Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

The cost of being humanitarian?

May 17, 2008

Interesting how one of the top issues that confront the people of America has been swept under the table by all three presidential candidates. National sovereignty just is not on the table. Not a one of them thinks that there is anything wrong at all with being over run by people that take advantage of our generosity while breaking our laws. That innate kindness toward the downtrodden could very well be the catalyst that leads to an actual civil war here in these United States. Not all that surprisingly, Americans of Mexican decent that I grew up with are among the most outspoken of our brethren on the subject. One, a green eyed red haired Latina has been quite specific: “My father was a Marine, my brothers have all been Marines, Camp Pendleton is built on what was our family ranch since before California was a state. Now these people are coming here and destroying our way of life. They commit crimes against us, and then run back across the border where nothing is done to them. Tell you what? Out here in Fallbrook, we are gunning up, and pretty soon, we are just going to start shooting. Enough is enough.” *note; Her families land was the part of Camp Pendleton near Temecula, and what is the Navel Weapons Station.

Illegal immigration is still a serious problem whether the major candidates recognize it or not. Racist separatist groups such as La Raza are intent on overthrowing the United States, at least the western portion, and even into the southern regions of Canada in some places. How will they do it? As much as many would love for them to try a direct assault, which would doom them to oblivion, they will, and are using fifth column methodology’s, including using our strength (kindness) against ourselves. One method? Read below…

Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas is a fairly
famous institution and for a variety of reasons:

1. John F. Kennedy died there in
1963.
2. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly
after.
3. Jack Ruby-who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, died there a few
years later..by coincidence.

‘On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second
busiest maternity ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies arriving
each year. (That’s almost 44 per day—every day)

A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave
birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were illegal
immigrants. That’s 11,200 anchor babies
born every year just in Dallas .

According to the article, the hospital spent $70.7
million delivering 15,938 babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8
million dollars in surplus funding. Medicaid kicked in $34.5 million, Dallas
County taxpayers kicked in $31.3 million and the feds tossed in another $9.5
million.

The average patient in Parkland in maternity wards is
25 years old, married and giving birth to her second
child.

She is also an illegal
immigrant.

By law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care
based on their immigration status or ability to pay. OK, fine. That
doesn’t mean they should receive better care than everyday, middle-class
American citizens. But at Parkland Hospital , they do. ‘ Parkland Memorial
Hospital has nine prenatal clinics’.

That’s right !!!!
NINE.

The Dallas Morning News article followed a Hispanic woman who was a
patient at one of the clinics and pregnant with her third child—her previous
two were also born at Parkland . Her first two deliveries were free and the
Mexican native was grateful because it would have cost
$200 to have them in Mexico
This time, the hospital wants her to pay $10 per visit and $100 for the
delivery but she was unsure if she could come up with the money. Not that it
matters, the hospital won’t turn her away. (I wonder why they even bother asking
at this point.)

‘How long has this been going on? What are the long-term
affects?
Well, another subject of the article was born at
Parkland in 1986 shortly after her mother entered the US illegally – now she is
having her own child there as well. (That’s right, she’s technically a US
citizen.)

These women receive free prenatal care including
medication, nutrition, birthing classes and child care classes. They also get
freebies such as car seats, bottles, diapers and
formula.

Most of these things are available to American
citizens as well but only for low-income applicants and even then, the red tape
involved is almost insurmountable.

Because these women are illegal immigrants, they do
not have to provide any sort of legitimate identification – no proof of income.
An American citizen would have to provide a social security number which would
reveal their annual income – an illegal immigrant need only claim to be poor and
the hospital must take them at their word.

Parkland Hospital offers indigent care to Dallas County residents who earn less
than $40,000 per year. (They also have to prove that they did not refuse health
coverage at their current job. Yeah, the ‘free’ care is not so easy for
Americans.)

There are about 140 patients who received roughly $4 million dollars for
un-reimbursed medical care. As it turns out, they did not qualify for free
treatment because they resided outside of Dallas County so the hospital
is going to sue them! Illegals get it all free! But U. S citizens who live outside of Dallas County get sued! How
stupid
is this?

As if that isn’t annoying enough,
the illegal immigrant patients are actually complaining about hospital staff
not speaking Spanish . In this AP story, the author speaks with a
woman who is upset that she had to translate comments from the hospital staff
into Spanish for her husband. The doctor was trying to explain the situation to
the family and the mother was forced to translate for her husband who only spoke
Spanish. This was apparently a great injustice to
her.

In an attempt to create a Spanish-speaking staff,
Parkland Hospital is now providing incentives in the form of extra pay for
applicants who speak Spanish. Additionally, medical students at the University
of Texas Southwestern for which Parkland Hospital is the training facility will
now have a Spanish language requirement added to their already jammed-packed
curriculum. No other school in the country boasts such a ridiculous
multi-semester (multicultural) requirement.

( Sorry for the length, but this needs wide circulation
particularly to our’employees’ in Congress.)

Remember that this is only ONE
hospital in Dallas , Texas There are many more hospitals across our
country that also have to deal with this.

If
you want to verify accuracy:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/parkland.asp

Faux Science and Polar bears

May 16, 2008

In the Executive Branch: The Department of the Interior decided this week to list the polar bear as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, despite the fact that the number of polar bears has doubled in the last 40 years. Furthermore, the animal is already protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said, “Although the population of bears has grown from a low of about 12,000 in the late 1960s to approximately 25,000 today, our scientists advise me that computer modeling projects a significant population decline by the year 2050. This, in my judgment, makes the polar bear a threatened species—one likely to become in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future.” Are those the same “computer models” Al Gore used to predict that sea levels will rise 20 feet in the near future?

The Bush administration is capitulating completely to environmentalists with this listing, which will likely have no effect on polar bears but could have a very detrimental effect on our economy. For example, Persuading Congress to authorize drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has been difficult enough without adding a false alarm about polar bears to existing roadblocks. Besides, global warming may or may not be happening, and the same may be true of a decline in the population of polar bears, but $200 a barrel for oil may be the price we pay for rash decisions. Meanwhile, look for the Australian jellyfish to be the Gulf of Mexico’s “endangered” animal to stop drilling there too.

source: Patriot Post

Roll over and kiss the behind of those that are politically yet correct again. There are more Polar Bears than at any time in recorded history, the polar caps are in reality expanding, and the earth is cooling not warming.

Anglers’ Roundtable’s

May 16, 2008

Several round tables for anglers are being held soon. You should attend one if these issues are important to you. Between Zebra Mussels and exotic species there are several issues that probably need addressing, as well as commentary from the public at large. For instance; The DOW is pushing for only native fish being in the mountain areas, or at least it would appear that way. Why not put Golden Trout in the high country where Cutthroat species cannot live? Or Brown trout where they survive best? What next? Will this “purity” drive mean the end of Brookie’s? Jeesh…

This will be a combination post

ANGLERS’ ROUNDTABLE SCHEDULED FOR GUNNISON

Gunnison area anglers are invited to attend a Colorado Division of Wildlife Angler’s Roundtable, 7 p.m., May 21, in the multi-purpose room at the Fred R. Fields Western Heritage Center in Gunnison.

Dan Brauch, aquatic biologist for the DOW in Gunnison, will talk about a variety of issues, including stocking plans, river and reservoir levels and a fishing forecast. He’ll also discuss new concerns about zebra and quaga mussels and other aquatic nuisance species at Blue Mesa Reservoir and throughout Colorado.

The public is invited to ask questions and discuss any issues related to fishing or aquatic issues.

ANGLER’S ROUNDTABLE SET FOR DURANGO AREA

Anglers in the Durango and Four Corners area are invited to a Colorado Division of Wildlife Angler’s Roundtable, 6:30-8 p.m., May 19, at the Durango Recreation Center, Windom Room, 2700 Main Ave., in Durango.

Jim White, aquatic biologist for the DOW in the San Juan Basin will discuss a variety of topics, including: Hermosa Creek cutthroat trout reintroduction project; stocking plans for area waters, water levels in area reservoirs and rivers, and the southwest Colorado fishing forecast. White will also address new concerns about zebra and quagga mussels in Colorado. A video about the invasive mussel issue will be shown.

The public is also invited to discuss any concern regarding fishing issues and aquatic conservation at the meeting.

ANGLERS’ ROUNDTABLE SET FOR MONTROSE

Anglers in the Montrose, Delta and Telluride areas are invited to attend a Colorado Division of Wildlife Anglers’ Roundtable, 6-8 p.m., May 22, at the Holiday Inn Express, 1391 S. Townsend Ave. in Montrose.

Dan Kowalski, aquatic biologist for the DOW in Montrose will talk about a variety of issues, including: fish management in the lower Gunnison, Uncompahgre and San Miguel river basins; the local fishing forecast and stocking plans; and aquatic nuisance species, including new concerns over zebra mussels in Colorado.

The public is invited to ask questions and discuss any issues related to fishing or aquatic issues.

ANGLERS’ ROUNDTABLE SET FOR SAN LUIS VALLEY

Anglers in the San Luis Valley are invited to a Colorado Division of Wildlife Angler’s Roundtable, 7-9 p.m., May 20 at the Inn of the Rio Grande, 333 Santa Fe Ave. U.S. Highway 160 in Alamosa.

John Alves, aquatic biologist for the DOW in the San Luis Valley will discuss a variety of topics, including: new concerns about zebra mussels, water levels in area reservoirs and rivers, and the fishing forecast for the area.

The public is also invited to discuss any concern regarding fishing issues at the meeting.

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

Spring Youth Turkey Hunt

May 16, 2008

While I cannot really say that I absolutely endorse the youth hunting program, this is one excellent example of how it can be applied, and be used as a tool for young people to learn that there are better things in life than being a mall rat, doing drugs, or just hanging out. Please note that this area is not all that far from a ranch that at one time I was closely associated with. I can all but guarantee you that there were no Wild Turkeys there.

MEEKER LANDOWNER AND DOW TEAM UP FOR SPRING YOUTH TURKEY HUNT


The Colorado Division of Wildlife and a Meeker-area ranch recently hosted a very special youth only turkey hunt. The once-in-a-lifetime private land hunt, held in mid-April at the Seven Lakes Ranch east of Meeker, was coordinated by local DOW personnel and volunteers from the ranch.

Many young people applied but only three were selected for this year’s opportunity. Applicants for the hunt were required to write an essay about hunting traditions and why they wanted to participate. The youth that were selected to participate in the 2008 spring turkey hunt were Alex Smith, 13, from Meeker, Tristan Spainhower, 9, from Parker, and Joseph Newman, 11, from Meeker.

Seven Lakes Ranch owner, Greg Norman, and ranch staff including Judy Byrd and Tony Decker were very supportive of the DOW youth hunting program and should be commended for their generosity and efforts which made this youth hunting event possible. Seven Lakes Ranch offers prime wildlife habitat in the White River Valley for a tremendous diversity of species, including wild turkey and big game.

Youth participants were required to go through a half-day hunter orientation prior to participating in the turkey hunt. The kids learn that hunting isn’t just about shooting an animal. The youth hunters and their parents were given presentations by DOW officers on wild turkey biology, game management, hunter safety and ethics, state laws, and turkey hunting and calling techniques. Youth participants received free gifts from the DOW and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), including turkey calls, camouflage clothing, an annual membership to NWTF, and wildlife guides and literature. After the classroom part of the orientation, the youth hunters were taken to the Meeker Sportsmans Club shooting range where they received hands-on training from DOW officers. The three young men were reminded of firearm and hunter safety principals and also instructed on marksmanship and shot placement. A live fire session reinforced the skills. DOW supplied the .20-gauge youth-model shotguns, ammunition, and necessary turkey hunting equipment for each youth that participated in the hunt.

Following the range time, the youth hunters and their mentors were taken into the field on the evening prior to the hunt where they were shown turkey scouting techniques including the use of calls to locate “gobblers” and how to identify turkey sign in the field (tracks, scat, feathers, etc.). During the pre-hunt scouting trip several turkeys were seen and heard gobbling along the White River. Even though the weather was snowy and cold the next morning, seeing the turkeys really got everyone excited for the upcoming hunt.

During each day of the two-day turkey hunt, each youth hunter and their parent/mentor were assigned to a DOW officer who guided them on Seven Lakes Ranch property. After the morning hunt, the DOW provided a lunch at Bel-Aire State Wildlife Area where everyone warmed up and prepared for the afternoon hunt. All of the youth hunters had the opportunity to see and hear wild turkeys and many other types of wildlife while hunting on this beautiful parcel of property along the upper White River valley. Two out of three of the youth who participated were fortunate enough to harvest a wild turkey on the hunt. After turkeys were harvested in the field, DOW officers showed the youth hunters how to properly field dress and care for the turkey. DOW provided the successful hunters with a plaque for mounting of the tail fans so that the youth could proudly display their turkey for years to come.

“It is safe to say that all of the kids learned a great deal, had the opportunity to see lots of wildlife, and all left knowing that a successful hunt isn’t always about whether you fill your tag or not”, said Bailey Franklin, DOW District Wildlife Manager who coordinated the event. “All three of the young hunters experienced ‘gobbler fever’ when they heard and saw the male turkeys strutting towards them during the hunt. It was great to see them get so much enjoyment from this opportunity. It’s an experience and memory that will last a lifetime.”

One goal of the DOW youth hunting program is to encourage youth and their families to spend more time outdoors hunting and fishing. Statistics from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Census Bureau indicate that the number of hunters and fishermen is on the decline national. It’s estimated that sportsmen numbers have declined an average of four percent each year since 1990. Surveys indicate factors such as a lack of places to hunt and fish, lack of mentors and busy lifestyles all contribute to the slow decline of our outdoor heritage. A strong partnership between dedicated landowners, DOW and conservation organizations like the NWTF has provided a new vision for future hunters and fishermen of Colorado.  DOW is committed to continuing to work with landowners to provide access to private lands, train Huntmasters and volunteers to teach, coach and mentor young hunters.

Unit 23, near Meeker, is a limited unit for wild turkey hunting and the population has grown considerably, especially on private lands along the White River. Wild turkeys were first transplanted to the area by DOW in 1994. A total of 24 wild turkeys were initially transplanted near Miller Creek that spring. Today, DOW estimates that there are approximately 150-200 wild turkeys in the upper White River Valley. While the introduction was successful, the turkey habitat is marginal due to the severe winter weather.

Through the DOW Hunter Outreach Program, youth under the age of 18 may submit applications for the opportunity to participate in a spring youth turkey hunt on private lands in Colorado. To increase youth participation, the Colorado Wildlife Commission in 2007 authorized the DOW to issue up to 50 turkey licenses statewide each year for youth turkey hunts. Using those and other licenses, the DOW Hunter Outreach Programs seeks to expose young hunters to quality experiences that will give them basic skills and a positive experience in the field. The goal of bringing the tradition of hunting to young people cannot be accomplished without the help of private landowners, such as Seven Lakes Ranch.

If you are a landowner interested in sponsoring a youth hunting event (big game, small game, turkey, etc.) or if you are a volunteer who would like to help with a youth hunting event, please contact your local DOW office or the Hunter Outreach Program at (303) 291-7248.

###

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is the state agency responsible for managing wildlife and its habitat, as well as providing wildlife related recreation. The Division is funded through hunting and fishing license fees, federal grants and Colorado Lottery proceeds through Great Outdoors Colorado.

Editor’s note: photos from the hunt are available to media outlets through the DOW Image Database by clicking on the links below:

Youth Hunter Tristan Spainhower from Parker, Colorado packs out his turkey.

Youth Hunter Tristan Spainhower from Parker, Colorado poses with his father Brian and Tristan’s turkey.

Youth Hunter Alex Smith of Meeker, Colorado poses with his turkey and his hunting guides DOW District Wildlife Manager Jon Wangnild and terrestrial biologist Darby Finley.

Youth Hunter Alex Smith of Meeker, Colorado poses with his turkey

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

Appeasement by any other name.

May 15, 2008

Every time that President seems to grow a pair of brass balls he does a turnaround. One of the major concerns of the American people is Barak Obama’s willingness to appease those that simply want our collective heads on a stick. Figure it out Mister President, your “legacy” is going to be one likened to that of Jimmy Carter. A wimp administration. Not to mention that you have broken your bond with we, the people, by negotiating with a terrorist nation, thereby violating the pledge that you made after the attacks of September eleventh, namely, Iran. The state sponsor of Hezbollah. Remember them? If not then perhaps you should refresh your memory about them. Those are the very people that Obama wants to parlay with, and that, would be a disaster that will be felt worldwide.

So, what brings all this on?

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24647048

updated 26 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused President Bush on Thursday of launching a “false political attack” with a comment about appeasing terrorists and radicals.

The Illinois senator interpreted the remark as a slam against him but the White House denied that Bush’s words were in any way directed at Obama, who has said as president he would be willing to personally meet with Iran’s leaders and those of other regimes the United States has deemed rogue.

In a speech to Israel’s Knesset, Bush said: “Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.

“We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Obama responded with a statement, seizing on Bush’s remarks even as it was unclear to whom the president was referring.

“It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence to launch a false political attack,” Obama said in the statement his aides distributed. “George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president’s extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.”

The White House said Bush’s comment wasn’t a reference to Obama.  ~snip~

Grow some balls Mister President, brass ones preferably.

Fly Fishing, it is an addiction indeed

May 10, 2008

I first began fly fishing some thirty one years ago. Admittedly at first, it was a challenge. I read book after book, and watched VCR film after VCR film. As soon as the Rocky Mountain News came out on the days that the Outdoors column was published, I was glued to the article, and just had to have whatever supper slam dunk fly that Bill Logan wrote about that week.
After all was said and done though. I ended up catching various sunfish from the local ponds as I perfected my madness, if not methodology. Casting on a stream was, well, things just didn’t work very well.
What was wrong? I have come to learn that the problem was one familiar to most people at some time or other. I was all gung ho! I had no patience. I beat the water to a pulp.

Fly fishing is, to me, a form of hunting. Think you can bag a bull Elk stomping all over the place? Not very likely. Or a Whitetail Buck while thrashing all over? Again, not likely. In fly fishing, you need to keep the sun in your face, least you cast shadows before you that spook the fish. It is akin to keeping the wind in your face while stalking a Mule Deer, or most other animals that are hunted.

I learned to settle down one day while casting to trout in Boulder Creek, in the oxbow ares about two miles west of the city of Boulder, Colorado. The fly I used was very much like the one pictured above, it is a gray bodied Elk Hair caddis pattern. I fell into a rhythm, and so did the fish. That day was a true lesson in catch and return fishing. Some people that were watching me while they picnicked along side the river said that they counted more than thirty fish that I returned unharmed to the water.

Since then, Sedge flies have been a favorite of mine for surface fishing, along with Adams patterns. If, however, you come to Colorado to catch fish, plan on fishing nymphs. Top water hits are the icing on the cake. Think about it though. Just how much of the cake is frosting? How much is below?

If you should happen to get bitten by the fly fishing bug, do not despair, just get another fly rod…

Trojan Horses and Politics

May 10, 2008

Sometimes while looking around the Internet you find work that truly expresses what someone, or a lot of people know to be the truth, but were afraid, or not quite exasperated enough to actually post publicly about. Enjoy…

By Lee Duigon
May 7, 2008Do you think the Trojan horse trick would have worked if the Greeks had only built a framework of a horse, with some scaffolds in it? Would the Trojans have been fooled if they could have seen the enemy soldiers, in full armor, sitting inside the wooden skeleton?

Of course not. The Trojans may have lost the war, but they weren’t flaming stupid.

But the American people, in this year’s presidential election, are expected to haul a see-through Trojan horse into the White House. There are three Trojan horses out there: three candidates whose estimation of the voters’ intelligence is so low, they’ve hardly bothered to disguise themselves. Or maybe they’re as stupid, all three of them, as they think we are.

Consider Hillary Clinton, one of the worst politicians we have ever seen. Somehow she got away with putting on a one-woman minstrel show in front of an African-American audience: “Ah don’ feel bah no means taahred” must be the historic nadir of campaign speechifying. Now she panders to the working class, yapping about her experiences on “the night shift”—the only night shift she was ever on was in the Clinton war room, squelching bimbo eruptions—knocking back boilermakers, and pretending to chew tobacco. Obviously she has a mental image of Mrs. Ordinary America as some kind of Mammy Yokum type, clumping around in oversized boots with a corncob pipe clenched between what’s left of her teeth.

Hillary’s rival, Barack Obama, surely shares that vision. He’s the one who thinks you’re all out there “bitterly clinging” to your guns and your religion because Uncle Sam neglected to tuck you in and tell you a bedtime story.

Obama has another see-through Trojan horse. Sitting inside it with him are such frothing-at-the-mouth leftists as the Rev. Jeremiah “God d*** America” Wright and former Weathermen terrorists Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernadette Dohrn, whose likeness was last seen gracing an FBI poster in our local post office. They expect the besotted voters to drag this horse into the White House. Then they can all climb out and bedevil America with slavery reparations, sodomite “marriage,” appeasement of Islamic suicide bombers, and more new taxes than you ever dreamed existed.

The third candidate who presumes on your stupidity is the GOP’s see-through Trojan horse, John McCain. One would think, with the torrent of hate, hysteria, and hee-haws flowing out of the Democrats’ campaigns, that all McCain has to do to win is to press a strip of duct tape over his mouth and not take it off until the morning after Election Day. But asking a senator not to blurt out tomfooleries is like asking Old Faithful not to erupt.

Who’s sitting with McCain in his see-through Trojan horse? An army of twenty or thirty million illegal aliens! Be prepared, America, to melt down those Capitol Hill switchboards several times a year, if he gets in.

It’s funny, isn’t it? If you’re a pacifist appeasement monkey and “world citizen,” you’ve got a presidential candidate. If you’re an abortionist, or just a fan of abortion, you’ve got two presidential candidates. If you’re a gay activist, you’ve got two and a half. If you’re a tree-hugging, global warming Kool-aid drinker, or an illegal alien who thinks a couple dozen American states ought to be given back to Mexico, you have three candidates. If you’re any kind of far-out fringie, you’ve got at least one horse in this race.

But if you’re just an everyday, workaday, decent conservative American, of whom there are more than any other kind of voter, you don’t have a presidential candidate.

All you’ve got is a choice among three senators who don’t think you’re smart enough to see through a see-through Trojan horse.

 

SOURCE:  http://amcon.proboards99.com/index.cgi?board=basic&action=display&thread=440

Rogue Agency plagues the good guys…

May 9, 2008

A rogue agency, whose very mission was to interfere with the rights of American citizens was, during the Clinton Days given a legitimate mission, later was merged with the good guys. You know, the F.B.I. Well, it appears that they still find it impossible to play well with others. From the folks that brought you Ruby Ridge and the holocaust at Waco we have them acting like cocaine gang bangers involved in a turf war.

Here’s what I think. Get rid of everyone of them, and turn over any duties that they are rightfully performing to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24549241

In the five years since the FBI and ATF were merged under the Justice Department to coordinate the fight against terrorism, the rival law enforcement agencies have fought each other for control, wasting time and money and causing duplication of effort, according to law enforcement sources and internal documents.

Their new boss, the attorney general, ordered them to merge their national bomb databases, but the FBI has refused. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has long trained bomb-sniffing dogs; the FBI started a competing program.

At crime scenes, FBI and ATF agents have threatened to arrest one another and battled over jurisdiction and key evidence. The ATF inadvertently bought counterfeit cigarettes from the FBI — the government selling to the government — because the agencies are running parallel investigations of tobacco smuggling between Virginia and other states.

~snip~ four more pages*

American Independence

May 5, 2008

Sometimes we as Americans need to just tell the whiners of the world to just plain shut the hell up. No other country has fed more people from other countries than the United States. No other country can even come close to what we Americans have done rendering humanitarian assistance after natural disasters. The following was stolen from my friend Texas Fred’s blog, pleas click the link at the bottom to see full commentary.

Here are some excerpts from articles this week that should make anyone frightened. When it comes to our national sovereignty, our safety and our food supply should be number one! But it looks like the U.N is well on its redistributive way to take what’s left of our food.According to USA Today, Surplus U.S. food supplies dry upBecause of the current economics of food, and changes in federal farm subsidy programs designed to make farmers rely more on the markets, large U.S. reserves may be gone for a long time.Could the global food crisis impact America?

 

Worldwide, food prices have risen 45% in the past nine months, posing a crisis for millions, says the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.

 

The upshot: USDA has almost no extra food to supplement the billions in cash payments it spends to combat hunger at home and in developing nations.

 

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, in a recent meeting here with Bretton Woods Institution organizations, called for immediate and long-term measures to tackle a growing global food crisis.

The rapidly escalating crisis of food availability has reached emergency proportions,” Secretary-General Ban said April 14. He was referring to food riots taking place in different parts of the world, from Italy to Yemen and Mexico to the Philippines. Tanks were deployed in parts of Yemen April 4 after five days of protests by 1,000 people, mostly youth, angry about the rising price of food. Wheat prices have doubled since February, while rice and vegetable oil jumped 20 percent…

While international leaders gathered to find solutions to the world food crisis, analysts in the United States braced for the April 16 Consumer Price Index Report. Analysts say the U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years because of sharply higher costs for wheat, corn, soybeans and milk as well as higher energy and transportation costs…“It’s hard for most Americans to even conceive of the idea that food could become scarce in this country,” said Raj Patel, a writer, activist and former policy analyst with the advocacy group Food First and analyst for the World Bank, World Trade Organization and the United Nations. “Few of us are paying attention to the close relationship between bio-fuel, grain crops and price inflation,” Mr. Patel told Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman. He was appearing on her Pacifica Radio show, to push his new book, “Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.” The book is due out April 25. Competition between corn and other crops for planting acres has driven up the price of food in the U.S., as the government mandates more acreage for corn, wheat and soybeans, ingredients needed for ethanol production…

“We are studying ways to communicate to people in the U.S. that they have to change their behavior.”Americans are too complacent, believing there never would be a food shortage, which could be caused by a drought,” he said. “From my academic position, I can say that people are having a hard time finding food in America, so we have to change our thinking.”

 

This from What is Running Through Our Minds

. . .President Bush in mid-April drew $200 million from the Emerson Humanitarian Trust, named after former congressman Bill Emerson, a Missouri Republican. Bush’s action followed a desperate plea from the United Nations for food aid. Thursday, the president announced he would ask Congress for $770 million in separate, additional funding to meet international needs.But Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, at a recent food aid conference, says his agency faces tough decisions about managing the rest of the reserve in times of widespread hunger. “How far do we draw down?” he asked. “Do we take it down to zero because we need it? Do we hold some in there, because who knows what’s going to happen, for emergency purposes later?”Proudly Stolen From: Maggie’s Notebookhttp://texasfred.net/archives/1116/trackback/

 

 

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Open Letter To Environmentalists « Bob’s Bites

May 4, 2008

Open Letter To Environmentalists « Bob’s Bites

Bob found another good story here. Click the link, and read all about it!