Former Governor Lincoln Chafee reminds me of the late Senator Robert Byrd.

From 2007 to 2009, (click here) Chafee was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. During this time, he served on the boards of NARAL Pro-Choice America, American University of Beirut, The Foundation for Effective Government (Ukraine), Slater Mill National Historic Landmark, and the Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests.

He is the author of Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President (2008).

Only 23 of 100 U.S. Senators saw the folly of allowing Bush/Cheney to invade Iraq. I am very proud to be one of the 23. 

 

I remember the Gang of 14. It was a relief the country there were cooler heads in the Congress. He understands governance.

 

Rated 75% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record. (click here)

Chafee scores 75% by APHA on health issue. 

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.

 

This site recorded his position on issues from previous elections. The information shows a more complicated legislator with his decisions made within a good margin of governance. Basically, what I mean by that is he doesn't practice politics from his seat of government, he governs.

 

How did I ever guess. 

 

March 25, 2015 3:14 pm

Robert Byrd Testimonial (click here)

Governor Chafee should develop a page at his current website indicting policy positions as events have unfolded since he served in office. His previous positions have proven to becomes law more often than not. There isn't much on his wish list from when he was in office. He is moved by the basic needs of life in the USA. He is charitable and cares about those most vulnerable, namely the poor and disabled. He has conscience. A conscience has been lacking in the years of Bush and the Republican extremism since Bush.

I wish him luck. He can be formidable. A man who actually gets out of his chair and researches the issues before him to make an educated vote. That can be very hard to come by.

Marco Rubio's success in gathering expensive assets while ignoring the costs of legal actions against him.

Senator Rubio has a problem. He has spent money like water in purchasing a home and a $60,000 speed boat. His home is the most expensive in his neighborhood. Really? I have an uncle that is a self-made millionaire several times over and he has the most expensive home in his neighborhood. What OTHER income does Senator Rubio have to justify his social status?

Government jobs don't pay all that well. They are good jobs with great benefits, but, they ain't all that. 

Sorry, my mistake, it is a $80,000 for the speed boat.

The Rubios live in a home in West Miami that is one of the more expensive ones in the area. Ryan Stone for The New York Times 

June 9. 2015
By Stever Eder 

...In speeches, (click here) Mr. Rubio, a Florida Republican, spoke of his prudent plan for using the cash to finally pay off his law school loans, expressing relief that he no longer owed “a lady named Sallie Mae,” as he once called the lender.

But at the same time, he splurged on an extravagant purchase: $80,000 for a luxury speedboat, state records show. At the time, Mr. Rubio confided to a friend that it was a potentially inadvisable outlay that he could not resist. The 24-foot boat, he said, fulfilled a dream....

What is exceptionally odd is the fact he owes money to governments for things like tickets. That doesn't make sense. How does a US Senator who has plenty of money to throw around not pay infractions in the law?

...In the past week, he suffered a new loss when he sold his second home in Florida’s capital, Tallahassee, for $18,000 less than he and a friend paid for it a decade ago. The house had previously faced foreclosure after Mr. Rubio and his friend failed to make mortgage payments for five months....

This is a little more than traffic tickets. There are many people that own more than one home and manage them just fine. None of this makes sense. A US Senator has all the amenities as any person with accumulated wealth, but, there are these strange inconsistencies. 

Is Senator Rubio indirectly stating he simply didn't bother with the financial details of his life or does he actually have sincere misunderstanding of the definition of wealth? Wealth occurs when there is a positive balance every year one has to pay taxes from, including state taxes. Mortgages are one of those really good items that stem paying higher tax rates. So, I think Senator Rubio can understand why all this inconsistent financial behavior is more a suspicion to many of the electorate rather than a simple annoyance.

Questionable finances may not worry Republicans. After all US House member Joe Walsh came to office owing tens of thousands of US in child support. I guess anything is possible. 

I am fairly sure boats can be used as a second home. Probably even speed boats.  

Local Product Quality will work. Here is why.

We all know there is a strong history of substandard Chinese merchandise at all levels. This has been a problem for some time now. It isn't to say as Chinese leaders become more sophisticated to market demands it won't change. The Chinese product quality will change as their Middle Class becomes more sophisticated and demands changes in their domestic products as well.

So, the important question is why are local ordinances relevant to import products developed and built thousands of miles away?

The answer is not what most people think. 

You know how Walmart and these big box stores have many, many products made in China? Well, the merchandise could have been imported by your neighbor.  

Let's just say I might have some loose change sitting around and I wanted to make more money with it. The amount is $25,000. Maybe a little more and there is probably at least one other investor. I then take a trip to China with an engineering schematic for bar stools. 

I find a manufacturer in China that can build the bar stools. I then arrange for transportation out of China to the East Coast of the USA through the new Panamax Canals.

I get home and am a hop away from Port Elizabeth in New Jersey where the shipping container has arrived. I have now already talked to my local big box store, made the issue for marketing bar stools due to the impending New Year's holiday. The big box store thinks it is a great idea and accepts delivery to the store of the new bar stools.

I and my fellow investors are making money. There is cheap labor in China, no real government regulation that would increase the cost of the bar stools and China has well organized transportation hubs including cranes in every country. The transportation costs while sufficient to make the average person's hair stand on end is more than reasonable when realizing the profit within each bar stool sold. 

That's right. The products made in China can be ORDERED and bought by purchasers for Walmart, but, they can also be manufactured to an engineering standard and purchased by ordinary people.  

So, the rewards for investors of products from China is enormous. The best way to limit the impact of substandard products is to eliminate their eligibly for sale in the city and town one lives.

This scenario is real. When American investors leave the USA to find a Chinese manufacturer to build their product they have to have certain standards to meet at the POINT OF SALE. If those standards are not understood to every merchant in town, there will be adverse outcomes like that of New Orleans. 

The local economy in the USA runs on QUALITY. Americans want quality, have a long history of demanding quality and expect products to perform within their expectations. There is every scientific reason to demand quality products imported to cities and towns across the USA. The more demand there is from importers, the better the quality becomes at POINT of Manufacture. 

It is the only reasonable way forward with trade agreements most Americans have little to no control over. I know the agreements will assault the standards of Americans in product quality, but, the push back has to be significant and will meet the demands of lawsuits. Local authorities need to understand the challenge before them and begin the process of determining what standards they expect their Chamber of Commerce to meet.

DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. 

The life you save may be your own. Home ownership should be protected to insure it's value is never in question. Inferior products cause pollution in landfills as well. The real estate in every town is important, don't mess it up. Don't turn cheap alternatives to American Produced Products into the burden of the taxpayer.

Know the performance of your US District Court of Appeals.

Realize the wall board emitting sufuric emissions into the home environment where children live is the very same District Court as the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. That will provide an understanding of why consumers are war weary of BAD BUSINESS practices!

This has gone on since 2006 because the court system at the appellate level is corrupt. These cases have to make it's way to the Supreme Court if necessary. This is one of the worst performing appellate division in the country and has been for a long time.

Health standards for Americans are well known and has to honored as valid by scientific findings over a century of medical practice and research. This is the level of fraud and misdirection the appellate court for New Orleans exercises on a regular basis. There have to be lawsuits built from the ground up when entering into court actions in this appellate court.

The lawsuits have to be strong, ridiculously strong.  

It would be a really rewarding exercise if law students would carry out an inventory of BAD DECISIONS of this appellate court. It could be used in impeachment and to back up reasons why the lawsuits decided by this court is unconstitutional and a threat to the well being of Americans. 

Think local and nothing else.

Don't be afraid of filing lawsuits against products that violate sound local laws based in verifiable science.

My understanding of the current proposed trade agreements is that it circumvents sound science in applying demands of importers to the USA.

The DEFENSE against these immoral trade policies is to start correctly from the beginning in basing local ordinance in sound scientific principles in product reassurance, INCLUDING ENGINEERING.

This is what gets so ridiculous about these trade agreements, they jepopardize sound principles of product quality in the USA. Kindly pay close attention to the children's products. Americans love to buy products for their children and becomes targets of these agreements. Parents need to demand a quality assurance from those in the practice of marketing for children. Yes, this means "Toys R US" and "Babies R US" have to GUARANTEE every product they sell. Wall Street should understand Americans are putting up with this garbage and they could be faced with lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit that force very bad outcomes to CEO bonuses and the very potential a company no longer exists.

Don't get stressed over this mess. Engage the local government and bring to their attention this one episode in New Orleans. Demand their products in stores are solidly safe. If Americans can't get these reassurance, don't buy the product. Be a label reader for all the products purchased with hard earned dollars.

Demand American made products, preferably produced locally.

Okay. I do not believe this has been going on since 2006. That was right after Katrina. Amazing. There is no valuing human life evidently.

When cities and town accept import products it has to be certified through well known US authority.

 Underwriters Laboratories is a well known certification agency. It is also independent from government.

UL (click here) is a global independent safety science company with more than a century of expertise innovating safety solutions from the public adoption of electricity to new breakthroughs in sustainability, renewable energy and nanotechnology. Dedicated to promoting safe living and working environments, UL helps safeguard people, products and places in important ways, facilitating trade and providing peace of mind.

Quality workmen in the USA that will be working with these products are going to have to rely on their professional organizations to take on this challenge in setting WORK ENVIRONMENT QUALITY. The EPA and OSHA also has to set policy to protect workers. The USA Labor Department is going to have to take on the issue to realize the number of workers who have come in contact with dangerous import products.

Americans are not guinea pigs for some of the worst standards in the world. Our country determined a long time ago what is healthy and what is not. We have PAID THE PRICE for our knowledge and no import mess is going to undo the standards Americans have developed for their own well being.

This is outrageous. This is nothing but outrageous. 

BUSH. He had a motto, "Everything Chinese is wonderful." He pretended not to approve of this exploration of Americans by refusing to have direct talks with the Chinese when they were in town. 

This is a new call for sanity. When politicians refuse contact with foreign governments THINK TWICE about any assurances the USA quality of life will continue!!

continued...

Chinese drywall melts metal? OMG. What does it do to lungs?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) " Thomas Stone (click here) says Chinese drywall has ruined his life, repeatedly corroding fixtures and appliances in the house he bought and rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. A hearing Tuesday will decide how much money he and 3,000 other homeowners can get to replace the drywall made by Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd.

About 1,000 more cases will be tried individually, said Arnold Levin, one of many plaintiffs' attorneys in the case.

"People have lost their homes. Some were put in bankruptcy. Some are living in tents. They can't go into their house and they're living in tents outside," he said.
For some time, Taishan refused to respond to the lawsuits. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon tried a group of seven cases without the company, ordering it in 2012 to pay $2.7 million to seven Virginia homeowners and their lawyers. Taishan paid up " including about $500,000 in interest " in March, about eight months after Fallon found it in contempt of court.

Another manufacturer, German-owned Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., and four companies it supplied agreed in 2010 to pay for home repairs. That settlement is expected to total $1.1 billion, attorneys have said....

There is no warranty on Chinese products. This is typical of "The South;" substandar building materials are welcome. It is a cultural thing in the USA South; cheat your way to wealth.  See, the impoverished can't afford quality, so why bother

There is a reason The South receives large amounts of FEDERAL Medicaid money every year.
 
A sample of the Chinese-made drywall ripped out of the Chalmette home of Thomas and Lauren Stone in June 2009. The Stones are in the long process of replacing it all by themselves (Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune archive)

October 9. 2013
By Katherine Sayre

The future of thousands (click here) of homeowners' damage claims against a major supplier of Chinese drywall will be argued Wednesday morning (Oct. 9) in a federal appellate court in New Orleans. 

Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd. -- one of two major manufacturers accused of supplying toxic drywall -- made and shipped 1.8 million sheets of the building material to the U.S. between 2005 and 2009. Taishan has argued that U.S. courts don't have jurisdiction over the company.
As many as 20,000 property owners in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia installed the material during frenzied building after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and a nation-wide housing boom.... 

This has been going on since 2006 and evidently new trade laws are going to demand more of the same.

Sulfurous? Sulfurous? What kind of conditions are these homeowners suffering from? There air quality was laced with acid. What is going on with the children?

April 11, 2011
By Bruce Nolan

...In federal class-action suits (click here) in federal court in New Orleans, they described how sulfurous Chinese drywall emitted vapors that corroded electrical wiring; ruined the circuitry of air conditioners, appliances, computers and televisions; tarnished jewelry and other metals; pitted mirrors and sometimes made their homes stink of rotten eggs.

Among them were middle-class families pushed into bankruptcy, and in a few cases, notable names including Saints coach Sean Payton, whose expansive Mandeville home had to be torn apart.

But it also turns out that volunteers who came to New Orleans during their spring and winter breaks unknowingly installed toxic drywall in the homes of the poorest and most vulnerable families as well.

As a result, Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities’ Operation Helping Hands and Rebuilding Together New Orleans have all launched programs to identify tainted homes, move homeowners out, sustain them for months and make the houses safe for occupancy....

The company should have already been banned from any trade in the USA. What is the BCC certification? 

BCC Certification is "Board Certified Coach?" What the hell is this? A coach? Fraud. Lots and lots of fraud surrounds Chinese products. BCC should be a co-defendant to the lawsuits. 

Taishan Gypsum Co., Ltd (click here) is one of the key enterprises . The headquarters is located in Tai’an Shandong province, the south of the famous Mt. Tai, near to the ancient Dawenkou culture Ruins and very convenient for transportation.

　It is abundant in raw gypsum resources. The products “Taishan” series gypsum board can be used as partition and ceiling material and have advantages: fire-proof, sound insulation, heat preservation, quakeproof and good for health. “Taishan” series steel frame for gypsum board is made of high quality zinc-covered steel belt through advanced technique. The full set of steel frame, with varies specifications and well-fitted, is your first choice for decorations.

The Chinese businesses are being taken for the same ride as the consumers of their products.

The Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE) (click here) created the Board Certified Coach (BCC) credential as a means to independently verify that applicants have met professional coaching competency standards established by CCE and subject matter experts. These standards reflect the common knowledge, skills and abilities of a professional coach.

There are little to no quality assurances with these imports. This wall board is dangerous and will DEFINITELY affect the health of the consumers. This is serious. Very serious. 

There needs to be strong opposition to any trade deal. The opposition will have to be based in QUALITY REASSURANCES. The cost of these products are far higher than their purchase price. Enough. We don't want them. Local economies have to be backed by educated Mayor and Council to set up QUALITY ASSURANCES. 

Quality Assurance standards have to include all products that could come into the city or town. Local ordinance has to become sophisticated quickly. This is the type of service local authority now has to take on, there used to be federal regulations that guaranteed quality to Americans. HERE WE GO AGAIN !!!!!!!!

If there were unions involved in supplying labor with these products their health has to be assessed. This wall board will cause health impacts from it's first contact by workers. 

I take it there wasn't a lot of 'face time' in Europe.

No different than the Iraqi Prime Minister, President Obama seeks out time to talk to allies and friends. There is currently a crisis in Ukraine. The IMF is instrumental to dissecting Ukraine debt. There are many problems with Ukraine. So, I am not surprised President Obama didn't have time for others. The best way to address anything with President Obama is to get on his schedule.

President Obama is not a man of few words. He would choose to not engage a conversation, especially when it was in regard to national security and the status it enjoys in the way of secrets. I am confident he noted the Prime Minister, but, was compromised to talk to him because of the numerous media presence. 

ABC News Videos | ABC Entertainment News

Fun facts. The Great Lakes are considered a place where planes and jets disappear,

It is called "The Bermuda Triangle" of the Great Lakes. The imagination of people stating this is illustrated in the video below. Many state the evidence of this is found at depth in Lake Michigan where USA military aircraft can be found.

There is finally an answer to this phenomena. 

A very talented art curator has been able to find and piece together a fascinating history regarding the US Air Force and WWII. Kindly listen to an interview with Ms. Amanda Wetzel (click here).

It would seem as though the aircraft resting at the bottom of Lake Michigan were student pilots learning to fly the planes that would carry bombs to Hitler and potentially Japan. 

So how did they get the aircraft carriers to Lake Michigan? They built them using large ferries that were more like water taxis for the area. Below is an article.

February 19, 2015
By Garrett Ellison

TRAVERSE CITY, MI -- Loose lips sink ships.
The familiar mantra (click here) was prevalent around Northern Michigan in the early 1940s, when a pair of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers traversed Lake Michigan on daily pilot training operations the local folks knew about but didn't discuss.
"You didn't know who you could trust," said Amanda Wetzel, assistant director at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum near Northport.
"The belief among everyone up here was that there were German and Japanese spies everywhere," said Wetzel, who has spent months researching the secret naval training on Lake Michigan during World War II....

Ms. Wetzel is opening the exhibit soon, however, she has only been able to raise enough funding for six months. She is hopeful to have additional funding when people realize how important this exhibit is to the region and country. It is a point of pride to the Great Lakes and the people that witnessed the intense training to defeat the enemies of the USA. Many facts and artifacts came from former soldiers and their families when they learned about the project.

Ms. Wetzel is still finding facts and artifacts regarding this incredible effort. The project has the potential to unlock vast amounts of information from the region. 

The flattops known as SS See Bee and the USS Wolverine were docked in Chicago at the Navy Pier. They trained 17,000 pilots during the years of the war. The reason Lake Michigan was chosen by the USA military was because of the German U-Boats patroling the Atlantic Ocean.

If this project proves to be as important as expected Ms. Wetzel is hoping it will be a permanent exhibit in the region to draw the interest of veterans and Americans on vacation. 

Oh, well. So much for UFOs and the Bermuda Triangle of the Great Lakes. 

The country has a gun problem. 1000 shootings in Chicago. Not 1000 deaths, but, there are deaths that have occurred.

June 8, 2015

The mother's cries (click here) filled the empty street in Bridgeport as her 17-year-old son lay under a white sheet behind yellow crime scene tape.
"I just need to touch him," she cried out. "I just need to see it's my child. Please."
Then in a final plea, she screamed, "Just let me get him.  Let me get him."... 

...Chicago has hit the somber milestone even sooner than the violent year of 2012, when the city saw 500 homicides for the first time since 2008 (poverty and crime).  Shootings that year were up 11 percent. The city reached the 1,000 mark on June 6 in 2012. In 2013 it was on June 26 and last year it was on June 15.

This year, Chicago passed the mark sometime late Thursday into early Friday morning, according to data collected and analyzed by the Chicago Tribune.... 

There were many minorities that lost wealth in 2008 and never recovered it.

 Interestingly, (click here) it looked like the index for single family homes bottomed in April of 2009, but then it dipped three more times. Much of this repeated dipping is a seasonal effect but recently the seasonal recovery in prices was exceptionally strong. May and June 2012 came along and blew the numbers out of the water – prices were up 4.5% and 4.6% from April and May respectively, which is huge. Even after adjusting for seasonality these were the largest one month increases in 24 years.

Guns are facilitating the crime economy in Chicago.

November 26, 2014

More than a quarter of Chicago households (click here) –more than 282,000–recently turned to the Chicago Housing Authority in their search for a better or more affordable home.
The households are vying for an apartment in public housing or a housing voucher, either of which could be a step up from their current living situations. But the huge response to the four-week registration period for the agency’s wait lists also exposes a glaring need for quality, affordable housing in Chicago.
The registration period, which ended Monday, is the first time CHA has opened its public housing wait list since 2010 and its voucher wait list since 2008. The wait lists, for the first time, used a single online application....

Segregation.

November 16. 2015

...With 25 percent of its African-American residents jobless, (click here) Chicago has the highest black unemployment rate among the nation’s five most populous cities.
Chicago’s rate is higher than Philadelphia’s 19 percent, Los Angeles' 18 percent, Houston’s 15 percent and New York City’s 14 percent, based on 2013 U.S. Census figures.
Why?
Experts point to Chicago’s unique brand of residential segregation, among other factors.  Almost 75 percent of black Chicagoans live in a community that’s at least 90 percent black, according to Census data. Blacks are about one-third of Chicago's population. The unemployment rate for white Chicagoans is 7 percent; for Latinos, it's 12 percent....  

$15 million to fight blight in 4 cities. That doesn't even come close to what is needed.  The cuts in the US Budget after such a huge economic disaster is far to little.

May 27, 2014

...Gary, Indianapolis and three other Indiana cities (click here) have received a total of about $15 million to help eliminate blighted and abandoned homes.

The other cities granted funds from the Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program are East Chicago and Hammond in northwest Indiana and the city of Lawrence in Marion County. The grants are the first round in a series of grants that will total $75 million.

Gary will receive $6.6 million of the initial amount. A team spent several months collecting data on blighted structures throughout the northwest Indiana city....

The unemployment rate for African Americans hasn't budged in 50 years. NAFTA had no effect and neither will the TPP or any other trade agreement.

August 28, 2013
By Brad Plumer

..."Indeed," (click here) notes EPI, "black America is nearly always facing an employment situation that would be labeled a particularly severe recession if it characterized the entire labor force. From 1963 to 2012, the ... annual black unemployment rate averaged 11.6 percent. This was... higher than the average annual national unemployment rate during the recessions in this period — 6.7 percent."...

The cities that have trouble with crime and homicides have the highest unemployment rates among African Americans. So, what is a man to do? Turn toward crime because nothing else he tries works. 

Prison is part of life and simply an extension of the community. 

Our US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy was correct when she stated the Japan economy was thriving.

Japan doesn't pander to impoverishment to it's corporate interests. It is one of the most progressive economies in the world. Japan demands a minimum wage that is a living wage and there are many consumer laws that impacts quality of life. 

Wall Street has complained about the Japanese government for decades. Their complaints leading to profits was never ignored, but, were always balanced to the outcomes of the Japanese people. 

June 8, 2015

Growth in the Japanese economy (click here) in the first quarter has been revised sharply higher, official government data shows.

The world's third largest economy expanded 1% in the first three months from the previous three, up from an initial estimate of 0.6%. 

It also grew 3.9% on an annualised basis, compared to a preliminary reading of 2.4%, and much higher than forecasts of 2.7% growth.

A jump in business spending helped boost growth well above expectations.
In the initial estimate, business spending was up just 0.4% from the previous quarter. The revised reading was 2.7% higher, compared to forecasts of 2.3%.
The revised figures make growth in first quarter the best for Japan in two years.
The data is boosting hopes of a continuing recovery from the recession that the country fell into last year and is good news for the government and central bank which have both been trying to stimulate growth in the Asian giant.

Republicans are trying to pin "an identity crisis" on Secretary Clinton.

Believe it or not Democrats are farmer, too. There are more and more all the time as the American Family Farm returns with the GMO Free movement.

Since the 1970s American Family Farms have vanished from the countries landscape because of the rise of factory farms. The story in Iowa is not different than other states with a large segment of their economies as agriculture. 

The GMO and organic foods demand has put family farms back in the forefront of agriculture. 

American Farm Bureau Federation (click here)

...One in three U.S. farm acres is planted for export.

31 percent of U.S. gross farm income comes directly from exports.

About 23 percent of raw U.S. farm products are exported each year.

Farmers and ranchers receive only 16 cents out of every dollar spent on food at home and away from home. The rest goes for costs beyond the farm gate: wages and materials for production, processing, marketing, transportation and distribution. In 1980, farmers and ranchers received 31 cents.

U.S. farm programs typically cost each American just pennies per meal and account for less than one-half of 1 percent of the total U.S. budget....

US Agriculture still feed the world and without agricultural exports the balance of trade would be drastically different.

It is easy to discern where family farms exist. In the year 2016 there is less cropland for production than in past decades. 

Off farm sales can be commodities and those commodities do not need trade authority. American agricultural exports have been a stable part of export products for a century.


August 11, 2013
By Lidia DePillis

...But here's the first untrue thing: (click here) Even while the average size of farms is going up, there are more small farms than ever, especially in small states with farmland preservation programs like Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Community-supported agriculture, plus the local and organic food movement, are starting to show up in the numbers. It's the mid-sized farm, between 100 and 500 acres, that's disappearing.

And here's the second thing that's wrong about our understanding of the disappearance of family farms: 96.4 percent of the crop-producing farms in the U.S. are owned by families, and they represent 87 percent of all the agricultural value generated (non-family owned farms are defined as "those operated by cooperatives, by hired managers on behalf of non-operator owners, by large corporations with diverse ownership, and by small groups of unrelated people"). That hasn't changed since about 1996....

Farm preservation is very important. In states where farm preservation is part of the law, farmers seek Circa status. In that is an additional income for the farm as they become part of the tourism industry, too. 

Local school systems have new venues of education for class trips to successful family farms that have proven longevity in it's product production. The family farms also offer opportunity for "Pick Your Own" vegetables and fruit. There are sometimes farm markets on the property where preserves of farm products are sold along side other consumer products in demand.

The organic food market often sells directly to consumers asking higher prices for their stock and produce such as turkeys at Thanksgiving. These offerings to the consumer market is met with higher and higher demand in 2016. These side lines of farm income is a growing consumer demand. It doesn't matter the higher prices for GMO free and free ranging animals products; consumers want to know where their food comes from and demand these products. 

The farmers that cater to consumers are finding acceptance and reliability in the  demand. It is not unusual in 2016 for consumers to place their names on waiting lists for turkeys and hams for the dinner table on holidays. These farmers actually sell out during the holidays. It is the waiting list and success of their marketing that increases the demand which then drives production. These farms are family owned and like to market locally. Their income structures are tightly managed. These incomes are important to the viability of the farm. 

These farms are definitely small businesses and can have employees for production and in their retail farm market on property. 

These farms do not receive subsidies. The spending of subsidies by the federal government are taken by large corporate farms. These small family operations will tell anyone who asks that the only farms receiving subsidies have lawyers. And that is definitely more than one lawyer.

Farmers understand far more than commodity production, they understand markets and how those markets impact them. The new organic farmer likes to know their farm will have a sustainable income. 

A growing percentage of these farms are owned and operated by American Veterans. That's right. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enjoy the challenge farming presents including the physical aspect of their farms. They aren't suffering from PTSD so much as the challenge to develop their market strategy and keeping consumers happy. They are successful.

"Ground Operations" - Battlefields to Farmfields (click here)

Anyone Can Farm
  bakersgreenacres.com/acf (email form on the site)

Mark Baker, Farm Owner

Learn to grow food wherever you live, taught by Air Force veteran Mark Baker and his family, on 80 acres in Michigan. Continuing in the spring of 2013, courses on the complete guide to Pastured Poultry, Pastured Pork, Bio Char & Rocket Stoves 101, Introduction to Permaculture & Soils, Grass Feed Beef (Rotational Grazing), and Growing Vegetables will be held here at the Farm.The courses will be multiple day courses and you will lodge in the Anyone Can Farm Bunk House, Camp in the Camp Ground or stay at a local hotel.

These farmers can be a focus of government tactics to show support for the corporate cronies such as Monsanto.

Mr. Baker's farm came under attack in Michigan, but, he rallied his own self-will and was joined by the Michigan farm community including their local customers to fight back.

January 25, 2014
 
...There are effectively no feral swine in Michigan.(click here) Oddly though, the DNR issued a declaratory ruling effective back in April of 2012 that all feral pigs had to be destroyed. In their description of feral pigs, they included characteristics often found in domesticated pigs, like having a curly tail or a straight tail or having hair or not having hair…you get the idea. For a full list, please visit here or here. The DNR’s description of feral swine fits every pig in the US; probably the world.  Nowhere in this list of characteristics was there actually a requirement that the pigs be feral.  Feral, as in, living outside of fences....

The truth is there are about 300 feral hogs in Michigan, but, they are usually killed and reported to the state. The feral hogs in Michigan migrated from other states, there are no native feral breeds in Michigan. Frequently these farmers have breeds little known on corporate farms. The pigs and other livestock including laying hens are "Heritage Breeds."

There are well researched species of plants and animals known to be good producers, but, lend themselves to greater care and supervision. The fanciful breeds and plants attract consumers. When species grown are chosen for their quality rather than quantity consumers like the added quality not found with factory production. There is also a growing movement for humane treatment of farm animals used for production. These farmers are very much ahead of that curve.

There had to be help from the outside in the New York State prison break. I understand there was a chain and lock on the manhole cover. But, how did service workers get into the underground network?

There has to be an access point where workers can get into the underground tunnels in order to remove the manhole cover to carry out any work. There has to be a way in even if that entrance is a mile or more away.

When does the anti-trust lawsuits start?

The Agricultural community is really upset about the control Monsanto has over their operations and now this.
 
June 7, 2015
(Bloomberg) -- Monsanto Co. (click here) is prepared to pay a $2 billion break-up fee should its takeover bid for Syngenta AG fail as it seeks to accelerate a push to combine its leading franchise for genetically modified seeds with the world’s largest maker of agricultural chemicals.

The break-up fee would be payable if Monsanto is unable to obtain global regulatory approvals, Monsanto said in a statement.

Syngenta on May 8 rejected an unsolicited offer of 449 francs a share, with 45 percent in cash, saying it undervalued the company and that a merger would have significant risks.

--With assistance from Matthew Campbell and Andrew Noël in London and Ed Hammond in New York.

Keep doors and windows locked including the car. "Situational Awareness.

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

If the escapees haven't keep up with modern society, they won't understand things like facebook and iPhones. They'll turn up. Sooner or later, they'll turn up on someone's video somewhere, either intentional or by chance.


June 7, 2015
By Jessie McKinley and J. David Goodman

...“They’re basically untraceable,” (click here) said Joseph L. Giacalone, a retired New York City detective sergeant and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Indeed, in the early hours of the hunt, law enforcement officials were using road blocks and bloodhounds to try to find David Sweat and Richard W. Matt, both of whom were serving lengthy prison sentences for murder. On Sunday, hundreds of police and corrections officers were combing the wilderness and rural communities, going house to house in neighborhoods near the prison, a formidable redoubt high in the Adirondack Mountains, just 25 miles from the Canadian border.

Describing a wide net and a sprawling investigation, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that officials had received more than 150 tips from across the state, tantalizing investigators: The State Police, for instance, confirmed a connection of one of the fugitives to the Syracuse area, where Mr. Sweat may have lived. Points of entry in Canada had been alerted, though it was not clear, the police said, if the escaped killers had access to a vehicle....


The authorities on Sunday searched homes on Smith Street in Dannemora, N.Y., near Clinton Correctional Facility. A $100,000 reward is offered. Credit Nancie Battaglia for The New York Times 

...Key to the search, he said, will be figuring out whom the two men talked to by phone or in person while in prison. “Who are they married to?” he said. “Are there girlfriends? Who visited them, who did they speak to? It doesn’t have to be a recent contact. You just have to connect the dots.”...

Good Night, Moon

Waning Gibbous

20.5 days old

67.3 percent lit

At 45 degree north parallel the moon rises as midnight and sets at 10:18 AM





4 June 2015
By Jonathan Amos

Hubble has revealed (click here) fascinating new details about Pluto's four smaller moons.

At a distance of five billion km, the telescope only sees the satellites as faint pinpricks of light, and yet it has been able to discern information on their size, colour, and rotational and orbital characteristics.

Hubble finds the little objects to be somewhat chaotic in their behaviour.
They are very likely wobbling end over end as they move through their orbits.
"If you can imagine what it would be like to live on [these moons], you would literally not know where the Sun was coming up tomorrow," said Mark Showalter from the Seti Institute, US.

"The Sun might rise in the west and set in the east. The Sun might rise in the west and set in the north for that matter. 

"In fact, if you had real estate on the north pole… you might discover one day you’re on the south pole."...

Additional Pictures (click here)

Image of Pluto taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. When it was discovered in 1930 by an astronomer from the United States, Pluto was known as the smallest planet in the solar system and the ninth planet from the sun. Nowadays, it is referred to as a "dwarf planet." Like other planets, so-called dwarf planets orbit the sun but they are so small they are not able to clear other objects out of their paths.

The newest discoveries about Pluto add to the existing evidence testifying to what would be a very inhospitable environment for visiting explorers. 

Credit: Hubble/NASA