Ready Emergency Site

911 – We Will Never Forget!

2014-09-11T07:31:00.001-04:00

Remember the Fallen!

Obama, Russia, Ukraine and World War Three?

2014-04-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

Could a meddling Obama and a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine cause a new Cold War or launch World War III? Is Russia really gearing up to invade Ukraine, or is it all political war theatre?

And what does Obama do since this began?

Obama, instead of minding his own business, has put financial sanctions on Russia for allowing Crimea to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

Then when Ukraine gears up and beats the war drums and rears its head against Russia over the sour grapes involving the Crimea succession, then Russia, who by no means are good guys, respond with like actions.

And as the tensions rise, Russia then starts amassing troops along the border of Ukraine to stop possible Ukrainian assaults on Russia. So is Russia really gearing up to invade Ukraine or just amassing troops to defend their border against Ukraine, the US and the West?

So what does Obama do now? Does he say wow this is escalating we, the US , need to stay out of it?

NOPE!!

Instead, Obama ratchets up the sanctions and then sends troops to all the nations surrounding Russia.

IDIOCY !!!

Are the Republicans attacking Obama for getting the US sucked in further and further to a war that is not ours, and drawing the US possibly into World War III?

Nope!!

The Republicans are attacking Obama for NOT doing more and calling him incompetent. The Republicans are right about Obama being incompetent in foreign affairs, but NOT because he is weak or fearful to act. He is incompetent because he is doing what the War monger Republicans want, just not as bold as they would like. He is incompetent for getting involved at all.

Let’s all pray that all these jackasses in charge of our War Machine don’t get us all killed in Wolrd War Three!!!!

Commentary based partly on this article:

UKRAINE OFFICIAL SAYS HE FEARS RUSSIAN INVASION

Story from AP

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Ukraine's deputy foreign minister said Friday he fears an imminent Russian invasion.

"We have the information we are in danger," Danylo Lubkivsky told reporters at the United Nations.

He spoke as an official in Ukraine confirmed that pro-Russian forces had detained a team of military observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The official said the team would be released after further investigation.

Lubkivsky said 20 members had been taken and called it shocking and unprecedented. "We demand to release hostages," he said.

Tensions have spiked as Russia increases military exercises along the Ukraine border. Lubkivsky called it a "very dangerous development" and demanded that Russia withdraw its troops.

READ ENTIRE STORY HERE

Michael Bloomberg’s stairway to Heaven (because of his gun control)

2014-04-22T16:00:00.000-04:00

By Richard Cameron, Communities Digital News

NEW YORK, April 21, 2014 — Michael Bloomberg, ex-mayor of New York City, put his work on funding national gun-control efforts and environmental issues in humble perspective:

“I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.”

This statement seems arrogant and delusional, but it is pure Michael Bloomberg. Politicians are inclined not only to seek opportunity in tragedy, but also to see themselves as light bringers and messiahs.

Rarely do you find one who possesses in high degree the instincts of a leader or a problem-solver. They are more likely to come with such an inflated sense of self-importance, virtue and righteousness of cause that they claim celestial wisdom far beyond that of ordinary men and women. They are long on pontification and short on practical understanding, truth or perspective.

Bloomberg is the very embodiment of the gaseous crusader, possessing the conceit of an Übermensch coupled with the conviction that the rest of us are supplicants who desire only his illumination and approval. If you think you have arrived at a solid appraisal of the facts, but have not yet heard Mike’s authoritative ruling on it, you are sadly mistaken.

Bloomberg was cheated by destiny not to have lived in the age of emperors; if ever a man thought he deserved the title “Augustus,” it’s Michael Bloomberg.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

Liberty Movement Rising: “The Fight Is Just Beginning”

2014-04-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

Admin Note: We thought this OP Ed article on the Rise of the Liberty Movement and the Bundy-Feds Cattle Standoff was very interesting, so we thought we would pass it along, so we could report and you could decide.

Article by Brandon Smith - April 17th, 2014

“Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.” – Thomas Paine

The label of “fringe” is a common one used by statists, bureaucrats and paid shills in order to marginalize those who would stand against government corruption. The primary assertion being sold is that the “majority” joyously supports the establishment; and the majority, of course, is always right.

The liberty movement, which is a collection of numerous freedom organizations and political activists brought together by a shared philosophical bond, has been accused of “fringe” status for quite some time. With corporatist dominance over the mainstream media for decades backing an elitist machine in Washington and a global banking cartel footing the bill with money created from thin air, any such accusation can be made to seem “real” to those who are unaware.

The problem has always been a matter of physical action giving rise to an acknowledgment of numbers.

We have all heard the old story of the debate within the ancient Roman government over the idea of forcing the slave population to wear distinct armbands so that they could be more easily identified among the regular population. The concept was rejected on the realization that if the slaves were given a visual confirmation of their considerable numbers and strength, they would be encouraged to revolt against the Roman tyrants. That is to say, as long as the slaves felt isolated, they would remain apathetic and powerless. Of course, that was not always the case. Sometimes, a small group would stand up despite their supposed isolation, and the rest of the world, wide-eyed and astonished, would take notice.

The liberty movement has just experienced one of its first great moments of realization and empowerment in Clark County, Nev., and millions of past naysayers have been shell-shocked.

I covered my views in detail on the Bundy Ranch saga in Nevada in my article “Real Americans Are Ready To Snap,” amid the usual choir of disinformation agents and nihilists desperate to convince Web audiences that the liberty movement would do nothing to stop the Bureau of Land Management’s militant assault on Cliven Bundy’s cattle farm. This assault included hundreds of Federal agents, helicopters, contractors hired essentially as cattle rustlers and even teams of snipers.

The statists and socialists were certainly out in force to misrepresent the Bundy issue and frighten anyone who might consider taking a stand for the family. The Southern Poverty Law Center, not surprisingly, was hard at work spreading lies and disinformation about the confrontation in Nevada, painting a picture of fractured patriot groups and militiamen with “little training” going to face unstoppable Federal BLM agents and likely “ending up dead.” The SPLC insinuated that the movement was ineffective and in over its head.

The reality was much the opposite. Liberty groups arrived in droves and were staunchly unified — not by a centralized leadership, but in defense of the basic moral principles outlined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Sources on the ground at the Bundy ranching operation relayed to me that at least 1,000 activists and militia members arrived over the weekend, with many more on the way. This one event proved certain points:

The liberty movement is not afraid to put itself in harm’s way for the right cause — even if this means facing off against highly armed government thugs.
The liberty movement has the ability to field a response team or even an army anywhere in the country at any time within a couple of days.
The liberty movement has the ability to change the course of events, even to the point of removing Federal agents from a region who are acting in an unConstitutional manner.
The Federal government is not invincible, nor is it unfazed by liberty movement opposition. They worry about our strength and ability.

Over the past weekend, we witnessed the true influence of the liberty movement. As thousands of activists and militia arrived in the area, the BLM finally began to understand what it was facing. The government agency that has been terrorized farming communities throughout the West for years, the agency armed with military-grade weaponry and hundreds of agents, ran away, as freedom fighters descended on the region.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Prepping for the Coming Purge – True or Make Believe?

2014-04-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

Admin Comment: Recently I found this article in my email inbox, sent to me from a person that I met online. Is this article true or make believe? We report you decide:

Prepping for the Coming Purge

by Dave Hodges - Posted on April 10, 2014

If the average person thinks they escape the train wreck that is coming, think again.

Domestically, there are very powerful forces aligning to take tyranny to whole new level of enforcement. The forces behind the Obama administration are undeniably preparing to seize your guns through one means or another. These same forces are preparing to control your cars and your access to travel which is a hallmark trait of totalitarian martial law enforcement. In short, the present administration is prepping for the coming purge.

Using Technology to Seize Guns

The Justice Department has requested $382.1 million in increased spending for its fiscal year 2014 budget for the announced purpose of “gun safety.” Mark my words, this has nothing to do with gun safety, it is about gun control and eventual gun confiscation.

Obama is proposing $2 million for “Gun Safety Technology” grants, which would award cash prizes for technologies that can control access to guns.

President Obama’s new budget proposal requests a staggering $1.1 billion to “protect” Americans from gun violence. This includes $182 million to support the president’s ‘Now is the Time’ gun safety initiative.”

The technology behind the recent innovations which can control a person’s access to guns is stunning as is can allow a gun owner to only unlock a safe with a fingerprint scan and an RFID-equipped bracelet, like the one presently being touted by Attorney General Eric Holder.

Others gun control pundits have suggested manufacturing GPS tracking and RFID chips into every gun. RFID chips transmit location data and are used by law enforcement agencies to send automatic alerts if a weapon moves away from the initial tracker, indicating that the gun is lost or stolen. At the end of the day, if this technology is implemented, the government will not have to seize each and every gun because they will have the technology to simply turn off access to each and every gun. And history clearly shows what happens when guns are seized, genocide follows. In the 20th century, there were 17 genocides and each one was preceded by gun confiscation.

Seizing Guns As a Prelude to Democide

Do you think that mankind is becoming more civilized due in part to the all the new technology being introduced to society?

Think again, nothing could be further from the truth. The 20th century witnessed a record number of people murdered by their government and in each case, each individual genocide was preceded by gun confiscation which took away the citizens ability to protect themselves.

The University of Hawaii has sponsored a project in which they have analyzed the number of people who have been murdered by their government. The term that the University of Hawaii uses to describe this action is democide (i.e. death by government). The number totals a staggering 262,000,000 people have been murdered by their government between the years to 1900-1987. This is what makes Holder’s gun ID bracelet so terribly dangerous because it could potentially render Americans defenseless.

Using Technology to Seize Cars and Limit Travel

One of the hallmark traits associated with an extreme totalitarian regime is the fact that travel is limited within a country. The Soviet Union was, and is, well known for this approach to controlling citizen movements. In our zeal to aspire to the worst of the old Soviet empire, the American government has implemented a technology in our cars which will accomplish the same thing.

As of 2015. all makes and models of cars are required to be fitted with Event Data Recorders (EDRs). The operative section is 31406. This is government mandated and there is no opt out for the general public.

Of course, the American people will hear to old worn out mantra, that this is for your safety. When you hear that word, “safety”, you can bet that you are going to be forfeiting some rights.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE

Food Dehydration: How to dry your own fruits, vegetables and other foods

2014-04-04T16:30:00.000-04:00

Dehydration is an alternative to canning (called "bottling" in the UK) and freezing fruits and vegetables.If you have a surplus of fruits or vegetables from your garden, but lack the canning equipment or freezer space, drying may be the right method for you!

Dehydrated foods have a number of advantages: Dehydration is a low-cost way to preserve food that is free from concerns about botulism, the dried foods require less storage space than canned goods, and there's no freezer to keep running.

Food Drying Principles

Dehydrating your own produce does require time and some knowledge of food drying principles.

Preparation

Select the best fruit and vegetables! As with canning and freezing, dehydrated foods are only as good as the fresh fruit or vegetables. When selecting fruits and vegetables for dehydration, choose ones that are ripe, unbruised and at peak-eating quality.
Prepare foods to be dehydrated as you want them to be served. Apples, for example, may be sliced, cut into rings, or pureed for fruit leather.
Keep pieces uniform in size and thickness for even drying . Slices cut 1/8 to 1/4-inch in thickness will dry more quickly than thicker pieces.
Some foods should be washed before drying. Foods such as herbs, berries and seedless grapes need only be washed before dehydrating.
To prevent browning: try steaming, sulfuring or coating light-colored fruits and vegetables with acids such as lemon juice or ascorbic acid (FruitFresh) before drying. Steaming or blanching also is recommended for vegetables to inactivate enzymes that cause vegetables to mature, or toughen during drying.

During Drying

Select the drying method and equipment that is right for you. Foods can be dried in a conventional oven, a commercial dehydrator, or in the sun. Drying times vary with the method and foods chosen. Be sure to read the instructions with your dehydrator.
Maintain 130F to 140F with circulating air: Remove enough moisture as quickly as possible to prevent spoilage. A drying temperature of 130 degrees F to 140 degrees F allows moisture to be removed quickly without adversely affecting food's texture, color, flavor and nutritive value. If the initial temperature is lower, or air circulation is insufficient, foods may undergo undesirable microbiological changes before drying adequately. If the temperature is higher, or humidity too low, nutrients can be lost or moisture may be removed too quickly from the product's outer surface. This causes the outer surface to harden and prevents moisture in the inner tissues from escaping. When testing for sufficient dryness, cool foods before testing.
Know when your food is dry: Some foods are more pliable when cool than warm. Foods should be pliable and leathery, or hard and brittle when sufficiently dried. Some vegetables actually shatter if hit with a hammer. At this stage, they should contain about 10 percent moisture. Because they are so dry, vegetables do not need conditioning like fruits.

TO READ THE NEXT THREE STEPS ON THE DEHYDRATING PROCESS LISTED BELOW CLICK HERE

After Drying (for fruit only)

Packaging the dried foods

Storing the dried foods

*Any portion of this Article is posted under US Fair Use Laws.

Raw Milk Upsets “Big Milk”

2014-04-04T13:30:00.000-04:00

by Tim Shoemaker on APRIL 1, 2014

The dairy lobby, or Big Milk, is upset over Rep. Thomas Massie’s introduction of the “Milk Freedom Act,” H.R. 4307 that would allow for the interstate sale of raw milk, and the “Interstate Milk Freedom Act,” H.R. 4308 that would allow the interstate sale of raw milk between two states where the sale of raw milk is already permitted.

Politico notes,

The swing in momentum can, in part, be attributed to a transformation of the argument that advocates are using. The debate used to be centered on the health and nutritional benefits of raw milk versus the safety of pasteurized milk, but the likes of Ron Paul — who mentioned the issue in several speeches during his 2012 presidential run and introduced similar bills when he was in Congress — have turned it into one about freedom of choice.

When Dr. Paul would travel the country speaking at college campuses about personal freedom, he would often frame it in an argument about food freedom, and freedom of choice — raw milk provided the perfect example of Nanny State regulators who outlaw choice in the name of “keeping us safe.”

Politico continued,

Despite the growing grassroots movement in favor of loosening raw milk regulation and bipartisan support, getting a bill through Congress will continue to be an uphill battle, especially with strong opposition from the dairy industry. The National Milk Producers Federation and International Dairy Foods Association — usually on opposite sides of dairy policy — have repeatedly compared consuming raw milk to “playing Russian roulette.”

Chris Galen, spokesman for NMPF, said his group will be educating members of Congress on the risks associated with raw milk to deter Massie’s bills from gaining traction.

Freedom comes with a certain amount of risk. If you wanted to live a risk free life, then a benevolent dictatorship might be your preferred form of government. But, as Thomas Jefferson wrote, ”I would rather be exposed to the inconveniencies [sic] attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”

On his Facebook page, Rep. Massie at least had a sense of humor about the opposition to his bills from Big Milk, posting “The lactose lobby can be so intolerant! It’s time to legalize freedom.”

We’re glad to see Rep. Massie is in line with a great American political tradition that places personal freedom over the desire for the Nanny State to keep us safe from ourselves. This sort of strong opposition, this early, from Big Milk is actually a good sign that they’re worried about the number of original cosponsors this legislation has and the potential for momentum to swing in our direction.

Please contact your representative and tell them to legalize freedom by urging them to cosponsor H.R. 4307 & H.R. 4308!

ARTICLE FROM CAMPAIGN FOR LIBERTY

White House looks to regulate cow flatulence as part of climate agenda

2014-04-03T12:00:00.001-04:00

By Michael Bastasch

As part of its plan to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the Obama administration is targeting the dairy industry to reduce methane emissions in their operations.

This comes despite falling methane emission levels across the economy since 1990.

The White House has proposed cutting methane emissions from the dairy industry by 25 percent by 2020. Although U.S. agriculture only accounts for about 9 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it makes up a sizeable portion of methane emissions — which is a very potent greenhouse gas.

Some of these methane emissions come from cow flatulence, exhaling and belching — other livestock animals release methane as well.

“Cows emit a massive amount of methane through belching, with a lesser amount through flatulence,” according to How Stuff Works. “Statistics vary regarding how much methane the average dairy cow expels.

Some experts say 100 liters to 200 liters a day… while others say it’s up to 500 liters… a day. In any case, that’s a lot of methane, an amount comparable to the pollution produced by a car in a day.”

“Of all domestic animal types, beef and dairy cattle were by far the largest emitters of [methane],” according to an EPA analysis charting greenhouse gas emissions in 2012. Cows and other animals produce methane through digestion, which ferments the food of animals.

“During digestion, microbes resident in an animal’s digestive system ferment food consumed by the animal,” the EPA notes. “This microbial fermentation process, referred to as enteric fermentation, produces [methane] as a byproduct, which can be exhaled or eructated by the animal.”

It’s not just the dairy industry that the Obama administration is clamping down on. The White House is looking to regulate methane emissions across the economy from agriculture to oil and gas operations — all this despite methane emissions falling 11 percent since 1990.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE

Where to Keep Your Emergency Supplies

2014-04-03T12:00:00.000-04:00

by Lee Flynn - March 31, 2014

Forward-thinking homeowners, or even renters, generally have some emergency supplies on hand. A typical kit includes a certain supply of safe drinking water, food, medical supplies, identification, candles or flashlights, blankets and weapons. If you are short on space and don’t know how to store your emergency kits, you may find yourself in a desperate situation in an emergency. Here are the places where you should keep your emergency supplies.

Food

A store of food is of the utmost importance when considering emergencies. The food storage items should be non-perishable, meaning in cans or shrink-wrapped packages. Good choices are canned vegetables or soups that can be eaten at room temperature, shrink-wrapped crackers, cookies and granola bars. Store your food in a cool, dry place with steady temperatures. Make sure to keep a can opener in with your canned goods. Check the cans periodically for expiration dates and rotate your stash so you’ll always find something safe in an emergency. Toss any dented or bulging cans. If you have grain or wheat products in boxes, place those in sealed paper bags so pests cannot reach them.

Water

Safe drinking water is vital to survival in an emergency. The recommended amount is a gallon of water per person per day, preferably in sealed jugs to maintain purity. You should keep the water in the same place as your food. Iodine droplets, boiling or water purification tablets can be used in an emergency if you’re unsure whether your water is safe. While these purification methods will help clean water of bacterial contaminants, they cannot protect against chemical contamination; so be sure you know what you’re up against before drinking purified water.

Medical Supplies

Most people keep first-aid supplies in their bathroom, but if you have a safe place like a panic room, cellar or bunker, you should keep all your emergency supplies together. Check your supplies periodically to ensure they’re still safe to use; they should be stored in a cool, dry place where they are unlikely to become contaminated or get wet. While it’s tempting to put them under the sink in the bathroom, they should be kept in the same cool, dry place as your food and water.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Thousands petition Congress to ban Internet access taxes

2014-04-02T13:30:00.000-04:00

By Josh Peterson / March 31, 2014

More than 43,000 people are petitioning Congress to permanently ban taxes on Internet access.

Governments, like businesses, see the Internet as a revenue source. Several bills would place a permanent ban on Internet access taxes.

As of early Monday afternoon, 43,646 had signed the online petition on Change.org, sponsored by MyWireless.org, a nonpartisan nonprofit wireless advocacy organization.

“Internet access is a critical necessity for economic growth, and is also providing all of us tremendous benefits in our daily lives,” said Amy McLean, communications director of MyWireless.org.

“With more and more Americans turning to wireless as their primary means of accessing the Internet, we think it’s more important than ever for people to weigh in now on the importance of keeping service as affordable as possible,” said McLean.

The organization is currently promoting a number of initiatives, including the Wireless Tax Fairness Act, which places a five-year moratorium on new wireless taxes at the state and local levels.

MyWireless.org’s new petition increases awareness about two bills pending before the House and Senate: the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act of 2013 in the House, and Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act of 2013.

Not only would the bills prevent state and local governments from taxing Internet access, they would also prevent multiple taxes from being imposed upon an online purchase by ensuring that only one state can tax each transaction.

MyWireless.org hopes to keep the cost of broadband access down for consumers.

“The petition is a collective voice supporting the permanent extension of the ban on Internet access taxes, and sends a clear message to Congress to take action on behalf of hundreds of millions of American wireless consumers,” McLean said.

Contact Josh Peterson at jpeterson@watchdog.org. Follow Josh on Twitter at @jdpeterson

Article from watchdog.org

The process of killing the U.S. dollar

2014-04-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

By Doug Hagmann (Bio and Archives) Sunday, March 23, 2014

I wrote about it nearly one year ago to the day. The Obama agenda is to simply “kill the U.S. dollar,” where the ultimate objective is to implement an international currency in tandem with a system of global governance.

Some people laughed, saying it was hype. Others held a death grip onto their normalcy bias, saying it was not possible. Exactly a year later, the stage is being set for the murder of the U.S. dollar. This is a process that has been long in the planning, and is no accident, nor is it a result of the amateurish handling of our economic affairs by the Obama regime or the last few presidential administrations. It is a deliberate process, covered by the fog of the geopolitical machinations between the U.S., Russia and the controlling power elite.

The U.S. dollar is now exhibiting signs of cheyne-stoking, as it is in its last phase of life. It is obvious not only by “Old Yellen’s” lipstick-to-pig process, but by the actions of Russia in response to our caliphate building process in the Levant and Eastern Europe. It is asymmetrical warfare at the highest of levels, as Putin knows the sting created by the deliberate destruction of the Ruble from years ago.

Those who don’t yet understand what is taking place may be enlightened by rereading my article from March 30, 2013, which contains information given to me by an intelligence insider and is actively taking place as I write this. For the current state of our economic affairs, Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge explains the active process well in his article “Petrodollar alert: Putin Prepares to Announce Holy Grail Gas Deal with China.” While the eyes of the world are transfixed in thousand yard stares at their televisions in a new reality show involving the disappearance of a Boeing 777, our wealth is being plundered.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Action Item: Are your phone calls the State’s business?

2014-04-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

From James Wilson

ACTION ITEM

I just sent a letter telling Congress to ban bulk collection of our personal data and communications using DownsizeDC.org's Obey the Constitution campaign.

Please do the same. You may borrow from or copy these comments:

House Speaker John Boehner wants a bill that pretends to end bulk collection of our online data, but would actually FORCE private companies to keep it available at the NSA’s request. (http://bit.ly/OXVFMF)

In other words, Boehner STILL wants gross violations of my Fourth Amendment right (and human right) to privacy.

I DO NOT CONSENT!

Enact the USA FREEDOM Act (HR 3361 and S. 1599) instead. It would…

* rein in the dragnet collection of data by the NSA and other agencies…

* increase transparency, and...

* create an independent constitutional advocate to argue cases before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The "leadership" of both parties hates this bill. But your oath is NOT to them, it's to the Constitution.

REPRESENT ME!

OBEY YOUR OATH!

STOP THE NSA CRIMES!

- END OF LETTER -

You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.

Thank you,

James Wilson

Policy Research Director

DownsizeDC.org

EPA agents raid ammunition company on alleged ‘environmental violations’

2014-03-31T13:30:00.000-04:00

by Michael Bastasch - See All Articles

Environmental Protection Agency and FBI agents raided the ammunition company USA Brass over alleged “environmental violations” early Thursday morning.

NBC Montana was tipped off by witnesses that federal investigators were there until at least 4 a.m. on Thursday. Federal agents could be seen going through the company’s building and taking items to a truck parked outside. EPA lead criminal investigator Bert Marsden said that the agency was looking into alleged “environmental violations” by USA Brass.

“We are investigating alleged violations of environmental law,” Marsden said on Thursday. “An investigation takes as long as it takes, and I can’t provide any details as it relates to that.”

“I can make a statement that there is no immediate threat to the public or the community at this time,” said Marsden.

It’s unclear exactly what the environmental violations were, but USA Brass has come under fire from federal agencies before for lead exposure. USA Brass cleans and resells used ammunition casings, and NBC Montana reports that local health officials found elevated levels of lead in the blood of 22 current and former employees.

7 Secrets for a High-Yield Vegetable Garden

2014-03-31T10:47:00.001-04:00

By organicgardening.com

Here’s how to get the most out of your garden.

Imagine harvesting nearly half a ton of tasty, beautiful, organically grown vegetables from a 15-by-20-foot plot, 100 pounds of tomatoes from just 100 square feet (a 4-by-25-foot bed), or 20 pounds of carrots from just 24 square feet.

Yields like these are easier to achieve than you may think. The secret to superproductive gardening is taking the time now to plan strategies that will work for your garden. Here are seven high-yield strategies gleaned from gardeners who have learned to make the most of their garden space.

1. Build up your soil.

Expert gardeners agree that building up the soil is the single most important factor in pumping up yields. A deep, organically rich soil encourages the growth of healthy, extensive roots that are able to reach more nutrients and water. The result: extra-lush, extra-productive growth above ground.

The fastest way to get that deep layer of fertile soil is to make raised beds. Raised beds yield up to four times more than the same amount of space planted in rows. That’s due not only to their loose, fertile soil but also to efficient spacing—by using less space for paths, you have more room to grow plants.

Raised beds save you time, too. One researcher tracked the time it took to plant and maintain a 30-by-30-foot garden planted in beds, and found that he needed to spend just 27 hours in the garden from mid-May to mid-October. Yet he was able to harvest 1,900 pounds of fresh vegetables—that’s a year’s supply of food for three people from about 3 total days of work!

How do raised beds save so much time? Plants grow close enough together to shade out competing weeds, so you spend less time weeding. The close spacing also makes watering and harvesting more efficient.

2. Round out your beds.

The shape of your beds can make a difference, too. Raised beds are more space-efficient if the tops are gently rounded to form an arc, rather than flat. A rounded bed that is 5 feet wide across its base, for instance, will give you a 6-foot-wide arc above it—creating a planting surface that’s a foot wider than that of a flat bed. That foot might not seem like much, but multiply it by the length of your bed and you’ll see that it can make a big difference in total planting area.

In a 20-foot-long bed, for example, rounding the top increases your total planting area from 100 to 120 square feet. That’s a 20 percent gain in planting space in a bed that takes up the same amount of ground space! Lettuce, spinach, and other greens are perfect crops for planting on the edges of a rounded bed.

READ THE OTHER THREE STEPS HERE

Martha Boneta - The Environmentalists Are Not Giving Up

2014-03-31T00:52:00.001-04:00

By Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh (Bio and Archives) Friday, March 28, 2014

The small farmers in Virginia rejoiced when Senate Bill 51 and House Bill 268, dubbed the “Boneta Bill,” passed both houses and the Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe signed it. The bill gave farmers legal protection from overreaching and overzealous county bureaucrats who impose unreasonable requirements and unnecessary fees on small farmers.

The bills, sponsored by state Senator Richard Stuart (R-Montross) and state Delegate Bobby Orrock (R-Thornburg), protect “agricultural operations from local regulation” and limit the government’s ability to require “special-use permits” for farm activities. Among many things, “Martha’s bill prevents counties from imposing a $100 fee to grow tomatoes.”

Martha Boneta, the farmer at the center of this protracted battle in Virginia said, “No Virginian should be forced to lose everything when they fight city hall.” Her farm is embroiled in a costly legal battle with Fauquier County supervisors over the use of her own farmland.

Boneta explained, “Corn mazes and pumpkin carvings were considered ‘events’ that required site plans and a mile-long list of red tape that can be suffocating.”

“There is an illusion that farmers are allowed to sell all their products because there are farmers markets and one-day bake sales. ... These are exemptions granted at the whim of government. I have 33 acres with cows. If I had the ability to sell all my farm products (including raw milk) directly to the public, I could make $56,000 a year. But not under existing regulations.” (Bernadette Barber, founder of Virginia Food Freedom)

Martha Boneta found herself at the center of the battle for farm freedom and property rights when she held a birthday party for eight 10-year-old girls at her Liberty Farm. Fauquier County deemed this party illegal because it lacked a permit. “Why would I need a permit for pumpkin carving?” Boneta said.

Boneta was issued a special license in 2011 which allowed her to run a “retail farm shop” in which she sold handspun yarns, fresh vegetables, eggs, herbs, honey, and craft items such as birdhouses. Fauquier County Board of Supervisors changed in 2011 the “farm sales classification” to require a special permit for activities that were previously included in the permit that Boneta had already been issued. Faced with fines of $5,000 per violation under charges that she held a birthday party for eight 10-year-old girls without a permit and a “site plan,” advertised one wine tasting, sold postcards with pictures of her rescued farm animals, sold wool fiber products from her sheep and alpacas, and sold organic tea from herbs grown in her garden, even though she had a business license, Martha paid $500 to appeal these unjust administrative charges. “The county zoning administrator told her at the hearing that “Martha was out of line,” for appealing these charges.”

Mark Fitzgibbons wrote that “Fauquier County also passed a winery ordinance that blatantly violates property rights and civil liberties. It gives Fauquier zoning administrator Kimberley Johnson discretion to create penalties and to prohibit private personal gatherings.”

Fitzgibbons said that “A local but powerful group called the Piedmont Environment Council wholeheartedly backed that illegal, anti-liberty winery ordinance. The PEC seems to have an unusual if not disturbing amount of influence over Fauquier County officials.

Barber described the Boneta Bill victory as “opening the barn door for the blossoming farm-to-table movement.”

However, bureaucrats and NGOs do not give up easily. Undaunted, no sooner had the ink dried on the signatures on the bill, the environmentalists came calling for a farm inspection of Martha’s Liberty Farm.

Property owners and farmers are fined, bullied, threatened based not just on zoning ordinances, but also via environmental conservation easements with onerous requirements, and farm inspections.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Boneta Bill Part III by Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh

2014-03-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

By Tom White - Virginia Right

Boneta explained, “Corn mazes and pumpkin carvings were considered ‘events’ that required site plans and a mile-long list of red tape that can be suffocating.”

“There is an illusion that farmers are allowed to sell all their products because there are farmers markets and one-day bake sales. … These are exemptions granted at the whim of government. I have 33 acres with cows. If I had the ability to sell all my farm products (including raw milk) directly to the public, I could make $56,000 a year. But not under existing regulations.” (Bernadette Barber, founder of Virginia Food Freedom)

Martha Boneta found herself at the center of the battle for farm freedom and property rights when she held abirthday party for eight 10-year-old girls at her Liberty Farm. Fauquier County deemed this party illegal because it lacked a permit. “Why would I need a permit for pumpkin carving?” Boneta said.

Fitzgibbons said that “A local but powerful group called the Piedmont Environment Council (http://www.pecva.org/index.php/our-region/fauquier/711-fauquier-farm-winery-ordinance)

wholeheartedly backed that illegal, anti-liberty winery ordinance. The PEC seems to have an unusual if not disturbing amount of influence over Fauquier County officials.http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/the_environmentalists_police_and_welfare_states.html

Barber described the Boneta Bill victory as “opening the barn door for the blossoming farm-to-table movement.” However, bureaucrats and NGOs do not give up easily. Undaunted, no sooner had the ink dried on the signatures on the bill, the environmentalists came calling for a farm inspection of Martha’s Liberty Farm.

Property owners and farmers are fined, bullied, threatened based not just on zoning ordinances, but also via environmental conservation easements with onerous requirements, and farm inspections.

Martha Boneta’s farm is the only farm in the state of Virginia that has four required inspections per year. Inspectors used to come several times a month until Boneta complained. She gets a seven day notice.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Food Freedom Legislation Introduced!

2014-03-27T18:00:00.000-04:00

by Tim Shoemaker on MARCH 27, 2014

Today, Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-4) introduced two new bills, the “Milk Freedom Act of 2014,” H.R. 4307, and the “Interstate Milk Freedom Act of 2014,” H.R. 4308, with a bipartisan coalition of 20 lawmakers. In his press release announcing the new legislation, Rep. Massie indicated these were the first in a planned series of Food Freedom legislation aimed at improving consumer choice and protecting local farmers.

“As a producer of grass-fed beef, I am familiar with some of the difficulties small farmers face when marketing fresh food directly to consumers. Our bills would make it easier for families to buy wholesome milk directly from farmers by reversing the criminalization of dairy farmers who offer raw milk,” said Rep. Massie. “The federal government should not punish farmers for providing customers the foods they want, and states should be free to set their own laws regulating food safety.”
….

Raw milk is fresh milk that has not been pasteurized, and may contain beneficial nutrients that have not been eliminated by the pasteurization process. Although Congress has never passed legislation banning raw milk, the federal Food and Drug Administration has used their regulatory authority to prosecute farmers for selling raw milk.

The “Milk Freedom Act of 2014” would provide relief to local farmers, small producers, and others who have been harassed, fined, and in some cases even prosecuted for the “crime” of distributing unpasteurized milk. This bill would prohibit the federal government from interfering with the interstate traffic of raw milk products.

Likewise, the “Interstate Milk Freedom Act of 2014” would prevent the federal government from interfering with trade of unpasteurized, natural milk or milk products between states where distribution or sale of such products is already legal.

No provision of either bill would preempt or otherwise interfere with any state law.

Massie concluded, “Today, many people are paying more attention to the food they eat, what it contains, and how it is processed. Raw milk, which has been with us for thousands of years, is making a comeback among these discerning consumers. Personal choices as basic as ‘what we feed our families’ should not be limited by the federal government.”

During his time in Congress, C4L Chairman Ron Paul was a champion of food freedom and sponsored legislation similar to H.R. 4307. Understanding the Food Freedom issue is vital to understanding personal liberty. It shouldn’t be any of the government’s business what we put into our own bodies, or choose to eat or drink.

Campaign for Liberty is proud to announce our support of both measures and encourage you to contact your representative and urge them to cosponsor H.R. 4307 and H.R. 4308.

THIS STORY IS FROM CAMPAIGN FOR LIBERTY

Customers cheer on coffee shop armed to the teeth with gun-toting baristas

2014-03-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

by Joe Saunders

Mess with the barista, you might be looking down the barrel of a gun.

A Spokane, Wash., coffee stand is taking a stand of its own against predatory criminals by making sure at least one of its staffers is armed at all times.

“A couple of them bring handguns every day, no matter what shift it is …,”Jitterz Java owner Sara Chapel told local television station KXLY last week. “There is always a gun here now.”

Chapel made the decision after an unknown man, armed with what appeared to be a weapon, tried to enter the coffee stand through its drive-through window on March 16. An employee on duty managed to block the attempt and grab her gun, and the lesson – the store’s third robbery or robbery attempt in less than a month — isn’t being forgotten.

Barista Krystal Cogswell, a lifelong gun owner who holds a concealed weapons permit, doesn’t plan on manning the windows unarmed any time soon.

“I’d like to defend myself if the time comes,” she said.

Customers for the most part cheered.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Get Byron's Prepper Humor And Survival Guide Today

2014-03-18T13:24:00.001-04:00

This is an essential book for any survival library
for its practical survival tips and its humorous outlook!

Kindle (digital version)

Buy Paperback

Making Soap from Kitchen Grease

2014-03-17T09:27:00.001-04:00

From Little House in the Suburbs

If you’re saying to yourself, “Ivory, I don’t wanna to BUY fat to make my soap. I have plenty of fat in my grease can!” then this is the post for you.

Immersion Blender

Buy an Immersion Blender similar to the one used here

So, how do we turn icky, blech-y, Mr. Ivory-should-be-ashamed-of-how-much-bacon-he-eats kitchen grease into glorious, bubbly, clean soap?

Read How Here

Farmers win land-use fight; ‘food freedom’ next

2014-03-05T13:57:00.001-05:00

By Kenric Ward / March 3, 2014

Martha Boneta, a big-spirited small farmer, calls newly enacted land-use legislation a “landmark event” that will boost agricultural entrepreneurs in Virginia.

“No Virginian should be forced to lose everything when they fight city hall,” said Boneta, who is locked in a costly legal battle with Fauquier County officials over use of her farmland.

State lawmakers sided with Boneta this year, giving farmers protection from overreaching bureaucrats.

Bills by state Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Montross, and state Delegate Bobby Orrock, R-Thornburg, shield “agricultural operations from local regulation” and restrict government’s ability to require “special-use permits” for farm activities.

“Now farmers can farm without fear or fees,” Boneta told Watchdog.org in an interview. “It gives hope to farmers and landholders in the fight for property rights.”

Collectively dubbed the “Boneta Bill,” Senate Bill 51 and House Bill 268 cleared the General Assembly with bipartisan support and await Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s signature.

“In all my years running to Richmond for relief of some injustice, I’ve never seen a piece of legislation receive the traction and broad support,” said Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farm in rural Swoope, Va.

“To have Virginia agribusiness, the Farm Bureau and VICFA (Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association), to name a few, on the same side is truly a feat for the record books.”

Boneta’s battle in Fauquier, as first reported by Watchdog, exposed inconsistent, even oppressive, local zoning and permitting rules in a state that prizes its “freedom to farm.”

“Corn mazes and pumpkin carvings were considered ‘events’ that required site plans and a mile-long list of red tape that can be suffocating,” Boneta noted.

For conducting a children’s birthday party on her Paris Barns property, Boneta was threatened with thousands of dollars in fines by Fauquier officials. She has countersued for $2 million.

The Virginia Association of Counties complains the Boneta legislation “continues the trend toward more land-use decisions being made in Richmond, rather than localities, where land-use issues are more appropriately worked out.”

Another state bill, meanwhile, strengthened landowners’ hand.

SB 578, by state Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, entitles property owners to compensatory damages, and allows the award of attorney fees, upon successfully challenging the constitutionality of local land-use decisions.

Obenshain’s bill passed the House and Senate by a combined 138-1.

Flush with property-rights victories, small farmers vow to push farther.

Bernadette Barber, founder of Virginia Food Freedom, said, “There is an illusion that farmers are allowed to (direct) sell all their products because there are farmers markets and one-day bake sales.

“Fact is, these are exemptions” granted at the whim of government, she noted.

“I have 33 acres, with cows. If I had the ability to sell all my farm products (including raw milk) directly to the public, I could make $56,000 a year,” Barber figures.

But not under existing regulations.

With Delegate Rob Bell, R-Charlottesville, Barber continues to promote a Virginia Farm Freedom Bill — an expansive measure granting production rights to home kitchens.

“Martha’s bill prevents counties from imposing a $100 fee to grow tomatoes. We would love to make spinach into spinach lasagna,” Barber told Watchdog.

The Bell initiative ran into killer opposition from the Virginia Farm Bureau and medical experts who branded it a competitive threat and a potential public-health hazard.

But Barber said Boneta’s victory opened the barn door for the blossoming farm-to-table movement.

“We don’t want to be the next Kraft or Little Debbie shop. We want local consumers to be able to shake the hands of the person who make our food,” she said.

Salatin, a national leader in the food-freedom campaign, called the Boneta bill “a sign of things to come because it means the integrity-food side is gaining clout.”

Randall Anderson, owner of Wicked Oak Farms & Vineyard, in Star Tannery, Va., agreed.

“I hope this adds to the momentum for recovering or protecting even more individual freedoms.”

Kenric Ward is chief of Watchdog.org’s Virginia Bureau.

Contact him at kenric@watchdogvirginia.org or at (571) 319-9824. @Kenricward

Survival Gardening Tip: Keep It Simple

2014-02-15T18:32:00.001-05:00

Comment by Site Admin: This article is about how to care for gardens if there ever was prolonged state of emergency with a grid down situation.that

by David Goodman

There’s an endless search on for the easiest way to garden. The fool-proof method. The no-work approach. The incredibly productive strategy.

Here’s a sample of ideas you may have encountered:

Self-watering Earthboxes, Tower Gardens, Plastic bottle hydroponics, Gutter gardening, Trash-can potatoes, PVC pipe gardening, Straw bale gardening, Gardening in bags of soil, Olla pot irrigation, 4-season greenhouse gardening, Strawberry barrel gardening, Dripline irrigated rows …and lots and lots more

Now I’m not going to condemn all these methods. Many of them are quite clever and may be perfect for your area, particularly in your in a marginal food-growing area. My main problem with most of them is that in a grid-down situation, or in a post Peak Oil scenario, or even during a time of runaway inflation or a shipping strike or some sort, you may get stuck.

The ideal survival garden is dead simple, and a lot of these methods purport to be easy short-cuts to growing your own food. The concern is, however, that the methods are too complex or driven by outside inputs to work well in a crisis.

Before I go further, let me say this: if you’re growing your own food, however you’re doing it, you’re better off than the many people who aren’t growing anything at all. If it takes an irrigation system divided into carefully timed sectors and automatic sprinklers to keep you producing edibles, that’s a lot better than doing nothing.

That caveat aside, I have some worries.

Let’s pretend you’re on city water and electricity. Let’s further pretend that you’ve set up the coolest danged tilapia-raising/cabbage-growing/self-filtering aquaponics system this side of Star Trek. What do you do if the power goes off… or your access to easy water dries up?

This isn’t a hypothetical question. I have a friend who raises tilapia and salads in a greenhouse. It’s cool as heck and totally worth seeing. Yet on two separate occasions, he’s lost a bunch of his fish because of minor flaws that weren’t caught until it was too late. At one point his aeration valve locked up while his pump continued to empty water from the system. Overnight, a tank drained and by the time he saw it the next morning, he had a bunch of dead fish.

This is sad but not life-threatening right now. But if those fish were needed to feed the family because there were no other options left, he would have been in big trouble. Sometimes one little problem can really mess up a complicated system.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Rock Band Korn Gets the Connection Between Government and Media How They are in Bed Together to Our Detriment

2014-02-11T18:17:00.001-05:00

Commentary by Kirby Harris

*WATCH KORN’S ENTIRE POLITICAL COMMENTARY VIDEO BELOW*

Legendary Rock Band Korn Gets the Government-Media connection, and how it uses entertainment to get our attention off of how we are losing our privacy and our rights. The video looks like a 1984 Reboot starting with the band watching hundreds of monitors. The video shows how our entertainment and political representatives have melded into infotainment. Where major news outlets break from interviewing congressmen about the NSA scandal to get the latest news on Justin Bieber.

Images of politicians like Obama and Chris Christie intertwined with Miley Cyrus. Katy Perry, Kanye West and Justin Bieber flash before your eyes, showing what a mockery of our free press and representative democracy it has become it has all become. And how News Outlets like Fox, CNN, NBC and others are all using misinformation and infotainment to deceive while entertaining us, so we won’t realize the wool they are pulling over our eyes.

Korn's Jonathan Davis says, "We are all so caught up in watching crazy media on the internet and TV that we are manipulated into ignoring that our privacy has all but disappeared."

Here is how JOHN GENTILE described it in his Rolling Stone Magazine article:

From the onset, we see them stomping around a room filled with TV monitors, as the video first cuts to news reports of data surveillance before the broadcast is interrupted with a Justin Bieber report. There's not-so-subtle images of President Obama walking out to give a Presidential Address that's spliced with him walking onto Jimmy Fallon's stage and videos of Toronto mayor Rob Ford and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie interrupted by shots of Miley Cyrus and Kanye West. Korn's point is clear: Is news news or just entertainment?

Read the Entire Article Here

One thing this shows is that people of every stripe, from rock bands like Korn to actors to politicians to everyday folks everywhere are waking up to see that the quasi government-corporate hybrid powers that be are seeking take our natural rights, so that they can make us infotainment surfs that they can rule by robbing us blind. And they see that its not just the Republicans or Democrats it both working together to serve their uber-corporatist masters.

HERE IS KORN’S ENTIRE POLITICAL COMMENTARY VIDEO HERE:

Fight Back: NSA Spying on Americans

2014-02-11T12:54:00.001-05:00

Article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

The US government, with assistance from major telecommunications carriers including AT&T, has engaged in a massive illegal dragnet surveillance of domestic communications and communications records of millions of ordinary Americans since at least 2001. Since this was first reported on by the press and discovered by the public in late 2005, EFF has been at the forefront of the effort to stop it and bring government surveillance programs back within the law and the Constitution.

History of NSA Spying Information since 2005

(See EFF’s full timeline of events here)

News reports in December 2005 first revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been intercepting Americans’ phone calls and Internet communications. Those news reports, combined with a USA Today story in May 2006 and the statements of several members of Congress, revealed that the NSA is also receiving wholesale copies of American's telephone and other communications records. All of these surveillance activities are in violation of the privacy safeguards established by Congress and the US Constitution.

In early 2006, EFF obtained whistleblower evidence (.pdf) from former AT&T technician Mark Klein showing that AT&T is cooperating with the illegal surveillance. The undisputed documents show that AT&T installed a fiberoptic splitter at its facility at 611 Folsom Street in San Francisco that makes copies of all emails web browsing and other Internet traffic to and from AT&T customers and provides those copies to the NSA. This copying includes both domestic and international Internet activities of AT&T customers. As one expert observed, “this isn’t a wiretap, it’s a country-tap.” Secret government documents, published by the media in 2013, confirm the NSA obtains full copies of everything that is carried along major domestic fiber optic cable networks.

In June 2013, the media, led by the Guardian and Washington Post started publishing a series of articles, along with full government documents, that have confirmed much of what was reported in 2005 and 2006 and then some. The reports showed - and the government later admitted - that the government is mass collecting phone metadata of all US customers under the guise of the Patriot Act. Moreover, the media reports confirm that the government is collecting and analyzing the content of communications of foreigners talking to persons inside the United States, as well as collecting collecting much more, without a probable cause warrant. Finally, the media reports confirm the “upstream” collection off of the fiberoptic cables that Mr. Klein first revealed in 2006.

(See EFF’s How It Works page here for more)

EFF Fights Back in the Courts

EFF is fighting these illegal activities in the courts. Currently, EFF is representing victims of the illegal surveillance program in Jewel v. NSA, a lawsuit filed in September 2008 seeking to stop the warrantless wiretapping and hold the government and government officials behind the program accountable. In July 2013, a federal judge ruled that the government could not rely on the controversial ‘state secrets’ privilege to block our challenge to the constitutionality of the program. This case is being heard in conjunction with Shubert v. Obama, which raises similar claims.

Also in July, 2013, EFF filed another lawsuit, First Unitarian v. NSA, based on the recently published FISA court order demanding Verizon turn over all customer phone records including who is talking to whom, when and for how long — to the NSA. This so-called “metadata,” especially when collected in bulk and aggregated, allows the government to track the associations of various political and religious organizations. The Director of National Intelligence has since confirmed that the collection of Verizon call records is part of a broader program. In addition to making the same arguments we made in Jewel, we argue in Unitarian First Unitarian v. NSA that this type of collection violates the First Amendment right to association.

Previously, in Hepting v. AT&T, EFF filed the first case against a cooperating telecom for violating its customers' privacy. After Congress expressly intervened and passed the FISA Amendments Act to allow the Executive to require dismissal of the case, Hepting was ultimately dismissed by the US Supreme Court.

Article Source

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Sustainable Living, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Urban Farms

2014-02-08T21:07:00.001-05:00

by ANTHONY GREGORY on MAY 13, 2013 @ 5:31 PM

In Oakland, California, not far from where I live, urban homesteading – growing food on private land for small-scale trade and consumption – has become so common the city government was forced to back off for once. In a rare triumph for sanity and freedom, anachronistic zoning ordinances from 1965 were liberalized to accommodate the city farmers. Molly Samuel explained at KQED:

“The city has already made some changes; it’s now legal to grow and sell vegetables on an empty lot with a conditional use permit. . . . Oakland North reports one of the hotly debated topics [at a city meeting] was animal husbandry: Should Oaklanders be permitted to raise, slaughter, and sell animals? Or not?”

Despite the remaining government bureaucracy, we have to cheer on the homesteaders. They are so impossible to ignore, hundreds of them flooding a city meeting, that the tyranny of zoning is being ratcheted back for once.

And although it has a leftish quality, libertarians ought to take notice of this counter-cultural movement, whose localizing agenda poses profound implications for the future of liberty. With the economic forecasts dire and the corporatist system of mega-farms firmly gripping the Obama administration and all federal politics for the foreseeable future, our rights and perhaps very lives may depend on the freedom to farm at home.

Libertarians often straddle radically different, sometimes seemingly opposed, stereotypes. We are simultaneously atomist rugged individualists and slaves to the anonymous division of labor found in modern cosmopolitanism. This seeming paradox is reconciled in our simultaneous love of political localism and integrated economics, self-sufficiency and the contemporary blessings of a thriving voluntary community. And as admirers of both the frontier and the integrated city life, we can see much to relate to in the urban homesteaders and their hybrid lifestyle of city-slicking, strenuous agrarianism.

The urban farmers too suffer from being pigeonholed as the type you’d find in quasi-socialist hippie communes. Their community’s language and cultural habits can be jarring to a free market radical, but they need not be as dissonant as they first sound. When a libertarian hears the term “sustainable living” – another common theme in urban homesteading – he might first think of the central planning-nightmare called “sustainable development” or EPA-mandated encumbrances on his track housing. But we can as plausibly interpret the meaning to be: “freedom from the vagaries of the public utilities system and state-subsidized mass agriculture.”

Even in the larger sustainable living communities, we see a diversity of social organization. “Most cohousing communities with gardens use organic gardening practices, but just as the culture of cohousing groups varies widely, organizing and running a cohousing garden is a highly individualized project,” writes Jenise Aminoff in the Fall 2010 issue of Urban Farm magazine. Indeed, while voluntary communalism is totally compatible with libertarianism, even shameless capitalists can find much to love. Eno Commons, “a suburban cohousing community on the outskirts of Durham, N.C.,” initially ran its “garden on a standard allotment model, where each unit was assigned a garden plot,” but this led to problems: “there was a disconnect between a small handful of people doing work but the whole community picking,” explains garden manager Katherine Lee. And so what did they do? Aminoff explains:

“Last fall, Lee proposed a radical change: a market model. With Lee as the manager doing most of the gardening work, residents now pay for their garden produce. On the night of the community’s weekly common meal, Lee harvests the garden’s produce and brings it ‘to market’ in the common house.”

Surely, most other approaches to communal gardening involve a bit less commercial exchange, but from a quarter-acre urban homestead or an integrated sustainable living community to a produce co-op and the farmers’ markets that have gloriously emerged in every major city, we see there is no conflict between the market economy and sustainable farming in a municipal context. The way of life is no less libertarian than living in a condo or homeownership association.

Agricultural Independence and Urban Farms vs. the State

What are in conflict, however, are sustainable living and city pastures up against the agricultural bureaucracy, the USDA, FDA, and government at all levels. Certainly, those who offer major competition to Big Ag are targeted. There have been at least fifteen raids of raw milk farms during this administration alone. The federal government has cracked down on independent farmers in gruesome ways. Huge corn and soy subsidies have distorted our food supply, putting corn syrup in nearly every processed food, warped migration patterns and impoverished third-world economies. Even patents play a role in the farming hegemony: Monsanto, the corporate food giant with influence in the last three presidential administrations (including the current one), owns genes that can be found in 90% of America’s soy. Wind inevitably blows the seeds from Monsanto crops to those owned by smaller farmers, after which the company claims intellectual property rights over the land and forbids farmers to save seeds – a traditional agricultural practice – and even sues farmers for merely “encouraging” the violation of these patents.

But even for the small, non-commercial city farmer, the state has become a threat. Even the mildest displays of homegrown produce have run into legal trouble. In July 2011 news traveled fast of the plight of Julie Bass of Oak Park, Michigan, who was threatened with 93 days of jail time for the crime of planting vegetables in her front yard. A mere five raised beds featuring corn, tomatoes, squash and other vegetables constituted her great offense. Amid a massive public uproar, the city dropped the charges. In most areas of everyday life, the state has become ever more intrusive and invasive. On growing our own food, however, Americans appear sick of being on the defensive. The mainstream adoption of urban homesteading can lead to one of the great retrenchments of state power and influence in our times, echoing the homeschooling movement that has grown so impressively in recent years.

Much of the urban farm movement can be traced to the World War-era victory gardens – what we might call a market response to a statist emergency. The phenomenon of growing your own food (among other consumables) took off in the 1960s and 1970s and is now back in the cities, taking them by storm. Once again, they are coming in response to institutional crisis. In cities suffering in every other way, urban farms might save the day. The Detroit Agriculture Network’s Kristine Hahn points to the city’s “113 community gardens. . ., 18 school gardens, and 220 family gardens” as signs of hope for that suffering city’s future, writes Elizabeth Wahl.

It is a global phenomenon: The USDA estimates that urban areas grow about 15 percent of the food worldwide. In some countries, socialist regimentation has made private gardens absolutely necessary for survival. The Soviet government’s attempts to feed the masses were infamously disastrous, particularly in the calamitous era of Lyskensoism from the 1920s to early 1960s, when the Russian government imposed bizarre standards of agriculture along “proletarian” lines – the forced collectivization of farming and the rejection of genetics and mainstream botanical practices as being based in bourgeois pseudo-science. As the government began looking the other way, its citizens were finally able to feed themselves. By the late Soviet era, 90% of the nation’s fresh vegetables and a good deal of its animal products were from “unofficial sources” – “ meaning dacha gardens and the small private plots that collective farmers were permitted to work in their spare time,” according to the Christian Science Monitor. These private gardens became crucial in the post-Soviet upheaval as well. A 2008 survey conducted by the Public Opinion Fund found that 56% of urban Russians had a dachaor “kitchen garden.” The American government is still not as dysfunctional as Russia’s but the laws of economics apply universally. Should another financial collapse come, American dachas could be our lifeline.

At least implicitly distrustful of Washington, the urban homesteading movement gets bigger every day. With bigness, however, comes the threat of politicization, and in particular the threat of these farms being harvested by government, the co-ops being co-opted by the state. As with the bureaucratic nationalization of the word “organic” and the trouble we see with farmers running into Monsanto’s patent police, the voluntarism of sustainable living may one day be supplanted by regimented control and corporatism.

Read the Entire Article Here

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