Busy Week

September 2nd, 2010
Starting last weekend, I renovated the goat barn. I was using the hay barn for milking, since we had 4 goats and a cow to milk. I tore down a couple of walls and build some stalls for the goats so I could free up the hay barn for hay (what a concept).
I Took Wednesday and Thursday off. Wednesday, I finished the milking section of the barn – it is now partitioned off from the goats, so they can only get in when we bring them in for milking (one at a time).  The goat milking stand and the cow stanchion were moved in there, along with a light, electric, the feed cans and milking stuff.

I then laid down more pallets in the hay barn. later Wednesday, we went and picked up 100 bales of hay out of the fields and stacked it in the hay barn.
today (Thursday), we picked up an additional 109 bales of hay from the fields and stacked an additional 31 in the hay barn and left the rest on the neighbor’s trailer, which I parked in his barn.

So, we now have 170 bales of hay in our barn, a milking area in the main barn and the beginnings of individual stalls for the goats, which will be completed in the next 2 weeks.

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Checkin’ In

August 24th, 2010

Been a few days since I wrote.

I’ve been busy. I had to build a new chicken house for the 265 chicks we recently ordered and received.

Some are laying chickens, some are fancy breeds and some are meat birds. I have all of the meat birds (50) in with the other broilers.  The other 200+ are in the newest chicken house.

I also cleaned up all of the cardboard that had been decomposing on the driveway. it is now in the compost, with a lot of other compost-able materials – It sure is nice to have the tractor for making, turning, adding to the compost pile.

We’ve been picking tomatoes for about 2 weeks and it looks like that could continue for several more weeks (if the weather stays hot).

The Asian pears are ripe now. Most are the size of a softball and are sweet, juicy and crisp. I think the CSA families will really enjoy them.

I got the chickens out of the greenhouse and roto-tilled the soil. it is ready for our winter greens, which we will be planting this week.  We will also be replanting several garden beds with lettuce, spinach, cabbages and peas.

We have already had other families approach us about the CSA for next year. It looks like we won’t have any trouble filling the additional slots we make available.

–Pat

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Obama Administration Blocks Release of Pivotal HHS Abstinence Study | CitizenLink

August 19th, 2010

So, now it seems that our executive branch, which boasts of  “transparency”  is hiding this report (paid for by YOU the voter) because it does not line up with their political agenda and “beliefs”.

It appears to me that the real “truth” muddles up the political “facts” being sent out to the schools and media, supposedly based on “scientific study”.

Here is an excerpt from the story:

The American Public Health Association’s APHA website reveals the only is results of the survey:

“Adjusting for all other factors in the model, parent and peer factors are more consistently associated with differences in adolescent attitudes about sex and abstinence than are measures of adolescent exposure to sex and abstinence topics in a class or program.

Additionally, parent attitudes are more important in influencing adolescent views than the level of parent communication with their adolescent.

”The executive summary revealed that:

  • 70 percent of parents agreed with the statement: “It is against your values for your adolescents to have sexual intercourse before marriage.
  • 70 percent of parents agreed with the statement: “Having sexual intercourse is something only married people should do.”
  • Adolescents had similar responses for the two questions.

During an APHA conference, researcher Lisa Rue, Ph.D., who specializes in adolescent behavior, was intrigued by the study and requested the full report. She was summarily denied access.

Rue then resorted to submitting a Freedom of Information Act FOIA request, which was also denied because it was “pre-decisional and deliberative” – even though it was presented in public twice.

“We have to know cultural norms and values before we ever do any kind of research, or develop initiatives,” Rue said. “If you ignore that, you’re ignoring a premise, a key premise in evaluation science and research.”

via Obama Administration Blocks Release of Pivotal HHS Abstinence Study | CitizenLink.

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Cancer cells slurp up fructose, US study finds | Reuters

August 6th, 2010

So, all of the processed foods (over 47000 on grocery shelves) containing high fructose corn syrup (and possibly other fructose sources)  promote cancer cell proliferation, according to a recent study of sugars and the effect on pancreatic tumor (cancer) cells.

So, if we eat fresh, local produce and meats, we can help fight the cancer cells in our own bodies.

Cancer cells slurp up fructose, US study finds | Reuters.

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Obama: I’m against gay marriage and Prop 8

August 5th, 2010

Okay then, what exactly is our illustrious leader in the executive branch saying in the article listed below?

My paraphrase of his statements (based on the article and it’s quotes from Mr. Obama from 2004 , 2007 and again in the 2008 primary election season) is this:

” I owe the homosexual lobbyists for all of the campaign money they put in my political war chest, so I will say that gay marriage is okay and they should have all the rights they want, but on the other hand, I don’t really think the average voter will re-elect me if I push to make gay marriage legal, and since on 2% of the US population is gay, I need to hedge my political bets. After all, I am a Chicago-style politician and in the end… it’s all about my ego and my re-election!”

What a sap! I never believed that the circus had a man with 2 heads – but now, I think it’s possible, considering the president speaks out of 2 mouths!

Click your heels together and shout “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home” ’cause we’re not in Kansas (or the US as I once knew it) anymore!

–Pat

Obama: I’m against gay marriage and Prop 8.

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The Radiation Boom – After Stroke Scans, Patients Face Serious Health Risks – NYTimes.com

August 2nd, 2010

While doctors are quick to prescribe a CT scan for all types of potential “illnesses” and symptoms, it seems that the CT scans may be doing more harm and causing worse maladies than the original issues.

It seems that the technicians “trained” on the equipment would give higher than recommended doses of radiation to get “clearer images” – and no one seems to know what “too high” means when scanning the brain.

Besides hair loss, there are reports of headaches and memory loss.

I wonder if this is what happened to me in 2004 when I had a bout with Bell’s palsy – the doctor treating me had me undergo 2 CT scans within a period of 1 week.

–Pat

The Radiation Boom – After Stroke Scans, Patients Face Serious Health Risks – NYTimes.com.

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Bovine in waiting…

July 29th, 2010

The other night we got a bit behind schedule, since we had a lot on our plates. As a result, we were about 45 minutes late to milk the goats and the cow.

I was dutifully carrying the milking machine up the hill so I could milk the cow, while Nathan milked the goats.

I walked through the open gate in the “Causeway” – a narrow area about 15 feet wide, running the length of ground between the barn and the cow’s paddocks toward the bottom of the hill – say, 100 – 120 feet in length. We had this fenced off as a fail-safe – in case any of the goats or the cow got out when we were going into the paddock.

Anyway, I walked through the gate that was open and there, standing in the barn by her stanchion, was the cow – looking at us as if we missed the train or something.

Funny, how animals have a sense of time, routine and respond in an unusual (to us) fashion when their predictable world of routine is upset.
Fern, the cow, had knocked the gate to her paddock off of the hinges and had walked up into the barn to get milked – We were a bit stunned by this, but in retrospect, it makes perfect sense.
She needed to be milked and she knew where to go to get milked. The only think missing was a bit of grain in her dish by the stanchion and the humans to milk her…

–Pat

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Finance Overhaul could put the final nail in the economic coffin

July 23rd, 2010

The financial reform bill has the potential to put the proverbial “final nail in the coffin” for our economy:

Because of the authors “financial insights”  (The Frank and Dodd team which helped cause the financial crisis by their work to “open doors of opportunity” to those that were not able to afford the mortgages they got for homes they couldn’t afford),  hedge funds will be strickly limited. Also, bonds will also be highly regulated and limited.

The three largest credit-rating agencies – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings – immediately alerted bond issuers not to use their ratings, as they assess their legal exposure created by the bill.

Why is this an issue? Because it will adversely affect the $1.4 million bond market – which is largely comprised of consumer loans.

If you get a  loan to buy automobiles or houses, pay for schooling (student loans) or use credit cards – you’re going to be standing in a line waiting, or flat out refused credit because the consumer loan well has dried up.

And what kind of affect will that have on our consumer-driven economy?? Devastation.

And what about the farmers that use hedge fund derivatives as insurance against the cost of corn dropping before harvest? Or the cost of beef for the feedlot owner or the farm co-ops trying to make amends for the increases in diesel fuel for all of the trucks hauling livestock/produce? Sorry, you’re out of luck. Might as well take up gambling in ‘Vegas.

And what great words of encouragement comes from the grand masters that designed this financial reform that will make sure we never have to bail out anyone again (or, as President Obama said, “Because of this law, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes. There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period.”)?

In an interview with The Washington Post, Dodd admitted legislators were uncertain exactly how the bill will work until it is challenged by another financial crisis:

“No one will know until this is actually in place how it works,” said a teary-eyed Dodd. “But, we believe we’ve done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done.”

HUH??? You mean you’re “guessing”??? You have absolutely NO CLUE what this legislation will do???

Sounds like Nancy Pelosi when asked about Obamacare:   “We need to pass ObamaCare so that the public can find out what’s in the bill.”

HUH??? You have no idea what this bill will do???

PLEASE! WE need someone to give a brain transplant to Congress!!!

Read the articles and weep…

Finance Overhaul Casts Shadow on Plains – WSJ.com.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704258604575361182317501188.html

–PAT

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Raw Milk Bans are About Protecting Big Dairy

July 20th, 2010

Deep down inside, I have known all along that the dairy industry was behind all of the raw milk bans and outright attacks on farmers selling it.

Big dairies cannot raise cows in a healthy environment, so they could not possibly sell raw milk because they rely on pasteurization to purify the milk from the unhealthy cows . You see, they keep the cows standing in the stalls or in lots, and feed them grain, hay, antibiotics and hormones. The cows do not have access to pasture because the big producers don’t own enough land to adequately pasture the number of cows  they have.  There is a logistics issue, too, since they are about production output and not quality. They want to sell millions of gallons of their milk beverage for a profit  – not sell a wholesome, nutrient-dense product that promotes good health.

So they have no choice but to turn to the government and pay them money to bully the small guy out of business. Never mind the fact that the small farmer cares about the well being of his cow(s) and his customers.

And the FDA has come to the rescue of the Big AG corporations, by clarifying that THEY (the FDA) make all decisions about food choices for the American people.According to the FDA, we have no say about what foods we want to eat, or where those food should come from.

The FDA has stated (in their rebuttal to the  lawsuit brought against them by the Farm-To-Consumer Legal Defense Fund), and I quote,  in the briefs submitted by the FDA to the court:

  • “There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food.”
  • “There is no ‘deeply rooted’ historical tradition of unfettered access to foods of all kinds.”
  • “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a ‘fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families’ is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.”

    • So where do we stand, if the federal government says we have no rights to choose and consume the  foods of our choice? Or even the right to make healthy choices for our children?

    Raw Milk Bans are About Protecting Big Dairy.

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    Hydrocarbons in Cereal Stoke New Debate Over Food Safety – NYTimes.com

    July 16th, 2010

    While I agree with the EWG (Environmental Working Group) that strengthened food safety is critical to the well being of our society at large, it should be pointed more towards the food industry giants than the small farmer growing produce, raising chickens and eggs, etc., for the local community.

    In fact, if we stopped eating the fruit loops, processed cheese food,  soups with MSG, ice cream with bug killer and antifreeze and the myriad of other things that the FDA allows in the more than 47,000 “manufactured” foods on the shelves in grocery stores, there wouldn’t be such an issue.

    Hydrocarbons in Cereal Stoke New Debate Over Food Safety – NYTimes.com.

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