I love that man.

President Obama, you made me cry again.

The only thing I didn't like in that whole speech was the idea of new nuclear power plants in the United States and continuing to perpetuate the lie of so-called "clean coal." We are all aware (or should be) that western Europe is systematically closing all of their nuclear power plants as they replace them with green alternatives because they recognise that the risks of total disaster far outweigh the benefits when geothermal, hydroelectric, wind and solar generated power is so much safer, healthier (for people and the world), more abundant and will eventually be far cheaper than even nuclear power (you know, they have to do something with all that nuclear waste... it doesn't just disappear into the Great Void just because we'd like it to do that...). The "clean coal" lie I have addressed elsewhere and will not go into again, but really people have got to stop repeating this figment of the coal industry's PR people's imaginations. Continuously repeating the lie won't make it any more a reality than telling children about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy make those imaginary creatures real.

Oh, and the Republicans? Can stuff it.

Because I needed another reason to hate Smithfield Foods...

So now they're probably in some part responsible for the swine flu pandemic. Nice one, guys.

I actively boycott Smithfield Foods products and all subsidiaries (and Paula Deen too... She's their celebrity spokesperson)... not that I ever bought all that much pork in any of its various forms, but now I'm quite conscientious about it.

For those who are unaware of Smithfield's dubious reputation,, check out this Rolling Stone article (be aware, there are graphic images) about the atrocious way they operate their facilities inside the US where there's supposed to be regulations to stop this flagrant corporate irresponsibility. God only knows what they do in other countries where health, safety and environmental laws (not to mention, laws for the humane treatment of animals) are not even up to our standards (which are obviously too low if Smithfield gets away with these things).

Smithfield refutes many of the claims made in this article (interestingly not my favorite part with the quotes from the guy who started the company about just how much he laughs at the EPA investigators)... However, it is interesting to note that due to at least one of the health concerns detailed in the Rolling Stone article - water contamination - North Carolina had enacted a moratorium on hog "concentrated animal feeding operations" (CAFO's or "factory farms") in 1997, which was extended repeatedly until 2007 when it was allowed to expire... Not that the moratorium was particularly effective. South Carolina, Virginia and Quebec have also passed moratoriums limiting CAFOs and the methods employed at such facilities, and I know that Florida has laws detailing the amount of room a pregnant sow is supposed to be allotted (so they can't be kept in crates barely large enough for them to breath in, forget about moving, as they had been until the referendum was passed). I honestly don't know what's being done about curtailing dirty hog farming in those states right now, but I'd be willing to venture the answer is "not enough."

SOB!

God damn President Bush and his cronies to Hell for this, if such a place should exist... which I don't really believe it does, but I sincerely mean that for the love of all that's Holy. Something that makes them sorry for what they're doing needs to happen to them, and since Divine Retribution seems more likely than anything else, I must petition for that. Look at what he's doing now!!!! And what the EPA is letting him do!! Stupid useless tool of the Big Polluters that the EPA is... People who work at the EPA, who are in charge of rubber stamping this, you should be extremely ashamed of yourselves for your betrayal of your purpose, the American people, and your children. I'm sure you're not at all ashamed, but karma will remember you, I hope.

Why can't Bush just sit on his hands for his last weeks in office? Surely he knows how much the country and the world hate him and that something like this will not endear him to anyone except the coal companies??? But perhaps I've answered my own question and Bush has fat retirement plans to get to courtesy of some corrupt indulgence from the coal companies themselves, if he just makes sure that this gets through while he's the lamest duck to ever be lame, huh? Idiote! (Because I have to link to something that makes me laugh... This post is otherwise too infuriating.)

Coal River Mountain update

So Massey has gotten approval for one of their permits. Just one... It's for about 195 acres of the 6600 that they want to destroy. Still, it is one too many, if you ask me.

And the CEO is crazy. Like... I worry about him if this is his world view crazy... He invented a new word in his tirade too. Check out the article and then go send a letter to the Governor of West Virginia to help stop Massey from destroying Coal River Mountain, k? Gov. Manchin is the only person who can really stop what they're doing, so let's put the pressure on, yeah?

Go make yourself heard...

Because he's awesome, President-Elect Obama has set up a website where we can all send his people our ideas about what needs to be done in this country.

Change.gov

Check it out!

Some talking points I thought important to bring up:

• Energy independence, but in a green way. No more mountain-top removal coal mining. No more lies about "clean" coal. No new nuclear power plants. Wind, solar, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal - FTW!



• Agriculture - NO NAIS! Support for family farms, organic farms, local agriculture projects, education, etc. Down with factory farming!



• Reducing the amount of energy Americans currently consume. More efficient cars. More solar panels on residential, public and business buildings. Clotheslines available for everyone to use, YAY!

Yay! and other things...

I got the coat I wanted! I'm so happy about that because I really kinda love it. Now, I just have to wait until it gets cold enough to wear it or for Christmas to come because it should be cold enough in Virginia. We're going to the cabin for the holidays... the only reason I won't go is if I still haven't gotten the subbing job. My mom thinks I should go anyway, and she might convince me yet, but my neighbors are going to Spain for Christmas and they have asked me to pet-sit their dogs. It would mean more than $300 if I do, which is a lot of money, you know... That would more than pay for all the presents I'm making with a generous bit left over... so we'll see. I probably will end up going to Virginia despite this temptation, just because I know my mom has got some valid points.

• I'll eventually get a job and make money.


• I don't need the money, I just want it.


• I can't buy holiday memories with my family.


• What's the use of staying home to offset the cost of the gifts I'm making/buying, when everyone would rather have me there in person than a gift.

A lot of valid points... So... yeah... And I'm sure my friend Maria, who will be pet-sitting for us, and is also moving to DC in January to attend grad school at American University, would appreciate the extra $300 that she won't have to borrow for the semester if my neighbor would want to hire her if I'm not here, since she'll be living at our house while we're gone anyway.

I also got the roving ordered that I need for the rest of the Holiday gifts I'm spinning/knitting... It should be here Wednesday at the latest. I can't wait! I got some Falkland, which I've been wanting to try for the longest time. I've heard different things about it. Some say that it's like Merino, and others say it's more like Corriedale, so I'm eager to find out for myself. In any event, it should be very soft. And I also got some Shetland in two different colors. I love Shetland! OMG! I think I want Shetland sheep at some point... They're just so beautiful, cute and lovely, and their wool is dreamy... They'd be good sheep to have, I think... And for myself, because I want to make myself a hat to match my beloved pashmina scarf, I got some European Merino in Sky Blue. From Ashland Bay. I'm wishy-washy on Ashland Bay. I think their Corriedale is seriously inferior, useless stuff. Easy to spin maybe, but not for anything I'd want to make with it. It's too coarse! Who wants coarse Corriedale? It defeats the purpose... Ashland Bay's Corriedale, imo, really isn't a good example of the breed's fiber. I've gotten absolutely heavenly soft, comfortable Corriedale from other suppliers and especially from individual farms, stuff that's closer to Shetland (but not quite as fine as Shetland), so I don't know what's wrong with their stuff. But we'll see how their Merino is. I have hope. The color is certainly very pretty on my computer screen.

A note on Merino... I've never been overly fond of it because despite it's softness, it can be a little tricky to spin. I find it kinda... sticky... generally... But I recently heard from a vegan PETA person at a knitting gathering that the Merino industry is rather evil. Not an unusual thing to hear from a vegan PETA person, since it seems everytime I hear anything from anyone that extreme it's with the attitude that anyone who doesn't treat animals like they would another human being or better is cruel and immoral... So I didn't really take her at her word. The things she was telling me made no sense as far as what I knew of raising sheep for wool. Mistreating sheep damages the wool and the value of the fiber on the market, and therefore the bottom line, so even the most callous industrialist - I would think - would want happy, healthy sheep that are well taken care of if sheep fiber were their business... I would think... So I did some research because what she was telling me was just so disturbing. She, of course, made it sound like all Merino sheep are mistreated, and I told her that I found that very hard to believe, and that most of the roving I get is from a small farm in NC (which is true, most of what I spin comes from Spinners' Ridge and Gate City Yarns - formally Yarns, Etc. in Greensboro). I told her that it's very easy to find wool produced under ethical, caring, healthy conditions, that all one has to do is talk to their suppliers. She didn't seem to believe me and prefers to stick with acrylic... because the petroleum that acrylic is made from doesn't hurt animals, you can see the logic there... :/ Oh, well... Even so, here's the 411 on Merino mistreatment... European and New Zealand Merinos are protected by law from the mistreatment they are subjected to in Australia - some barbaric practice called "mulesing" (I think I spelled that right), which I won't describe because it's just too disgusting. It's illegal in almost every country that produces quality Merino, but not in Australia. There it is widely employed to control parasites. Seems to me there must be better ways to go about that. So I'm inquiring where the Merino I buy is produced and boycotting Australian produced Merino, until the country outlaws the practice. I don't want fiber with that much blood and pain attached... just, no...

Anysoldier.com

Passing this along, especially now that it's nearing the "Holiday Season"...

If you'd like to send care-packages to our troops stationed overseas, but you don't know anyone over there and don't know what or where to send things, check out this website. There are tons of requests from our troops, and everything they get is much appreciated. You can narrow the search, if you'd like by choosing soldiers from your home state, soldiers who are stationed in a particular country, or soldiers serving in a particular branch of the military. There are a few more sorting options as well...

I have no idea what I'll send. There's so much that they need! I don't know where to start... Should probably just pick someone at random and see what I can do for them.

Coal is NEVER Clean...

This is yet another of my PSA posts...



Seriously... Even if coal could be burned in a way that is "clean," mining it and processing it are EXTREMELY dirty. Coal mining pollutes the immediate environment around the mining operation, causing asthma, cancer and other serious health problems in humans, as well as water sources, which carry the pollutants - including many which cause cancer and kill entire freshwater ecosystems - downstream where people are directly exposed without knowing that it's happening. Coal companies are not required to notify people who live downstream that the pollutants could kill them and their children or even that the pollutants are being released into their water. Coal companies are not required to clean-up their own mess. They profit (just like some bankers you might have heard about recently) and taxpayers pay for the clean-up, if any clean-up happens at all. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL!!!

Promote and support wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal energy! Go here or here or here to learn just a few of the ways you can help.

Pass it on...

Food for thought...

If every American used a clothesline to dry their laundry instead of an electric dryer, we would collectively offset the amount of energy produced by NINE large power plants. ~ Source Project Laundry List

8% - 10% of the average American household's electric bill every month goes to running their dryer. ~ Source Project Laundry List

So do your part if you don't already and start line drying whenever possible instead of using the an electric dryer. It will save you money and save us all a lot of energy.

Clothes lines are easy to install and are inexpensive. Even the most elaborate will pay for itself in electric bill savings within a few months. Indoor drying racks can run anywhere from $10 to $100 depending on the size, what kind of wood it's made from, where it was made (look for "Made in the USA"!) and how sturdy it is. Some look like finished furniture and/or can be hung on a wall of a laundry room, providing shelf space as well as drying space. Most fold away for easy storage in a corner, closet or under the bed.

Clothes lines and indoor air drying racks can be bought at Walmart, most hardware stores, and online from places like Gaiam and Lehman's.

Existing fences and dense shrubbery (like boxwoods!) can also be used as auxillery drying space.

Clothes pins available for retail purchase in the United States are exclusively manufactured in China now. The last of those made in the US were sold last year. However, unused, second-hand and vintage clothes pins can be bought on ebay at inexpensive prices. (Seriously, you'd be surprised...)

I'm sad to say that of the 16 houses on our street, only 4 have clothes lines, including ours. However, two of those clothes lines - including ours - were put up in the past year directly due to the work of Project Laundry List. I love my clothes line.

If you live in an apartment or dormatory and you don't have outdoor drying space, but you want it, petition your landlord or campus authorities to allow for outdoor drying space on the basis that it saves both money and energy. If clothes lines are prohibited in your town/neighborhood, see Project Laundry List for tips about how to secure your right to dry.

The WhoFarm

Has nothing at all to do with Dr. Seuss, as much as we love him and his Whos...

Some very thoughtful fellow citizens have come up with a fantastic idea. They want to petition the next president of the United States to have an organic community garden installed on the White House grounds (which are extensive and could support quite a large garden with plenty of lawn left over, you know...). The food grown there would provide fresh produce for the President's table, as well as for State Dinners, with all the rest being delivered to DC area schools to be used for student lunches. They call it the White House Organic Farm or WhoFarm for short. They're looking for signatures to add to the online petition. If you're interested in encouraging such a thing, click.

I'd also love it if the next President would have clothes lines installed for drying laundry instead of using electric dryers. It would save a lot of energy and set an excellent example for the rest of the country. Using a dryer makes up 8 - 10% of the average family's monthly electric bill. Sunshine and fresh air are free, so if one has it, one should probably think about using it. Especially when energy is getting more and more expensive and the economy is in the ridiculous condition it currently finds itself.

Press Release

Got this press release this morning from the Liberty Ark Coalition:


Legal Defense Fund Moves to Stop Animal ID Program;
Files Intent to Sue Letter with USDA and Michigan Department of Agriculture


Falls Church, Virginia, (May 15, 2008) -- Attorneys for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund today sent a Notice of Intent to Sue letter to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) over implementation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a plan to electronically track every livestock animal in the country.

The Notice asks the USDA and MDA to "immediately suspend the funding and implementation of NAIS," and "fully and fairly examine" whether there is even a need for such a program.

Taaron Meikle, Fund president, said that contrary to USDA's claim, NAIS will do nothing to protect the health of livestock and poultry. "At a time when food safety and costs are a concern, the USDA has spent over $118 million to promote a program that will burden everyone from pleasure horse owners to ranchers and small farmers to individuals who raise a few chickens or steers on their own land for their own use."

Once fully implemented, the NAIS program would require every person who owns even one livestock or poultry animal (a single chicken or a pet pony) to register their property with the state and federal government, to tag each animal, and to report "events" to a database within 24 hours. Reportable events would include such things as a private sale, a state fair, or a horse show.

The Notice charges that USDA has never published rules regarding NAIS, in violation of the Federal Administrative Procedures Act; has never performed an Environmental Impact Statement or an Environmental Assessment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act; is in violation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act that requires them to analyze proposed rules for their impact on small entities and local governments; and violates religious freedoms guaranteed by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

"We also think there are constitutional issues at stake here," Meikle noted. "The requirement to use electronic ear tags or RFID chips violates the religious beliefs of some farmers, such as the Amish, and provisions in a memorandum of understanding between the USDA and the MDA could violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution by requiring the state to stop and inspect vehicles carrying livestock without a warrant or probable cause."

The MDA has implemented the first two stages of NAIS -property registration and animal identification - for all cattle and farmers across the state as part of its mandatory bovine tuberculosis disease control program, which is mandated by a grant from the USDA.

"While touted as a disease control program, the NAIS will drive many small farmers out of business" Meikle noted, "and burden every person who owns even one horse, chicken, cow, goat, sheep, pig, llama, alpaca, or other livestock animal with expensive and intrusive government regulations."

Joe Golimbieski, a farmer from Standish, Michigan and Fund member, explains: "The cost of the tags is just the start. We're at the mercy of whatever price the stockyards charge to do the tagging. And our farm doesn't have extra employees to deal with paperwork. NAIS is likely to put us out of business."

Gary Cox, General Counsel for the Fund, states that "USDA and MDA have exceeded their authority and they have completely failed to follow the proper procedures. We are calling on the agencies to immediately halt implementation of the program or face appropriate action."

About The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund: The Fund's mission is to defend the freedoms and to broaden the rights of sustainable farmers and their consumers to produce and consume local, nutrient-dense foods. Concerned citizens can support the Fund by joining at www.farmtoconsumer.org or by contacting the Fund at 703-208-FARM. The Fund's sister organization, the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation (www.farmtoconsumerfoundation.org), works to support farmers engaged in sustainable farm stewardship and promote consumer access to local, nutrient-dense food.

Editor's Note: The Notice of Intent to Sue the (USDA) and (MDA) is available at www.farmtoconsumer.org

###

Contacts:

Taaron G. Meikle
President, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund and Farm-to-Consumer Foundation
703-537-8372
tgmeikle@aol.com

Brian Cummings
Cummings & Company LLC
214-295-7463
brian@cummingspr.com

Happy Earth Day, everyone!!

I didn't do a thing for it today today, other than tend the garden. But my mom is a science teacher, so she had a great ecological curriculum for today. She taught about the benefits of recycling, hanging laundry to dry outside rather than using a dryer, using reusable bags for groceries rather than paper or plastic, and how solar power works. She said the kids really seemed into it, and she was surprised by the number of kids who said their parents use the reusable bags and hang their laundry out.

Also all the public and charter schools in our county planted at least 38 trees given to them by the forestry service in honor of the 38th Earth Day. Nearly 6,000 trees (FTW! \o/) were planted between 11am - 12pm all over the county by kids and their teachers. Makes me all kinds of happy! The Guinness Book of World Records people were here to monitor the event, and the school system here now holds the record for most trees planted in a day and in a single hour. I hope this becomes a tradition and when they run out of space to plant trees at the schools, they can plant them elsewhere - places where there are erosion problems, etc. - and maybe things other than trees, like mangroves, sea grapes, and sea grasses along the bay and coast to help rebuild the estuaries in Tampa Bay and prevent erosion on the barrier islands, and go on field trips to study various ecosystems and maybe do clean-up projects. That would be cool...

Woah! We totally heard that, crazylady!

Check this out... This woman is an elected official in Oklahoma, and she thought only 50 people would ever hear what she was saying... I'd say her agenda is the most dangerous and distructive, ladies and gents. Hate destroys lives.

Project Laundry List and National Hanging Out Day

Project Laundry List is trying to get just 1 million people in the US to sign a pledge to hang out laundry 80% of the time by April 19, 2008 (National Haning Out Day). You can go here to print out a copy of the pledge form and send it in.