard right– that’s 2,000 per hour, or about one hog every 2 seconds). Workers have complained of suffering severe injuries on the job and then being fired; of sexual harassment; and of being threatened or fired for attempting to organize a union. More info is available over at the Justice at Smithfield campaign website. The majority of workers voted against forming a union in 1994 and 1997, but a federal court found that Smithfield had "improperly influenced" the process by threatening and intimidating workers prior to the vote. It forced the company to pay $1.1 million in back pay. Smithfield then hired its own police force, authorized to carry weapons in the factory and arrest workers on-site. A worker-led media campaign forced Smithfield to disband it.
http://www.ethicurean.com/2007/09/03/why-i-love-labor/
Poverty wages, brutal conditions, crippling injuries--5,500 workers in Tar Heel, North Carolina face this every day at the world's largest hog processing plant. Cited by Human Rights Watch for violating international human rights standards, Smithfield Packing has created an environment of intimidation, racial tension, and sometimes violence for workers who want a voice on the job.
http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/
Smithfield Farms' Bottomless Pork Barrel
Michelle Leder reported on Footnoted.org: Smithfield Farms (SFD) earned another spot in the slaughterhouse on Friday. Smithfield, which we first noticed back in 2004 for its generous trough of director goodies, recently announced the retirement of long-time CEO Joseph Luter III. In a filing late last Wednesday, Smithfield revealed that it had offered Luter a renewable consulting contract worth a stunning $1 million a year! That’s more than the guy actually repsonsible for running the company following Luter’s retirement — CEO and President C. Larry Pope-- is set to make. It’s also more than the $850K that Luter made last year when he was presumably working full-time.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/16621-smithfield-farms-bottomless-pork-barrel
Smithfield Slowing Acquisition Binge
Smithfield Foods Inc., which in the last year has acquired Premium Standard Farms and ConAgra's refrigerated meats business, plans to focus more on paying down debt instead of more acquisitions, Reuters reported. "At this point, we don't have much on the acquisition front in front of us," CEO Larry Pope told Reuters. "I am concerned about the debt level."Smithfield, Va.-based Smithfield's debt is currently 54 percent to total capitalization, a level Pope said he hopes to reduce to less than 50 percent. "We are a ways away from that," Pope added. "I need to not do this aggressive [capital expenditures] and acquisitions and I need to pay down some debt. It's not job one, but it is clearly on my thought process."
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=156709
SECTIONS : BUSINESS
Business news and notes
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Ag Processing rejects huge takeover bid
OMAHA -- Ag Processing Inc. has rejected a takeover bid worth up to $850 million, but the Omaha investment bank that made the unsolicited offer said it hopes the co-op will reconsider.
The co-op, which is better known as AGP, says it is the world's largest cooperative soybean processor. AGP officials say none of the 203 local cooperatives that own AGP has expressed interest in selling, so the co-op doesn't plan to discuss the offer further.
"AGP continually reinvests in our core business, and our members have expressed support for the strategic direction of their cooperative," said Brad Davis, president and chairman of AGP, which is based in Omaha. "This hostile attempt is not in the best interest of AGP."
AGP operates nine soybean processing plants including six plants in Iowa, located at Eagle Grove, Emmetsburg, Manning, Mason City, Sergeant Bluff, and Sheldon.
The investment bank, Ag and Food Associates LLC, said it plans to hold a series of informational meetings for AGP shareholders to explain why the investors believe AGP would benefit from a sale.
Smithfield's first-quarter profits more than doubled
RICHMOND, Va. -- Smithfield Foods Inc. said last week that its fiscal first-quarter profit more than doubled, largely because of higher pork and beef sales, income from its recently acquired businesses and a smaller loss from discontinued operations.
The Smithfield-based company's income for the period ended July 29 increased to $54.5 million, or 41 cents per share, from $24.6 million, or 22 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Earnings from continuing operations rose to $62 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with $39.9 million, or 36 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter rose 21 percent to $3.36 billion from $2.77 billion in the previous year. That beat analysts' estimate of $3.25 billion.
"Given the challenges of higher grain costs and the continued adverse fresh pork environment, I am generally satisfied with our performance in the first quarter," Smithfield chief executive C. Larry Pope said in a release.
http://webstar.postbulletin.com/agrinews/289695589126922.bsp
Mr. Smithfield Goes to China
Smithfield Foods are dominating pork news with the announcement of 60 million lbs of pork being sold to China. Smithfield also is reporting further sale opportunities in the coming months. Smithfield is satisfying Chinese demands to supply Paylean free pork. Something they can do rather quickly with their control of the largest swine production system in the world. Stop feeding Paylean and within 3 weeks, Paylean free pork. It must be making Elanco, maker of Paylean, almost mental. You’ve got China with half of the world’s pork production and consumption effectively banning Paylean use. Several weeks ago, we heard from Smithfield people that they believed they had a great edge in a potential pork sale to China, with their ability to eliminate Paylean use quickly. Looks like they were right.
http://www.farms.com/swine/freecommentary.asp?commentaryid=4936
Paula, you make us puke: Celebrity chef Paula Deen has been very good for her sponsor Smithfield Foods, and the company, aka the Death Star of Pork, has been very good to her in return. She’s entirely unfazed by how it treats its workers, whose union has staged protests at her appearances — and although this article doesn’t go into it, also has no problem with the company’s vile environmental and animal-welfare track records. The most galling thing is, she’s increasing their sales. A lot. Money quote, from a deluded fan: "Paula has character; she has ethics. I don’t think she would associate with an organization like that." Time to start leaflet-bombing her appearances with this Rolling Stone article on Smithfield? (The Virginian-Pilot)
http://www.ethicurean.com/2007/08/27/digest-features-18/
Another outbreak of swine fever found on farm in western Romania
TIMISOARA, Romania: A second outbreak of swine fever has been detected on a farm in western Romania owned by a U.S. pork producer, animal health authorities said Thursday.
It was the third outbreak in the country in recent weeks and the second on a farm owned by Smithfield Foods Inc., based in Smithfield, Virginia.
The disease was found this week on a farm in Igris, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of Timisoara near the Hungarian border. The farm has 15,000 pigs.
Around 18,000 pigs will be slaughtered in the village, said local animal health manager Viorel Agud.
An earlier outbreak was found at another Smithfield farm in the village of Cenei, in the same region, prompting the slaughter of 20,000 pigs.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/23/europe/EU-GEN-Romania-Swine-Fever.php
Import-Export Business
How globalization is smothering U.S. fruit and vegetable farms
By Tom Philpott
30 Aug 2007
Earlier this month, President Bush roiled U.S. vegetable farmers by announcing a crackdown on undocumented workers. Last week, industrial-meat giant Smithfield Foods goosed the hog-futures market by inking a deal to export 60 million pounds of U.S.-grown pork to China. These events, unrelated though they seem, illustrate a common point: that despite all the recent fuss around local food, the globalized food system, far from losing strength, continues to gain traction.
Unwittingly or not, Bush's move puts a heavy squeeze on large-scale U.S. vegetable growers, and will likely result in more food hauled in from nations with weaker environmental regulations. Smithfield's triumph in China reflects that nation's diminishing food-production capacity -- one of the prices it has paid for its rise to global manufacturing preeminence.
http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2007/08/30/worldfood/
Third swine fever center discovered at a Smithfield farm
The Veterinarian Authority confirmed on Thursday the existence of a third centre of contagion of swine fever in the Timis county, at one of the farms belonging to the US-based company Smithfield. The Authority also confirmed in August two other swine fever infected farms at the Smithfield farms in Cenei and Igris (same Timis county).The pigs at the new Igris farm, where the third contagion centre was found, will be sacrificed before the end of the month, immediately after the cremation of the other pigs ends.The number of animals sacrificed at the first two farms was some 37,000. Adding the third centre, the toll adds up to over 50,000.
http://english.hotnews.ro/Third-swine-fever-center-discovered-at-a-Smithfield-farm-articol_45740.htm
Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Pigs
Attention, shoppers: Stop picking up dead “Babes” and “Wilburs” at the grocery store! Here are the top 10 reasons to keep pork off your fork and put delicious Babe-free alternatives on your shopping list instead.
http://www.xanga.com/Kristenmomof3/613231600/top-10-reasons-not-to-eat-pigs.html
Boss Hog
America's top pork producer churns out a sea of waste that has destroyed rivers, killed millions of fish and generated one of the largest fines in EPA history. Welcome to the dark side of the other white meat.
JEFF TIETZPosted Dec 14, 2006 8:53 AM
Smithfield Foods, the largest and most profitable pork processor in the world, killed 27 million hogs last year. That's a number worth considering. A slaughter-weight hog is fifty percent heavier than a person. The logistical challenge of processing that many pigs each year is roughly equivalent to butchering and boxing the entire human populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Memphis, Baltimore, Fort Worth, Charlotte, El Paso, Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston, Denver, Louisville, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Las Vegas, Portland, Oklahoma City and Tucson.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12840743/porks_dirty_secret_the_nations_top_hog_producer_is_also_one_of_americas_worst_polluters/1
Smithfield Net Doubles on Meat Sales; Hormel Falls (Update2)
By Daniel J. Goldstein
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Smithfield Foods Inc., the world's biggest hog and turkey producer, reported quarterly net income doubled on rising beef and pork sales. Hormel Foods Corp. said profit fell on higher costs to make Spam meats and bacon bits.
Smithfield's net income in the fiscal quarter ended July 29 rose to $54.5 million, or 41 cents a share, from $24.6 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier. Hormel earnings fell during the same period to $57.4 million, or 41 cents a share, from $59.6 million, or 43 cents.
U.S. pork exports have surged on increased demand in China, sending hog prices up 11 percent in Chicago. Smithfield boosted production of the animals by 27 percent during the quarter after acquiring Premium Standard Farms. Hormel said higher beef, pork and poultry prices cut profit on its meat products, and rising grain costs led to a 19 percent drop in Jennie-O turkey earnings.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7R9IV4Hk7AQ&refer=home
Pig in a poke? Smithfield faces problems in Eastern Europe
Swine Plague: Romania Criticizes American Group's AttitudeBy Mirel BranLe MondeMircea Cotosman has cowboy manners. He directs the Romanian subsidiary of the American pig-breeding company Smithfield, located in Timisoara. Premier pork producer in the world, Smithfield established itself in Romania in 2004, by buying thirty-three farms dating from the Communist era for $200 million (147 million euros). The pork giant had intended to invest a billion dollars (737 million euros) in its farms, which already were bringing in attractive profits. The state-of-the-art Chrysler C300 that Mircea Cotosman bought himself testifies to those profits.But the American dream took a serious hit in Timisoara when swine plague ravaged Smithfield's farms. "We have nothing to say to the press; the swine plague is under control; journalists can just publish our communiqués," Mircea Cotosman indicated: he refuses all contact with journalists after receiving his orders from the company's headquarters, located in Smithfield, Virginia.
http://voxverax.blogspot.com/2007/08/pig-in-poke-smithfield-faces-problems.html
Immigration agents detain 28
By Venita JenkinsStaff writer
LUMBERTON — Federal agents detained 28 people — mostly from Mexico — during raids in four counties early Wednesday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted people suspected of crimes tied to identity theft, said Richard Rocha, a spokesman for the federal agency.
Rocha could not provide additional information. He said specifics about the investigation would be released later.
“When the information comes out as part of the court record, all the details will be revealed,” he said.
Rocha could not confirm that immigration agents raided homes in Shannon, St. Pauls, Rennert, Lumberton, Hope Mills and Raeford, as well as Smithfield Packing Co. in Tar Heel. He said agents were in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Bladen counties and that a majority of the arrests involved current and former Smithfield workers.
Eight arrests were made at Smithfield, the world’s largest hog processing plant, and 20 were made at homes, Rocha said. Twenty-five of the people taken into custody are from Mexico. Two are from Guatemala and one is from Honduras.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=270472
RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information ServiceBudapest, Hungary
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?lang=eng&cid=13057
Premium Standard purchase boosts Smithfield's earnings
Kansas City Business Journal - August 23, 2007
Smithfield Foods Inc.'s first-quarter earnings more than doubled compared with the same period last year, thanks mainly to Armour-Eckrich, which it bought in October, and Kansas City-based Premium Standard Farms Inc., which it bought in May.
In a release before the market opened on Thursday, Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD), based in Smithfield, Va., reported earnings of $54.5 million, or 41 cents a share, for the quarter that ended July 29. This compares with earnings of $24.6 million, or 22 cents a share, for last year's first quarter.
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2007/08/20/daily27.html
Through a Looking Glass Sieve
News — walterj 1:08 am
Under the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) the USDA has proposed that we tag and track every single livestock animal in the United States in order to control disease. The reality is NAIS is not about disease control but about helping big meat packing companies export to foreign markets. NAIS is filled with exceptions for big factory farms while burdening the small producer and homesteader as well as wasting hundreds of millions of dollars of our tax money. This is all for the benefit of consumers in other countries - not for American consumers.
The funny thing is the USDA actually believes it can tag and track four to ten billion animals when the immigration services can’t stop a few illegal immigrants. Time for a reality check - and it’s going to be a doozie when they get the bill for enforcement.
http://nonais.org/index.php/2007/08/24/through-a-looking-glass-sieve/
North Carolina: Raid at Hog Processing Plant
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 24, 2007
Immigration agents raided the world's largest hog processing plant Wednesday and also homes in four surrounding counties, arresting 28 people suspected of identity theft, the authorities said. Agents from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency arrived at the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel about 4 a.m. to remove some workers. In January, immigration agents arrested 21 plant employees.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01EFDD1E3AF937A1575BC0A9619C8B63
Swine Plague: Romania Criticizes American Group's Attitude
By Mirel Bran Le Monde
Wednesday 15 August 2008
Mircea Cotosman has cowboy manners. He directs the Romanian subsidiary of the American pig-breeding company Smithfield, located in Timisoara. Premier pork producer in the world, Smithfield established itself in Romania in 2004, by buying thirty-three farms dating from the Communist era for $200 million (147 million euros). The pork giant had intended to invest a billion dollars (737 million euros) in its farms, which already were bringing in attractive profits. The state-of-the-art Chrysler C300 that Mircea Cotosman bought himself testifies to those profits.
But the American dream took a serious hit in Timisoara when swine plague ravaged Smithfield's farms. "We have nothing to say to the press; the swine plague is under control; journalists can just publish our communiqués," Mircea Cotosman indicated: he refuses all contact with journalists after receiving his orders from the company's headquarters, located in Smithfield, Virginia.
As for obtaining access to the farms themselves, it is out of the question. Guards accompanied by bulldogs eliminate any desire to insist. "Everybody beat it," one of them insists in front of one of their farms in the village of Cenei, in western Romania. "This is private property here!"
http://www.envirolink.org/external.html?itemid=200708211913040.485337
Traders count cost of foot and mouth scare
nlnews@archant.co.uk
22 August 2007
TRADERS at Smithfield Market are counting the cost on their business of the foot and mouth outbreak.Restrictions on animal movements brought in after the Surrey outbreak of foot and mouth disease just over two weeks ago were eased on Saturday. Farmers can now move calving cows and their calves, but under tight restrictions.The ban on taking livestock to abattoirs has already been lifted but many movements of animals such as sending animals to market are still banned in England. There is still a protection zone around affected farms in Surrey, where the restrictions still remain.
Many meat traders at Smithfield say sales had dropped by 80 per cent since the ban on taking animals for slaughter and many have lost thousands of pounds.
They also say they have suffered one of their worst weeks since the 1967 foot and mouth outbreak. Smithfield Market Tenants Association chairman, Greg Lawrence, said: "It has been very, very difficult for all of us. Each day it has just got more and more difficult. Most of the boys on Smithfield have only sold 20 per cent of what they would normally sell, simply because of lack of supplies."Chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds issued the movement licence "to help resolve animal welfare issues" that had arisen in the dairy sector.
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/content/islington/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=ISLGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsislg&itemid=WeED22%20Aug%202007%2009%3A44%3A15%3A883
China's List Of Suspended U.S. Meat Plants GrowingUS
AgNet - 08/20/2007
Meatingplace.com reports that the list of U.S. meatpacking plants China has delisted has grown to 15, including eight plants delisted between August 7-17. Last week, USDA confirmed China had recently delisted eight plants after discovering pork shipments containing traces of ractopamine. The following plants are currently barred from exporting meat and poultry to China: Swift Pork Co., Worthington, Minn.; John Morrell & Co., Sioux Falls, S.D.; Cargill Meat Solutions, Beardstown, Ill.; Cargill Meat Solutions, Ottumwa, Iowa; Tyson Fresh Meats, Waterloo, Iowa; Farmland Foods, Denison, Iowa; Farmland Foods, Crete, Neb.; Farmland Foods, Monmouth, Ill.; Hatfield Quality Meats, Hatfield, Penn.; Peco Foods, Bay Springs, Miss.; Tyson Foods Inc, Nashville, Ark.; Sanderson Farms, Hammond, La.; Indiana Packers Corp., Delphi, Ind.; Smithfield Packing Co., Tar Heel, N.C.; and Sanderson Farms, Moultrie, Ga.Additional plants are under 45-day warnings. They can still export product but must go 45 days without incident or also be suspended, according to USDA.
http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.php?Id=1937&yr=2007
TESTIMONY OF KEITH LUDLUM
TESTIMONY OF KEITH LUDLUM Before the HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EMPLOYMENT, LABOR, AND PENSIONS ... EFCA would make a difference in our struggles at Smithfield. EFCA would finally protect American ...
www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/upload/EFCA_Ludlum_20070208.pdf
Sanderson Feels Grain Strain
Andrew Farrell, 08.28.07, 3:25 PM ET
Booming ethanol production hampered meat producers Tuesday. The sector traded lower after one of its players announced that third-quarter results were throttled by rising grain costs.
Sanderson Farms (nasdaq: SAFM - news - people ) reported a third-quarter profit that jumped 830.3% to $30.7 million, or $1.51 per share, from $3.3 million, or 16 cents per share, in the previous year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected better and predicted earnings of $1.93 per share.
The big miss sent investors bolting. Shares of Sanderson lost $5.69, or 13.0%, falling to $38.16. The Laurel, Miss.-company produces and distributes frozen chicken products. It was originally founded in 1947 as a farm supply business.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/08/28/sanderson-farms-grain-markets-equity-cx_af_0828markets11.html
Pricey Meals For Chickens Cost Sanderson
Andrew Farrell, 08.28.07, 5:53 PM ET
How much does it cost to feed a chicken? A lot more than it did a year ago.
Chicken seller Sanderson Farms announced Tuesday a disappointing quarterly performance that was hampered by rising feed costs.
Sanderson (nasdaq: SAFM - news - people )reported third-quarter profits that jumped 830.3% to $30.7 million, or $1.51 per share, from $3.3 million, or 16 cents per share, in the previous year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected better and predicted earnings of $1.93 per share.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/08/28/sanderson-farms-update-markets-equity-cx_af_0828markets22.html
Suddenly, the Hunt Is On for Cage-Free Eggs
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: August 12, 2007
The toy industry had its Tickle Me Elmo, the automakers the Prius and technology its iPhone. Now, the food world has its latest have-to-have-it product: the cage-free egg.
The eggs, from chickens raised in large, open barns instead of stacks of small wire cages, have become the latest addition to menus at universities, hotel chains like Omni and cafeterias at companies like Google. The Whole Foods supermarket chain sells nothing else, and even Burger King is getting in on the trend.
All that demand has meant a rush on cage-free eggs and headaches in corporate kitchens as big buyers learn there may not be enough to go around.
The Vermont ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's got plenty of attention last September when it became the first major food manufacturer to announce it would use only cage-free eggs that have been certified humane by an inspecting organization. But the company says it will need four years to complete the switch.
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30913F935550C718DDDA10894DF404482
Consumers Warned to Avoid Eating Raw Oysters from Southern Tip of Hood Canal in Washington State
Warning Follows Bacterial Illness Outbreak
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw oysters harvested from an area of the southern tip of Hood Canal in Washington after an outbreak of illness caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria.
Symptoms of the illness, called vibriosis, include watery diarrhea, often with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills. Usually these symptoms occur within 24 hours of ingestion and last no more than three days. Severe disease is rare and occurs most commonly in people with weakened immune systems. Those who believe they have experienced these symptoms after consuming raw oysters should consult their health care provider and contact their local health department.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01680.html
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http://seeveggiesdifferently.com/product_detail.aspx?id=314
Hundreds attend hearing on large-scale farm ordinances
Supporters and opponents packed a public hearing Monday on proposals that would temporarily halt all large-scale livestock farm development in Vernon County and set limits on the numbers of animals.Vernon County farmers showed up in force Monday night, rolling more than 50 huge tractors and farm implements into Viroqua and parking in the streets around the Western Technical College building, where the county's Health Committee was holding the hearing. Not all of the farm implements were from those who oppose the new regulations, a number of the farm implements and tractors had signs that said farmers support the pending county ordinances.The Vernon County Board is expected to consider two measures on Aug. 7. One is a moratorium on new large-scale livestock operations. The other is an animal siting ordinance that limits animal units on farms to 500.About 300 people filed into the largest room available in the WTC building, with the overflow listeners spilling into the hallway.
http://www.vernonbroadcaster.com/articles/2007/08/06/news/00lead.txt
North Carolina makes ban on manure lagoon construction permanent
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, 2:25 PMby Bob MeyerThe State of North Carolina has made permanent a ban on the construction of manure lagoons and spray fields. State Senator Charles Albertson authored the bill which grandfathers existing lagoons, “It also has a provision that says if there is an imminent hazard from a lagoon rupturing, that lagoon could be replaced.” A temporary ban was passed a number of years ago and the State Legislature kept extending it, Albertson’s bill makes the rule permanent. It also does not replace agreements between the State and several hog entities including Smithfield and Premium Standard Farms.
The new law includes the Lagoon Conversion Program offering grants to help livestock producers convert conventional lagoons to, “Innovative animal waste management systems.” The plan offers state dollars to help develop systems that produce marketable byproducts, reduce or eliminate ammonia emissions and are capable of being connected to a centralized waste collection and treatment system. Another element of the bill is the creation of The Swine Farm Methane Capture Pilot Program under which the State will select up to 50 hog farms to collect methane gas for use in generating electricity. Each public utility that serves a pilot farm must purchase all electricity generated by the farm for a minimum of seven years at a price agreed to by the utility and the producer. Another bill is currently working its way through the North Carolina legislature that would require 12.5% of the state’s energy to be from renewable sources by the year 2021.Senator Albertson says his state is experiencing tremendous population growth and that is putting more pressure on livestock producers to take these types of steps. “We’re projected to grow by 50% in the next 25 or 30 years and this is an effort to help us meet that challenge and keep our farmers in business.”
http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=1DBD4EA5-EC51-9E22-1E5E5DDED6A8BBDE
Hog farms try collecting gas, making energy
Wade Rawlins, Staff Writer
CLINTON - At this factory farm that houses more than 10,000 hogs, a black plastic tarp covering part of a hog waste pond swells with untapped opportunity.
Captured beneath the bulging cover is methane gas, which rises off the pond as manure decomposes. It is a potent greenhouse gas trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere. But methane can also fuel an incinerator or drive a turbine to produce electricity.
The prospect of using the combustible gas to cut greenhouse emissions and produce revenue is drawing interest from entrepreneurs and agricultural companies.
To explore methane's potential, Murphy-Brown, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, spent about $120,000 enclosing 20 percent of a 7-acre lagoon on Company Farm 2039 in Sampson County.
"We want to fully understand the potential for energy production from our farms," said Don Butler, director of government relations at Murphy-Brown, as he surveyed the tarp. "Methane is the one we believe has near-term potential."
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/653245.html
Smithfield Foods Corporate Website
http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/splash.asp
Their products and how people of conscience will boycott them until they rehire their union workers and offer excellent pay and benefits
http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/Brands/
Hog Money Influence in the 1999 General Assembly
An analysis of campaign finance reports shows that the hog industry and its allies dramatically increased their investment in North Carolina politics in the 1998 election.
The pay-off on that investment came in two forms, says the N.C. Public Interest Research Group (contact at 919-933-5889). First, the industry benefited from the rise to power of hog-friendly leaders in the legislature, reversing the hostile treatment it received under former Rules Chair Richard Morgan and House Speaker Harold Brubaker. But, second, the people of eastern North Carolina suffered the consequences of weak environmental regulations, made all the more terrible by Hurricane Floyd.
Indeed, the extent of pig-pollution damage following Floyd begs these questions: How has the hog industry's political money and muscle protected it from vigorous regulation? Why did the 1999 General Assembly do so little to protect the communities impacted by hog waste? Why did the momentum for increased regulation of the industry, largely driven inside the legislature by GOP House members, come to a halt when Democrats took control of the House after the 1998 election?
A variety of proposals, including phasing out the open-pit cesspools and phasing in of integrator liability, went nowhere in 1999. The moratorium on new hog factory-farm construction was extended, but the industry did not seriously oppose that proposal since it has already built to over-capacity in the state. The industry won the big fights and the people of eastern North Carolina lost….
… More than three fourths of the members of the 1999 General Assembly got contributions from donors tied to the hog and poultry industry in their 1998 campaigns. Animal factory PACs and contributors dumped at least $280,000* into the 1998 elections through direct political donations, an increase of 70 percent over the $165,000 donated by these donors to 1996 legislative candidates….
http://www.democracy-nc.org/moneyresearch/1999/hogmoney1999.html
continued…
Dan Radliffe LIVE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pneoZiW8qYk
December Boys Trailers & Video Clips (1 video)
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809420758/video/3328557/20070710/149/3328557-700-flash-s.39256080-,3328557-1000-flash-s.39256081-,3328557-100-wmv-s.39256065-,3328557-700-wmv-s.39256074-,3328557-1000-wmv-s.39256075-,3328557-100-flash-s.39256076-,3328557-300-wmv-s.39256068-,3328557-300-flash-s.39256077-,3328558-6800-qtv-s.39256090-,3328558-10300-qtv-s.39256093-,3328558-2700-qtv-s.39256086-
Apple Trailer
http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_independent_pictures/decemberboys/trailer/
Book explores the epic fight of 2003
By Nick Jimenez (Contact)Sunday, September 9, 2007
In 2003, the state's top political leaders devoted months to one subject that had very little to do with the issues that were most important to most Texans. Instead of figuring out a way to create excellent public schools or restore a highway system that had once been the envy of the nation, or work on fixing an overburdened Medicaid program for the sick and poor, the governor, the top legislative leaders, the state's most powerful member of Congress and many of their most powerful supporters worked on only one thing, redistricting.
http://www.caller.com/news/2007/sep/09/book-explores-the-epic-fight-of-2003/
Fayetteville Observer
Drought forces farms to thin their herds
By Sarah A. ReidStaff writer
SMITHFIELD — In a typical August, H.B. Powell expects 500 to 600 cows to pass through the gates of his auction house each week.
In the past two months, he has auctioned 800 to 1,000 head a week.
Pastures that have withered because of drought and record heat — combined with hay and water shortages — have caused some cattle farmers to cull herds early to reduce feed costs this winter.
“We had a busy summer,” Powell said Thursday as he took a break from tagging the hundreds of bovines waiting for the auction block.
“This time of year should be our slower time, but with the drier weather we have a lot of people who want to sell cows.”
In the past six weeks, the number of cows and calves headed to auction has increased 50 percent to 100 percent from last year, according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=271490
Smithfield lays off 25 truck drivers
By Venita JenkinsStaff writer
TAR HEEL — Twenty-five Smithfield Packing Co. truck drivers were laid off last week as part of a plan to streamline the hog processing plant’s trucking fleet, which has prompted a complaint filed by a union.
Smithfield decided to consolidate fleets at its Tar Heel plant and at Premium Standard Farms in Clinton after Smithfield purchased the company in May. The drivers were notified in July about the cutbacks.
Most of the drivers have accepted other positions within the Tar Heel plant, said Dennis Pittman, a spokesman for Smithfield.
But some have decided to take jobs elsewhere.
The Labors International Union of North America, which represents some of the drivers, filed an unfair labor practice against Smithfield with the National Labor Relations Board on Aug. 24, said Steve Lanning, director of organizing for the Mid-Atlantic region.
The union says that Smithfield failed to negotiate and bargain in good faith regarding the layoffs, Lanning said.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=271668
Goldsboro News Argus
Farmers look for alternatives to keep cattle fed this winter
Come December, Johnny Weaver will be out of stored feed for the 18 cross-bred cows he raises in Kenly.
But agronomists think there is still hope for herds of grazing livestock like Weaver's -- if local farmers turn to lower-quality nutritional resources like corn stubble and cotton gin waste.
The state's Department of Agriculture and the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service held a workshop Friday at Cherry Research Farm to help local farmers do just that.
Drought conditions have become "exceptional" in the state's westernmost counties. And a wide swath of eastern counties, including Wayne, are now under "extreme" drought, the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council says.
The lack of rain means not only a terrible season for soybeans, cottons and corn -- it also means that fodder crops for cattle and other grazers are critically short.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/farmers_look_for_alternatives_to_keep_cattle_fed_this_winter/index.shtml
2007 N.C. ABC scores categorize 32 schools
Rankings for the 32 Wayne County Public Schools have been made on the heels of the ABCs/AYP results, announced Thursday by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
As the annual test score composites are tallied, the status of each school is determined.
Northwest Elementary School was again named "School of Distinction," while there were 19 schools ranked "School of Progress," eight "Priority Schools," and three receiving no recognition.
The previous school year, 2005-06, there were 13 "Schools of Progress," nine "Priority Schools," six with no recognition and one categorized as low-performing.
To go back further would not be a fair comparison, said Dr. Craig McFadden, the school district's assistant superintendent for accountability, since the standards were revamped with the 2005-06 school year.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/2007_nc_abc_scores_categorize_32_schools/index.shtml
Drive under way for donated school supplies
SunCom Wireless at 225 N. Berkeley Blvd. will be collecting donations of school supplies for Wayne County elementary school children at the store through the end of September.
Community members are asked to donate school supplies such as staples, tape dispensers, rulers, paper, Post-it® notes, file folders and any other school-related materials. Larger items such as DVD players, overhead projectors and media carts are also needed and may be dropped off at the SunCom store as well.
For a complete list of the schools' needs, contact Heather Golden at hgolden@suncom.com or call 344-8583.
School supply drop-off times are as follows:
*Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
*Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
*Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m.
By News-Argus StaffPublished in News on September 9, 2007 02:03 AM
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/drive_under_way_for_donated_school_supplies/index.shtml
WCC will host forum on environmental contracting
The N.C. Military Business Center and Wayne Community College are hosting an Environmental Contracting Forum Thursday.
The forum will bring together representatives from military installations and federal and state agencies to discuss environmental products, procurement and sustainability issues.
Military installations will be represented by Luci Fernandez, sustainability planner, Department of Public Works Environmental Branch, Fort Bragg; Donald "Buck" Abrams, chief of environmental flight, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base; Louie Cook Jr., Environmental Affairs Department, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point; and John Townsend, Environmental Management Division, Camp Lejeune.
Representatives from federal and state offices will include Shana Love, USDA Bio-based Program and the USDA Advantage Purchasing Program, Donna Stankus, U.S. Green Business Council; and Rachel Eckert, N.C. Division of Pollution Preven-tion and Environmental Assist-ance.
The forum will be held on the campus of Wayne Com-munity College at the Wayne Learning Center and will feature a general session in the morning along with breakout sessions and a business expo throughout the day.
Registration is available online at www.ncmbc.us, or by calling 910-323-4958. Walk-ins are welcome. Fees payable by check only to Fayetteville Technical Community College.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/wcc_will_host_forum_on_environmental_contracting/index.shtml
Festival set for this Saturday at Cherry Farm
Those who want to know a little more about farming will have their chance this weekend at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems' Fall Festival.
The event, which is set for Saturday, will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the CEFS Small Farm on N.C. 581 west between Cherry Hospital and O'Berry Center.
Featured will be speakers and exhibits on the latest in organic farming and gardening, along with food and entertainment.
At 11 a.m., Sarah Ash, a nutrition professor at N.C. State University, will speak on eating healthy from the garden, followed by an 11:30 a.m. demonstartion on how make biofuel from vegetable oil.
At noon, Wayne County's horticulture agent, Jessica Hyatt, will discuss rain gardens, with Amy Griner of the N.C. Crop Improvement Assoc. speaking at 12:30 p.m. on organic certification.
At 1 p.m., N.C. State research technician Ken Fager will discuss back yard organic gardening, followed by a 1:30 p.m. presentation by graduate students Cary Rivard and Suzanne O'Connell on grafting tomatoes for disease resistance.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/festival_set_for_this_saturday_at_cherry_farm/index.shtml
Park group gets grant to help with trails
Goldsboro's Parks and Recreation Department is one step closer to having enough resources to complete plans to create a new park at Stoney Creek.
The department recently received notification that the city has qualified for the Recreation Trails grant, which will bring $32,744 to the project, new Parks and Recreation director Sonya Shaw said.
"We are excited about it, and the (Stoney Creek Park) Alliance is as well," Mrs. Shaw said.
Alliance member Sissy Lee-Elmore agreed.
"It's an opportunity to enhance the area that we already have," she said. "This is our first sizeable grant, and we're proud to get started."
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/09/park_group_gets_grant_to_help_with_trails/index.shtml
Cheney Observer
National Journal: FBI Beefs up for Corruption Probes
By Paul Kiel - September 7, 2007, 1:40 PM
If it seems like the FBI has been mighty busy investigating public officials lately (and it certainly seems that way to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and others), it's no accident. As Peter Stone reports in August's National Journal (not available online), the FBI has put a major emphasis on bagging crooked pols:
The increased emphasis, of course, goes beyond just Jack Abramoff, who's at the center of what investigators call "Operation Rainmakers." Stone reports that the Justice Department has hired an expert to train "65 FBI agents in election law nuances so they could better identify corruption." And it means going where the corruption is, even if that means shipping extra agents up to sleepy Alaska:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004067.php
Republican US lawmaker's aides summoned to court in probe of links with convicted lobbyist
WASHINGTON: A grand jury has subpoenaed two top aides of a Republican lawmaker to testify in a federal probe of ties among the congressman, his wife and jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The subpoenas from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia were issued to Rep. John Doolittle's chief of staff, Ron Rogers, and deputy staff chief, Dan Blankenburg. They were announced on the House of Representatives floor as Congress returned from its August recess Tuesday after the aides informed House leaders about the subpoenas, as required under House rules.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/04/america/NA-GEN-US-Lawmaker-Lobbyist-Subpoenas.php
Doolittle Attacks Critics As 'Weasels'
By ERICA WERNER 09.07.07, 5:55 PM ET
WASHINGTON -
Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., denounced his GOP critics as "weasels" Friday even as his chief of staff appeared before a federal grand jury investigating Doolittle's ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Doolittle also told reporters on a conference call Friday that he believes the Justice Department's long-running probe "borders on harassment."
Prosecutors are investigating connections between Doolittle and Abramoff including payments that Doolittle's wife, Julie, got from Abramoff even after a fundraiser she was paid to plan got canceled.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/09/07/ap4095043.html
California Congressman's Legal Troubles Worsen, Fellow Republicans Line Up To Challenge Him
9/4/2007 7:36:54 PM
Rep. John Doolittle, the conservative California congressman who has been the focus of a widening corruption probe, is facing primary challenges in the upcoming June election from a growing number of fellow Republicans. Among them: U.S. Air Force reservist Eric Egland, who appeared in a campaign ad for Doolittle last year; Auburn City Councilman Mike Holmes, who received 33 percent of the Republican primary vote against Doolittle last year; and state Assemblyman Ted Gaines, once a Doolittle ally who now says the congressman has lost the "moral ability to lead."“John Doolittle is and has been an embarrassment to the Republican Party,” Holmes told RTTNews. His and others' impetus for entry into the race to unseat the ninth-term congressman is Doolittle's strong ties to former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now in prison on an array of fraud and conspiracy charges related to his work on behalf of his Indian tribe clients.Doolittle is believed to be the only sitting member of Congress to be under active investigation for his ties to Abramoff.
http://www.rttnews.com/FOREX/politicalnews.asp?date=09/05/2007&item=2
On returning money, Republicans have a short memory
Predictably, Republicans are all over this. And yet again, they make it like shooting fish in a barrel.
NASHVILLE — While some politicians are giving away money received from controversial contributor Norman Hsu, the Tennessee Democratic Party and Harold Ford Jr. have no such plans because the money has been spent.
Well, here's some other contributions.
Members Who Decline to Return Donations From Abramoff and/or from Abramoff Clients/Associates
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/silence/archives/2007/09/on_returning_mo_1.shtml
Delayed reactionStudent returns to college to find arrest warrant for his part in an April protestBy GIL SMART, Associate editorSunday News
Published: Sep 09, 2007 12:15 AM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa - It was back to school time for Eugene Johnson on the campus of American University late last month. In addition to the books and the class work, the 19-year-old student from New Holland had something else waiting for him:An arrest warrant.This, Johnson thought, was strange. Yes, he and dozens of other students had participated in a protest when Karl Rove, former top adviser to President George W. Bush, was on campus. But that was back in April. Though the event got slightly unruly and resulted in disciplinary action by the Washington, D.C., school, neither police nor the Secret Service arrested anyone at the time.That five months later authorities saw fit to charge Johnson and five other AU students struck the 2006 Garden Spot graduate as strange. And maybe dubious.
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/209235
GOP threepeat? Tough but doable, some say
Looking forward is the key to keeping seat, say analysts.
Click-2-Listen
By Ken HermanWASHINGTON BUREAUSunday, September 09, 2007
WASHINGTON — President Bush's next and last big political challenge is one for the ages, something last accomplished about a half-century before women got the vote.
"My political agenda is this," Bush told the Republican Governors Association this year: "More Republican governors, take back control of the House and the Senate, and make sure we keep the White House in 2008."
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/09/09/0909bush2008.html
Simpson to Be Questioned by House Panel Investigators
By Bob Johnson
The Associated Press
Friday 07 September 2007
Montgomery, Alabama - Attorneys for a congressional committee will question an Alabama lawyer under oath next week about her claims that a Republican campaign operative talked about White House influence over the investigation of former Alabama Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman.
Rainsville attorney Jill Simpson, who was a campaign worker for Republican Bob Riley when he defeated Siegelman in 2002, will be interviewed privately Sept. 14 by two staff attorneys in the office of the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, Simpson's attorney, Priscilla Duncan, said Friday.
Duncan said she had been talking to committee staff members for several weeks to set up the interview.
In a letter to Duncan, House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said the interview with Simpson would be under oath and would be transcribed. Conyers said the transcript would be confidential initially and that a decision on releasing it would be made later by Republican and Democratic committee leaders.
Conyers said Simpson would be questioned by two people - a member of the committee's minority staff and a member of committee's majority staff.
In an affidavit made public in May, Simpson said she was a campaign worker for Riley in northeast Alabama and heard the GOP operative's statement on Nov. 18, 2002, during a conference phone call. She said it was made with Riley's son and campaign manager, Rob Riley, campaign adviser Bill Canary and attorney Terry Butts.
Simpson quoted Canary as saying Siegelman would not be a political worry in the future because Canary "had gotten it worked out with Karl and Karl has spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice was already pursuing Don Siegelman."
Simpson has said Canary was referring to Karl Rove, the White House political adviser with whom Canary had worked.
Bill Canary and Rob Riley have said they have no recollection of the conversation with Simpson. Butts has denied that the conversation occurred.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090907E.shtml
People don’t forget the connection to the Saudi Empire and the security plans for the Twin Towers while Marvin Bush was on the Board of Directors of that security firm. Six years later, folks are completely aware of that reality and willing to judge the false patriotism the Bush Family exhibits to our country.
#104 — September 7, 2007 @ 12:57PM — Theodore Trout [URL]
Wirt D. Walker III, a distant relative "in the Walker branch of the Bush family," according to a former colleague, and Mishal Yousef Saud Al Sabah of the Kuwaiti ruling family. Walker and Al Sabah also headed KuwAm, the backer of Stratesec and Aviation General.Stratesec was founded as Securacom (formerly the engineering firm Burns and Roe Securacom). It was reinvented shortly after the first Gulf War, and thereafter marketed large security contracts to big clients, including the World Trade Center, Washington's Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport, various municipalities and airlines. Marvin Bush and Wirt Walker Chairman and CEO of Stratesec from 1999 to the company's liquidation in 2003. Walker had served as a director of the company since 1987.Securacom did security detailing for the World Trade Center. In 1992 Burns & Roe became Securacom: its management changed hands accompanying an infusion of capital from the ruling family of Kuwait, the Al Sabahs, two of whom joined its board. At this time Marvin Bush also joined the board, clearly connecting family and Al Sabah interests and presumably part of a bigger package of Bush family rewards after the U.S. kicked Iraq out of Kuwait.Marvin was a director of Securacom a.k.a. Stratesec from 1993 until fiscal year 2000.
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/09/04/143308.php#comment-629588
No one could demoralize a military quite like Dick Cheney. And whom exactly flew the nukes out of Minot?
To stay in U.S., grab a book or rifle
By Dan Moffett
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Except for Halliburton shareholders, broadcast gab freaks and Al-Qaeda recruiters, it's hard to find people who are benefitting from the war in Iraq.
You certainly would not expect the children of illegal immigrants to wind up in the ever-shortening Iraq winners column. But, strangely enough, some of them might.
A chain of unintended consequences that reaches from here to Baghdad could have a beneficial link for college-bound illegal immigrants. It goes like this:
As the war moves into its fifth year, the strain on the U.S. military is growing intolerable. And the Army can't make recruiting quotas. And Congress - especially Republicans who support the war effort - are inclined to take extraordinary measures to fill uniforms. And one of the leftover ideas from the summer's failed attempt at immigration reform is called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.
The Dream Act, as it is popularly known, calls for giving permanent residency to illegal immigrants who complete two years of college or two years of military service.
And so, conservative lawmakers who otherwise might recoil at the thought of giving even limited amnesty to illegal students have no problem at all saying yes if part of the deal also involves giving amnesty to illegal soldiers.
The Pentagon has about run out of ways to lower recruiting standards - the Army has turned to offering $20,000 enlistment bonuses to 42-year-olds and overweight high school dropouts - and is desperate to put bodies in uniforms. This is the wrong time to make immigration status a barrier to service, when it seems almost nothing else is.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/09/09/a2e_moffettcol_0909.html
Loophole Halliburton
Iran terminates Halliburton contract over fears of espionage
5 Sept. 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- The new hardline Iranian government terminated a natural gas subcontract because of concerns that nuclear secrets could be leaked to Halliburton and its former chief executive, Vice President Dick Cheney. One of Iran's largest private oil companies, Oriental Oil Kish, based in Dubai, awarded the subcontract to Halliburton last January for the purpose of developing natural gas off Iran's coast. But the new Iranian government became alarmed that a senior member of the country’s nuclear negotiations team, Sirus Nasseri, also serves as the vice chairman of the board of directors of Oriental Oil Kish. Government officials feared Nasseri might compromise the nation's nuclear secrets while working with Halliburton on the natural gas project. So, the contract was terminated in August.
http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/iran_terminates.html
Playing with fire: Halliburton’s ties with terrorism
By Jason Leopold - posted Thursday, 1 September 2005
Scandal-plagued Halliburton - the oil services company once headed by US Vice President Dick Cheney - sold an Iranian oil development company key components for a nuclear reactor, say Halliburton sources with intimate knowledge into both companies’ business dealings.
Halliburton was secretly working at the time with one of Iran’s top nuclear program officials on natural gas related projects and sold the components in April to the official's oil development company, the sources said.
Just a few weeks ago, a National Security Council report said Iran was a decade away from acquiring a nuclear bomb. That time frame could arguably have been significantly longer if Halliburton, whose military unit just reported a 284 per cent increase in its second quarter profits due to its Iraq reconstruction contracts, was not actively providing the Iranian Government with the means to build a nuclear weapon.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3777
Oriental Oil Kish activities suspended in Iran
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - ?2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, August 23 (IranMania) - Oriental Oil Kish has been barred from continuing the projects it has at hand or has commitment to implement pending judicial inquiries into its activities, said a senior National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) official.
Mohammad Reza Moqaddam, NIOC director for planning affairs, told ISNA that the NIOC has the authority to ?halt the activities of companies involved in financial corruption as well as those which have just begun to do so?....
…ISNA reported that Oriental Oil Kish, which is also registered in the UK, managed to turn into an international company after it entered into cooperation with a major US company, Halliburton, the scandal-plagued oil company that Vice President Dick Cheney once ran.
The joint venture won the development project for phases IX and X of the South Pars, marking the first post-revolution presence of a US company in Iran?s energy projects.
Halliburton?s business ties with Oriental Oil Kish first surfaced in January, when the Iranian company said that it gave some contracts of the South Pars natural gas drilling project to Halliburton Products and Services, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Halliburton.
In May and under mounting pressure from lawmakers in Washington, Halliburton decided to end its deals with its Iranian partner, but continued acting in an advisory capacity to the company. Currently, the US law doesn?t prohibit foreign subsidiaries from having business with Iran as long as the subsidiaries are truly independent of the mother company.
Mortgage Crisis, Job Loss...Recession?
Following News of Job Loss, Economists Worry All Signs Point to an Impending Recession
In the wake of news that 4,000 jobs were lost in August, new fears are arising about the state of the economy.
The job loss represents the first monthly decline in four years -- prompting speculation that we're headed for a serious economic slowdown, or even a recession.
For Jim Dell'Anno, who lost his job as a mortgage broker, the news is nothing new. Like millions of other Americans, he's living proof that the housing and credit crisis, which has roiled the financial world, has caught up with the real world.
"It doesn't shock us at all when things like this happen," he said.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3575248&page=1
Oops? The USA Military was going to bomb whom and then say oops? I don’t think so. If the USA were ever to use nuclear warheads for any purpose it felt it needed to go to that extreme over, I would hope the intended nation for attack would have time to realize the extent they had pushed this country. I find this act more than troubling. These missiles were loaded on the wings for deployment. When is Bush and Cheney going to be impeached?
Was a Covert Attempt to Bomb Iran with Nuclear Weapons foiled by a Military Leak?
Michael E. Salla, M.A., Ph.D.
Critically exploring whether or not there was a covert attempt to instigate a catastrophic nuclear war against Iran is illuminated through an introduction using the recent B-52 Incident. On August 30, a B-52 bomber armed with five nuclear-tipped Advanced Cruise missiles travelled from Minot Air Force base, North Dakota, to Barksdale Air Force base, Louisiana, in the United States. Each missile had an adjustable yield between five and 150 kilotons of TNT which is at the lower end of the destructive capacities of U.S. nuclear weapons. For example, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of 13 kilotons, while the Bravo Hydrogen bomb test of 1954 had a yield of 15,000 kilotons. The B-52 story was first covered in the Army Times on 5 September after the nuclear armed aircraft was discovered by Airmen. LINK
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2007/09/07/01751.html
B-52 mistakenly flies with nukes aboard
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writerPosted : Wednesday Sep 5, 2007 22:03:04 EDT
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
A B-52 bomber mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, resulting in an Air Force-wide investigation, according to three officers who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the incident.
The B-52 was loaded with Advanced Cruise Missiles, part of a Defense Department effort to decommission 400 of the ACMs. But the nuclear warheads should have been removed at Minot before being transported to Barksdale, the officers said. The missiles were mounted onto the pylons of the bomber’s wings.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/marine_nuclear_B52_070904w/
Businessman quits as fundraiser for Romney
Robert Lichfield of Utah is linked to the largest contribution in the 2006 Maine governor's race.
By KEVIN WACK
Staff Writer
September 8, 2007
Robert Lichfield, a controversial Utah businessman linked to an organization facing civil allegations of child abuse and also connected to the largest contribution in the 2006 Maine governor's race, has resigned from a fundraising position with Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
Lichfield is named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed by more than 100 families alleging that their teenaged children were mistreated at "behavior modification" centers associated with the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, an organization that Lichfield founded.
Until he resigned from the Romney campaign, Lichfield was co- chairman of its Utah finance committee.
Lichfield's role with the former Massachusettts governor's campaign has come under scrutiny since the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reported in May on both the civil lawsuit and Lichfield's connection to contributions totaling $250,000 to a political action committee established in Maine by the Republican Governors Association.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=132630&ac=PHnws
11 unauthorised pig farms to shut down in Romania
AFP
Eleven unauthorised pig farms belonging to US company Smithfield in Romania are to be shut down following an outbreak of swine fever, the head of the national sanitary and veterinary authority said Friday.
The agency will also send a veterinary doctor to each of Smithfield's 25 farms in western Timis county to monitor whether sanitary standards were being respected and to oversee the killing of some 40,000 pigs from the two farms where the outbreak occurred, ANSVSA director Radu Roatis said.
Veterinary authorities found this week that 11 Smithfield farms -- revised from 10 initially -- had not been authorised to operate in Romania.
http://www.romanianewswatch.com/2007/08/11-unauthorised-pig-farms-to-shut-down.html
Bringing it home
Local meat processing is on the rise as more consumers want to know where their food comes from
By Alison Arnett, Globe Correspondent August 30, 2007
BENSON, Vt. -- As John Wing shows a visitor through his chilled cutting room at Over the Hill Farm, he knows he's at the forefront of a movement. "Eat locally" and "know where your food comes from" are hot catchphrases. And what Wing and his five-man crew do each day -- slaughtering and processing beef, veal, pork, lamb, buffalo, and goat -- is vital to that movement.
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/08/30/bringing_it_home/
Living high on the hog
The bargaining debacle of the hour involves our good friend Smithfield, the largest pork producer and processor in the world. There’s been quite a bit of hubbub over at the company’s Tar Heel, NC packing plant, where workers slaughter some 32,000 hogs per day (yep, you heard right– that’s 2,000 per hour, or about one hog every 2 seconds). Workers have complained of suffering severe injuries on the job and then being fired; of sexual harassment; and of being threatened or fired for attempting to organize a union. More info is available over at the Justice at Smithfield campaign website. The majority of workers voted against forming a union in 1994 and 1997, but a federal court found that Smithfield had "improperly influenced" the process by threatening and intimidating workers prior to the vote. It forced the company to pay $1.1 million in back pay. Smithfield then hired its own police force, authorized to carry weapons in the factory and arrest workers on-site. A worker-led media campaign forced Smithfield to disband it.
http://www.ethicurean.com/2007/09/03/why-i-love-labor/
Poverty wages, brutal conditions, crippling injuries--5,500 workers in Tar Heel, North Carolina face this every day at the world's largest hog processing plant. Cited by Human Rights Watch for violating international human rights standards, Smithfield Packing has created an environment of intimidation, racial tension, and sometimes violence for workers who want a voice on the job.
http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/
Smithfield Farms' Bottomless Pork Barrel
Michelle Leder reported on Footnoted.org: Smithfield Farms (SFD) earned another spot in the slaughterhouse on Friday. Smithfield, which we first noticed back in 2004 for its generous trough of director goodies, recently announced the retirement of long-time CEO Joseph Luter III. In a filing late last Wednesday, Smithfield revealed that it had offered Luter a renewable consulting contract worth a stunning $1 million a year! That’s more than the guy actually repsonsible for running the company following Luter’s retirement — CEO and President C. Larry Pope-- is set to make. It’s also more than the $850K that Luter made last year when he was presumably working full-time.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/16621-smithfield-farms-bottomless-pork-barrel
Smithfield Slowing Acquisition Binge
Smithfield Foods Inc., which in the last year has acquired Premium Standard Farms and ConAgra's refrigerated meats business, plans to focus more on paying down debt instead of more acquisitions, Reuters reported. "At this point, we don't have much on the acquisition front in front of us," CEO Larry Pope told Reuters. "I am concerned about the debt level."Smithfield, Va.-based Smithfield's debt is currently 54 percent to total capitalization, a level Pope said he hopes to reduce to less than 50 percent. "We are a ways away from that," Pope added. "I need to not do this aggressive [capital expenditures] and acquisitions and I need to pay down some debt. It's not job one, but it is clearly on my thought process."
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=156709
SECTIONS : BUSINESS
Business news and notes
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Ag Processing rejects huge takeover bid
OMAHA -- Ag Processing Inc. has rejected a takeover bid worth up to $850 million, but the Omaha investment bank that made the unsolicited offer said it hopes the co-op will reconsider.
The co-op, which is better known as AGP, says it is the world's largest cooperative soybean processor. AGP officials say none of the 203 local cooperatives that own AGP has expressed interest in selling, so the co-op doesn't plan to discuss the offer further.
"AGP continually reinvests in our core business, and our members have expressed support for the strategic direction of their cooperative," said Brad Davis, president and chairman of AGP, which is based in Omaha. "This hostile attempt is not in the best interest of AGP."
AGP operates nine soybean processing plants including six plants in Iowa, located at Eagle Grove, Emmetsburg, Manning, Mason City, Sergeant Bluff, and Sheldon.
The investment bank, Ag and Food Associates LLC, said it plans to hold a series of informational meetings for AGP shareholders to explain why the investors believe AGP would benefit from a sale.
Smithfield's first-quarter profits more than doubled
RICHMOND, Va. -- Smithfield Foods Inc. said last week that its fiscal first-quarter profit more than doubled, largely because of higher pork and beef sales, income from its recently acquired businesses and a smaller loss from discontinued operations.
The Smithfield-based company's income for the period ended July 29 increased to $54.5 million, or 41 cents per share, from $24.6 million, or 22 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Earnings from continuing operations rose to $62 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with $39.9 million, or 36 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter rose 21 percent to $3.36 billion from $2.77 billion in the previous year. That beat analysts' estimate of $3.25 billion.
"Given the challenges of higher grain costs and the continued adverse fresh pork environment, I am generally satisfied with our performance in the first quarter," Smithfield chief executive C. Larry Pope said in a release.
http://webstar.postbulletin.com/agrinews/289695589126922.bsp
Mr. Smithfield Goes to China
Smithfield Foods are dominating pork news with the announcement of 60 million lbs of pork being sold to China. Smithfield also is reporting further sale opportunities in the coming months. Smithfield is satisfying Chinese demands to supply Paylean free pork. Something they can do rather quickly with their control of the largest swine production system in the world. Stop feeding Paylean and within 3 weeks, Paylean free pork. It must be making Elanco, maker of Paylean, almost mental. You’ve got China with half of the world’s pork production and consumption effectively banning Paylean use. Several weeks ago, we heard from Smithfield people that they believed they had a great edge in a potential pork sale to China, with their ability to eliminate Paylean use quickly. Looks like they were right.
http://www.farms.com/swine/freecommentary.asp?commentaryid=4936
Paula, you make us puke: Celebrity chef Paula Deen has been very good for her sponsor Smithfield Foods, and the company, aka the Death Star of Pork, has been very good to her in return. She’s entirely unfazed by how it treats its workers, whose union has staged protests at her appearances — and although this article doesn’t go into it, also has no problem with the company’s vile environmental and animal-welfare track records. The most galling thing is, she’s increasing their sales. A lot. Money quote, from a deluded fan: "Paula has character; she has ethics. I don’t think she would associate with an organization like that." Time to start leaflet-bombing her appearances with this Rolling Stone article on Smithfield? (The Virginian-Pilot)
http://www.ethicurean.com/2007/08/27/digest-features-18/
Another outbreak of swine fever found on farm in western Romania
TIMISOARA, Romania: A second outbreak of swine fever has been detected on a farm in western Romania owned by a U.S. pork producer, animal health authorities said Thursday.
It was the third outbreak in the country in recent weeks and the second on a farm owned by Smithfield Foods Inc., based in Smithfield, Virginia.
The disease was found this week on a farm in Igris, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of Timisoara near the Hungarian border. The farm has 15,000 pigs.
Around 18,000 pigs will be slaughtered in the village, said local animal health manager Viorel Agud.
An earlier outbreak was found at another Smithfield farm in the village of Cenei, in the same region, prompting the slaughter of 20,000 pigs.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/23/europe/EU-GEN-Romania-Swine-Fever.php
Import-Export Business
How globalization is smothering U.S. fruit and vegetable farms
By Tom Philpott
30 Aug 2007
Earlier this month, President Bush roiled U.S. vegetable farmers by announcing a crackdown on undocumented workers. Last week, industrial-meat giant Smithfield Foods goosed the hog-futures market by inking a deal to export 60 million pounds of U.S.-grown pork to China. These events, unrelated though they seem, illustrate a common point: that despite all the recent fuss around local food, the globalized food system, far from losing strength, continues to gain traction.
Unwittingly or not, Bush's move puts a heavy squeeze on large-scale U.S. vegetable growers, and will likely result in more food hauled in from nations with weaker environmental regulations. Smithfield's triumph in China reflects that nation's diminishing food-production capacity -- one of the prices it has paid for its rise to global manufacturing preeminence.
http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2007/08/30/worldfood/
Third swine fever center discovered at a Smithfield farm
The Veterinarian Authority confirmed on Thursday the existence of a third centre of contagion of swine fever in the Timis county, at one of the farms belonging to the US-based company Smithfield. The Authority also confirmed in August two other swine fever infected farms at the Smithfield farms in Cenei and Igris (same Timis county).The pigs at the new Igris farm, where the third contagion centre was found, will be sacrificed before the end of the month, immediately after the cremation of the other pigs ends.The number of animals sacrificed at the first two farms was some 37,000. Adding the third centre, the toll adds up to over 50,000.
http://english.hotnews.ro/Third-swine-fever-center-discovered-at-a-Smithfield-farm-articol_45740.htm
Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Pigs
Attention, shoppers: Stop picking up dead “Babes” and “Wilburs” at the grocery store! Here are the top 10 reasons to keep pork off your fork and put delicious Babe-free alternatives on your shopping list instead.
http://www.xanga.com/Kristenmomof3/613231600/top-10-reasons-not-to-eat-pigs.html
Boss Hog
America's top pork producer churns out a sea of waste that has destroyed rivers, killed millions of fish and generated one of the largest fines in EPA history. Welcome to the dark side of the other white meat.
JEFF TIETZPosted Dec 14, 2006 8:53 AM
Smithfield Foods, the largest and most profitable pork processor in the world, killed 27 million hogs last year. That's a number worth considering. A slaughter-weight hog is fifty percent heavier than a person. The logistical challenge of processing that many pigs each year is roughly equivalent to butchering and boxing the entire human populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Memphis, Baltimore, Fort Worth, Charlotte, El Paso, Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston, Denver, Louisville, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Las Vegas, Portland, Oklahoma City and Tucson.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12840743/porks_dirty_secret_the_nations_top_hog_producer_is_also_one_of_americas_worst_polluters/1
Smithfield Net Doubles on Meat Sales; Hormel Falls (Update2)
By Daniel J. Goldstein
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Smithfield Foods Inc., the world's biggest hog and turkey producer, reported quarterly net income doubled on rising beef and pork sales. Hormel Foods Corp. said profit fell on higher costs to make Spam meats and bacon bits.
Smithfield's net income in the fiscal quarter ended July 29 rose to $54.5 million, or 41 cents a share, from $24.6 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier. Hormel earnings fell during the same period to $57.4 million, or 41 cents a share, from $59.6 million, or 43 cents.
U.S. pork exports have surged on increased demand in China, sending hog prices up 11 percent in Chicago. Smithfield boosted production of the animals by 27 percent during the quarter after acquiring Premium Standard Farms. Hormel said higher beef, pork and poultry prices cut profit on its meat products, and rising grain costs led to a 19 percent drop in Jennie-O turkey earnings.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7R9IV4Hk7AQ&refer=home
Pig in a poke? Smithfield faces problems in Eastern Europe
Swine Plague: Romania Criticizes American Group's AttitudeBy Mirel BranLe MondeMircea Cotosman has cowboy manners. He directs the Romanian subsidiary of the American pig-breeding company Smithfield, located in Timisoara. Premier pork producer in the world, Smithfield established itself in Romania in 2004, by buying thirty-three farms dating from the Communist era for $200 million (147 million euros). The pork giant had intended to invest a billion dollars (737 million euros) in its farms, which already were bringing in attractive profits. The state-of-the-art Chrysler C300 that Mircea Cotosman bought himself testifies to those profits.But the American dream took a serious hit in Timisoara when swine plague ravaged Smithfield's farms. "We have nothing to say to the press; the swine plague is under control; journalists can just publish our communiqués," Mircea Cotosman indicated: he refuses all contact with journalists after receiving his orders from the company's headquarters, located in Smithfield, Virginia.
http://voxverax.blogspot.com/2007/08/pig-in-poke-smithfield-faces-problems.html
Immigration agents detain 28
By Venita JenkinsStaff writer
LUMBERTON — Federal agents detained 28 people — mostly from Mexico — during raids in four counties early Wednesday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted people suspected of crimes tied to identity theft, said Richard Rocha, a spokesman for the federal agency.
Rocha could not provide additional information. He said specifics about the investigation would be released later.
“When the information comes out as part of the court record, all the details will be revealed,” he said.
Rocha could not confirm that immigration agents raided homes in Shannon, St. Pauls, Rennert, Lumberton, Hope Mills and Raeford, as well as Smithfield Packing Co. in Tar Heel. He said agents were in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Bladen counties and that a majority of the arrests involved current and former Smithfield workers.
Eight arrests were made at Smithfield, the world’s largest hog processing plant, and 20 were made at homes, Rocha said. Twenty-five of the people taken into custody are from Mexico. Two are from Guatemala and one is from Honduras.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=270472
RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information ServiceBudapest, Hungary
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?lang=eng&cid=13057
Premium Standard purchase boosts Smithfield's earnings
Kansas City Business Journal - August 23, 2007
Smithfield Foods Inc.'s first-quarter earnings more than doubled compared with the same period last year, thanks mainly to Armour-Eckrich, which it bought in October, and Kansas City-based Premium Standard Farms Inc., which it bought in May.
In a release before the market opened on Thursday, Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD), based in Smithfield, Va., reported earnings of $54.5 million, or 41 cents a share, for the quarter that ended July 29. This compares with earnings of $24.6 million, or 22 cents a share, for last year's first quarter.
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2007/08/20/daily27.html
Through a Looking Glass Sieve
News — walterj 1:08 am
Under the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) the USDA has proposed that we tag and track every single livestock animal in the United States in order to control disease. The reality is NAIS is not about disease control but about helping big meat packing companies export to foreign markets. NAIS is filled with exceptions for big factory farms while burdening the small producer and homesteader as well as wasting hundreds of millions of dollars of our tax money. This is all for the benefit of consumers in other countries - not for American consumers.
The funny thing is the USDA actually believes it can tag and track four to ten billion animals when the immigration services can’t stop a few illegal immigrants. Time for a reality check - and it’s going to be a doozie when they get the bill for enforcement.
http://nonais.org/index.php/2007/08/24/through-a-looking-glass-sieve/
North Carolina: Raid at Hog Processing Plant
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 24, 2007
Immigration agents raided the world's largest hog processing plant Wednesday and also homes in four surrounding counties, arresting 28 people suspected of identity theft, the authorities said. Agents from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency arrived at the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel about 4 a.m. to remove some workers. In January, immigration agents arrested 21 plant employees.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01EFDD1E3AF937A1575BC0A9619C8B63
Swine Plague: Romania Criticizes American Group's Attitude
By Mirel Bran Le Monde
Wednesday 15 August 2008
Mircea Cotosman has cowboy manners. He directs the Romanian subsidiary of the American pig-breeding company Smithfield, located in Timisoara. Premier pork producer in the world, Smithfield established itself in Romania in 2004, by buying thirty-three farms dating from the Communist era for $200 million (147 million euros). The pork giant had intended to invest a billion dollars (737 million euros) in its farms, which already were bringing in attractive profits. The state-of-the-art Chrysler C300 that Mircea Cotosman bought himself testifies to those profits.
But the American dream took a serious hit in Timisoara when swine plague ravaged Smithfield's farms. "We have nothing to say to the press; the swine plague is under control; journalists can just publish our communiqués," Mircea Cotosman indicated: he refuses all contact with journalists after receiving his orders from the company's headquarters, located in Smithfield, Virginia.
As for obtaining access to the farms themselves, it is out of the question. Guards accompanied by bulldogs eliminate any desire to insist. "Everybody beat it," one of them insists in front of one of their farms in the village of Cenei, in western Romania. "This is private property here!"
http://www.envirolink.org/external.html?itemid=200708211913040.485337
Traders count cost of foot and mouth scare
nlnews@archant.co.uk
22 August 2007
TRADERS at Smithfield Market are counting the cost on their business of the foot and mouth outbreak.Restrictions on animal movements brought in after the Surrey outbreak of foot and mouth disease just over two weeks ago were eased on Saturday. Farmers can now move calving cows and their calves, but under tight restrictions.The ban on taking livestock to abattoirs has already been lifted but many movements of animals such as sending animals to market are still banned in England. There is still a protection zone around affected farms in Surrey, where the restrictions still remain.
Many meat traders at Smithfield say sales had dropped by 80 per cent since the ban on taking animals for slaughter and many have lost thousands of pounds.
They also say they have suffered one of their worst weeks since the 1967 foot and mouth outbreak. Smithfield Market Tenants Association chairman, Greg Lawrence, said: "It has been very, very difficult for all of us. Each day it has just got more and more difficult. Most of the boys on Smithfield have only sold 20 per cent of what they would normally sell, simply because of lack of supplies."Chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds issued the movement licence "to help resolve animal welfare issues" that had arisen in the dairy sector.
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/content/islington/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=ISLGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsislg&itemid=WeED22%20Aug%202007%2009%3A44%3A15%3A883
China's List Of Suspended U.S. Meat Plants GrowingUS
AgNet - 08/20/2007
Meatingplace.com reports that the list of U.S. meatpacking plants China has delisted has grown to 15, including eight plants delisted between August 7-17. Last week, USDA confirmed China had recently delisted eight plants after discovering pork shipments containing traces of ractopamine. The following plants are currently barred from exporting meat and poultry to China: Swift Pork Co., Worthington, Minn.; John Morrell & Co., Sioux Falls, S.D.; Cargill Meat Solutions, Beardstown, Ill.; Cargill Meat Solutions, Ottumwa, Iowa; Tyson Fresh Meats, Waterloo, Iowa; Farmland Foods, Denison, Iowa; Farmland Foods, Crete, Neb.; Farmland Foods, Monmouth, Ill.; Hatfield Quality Meats, Hatfield, Penn.; Peco Foods, Bay Springs, Miss.; Tyson Foods Inc, Nashville, Ark.; Sanderson Farms, Hammond, La.; Indiana Packers Corp., Delphi, Ind.; Smithfield Packing Co., Tar Heel, N.C.; and Sanderson Farms, Moultrie, Ga.Additional plants are under 45-day warnings. They can still export product but must go 45 days without incident or also be suspended, according to USDA.
http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.php?Id=1937&yr=2007
TESTIMONY OF KEITH LUDLUM
TESTIMONY OF KEITH LUDLUM Before the HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EMPLOYMENT, LABOR, AND PENSIONS ... EFCA would make a difference in our struggles at Smithfield. EFCA would finally protect American ...
www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/upload/EFCA_Ludlum_20070208.pdf
Sanderson Feels Grain Strain
Andrew Farrell, 08.28.07, 3:25 PM ET
Booming ethanol production hampered meat producers Tuesday. The sector traded lower after one of its players announced that third-quarter results were throttled by rising grain costs.
Sanderson Farms (nasdaq: SAFM - news - people ) reported a third-quarter profit that jumped 830.3% to $30.7 million, or $1.51 per share, from $3.3 million, or 16 cents per share, in the previous year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected better and predicted earnings of $1.93 per share.
The big miss sent investors bolting. Shares of Sanderson lost $5.69, or 13.0%, falling to $38.16. The Laurel, Miss.-company produces and distributes frozen chicken products. It was originally founded in 1947 as a farm supply business.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/08/28/sanderson-farms-grain-markets-equity-cx_af_0828markets11.html
Pricey Meals For Chickens Cost Sanderson
Andrew Farrell, 08.28.07, 5:53 PM ET
How much does it cost to feed a chicken? A lot more than it did a year ago.
Chicken seller Sanderson Farms announced Tuesday a disappointing quarterly performance that was hampered by rising feed costs.
Sanderson (nasdaq: SAFM - news - people )reported third-quarter profits that jumped 830.3% to $30.7 million, or $1.51 per share, from $3.3 million, or 16 cents per share, in the previous year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected better and predicted earnings of $1.93 per share.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/08/28/sanderson-farms-update-markets-equity-cx_af_0828markets22.html
Suddenly, the Hunt Is On for Cage-Free Eggs
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: August 12, 2007
The toy industry had its Tickle Me Elmo, the automakers the Prius and technology its iPhone. Now, the food world has its latest have-to-have-it product: the cage-free egg.
The eggs, from chickens raised in large, open barns instead of stacks of small wire cages, have become the latest addition to menus at universities, hotel chains like Omni and cafeterias at companies like Google. The Whole Foods supermarket chain sells nothing else, and even Burger King is getting in on the trend.
All that demand has meant a rush on cage-free eggs and headaches in corporate kitchens as big buyers learn there may not be enough to go around.
The Vermont ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's got plenty of attention last September when it became the first major food manufacturer to announce it would use only cage-free eggs that have been certified humane by an inspecting organization. But the company says it will need four years to complete the switch.
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30913F935550C718DDDA10894DF404482
Consumers Warned to Avoid Eating Raw Oysters from Southern Tip of Hood Canal in Washington State
Warning Follows Bacterial Illness Outbreak
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw oysters harvested from an area of the southern tip of Hood Canal in Washington after an outbreak of illness caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria.
Symptoms of the illness, called vibriosis, include watery diarrhea, often with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills. Usually these symptoms occur within 24 hours of ingestion and last no more than three days. Severe disease is rare and occurs most commonly in people with weakened immune systems. Those who believe they have experienced these symptoms after consuming raw oysters should consult their health care provider and contact their local health department.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01680.html
Morningstar Farms® America's Original Veggie Dog®
From tasty breakfast alternatives to Meal Starters™, Morningstar Farms® serves up delicious burgers, Chik’n or dogs to satisfy everyone’s taste. Check out our variety of veggie delights – including our delectable snacks – and you’ll see how Morningstar Farms® can add creativity to any meal.
http://seeveggiesdifferently.com/product_detail.aspx?id=314
Hundreds attend hearing on large-scale farm ordinances
Supporters and opponents packed a public hearing Monday on proposals that would temporarily halt all large-scale livestock farm development in Vernon County and set limits on the numbers of animals.Vernon County farmers showed up in force Monday night, rolling more than 50 huge tractors and farm implements into Viroqua and parking in the streets around the Western Technical College building, where the county's Health Committee was holding the hearing. Not all of the farm implements were from those who oppose the new regulations, a number of the farm implements and tractors had signs that said farmers support the pending county ordinances.The Vernon County Board is expected to consider two measures on Aug. 7. One is a moratorium on new large-scale livestock operations. The other is an animal siting ordinance that limits animal units on farms to 500.About 300 people filed into the largest room available in the WTC building, with the overflow listeners spilling into the hallway.
http://www.vernonbroadcaster.com/articles/2007/08/06/news/00lead.txt
North Carolina makes ban on manure lagoon construction permanent
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, 2:25 PMby Bob MeyerThe State of North Carolina has made permanent a ban on the construction of manure lagoons and spray fields. State Senator Charles Albertson authored the bill which grandfathers existing lagoons, “It also has a provision that says if there is an imminent hazard from a lagoon rupturing, that lagoon could be replaced.” A temporary ban was passed a number of years ago and the State Legislature kept extending it, Albertson’s bill makes the rule permanent. It also does not replace agreements between the State and several hog entities including Smithfield and Premium Standard Farms.
The new law includes the Lagoon Conversion Program offering grants to help livestock producers convert conventional lagoons to, “Innovative animal waste management systems.” The plan offers state dollars to help develop systems that produce marketable byproducts, reduce or eliminate ammonia emissions and are capable of being connected to a centralized waste collection and treatment system. Another element of the bill is the creation of The Swine Farm Methane Capture Pilot Program under which the State will select up to 50 hog farms to collect methane gas for use in generating electricity. Each public utility that serves a pilot farm must purchase all electricity generated by the farm for a minimum of seven years at a price agreed to by the utility and the producer. Another bill is currently working its way through the North Carolina legislature that would require 12.5% of the state’s energy to be from renewable sources by the year 2021.Senator Albertson says his state is experiencing tremendous population growth and that is putting more pressure on livestock producers to take these types of steps. “We’re projected to grow by 50% in the next 25 or 30 years and this is an effort to help us meet that challenge and keep our farmers in business.”
http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=1DBD4EA5-EC51-9E22-1E5E5DDED6A8BBDE
Hog farms try collecting gas, making energy
Wade Rawlins, Staff Writer
CLINTON - At this factory farm that houses more than 10,000 hogs, a black plastic tarp covering part of a hog waste pond swells with untapped opportunity.
Captured beneath the bulging cover is methane gas, which rises off the pond as manure decomposes. It is a potent greenhouse gas trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere. But methane can also fuel an incinerator or drive a turbine to produce electricity.
The prospect of using the combustible gas to cut greenhouse emissions and produce revenue is drawing interest from entrepreneurs and agricultural companies.
To explore methane's potential, Murphy-Brown, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, spent about $120,000 enclosing 20 percent of a 7-acre lagoon on Company Farm 2039 in Sampson County.
"We want to fully understand the potential for energy production from our farms," said Don Butler, director of government relations at Murphy-Brown, as he surveyed the tarp. "Methane is the one we believe has near-term potential."
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/653245.html
Smithfield Foods Corporate Website
http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/splash.asp
Their products and how people of conscience will boycott them until they rehire their union workers and offer excellent pay and benefits
http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/Brands/
Hog Money Influence in the 1999 General Assembly
An analysis of campaign finance reports shows that the hog industry and its allies dramatically increased their investment in North Carolina politics in the 1998 election.
The pay-off on that investment came in two forms, says the N.C. Public Interest Research Group (contact at 919-933-5889). First, the industry benefited from the rise to power of hog-friendly leaders in the legislature, reversing the hostile treatment it received under former Rules Chair Richard Morgan and House Speaker Harold Brubaker. But, second, the people of eastern North Carolina suffered the consequences of weak environmental regulations, made all the more terrible by Hurricane Floyd.
Indeed, the extent of pig-pollution damage following Floyd begs these questions: How has the hog industry's political money and muscle protected it from vigorous regulation? Why did the 1999 General Assembly do so little to protect the communities impacted by hog waste? Why did the momentum for increased regulation of the industry, largely driven inside the legislature by GOP House members, come to a halt when Democrats took control of the House after the 1998 election?
A variety of proposals, including phasing out the open-pit cesspools and phasing in of integrator liability, went nowhere in 1999. The moratorium on new hog factory-farm construction was extended, but the industry did not seriously oppose that proposal since it has already built to over-capacity in the state. The industry won the big fights and the people of eastern North Carolina lost….
… More than three fourths of the members of the 1999 General Assembly got contributions from donors tied to the hog and poultry industry in their 1998 campaigns. Animal factory PACs and contributors dumped at least $280,000* into the 1998 elections through direct political donations, an increase of 70 percent over the $165,000 donated by these donors to 1996 legislative candidates….
http://www.democracy-nc.org/moneyresearch/1999/hogmoney1999.html
continued…
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