What will you refuse to give up?

So, I have been tagged for a "meme" (that word again!) by Robbyn at The Back Forty. Ahhh..those paybacks! :-D

I admit, I had wondered if it would make it around to me after reading it on a few other sites and..... irregardless of whether it did or not ....I had been pondering the question a bit on my own.
Because...especially as oil becomes higher and food more expensive and raises just don't seem to get you farther ahead (just keep you from falling back) it seemed like a really good subject to mull over in my head or in my blog.

Now of course everyone's blog is a bit different. Some people take the question more from a "peak oil perspective" and others seem to be coming from an "green" perspective. The two are really intertwined and I think that was pretty much the whole point. So what couldn't I do without? I mean REALLY without. I have thought about that a lot....and maybe more than some people my husband and I have lived many years "dabbling" in .....what to call it? Peak oil practices? Heritage living? Organic/sustainable living? So..because of that I know I could live without many things, however some things are more difficult to "substitute" for.

I don't think there is anything that I couldn't absolutely live without (if I had to I mean...because I do enjoy some of these things after all). I mean really anyone can if they need or want to survive however what if we want to live well....well..that's a different thought all together now. But what if we want to do it in such a way as to not have to "step" on others or be unsustainable . What then?
I have found over time that most of the things we feel we need and can't live without at one time, or even now, have a sustainable option. Sometimes they cost more though, or are more dependent on our society as a whole joining in to accomplish. Like running water. Many ancient (back before the middle ages by far) did actually HAVE running water. However...it took great societies working together to keep it working and running. All without being an environmental disaster. We however like to either think the way we do it is so so so much better or we ignore the fact that it is unsustainable. Think sewage treatment here...there are working viable alternative options to chemical sewage treatment but they require a bit more work and are "unknown" and people are not as comfortable with them as they are chemical treatment. They actually can work better and are better for us and the environment. Why not use them more often?
Sometimes as in the case of something as simple as "eat local" it's a matter of slightly more work. You have to find local growers and/or BE a local grower. Not always an easy job.
Are we willing to give up 4 hours a day of t.v ( or computer....and that's on average supposedly) to live a more sustainable life? I thought to myself one time...Heck I don't watch 4 hours of t.v a day! No way! I don't watch any t.v series or weekly/daily shows at all hardly. However, when I started paying attention to the bit of news I watched and a bit of t.v during the afternoon with my lunch and a bit before bed....I watch about 2 1/2 hours a day. Add some computer time and tah dah! Go figure! Could I be doing something better with my time though?

What about as a society? Why don't we have gray water recycling in all new building codes? It is a viable solution. Why don't we have better insulation codes...mandatory ones. Why don't we have more green roofs and solar panels on big large manufacturing plants?
I know..we're a democracy and shouldn't force this on people. It's a sticky wicky isn't it? But...could we be doing it anyway because we know we NEED to? Without having the government tell us too?

So....below I have listed a few things that I would find harder to do without or to change my ways and adjust too. This could be because they require more work/thought or more money or even just more innovation. However...they are doable and something, someday, I hope to address in my own life so I am "walking the talk" a bit more than now.


Electricity....which would mean no t.v , no computer, no lights, no ....wait. First off..you can use a solar panel so some of these things would still be available. However, we DID live without t.v for 2 years as a family. None. nothing. nada. We lived without it and had small kids too----and they SURVIVED!!.
The first month is a booger...but the withdrawal symptoms eventually fade. This was "pre" internet so...I know I could live without that too if I had to. I have to admit though...the internet is like having your very own personal updated daily set of encyclopedias. Hard to do without that...especially on this type of subject.

However...in the south what do you do if there is no electricity and no cheap propane/gas/diesel etc to run refrigeration? Now THAT I would have trouble with. I would have to learn how to use a root cellar and some things would have to be bought fresh everyday...like milk. Because even a root cellar in the south will not keep milk cold and fresh for long. Hence...cheeses and butter would be made a lot more. I like cold milk (sometimes on ice), and drinks and veggies and ..and I don't always like cured ham and cured meats so....well you get the picture.

Car/Truck/vehicles.....O.k. here's a sticky one. I have land and animals...but not enough land to feed all the animals all the time. So....I need a vehicle to get hay for winter or sometimes grains/minerals etc. How do you haul that without a vehicle? I'm not carrying it! Of course there is horse and wagon but I do not have room to feed a horse to pull a wagon....so would I share with a neighbor? Trade say milk or eggs or pork for occasional use of the horse and wagon?
Obviously I am assuming I will grow most of my own food and because I do live in the country more than the city there would be people to trade my excess eggs for some of their squash or vice versa. Or their wagon.
But what about my husband that drives to work about 20 miles one way? Our neighbor, since we have known him RIDES his bike everyday to a place very close to my husbands work. So...obviously it is feasible. Also, because he has done it for so long....it only takes him about a half hour longer to get home than my husband in a car. Traffic for the car you know--- but not the bike.
Not saying I would completely like this but...
Another thought is that there are electric cars able to be charged by solar panels. They only go about 30 miles and only get up to 45 but...hey. It's an idea. Can they haul a round bale though? Would my husband be run over if he drove one? 70 in the 55 section of the highway is NOT unusual in this state....and you generally do not get a ticket for it unlike in some states. So....45 is awfully slow compared to that.

Oil/gas to heat/cook with.
Cooking...well we could use a solar cooker about half the time. Something I should purchase and learn how to use. But what about canning food...or would I have to dry all of it and/or eat more "in season" than I do now (which really is still not "in season" like people would have eaten 100s of years ago). I would also have to learn how to like more foods. Fermented cabbage is o.k...but not my fave.
O.k here's another one. Now my house is ideally situated to the south. The original owner ...well...he did do that correct. But on a really cold winter day and/or a cloudy/rainy day, we still need supplemental heat. Yes, we use gas. (Bummer---especially this year.) We could however (maybe) be able to produce enough methane here, on our property, like the Chinese do, to supplemental heat our house and definitely cook with. Lots of work though. Another idea is wood heat---though are house is wide and spread out...not easy to heat with just one stove.
And if all of us are doing it...we could quickly deplete wood sources. Coppicing though...well that's a great thing that can be done even on the smallest of home lots to help supply a heating source for a home. Something I have been meaning to practice...but have been too "lazy" to do. Or maybe the alternative has just been so easy I haven't bothered. Tulip poplars, which grow amazingly well here in my area, seem to be from my observations, ideally suited to coppicing....and maybe that is where I will start my experiment. It's easy to find European trees suited to this in literature...since they have been doing it for a long time...but not many American trees. Americans have had an abundance of oil, gas and trees...no need to learn anything else. Maybe now though...we do need to learn "new" (or maybe that's old) technologies.


Air conditioning. Again..being in the south this is a tough one. But yes, again I have, in the south (Texas and Georgia), lived without air conditioning. Not that it's always pleasant and of course...we are supposedly a bit hotter and without as much forested areas as there was a 100 years ago. Could I do it? Of course..if I had to....and it does require adjustment and change. No 3 piece suits for men while hanging around in the house in August. But again...there are alternatives.
What about the solar "machines" that produce ice while sitting out on the beaches of hot climate areas? If a machine can use ammonia running through tubes, powered by the sun to make ice...well then it can darn well cool my house. Maybe with modifications and maybe just during parts of the day.. but hey any bit helps right? Now tell me? Why hasn't someone come up with this idea on a better scale? Maybe it is expensive and I wouldn't be able to afford it...but you think no one can? Humph!
Also, has anyone heard of wind or earth tubes? They even help remove humidity from the incoming air. Here are some links:
here
here
and some more ideas here.
If your interested in this technology try other search word combos. You'll find quite a bit about it.

A lot of other things have alternatives so I guess the subject is back to the title of "what will you refuse to give up?" However, maybe that should be changed to "what will you exchange" to keep living the way you do. What are you willing to exchange....time, money, effort, habits..... so you can accomplish or acquire the things you are unwilling to give up?

A few random thoughts

Just a few random thoughts to throw out for everyone to mull over. Things that for some reason or another have come up and I forgot to say.

Don't forget when choosing your livestock for your farm (no matter the size) to consider "types" that were raised for your climate and have been adapted to various situations that arise---more an issue for those of us in the south, especially the "deep south". Things to consider are food intake needs (we don't all have, nor can we grow, large pastures of clover and alfalfa), heat tolerance, problems with disease or parasites, and docility (some people prefer slightly less domesticated animals and some more so)

Also--remember that there are livestock genetics being lost almost everyday as commercial farming pushes them aside. Don't forget groups like the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy when searching for the perfect breed for your farm. Help save a breed if you can and it fits your farm and goals.

I ate chicken last night for dinner---tyson boneless & skinless. How do they alter the flavor AND worse make the texture like over cooked fish? (Just kidding---I really know but I wanted to throw that out there for all of us to think about) We couldn't eat it all---I had to cover it up with baked beans to get over the funky flavor and texture. Yik. The rest went to the dog----as if he needs that crap in his body right? :-)
Home grown is best---that way we for sure know what's in it. Second best? Why raised by a local farmer (and organic if possible).

A quick link for all the "sustainable, raise my own, environmental, watch dog politics" people out there: http://www.7trees.org/phpbb/
Find information, help and discussion groups for all these issues plus more. (Thanks Dani for passing it on!)

Did you know we are still officially in a drought here? Already we are 2" down for the year. However worse is that the nuclear power plants in some areas may have to be shut down for lack of water for cooling. See this article for more info. Just one more reason why we should go with solar or wind---no need to shut them down during a drought. WAIT---they may even help stop severe weather change if we switched to them. Oh yeah.......no money for the oil companies in those technologies.

Lastly----Did you vote in the primary if your state was involved with Super Tuesday? My husband and I voted for two different people---hopefully one of our choices will rise to the top :-) Good luck to all of us aye?!!

How Fun

Ever wanted to help someone that you knew really needed help? Well here's your chance to be a micro lender. The other night I watched a show on PBS that had a bit about KIVA.ORG . It is a non profit group that is for micro lending to others around the world. The part I thought was really cool is that you can view the profiles of the people that need to borrow money. You can read their stories of why they would like to borrow money and a bit about them, see a picture of them, even email and speak with them. Neat isn't it. Another plus is that you don't have to be able to lend them all of the money they need. You can lend any portion of it you want to and other "micro lenders" from around the world will chip in with you and help them too. Also as a bonus, one "micro-lender" in San Fransisco said "the best part is you get paid back and you can then turn around and help someone else with the same money again and again"
So even if you only have $10 you may be able to help many many many people with that same $10. Cool isn't it?!
Check it out and see if you might enjoy being a micro lender.

So....what about war?

Not long ago we started an in depth session of bible study offered by our church. This is a two part series that consist of meeting for about 2 hours a week for 32 weeks. We took the first part a number of years ago---the "beginner" part ---and are now taking the second part which I would call the "advanced beginner" coarse :-)

Anyway, this past week was the in depth study of the ten commandments. This is a particularly sticky issue with me and if you will stay with me I will ramble around to a point.

As with all things when you get to the commandment "thou shall not murder"---there are many opinions on the exact meaning of that command since some remember the phrase as saying "thou shall not KILL (not murder).

If you have never come across (or even knew you could look it up) the actual Hebrew word to get a greater understanding of the translation , you can see it here under: ratsach

Now many people have spoken with me on this subject as I continually try to grasp an understanding of it from a Christian perspective. Usually those that take the translation as you won't murder say that the bible justifies killing for specific purposes and so there for that is why the translation speaks the way it does. They go on to say that as a Christian as long as we are justified in our reasons---it is o.k and possibly even sanctified.
I won't go into all the reasons for "justified" killings or wars since most of us---Christian or not ---have heard them whether they are biblical or more current.

O.k--moving forward into the issue with war.
One example a biblical teacher once gave me for this in regards to war was that the soldiers where doing their duty and they weren't killing in anger---and that it was generally justified so there for o.k. This man was an ex soldier from the Vietnam era just to help you understand the whole issue but of coarse even he gave me that well over used "remember WW2" reason for it being o.k.
However I continually struggle with the idea that a man (or woman) in a foreign land, bombarded daily with others trying to kill them---won't fall to the "other side" of that statement and turn it into murder. Intentional or not. Obviously the people that live in that land can make a greater case for their killings being justified since they feel they are protecting family and property.

Then there is the other issue of the taking back of the land of Israel. So so so many Christians that I speak with say, emphatically, that Palestinians need to go and if they won't---the Israels have a right to forcefully evict them OR kill them if they resist. Why? Because this is a biblically "sanctified" war. Sanctified by God.

History lesson: the jews where forcefully removed from Israel during the Roman era and have pretty consistently been trying to "go home". During those 1500 hundred years or so others have moved in and settled there. Also, during WW1 and then on through and ending with WW2 other countries (England very heavily and then the U.S and it's allies) have "fiddled" around in that area. So....

So....what about the people that have had family living on some of that land for the past 400 years? Are they personally responsible for the Jew's loss? If the Jews come in and forcefully remove them from their land should they not at least be compensate for it? See this article here at dollars and sense.
Besides---maybe they too want to stay there and don't want to go because they have family and history right there also.

O.k---don't tell me the same thing I always hear "the Muslims are trying to kill them and they are defending their selves" I know that. But I still haven't come to my point if you will hang on.

Many years later, I got a new thought on this issue and I brought up the American Indians as an comparable analogy to the Jew/Palestinian issue. I pointed out that the American Indians were also forcefully removed from their property. So...shouldn't my husband (who's grandfather lived on a reservation in Montana) be able to go up there---pick a piece of property we like----and take it without compensation to whomever currently lives there? Especially if they are of European descent. If you want to take it even further--my husband was never personally compensated by anyone for his historical loss of his family heritage and land so wouldn't it be o.k for us to do that?
The answer to my question is that the land wasn't specifically given to them by God (they just migrated here) and that they didn't attempt to consistently get their land back like the Jews have. Ha!

Now to totally change subject (but not really) here's another issue.

As a Christian aren't we suppose to be against abortion? Well, to put my feeling right out there let me say that I always said this:
I personally am against abortion but feel that the government should stay out of it (they shouldn't fiddle in people's personal life) and everyone should make their own choice. Hence---it should not be outlawed.
However recently I heard a man on t.v say this in response to that oft spoken statement:
"Well," he said, "many people believe that slavery is wrong but if we had said, I don't personally believe in it but everyone should make their own choice, then we would still have slavery."
Extremely good point which I will admit makes me at least slightly re think my stance.

Unfortunately though many a case can be made for slavery in the bible---both old and new testament. God didn't say a thing about it other than you should let them rest on the sabbath and Jesus pretty much didn't say anything about it one way or the other. So, if I can coerce or physically force someone into slavery to me---can I claim it as my religious right?

As far as I know there isn't one reference specifically addressing abortion in the bible---other than "thou shall not murder". I would pretty much say that most woman that get abortions are not, thinking back to the example given to me by the older soldier, murdering their unborn children with hatred in their hearts. I mean--- going by the definition that some people are trying to pass off as the correct one to interpret "thou shall not murder".



SO THE POINT I AM TRYING TO MAKE IS


Isn't there a point as people ---- Christians or Jews or Muslim or Buddhist or whatever----that MORALLY (irregardless of which book we read) we are responsible for correct action? No matter how we try to interpret it out of the Bible? Come on---we know right from wrong. I have had some try and tell me that I have to remember the historical context ie: God was speaking specifically to the Jews. So....does that mean only that Jews can't kill Jews? Or maybe Christians can't kill Christians----but everyone else is far game as long as they aren't of the same beliefs? What about a Catholic and a Methodist? Or a Protestant and a Seventh Day Adventist---is each group fair game for the other?

Can we really say that we personally or our government or France's or Venezuela's or whomever's---can say with certainty that we or they has had God tell us for sure who needs to be bombed,killed or put to death? If we are so great (both as a country and also as a person) shouldn't we take the MORAL high road?

Unfortunately, and probably for good reason, I have never heard it called the Biblical high road.

So...what about the case for War?

Discrimination?

So last night we went to the monthly city hall meeting. I found out that I should attend this meeting just hours before it started. Supposedly the subdivision down the road with 24 homes in it wants to be let into the city we are on the edge of.

Just so you can understand let me explain some issues. We currently live on a dead end road. To get out of this town we have to drive down our road and then choose which road to turn on. No matter which way you choose---you HAVE to go by the city school and through the city. There is absolutely no other way out but through the school zone. Now this school is "special" because they are 1. very small 2. don't have enough city residents to fill it (they actually bring in children from out of the county) and 3. have excellent testing in the state with only a 2% drop out rate and an extremely active principal. In other words--for a public school- it is highly coveted to get into. So much so ---that it can increase the value of your home by about 5% just being in the city limits. That's a lot.
Anyways--for some reason in the past 5 years three subdivisions (one about 5 years--Tenet, one 2 1/2 years old--Franklin and one putting in roads now--name unknown) have been built on the mile and a half stretch that is our road. Then there is my home plus 6 others all with acreage at the very very end. A few other small home with acreage are scattered in between.
We, along with the others with acreage and Franklin are not in the city. Franklin wants in bad --as do we up at the end. Most all our children attend the school (with an added cost of $500 set to go up to $750 next year) but you have to wait for years for approval (as some do) or "know" the correct person (my son's best friend's father in our case).

Last night--when all showed up---somehow it fell to me and my neighbor (both unprepared for this) to speak on behalf of the people wanting in. The answer---after 20 minutes of how expensive an individual house costs a city was NO! HELL NO! Basically said by one man---no one offered up a vote on it or anything. Of course statistically they had us since we were unprepared---which we won't be next month I assure you.
The two biggest "glitches" in their reasoning though are: One---because of special circumstances which I won't go into here, the city residents pay ZERO taxes. A business covers them and they don't want to have to make those (poor) citizens pay taxes so we (paltry little expensive us) can have the privilege of being in the city. "It wouldn't be FAIR" according to the "man in charge". These residents haven't been paying taxes since---get this---1990. What is funny is they have let some "well known friends" build subdivisions---all with $300,000 homes---to come into said city---including Tenet and this new un-named subdivision that are on our road. (Have we ever heard of Grandfather clause and add new/different rules for others??????)
Also the second reasoning is that if they let us in they would then have to "discriminate" (his words not mine) against other people wanting their subdivision or home to be let into the city. Discriminate---my ass. That's exactly what they are doing to us. I have lived here over 3 years so why is a yet un named subdivision being let into the "poor financially strapped city" when my neighbors and I can't be????? It's a load of mierda (that's the Spanish equivalent of shit if you didn't know). Apologize for the language but this burns me up to the top. I absolutely completely DETEST anything that smacks of "special treatment" for individuals. Don't get me wrong---I never said I didn't benefit from it once in a while----but I don't agree with it. I would rather my son got into the school because we lived on a dead end road a mile and half from the school than a friend had to speak up for him. As a matter of fact for almost two months I beat my head doing it that way. Then Joe called for us and the next day----literally---my son was in. The only other school was an 18 minute drive away---stupid huh??

Next month---we won't be unprepared. My husband and some others are helping us pick apart what was said and we will address EVERY issue this man brought up. His reasoning is unsound anyways. BUT we will point it out with efficiency. He also has a temper. When I pointed out that he was in turn discriminating against us by allowing the new un named subdivision in even though all of us were/are already there---he practically yelled at me that: "a man has a right to do with his property what he will" Yes, he does. I will wholeheartedly agree with that BUT---that man had to get permission to split that property into a subdivision for 24 homes FROM THEM. So who's discriminating????

Thanks for the vent---love this blogging for that reason!

National Public Radio

I listen to public radio every day. I think they have some of the better news since they don't do just local but national and international (without the weeks worth of angst over whether or not Anna gets to be buried in Bermuda).

So today when Liberty Ark sent me the following I was happy to contact NPR since I feel they would do justice to the issue AND it would help the cause.
Please contact them: it was an easy little form to fill out on line. Tell them to run the anti-Nais Texas rally story.

TAKE ACTION: ASK FOR NPR TO DO A STORY ON NAIS

We’re starting to get national attention! National Public Radio’s (NPR) All Things Considered did an interview about Texas’ anti-NAIS rally last Friday. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to edit the story and it was not aired. But their attention is on NAIS, so now’s the perfect time to ask them to do a story!!! Go to http://www.npr.org/contact/, click on "Recipient: NPR Program" and then choose "All Things Considered.” Tell them that, even though the rally is past, NAIS is a hot issue nationally, and one that their listeners want to hear about!

And here’s the link for submitting story ideas in general - http://www.npr.org/about/pitch/story.html

News coverage of the Friday even is here:
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;
jsessionid=74579E59860AA9FCF1204EDB0EB09397?contentId=2556671
&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Are they really concerned with our health?

Here is a link that came up on the ISBONA chat that I am a member of: FDA rules override warnings on drug use.
Please read this and feel free to make a comment to the FDA if you like.
Obviously as many of us have suspected for a while---they do not care about us or the impact of their decisions on us. They may not officially have a public forum on this---but you can write. You can also right your representatives about this issue too.
Have a good day all.

How we manage our.....

Recently we have had a number of questions both on the blog and through our web site about how we take care of our pastures and animals. Many others like us are struggling to turn not well cared for small acreage into productive "mini-farms". Basically self sustaining, organic farms---at least to a degree.

Since our original purchase of the acreage we have divided it into 5 sections that are based on the soil type and plant growth. 4 of these sections are permanently fenced and the 5th is on two sides.
Each section has its own pros and cons and so each requires differing amounts of amendments and styles of application. Over time we have acquired, and hope to acquire, tools that will enable us to more effectively handle some of the property without owning a larger tractor. Some of the tools we have or hope to purchase are: a 30 gallon pull along liquid fertilizer sprayer, a pull along and hand push lime/granular product spreader, a new scythe for cutting along the sides of our dam and some barrels and a small pump for making compost teas. There are a number of other coveted tools---but those would help greatly.

Most questions we get are either about our soil restoration, how we graze our animals or how we care for our animals. We also get many good ideas from others on how they are handling their situations but this is about our property---so I will stick with our solutions :-)
Since we read many books, magazines and articles we continually come across new and well used ideas. We have picked through them and narrowed them down to those that, have or seem as if they will, work best for us with the tools and money that we have. We read and utilize ideas from The Stockman Grassfarmer, Joel Salatin, Neil Kinsey, permaculture, Albrecht method, and many many others. So let me comment on some of the things we have been asked and have learned. This is not to say any one person is right or wrong---just that it has or has not worked for us. All properties are different and so there for not all things will work all the time for everyone.

Do you rotationally graze your animals and/or do you graze the sheep and cows together?
Yes, Sometimes they are all together, sometimes they follow each other and sometimes they are split in segments. Currently the rams are with the cows, so pregnant ewes aren't continually harassed, and the ewes are in their own group. For grazing we have a permanent outer fence and then cross fence with electric wire to make smaller sections when needed. We are still working on improving our use of electric wire to rotate with though. Electric wire can be bulky, hard to reel and heavy when there is a lot of it. Also the poles have not been long lasting for us---and the better type work for cows but not sheep. A couple more problems we have with it are: 1) we have very rocky hard soil in a number of areas which requires a hammer to install the "temporary" fence--not the easy "step it into the ground" situation it's suppose to be and 2) Since we use wire and not electric netting (expensive but much much better and a possible future purchase for us) the rams and lambs can just slide through to the next pasture, or neighbors yard, when they are in their heavier wool phase. (And yes, we do definitely have a strong enough electric box which is very adequately grounded)

Do you use clover (legumes) to improve your pastures?
Yes and no. We do plant legumes in our pasture for our animals, and some smaller areas have some clover and vetch in them, but clover (including most legumes) does not like "un improved" soil very well. Clover hates acidic soil. Also, alfalfa can require irrigation here which we are not set up to do. So if you have rocky, acidic, crappy, steeply sloped and dry in spots soil--- as we do---your legumes will flat out not sprout or it will grow all stunted looking and not become a full, thick stand like it is suppose to. I know since I have seen it--pathetic looking stunted clover. This whole thing is kind of a catch twenty two as someone once said: "you need good soil to grow clover for clover to make good soil". So how are we addressing the improvement and eventual establishment of legumes in our pasture? By rotating the animals through each segment regularly so they can poop on the property (a major Joel Salatin recommendation) and by liming and adding other amendments to improve our calcium and nutrients needed to grow good plants (Neil Kinsey is a good writer on this subject). We are also choosing trees, such as thorn less honey locust, and shrubs for their nitrogen adding abilities to help with this issue. see here
This year we will also start regularly spraying our pastures with various types of liquid "teas" to help with soil tilth and fertility.

Do you grow grass and legumes only or add other things?
We actually add other plants, also known as forbs, to our pasture on purpose. Much research on our part made us realize that plants like chicory, pig weed, dandelions and other plants add much needed vitamins and minerals to livestock diets---which helps with overall health and parasite control. Healthier animals show more resistance to parasites--which is always a plus. Our cows don't seem as open to the forbs, though they do like chicory. And though I would like to see them eat more forbs it's o.k since we have the sheep who will eat them. A recent writer in Stockman Grassfarmer has been doing studies on how to teach cattle to eat unfamiliar weeds that are good for them including canadian thistle. Now I would consider Canadian thistle a serious weed, but the above mentioned chicory a benign "forb". Thistle is much more aggressive in taking over pastures but with training the cattle could be eating them and reaping the rewards of their nutrition--which are supposedly many. If all cows ate thistle, well then, maybe we might consider it a forb too. I don't think I'll add those to my pasture though :-)

Forbs are also good for your soil since they, like alfalfa, "mine" for nutrients. Dandelions (free seeds everywhere) have large roots that open the soil structure like alfalfa allowing in rain and oxygen---and when they die back in the winter they add all the nutrients mined from down below as a small bit of compost. Believe it or not I don't have dandelions growing in my pasture and constantly harvest seeds along road sides to drop in there. Either my animals eat them "all gone" OR they aren't getting established----go figure since most people with grass would love to have my problem. If I planted the culitvated kind in my garden---I am sure I would have thousands!
Look around on line and you will stumble into protein ratio of various weeds/forbs which can be very high at times---good stuff.
Another food source we are trying is to add multi purpose trees, as in honey locust, for fruits/nuts/seed pods for the animals. And, in the future, we will experiment with sowing in oats in the fall instead of just winter rye and maybe some buckwheat in the summer. (P.S---I had heard livestock couldn't eat buckwheat but recently saw a University bulletin on using it for hay---if anyone has knowledge of this I would appreciate a comment since I would like to try it)

Have you tried worm compost on your pasture?
No, but I would LOVE to. Worm compost/castings have been show to be one of the absolute best items you can spread on your pasture or garden. Castings (even at the low rate of 200 pounds per acre) improve ph (rendering it neutral over time), add humus,make minerals available to plants, improves soil structure and on and on. The more worms you have in your pasture ---the better. They won't just come 'cause you want them though. You have to have a closer to neutral ph in your soil for them to be comfortable. Ph is my main problem: but when worms do finally show up---wow!
We could get worm compost in large enough quantities for our pasture IF we want to pay $285 to have it brought to us in a truck from 2 hours south of here. That's not including the cost of the castings either--hence our reason for not using it yet. One of these days though......maybe I will have a huge huge huge worm farm in the alloted 10 foot by 4 foot spot I have set aside and produce great volumes of castings for my pastures every year. hahaha I wish!

Are you completely organic with your animals?
We try to be. In regards to feed we aren't really "organic". We try and grass feed our animals as much as possible off of our own pastures which we handle in a completely organic matter. When we purchase hay though, we are not getting a certified organic product and depending on the farmer---it can be more or less organic than others. Certified organic hay has not taken off around here yet but we look forward to when it does.
In regards to grain: again, sometimes we get organic and sometimes we don't. Availability and price both play a part. We don't really feed that much grain so this is not as much of an issue for us as it would be for some. It could be though when we are milking our cows and drinking the milk.
This year we are trying to grow enough grain, by converting our front yard into beds, to feed our chickens through next winter. This way we will be assured our chickens and eggs have been completely organic and gmo free. We will work towards growing enough for the chickens then try to grow enough for the cows while they are milked.
Another issue when considering organic handling of animals is whether they are "doctored" in sustainable ways. All livestock have parasites and diseases that can afflict them. Internal parasites are one of the biggest stumbling blocks to organic/sustainable animal production. We are currently experimenting with different ways to keep our animals free of internal parasites without relying on chemical wormers. We STRONGLY advocate the use of FAMACHA before ever worming a sheep or goat. We have also found that vitamins and minerals seem to play a much much larger part in keeping our animals from carrying dangerous levels of parasites or getting sick than we previously understood. Many diseases that afflict livestock from Johnes disease, hoof problems, CAE in goats to scrapie in sheep, and many other things, are now thought to stem from nutrient problems. It's hard to believe, but in reality we still don't know much about how soil and nutrients work together to effect our health and that of our livestock. It's a part of research that is overlooked frequently.
Yes, we have vets scoff at us for our belief in famacha and using vitamins and minerals for health of our animals. We are going on two years now with the things we have experimented with and we haven't lost an animal and we only seem to have made them healthier. Better coats, faster growth, healthy babies and on and on.
We did lose animals previously ---before we used our noggin and figured it out on our own after many many vets called for advice in many many states. It is hard to find a vet that will stray from the text book---even if your animals are DYING. I look back at goats we had and that the vets "wrote" off. I now know that in a couple of cases simply feeding kelp or other mineral supplements BEYOND regular livestock mineral salt blocks would have helped them immensely and solved two issues we had at the time--one of them infertility. It was simply a matter of nutrients. That was 12 years ago though---and even less was known then. Argh! Twenty twenty hind site :-)

Well, I hope this answers some of the questions. I know there are many more but with time I will eventually address all of them. If anyone wants to talk organic pastures or animals contact me at my email address alandtc at(@) catt.com

SmallMeadow Farm Icelandic sheep, Irish Dexters and heritage chickens

Wolf in sheeps clothing?

Have we had the wool pulled over our eyes? In a recent upheaval amongst Anti-Nais groups, Mary Zanoni has spoken out by stating we are getting our fleeces shorn and didn't even know it.
Here is her recent article stating that the groups supposedly working for us---aren't. In other words we might be getting "suckered". If you go to the main Liberty Ark web site you can read their rebuttal. Personal--I am not sure who I believe. Since I have always written my own letter to my representatives and others concerning my "anti- nais" stand I don't feel completely fooled yet-- maybe disappointed if it is true. This is all the more reason though, to individually write our own letters instead of always signing petitions and letting others do our work for us.

Good day all---I have been sick and won't be posting for a bit unless something great comes up.

SmallMeadow Farm Icelandic sheep, Irish Dexters and heritage chickens

I have been thinking....

I have been thinking about organic food purchases.
Since we did the refrigerator "thingy" I have been thinking about what was in my fridge. Now, I am not having fridge food envy or anything like that. Nor do I believe my contents at that moment were completely representative of how we eat but I started wondering about food choices--and ultimately what is in our fridge.
Most of you, I know, have read Micheal Pollan's book "The omnivores dilemma" and for those of you who haven't here is a quick low down on what I would like to comment about:
Micheal Pollan --in the "chapter" where he is spending time with Joel Salatin---comments that eating local/ organic, will and does, cost more than cheap industrialized food. Industrialized food that is heavily subsidized as Pollan and Salatin both point out by : pollution, antibiotic resistance and residues, food borne illnesses, crop subsidies, subsidized oil and subsidized water. All of these are hidden costs paid by all of us every time we shop---whether we like it or not.
Pollan then goes on to point out that until this "food system" changes organic or sustainable food will cost more: More than some can afford but not most.
He goes on to state how in the 1950's food was one fifth of our disposable income versus the one tenth it is now and also points out how many people now pay for cell phones, cable/satelite t.v and even water (versus a well). His point is that more of us than we think can afford to purchase sustainable.
My question is this: Exactly where do you decide to spend your organic dollar? As a general rule we try and buy organic cream (probably 95% of the time we succeed) and yogurts, cheeses that are organic or artisanal, grass fed meat if we plan correctly, and organic fruits/ veggies when available. We try and eat somewhat in season---though I am still working on how to do that since, other than avoiding some things like tomatoes, I don't completely know what to prepare that includes only "in season" products for every meal. (practice makes perfect). Anyways here is my dilemma: What about things like milk that have a tendency to be more expensive AND heavily used by most people AND full of crap. We as a family, on average, go through about 9 gallons of milk a week (rarely less and depending on which of the kids friends are here it can be much more). If you consider that regular milk runs me about 3 dollars per gallon that is 27 per week or approximately 108 dollars a month. So, if that is "5%" of my budget then of course I should really try to move towards buying sustainable/organic at double (or 10%) of my discretionary income. Which would be approximately 216 per month or almost the cost of a lower price car payment. Not too bad for good health though right? On the other hand, organic milk cost about $8 to 9 dollars a gallon around here---and using my example----would cost me about $288 or even a bit more. That, with only milk factored in, is the cost of a car (just to keep perspectives). Now I will admit I have NEVER had a problem with paying more for something so that say.....a farmer can have a "living" wage. EVER. But, using my milk example, I wouldn't be able to (and even really can't) afford to purchase all sustainable/local/organic products for my family. I don't have enough money. And just to set the record straight: No, I don't have a cell phone and my husband's work pays for his. My husband's work also pays for our internet connection. Yes, we pay for water (though that runs about 15 a month) and satellite (but we only get the most basic package---no frills or HBO for us).
How do you get to the point that you can feel comfortable about what you feed your family? Sometimes when I watch my son drink that big glass of milk----I feel guilty for not purchasing organic for him. I know that if we had a larger community of sustainable agriculture near us that the cost could be lower and still give a farm a decent wage. But of course---we don't live in that type of community. No California is this area. There is some---just not much---and quite a bit is at least a couple hours drive. Drives are fine for grass fed meat that will last for months but how do you store 18 gallons of milk so you don't have to drive every week 2 to 3 hours one way to purchase? Or 36 gallons if you only wanted to go once a month :-O I'd have to have a commercial walk in freezer at least!
We have always been interested in growing our own food---and have many many times in our life been good at it. I believe now though is the time to try and be very very successful at growing and "harvesting" as much of our food as we can---especially in this newer climate of ge/gmo foods, added hormones and lack of care by the FDA/USDA for our health. Even if I never get one of our cows to freshen---if I can take pressure off of the rest of my food bill then maybe I can afford organic milk---and that walk in freezer.

NOW---do we want to talk about the "cons" of industrial organic milk??

Public Comment

The USDA is taking public comment about a new genetically engineered corn they would like to approve. Here's the link: www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/content/2007/01/gecrndreg.shtml

Remember in this case to state more than just "I don't want you to"
Don't forget to remind them that other genetically engineered products now have 1. gone wild (those resistant to roundup) 2. killed native bugs/bees important for pollination and most importantly 3. They are PROVEN detrimental for long term human consumption. See one site Here

You can find many more references to the Germany studied sited above on line. If you want to add more there are lots more references.

Here are the directions for mailing or emailing your comments:

APHIS is seeking comments on the petition and invites comments on the EA. Send an original and three copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. APHIS-2006-0157, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238. If you wish to submit a comment using the

Internet, go to the Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov, select “Animal and plant Health Inspection Service” from the agency drop-down menu; then click on “Submit.” In the Docket ID column, select APHIS-2006-0157 to submit or view public comments and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.

Comments are posted on the Regulations.gov Web site and may also be viewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.

Soil Health--part 1

Yesterday I finally moved the cows and rams out of my garden area. With a bit over 2 weeks of "manuring" in there amongst the leaves I think my garden will have a pretty good start. Cows create a LOT of manure and though the leaves seem to have been like quick sand in swallowing up all signs--I know its there. Actually, I have been able to start seeing piles these last few days which confirms my theory that it was building up by quite a bit. So they moved running, jumping and kicking (with the Jack Russell we own barking and racing behind them in fun) on to the next fenced area.
Now that they are gone I can go again and work inside the garden area. I have already moved leaves and prepped some beds but needed to wait for the animals to leave before planting anything since it would just have gotten tromped. This brings me to the point of my post---soil health.
Obviously I received the benefit of many many tons of leaves this year that not all people have access too. And in the scheme of things: they aren't enough to spread on all the soil that I currently "farm". When we purchased this acreage we knew that the soil was in bad shape and needed help. It had previously been a pine tree "stand" that had been cut down. They then scraped all the soil around to form a dam and pond and to terrace the remaining area (they didn't do a very good job of it though).
So when we purchased the property what we actually acquired was: rocky, terraced, compacted soil with mostly wild blackberry canes (and don't say yum---some wild black berries taste about like ear wax)
We are organic so we subscribed to the notion that if we added animals, brought in hay from other farms and rotated our animals around ---over time we would get healthy worm teeming soil. Seems logical right? Oh we knew we might need to put some lime on the pastures---I mean it had been a pine "forest" previously which screams low ph/acid soil. What we never connected with at first is how minerals and vitamins play a role in the soils health and in turn the animals and ours too. Now there are many theories as to how to handle this as with anything else: you have the "keep running the animals and let them poop theory" (which I mentioned above), add all inorganic fertilizers and lime theory (that's a no for us), don't add lime--just apply compost or worm castings etc to the whole of the property which will balance out the ph and help with minerals (exorbitantly expensive option if you don't have a worm farm or enough manure to compost) and on and on and on.
Now I will digress and tell you why these things are important---more than we think they are.
When we bought our first cow she came home and was a healthy running, jumping cow. Then about 3 months later we were able to bring home the other female. Well low and behold Rose (cow #1) was not as black as Caragh (cow #2). O.k. no big deal. Over time though Rose became redder and redder--like a black headed woman with a bad bleach job. Research via the internet said not enough copper was in her diet. O.K. ---we could understand that. So we would just up her copper by feeding her a grain mix with some in it to supplement her minerals.
Well, by that time we had sheep. So we split the cows into one pasture and the sheep into another since sheep can't have ANY copper as cows can. Sheep are greedy little animals---and quick as lightening, so keeping them from getting some of the cow food was next to impossible. Also, our cows were short so the sheep could jump up and eat out of anything the cow could, hence the problem. Over time Rose gained back some of her black color but not as much as Caragh did. We worried, but we were about to find that was the least of our worries.
Our sheep started struggling with worms that summer. Oh the summer was horrible for parasites. If you don't know about sheep and worms let me say this: a lamb can die within ten days by extreme loss of blood (being sucked out by the worms in their stomachs) and it is not a pretty site. Very sad. Anyways, we were trying to rotationally graze them but couldn't seem to get the groove correct no matter what we did. We wormed and wormed with chemical wormers , which I totally hate, but it was the only way to save them. So I started researching organic techniques--garlic, chicory, wormwood, other herbs , and other things in general. I figured that since chemical wormers weren't always available some where there had to be info on what they did in the "old days". As it turns out we stumbled on some new information out of Australia about using copper to help sheep battle internal worms. Supposedly the copper creates an environment in the sheep's blood that doesn't let the worms propagate nor live a healthy life. Some will make it but most will die.
Ask any shepherd or vet about copper and sheep and you will get some of the most horrified looks you ever saw in your life and a "sheep CAN'T have copper--it will kill them almost immediately". I was desperate though and felt there was no other way (besides I don't always believe everything I hear) though we did wonder if we would wake the next morning to a flock of dead sheep.
I am going to shorten this since it is an extremely long journey on my part. What we found over time was that our land was so depleted and exhausted with such low (acidic) ph that really no minerals were making their way up into our animals. Many of the minerals needed by my animals where either lacking (selenium), low (calcium) or "locked" in the soil because of the soil conditions (copper--just to name one). The soils lack of health was requiring our animals to regularly need "modern" intervention to keep them in good health. Even with that they weren't in "tip-top" health. Our first saving grace came when we added Kelp to their diets instead of the salt mineral we were purchasing from the feed store. What an amazing product. Within a month--Rose was almost black and my sheep looked a lot better. We still felt they weren't getting enough copper and selenium though and tests showed they weren't.
My long drawn out point is this: The soil absolutely, completely has everything to do with your health. Whether you eat meat or eat only vegetables---what soil they were grown in has everything to do with your overall well being. If the soil has low or no selenium (most of the U.S now) then so will your veggies. My sheep get "doses" of selenium that many vets (I speak to a lot of them about what they think and what I notice) swear should have killed them. It doesn't though-- BUT I will have to test my soil every year so that I don't give them to much over time as soil conditions improve on my property. Which it will with time. Also as we have an animal to butcher we will send portions of a liver to a lab to test. Testing liver tissue is the best way to see what type of nutrition animals are getting from a property (which is especially important if you are trying to be mostly grass base and have not much acreage) It only gives you the nutrition of the tested subject which should be considered the "average" though-- as with humans everyone is different and observations are required to accommodate those differences. Some animals may need a supplement, some may not---and each farm must choose how they will handle those things.
Obviously based on what we have learned---I will need to add selenium to my garden (remember this is my original reason for posting) so that we in turn receive some. I will need to take soil samples first since some things you don't want to over do. My animals and cows have never been healthier since adding extra of two deadly minerals--- BUT those and others are absolutely needed by all bodies. Needed only in small amounts as a whole, but needed none the less. Some areas naturally lack some nutrients and always have but modern farming is partly to blame behind this lack of nutrition in our soils with its continual applications of nitrogen rich in organic fertilizers. Another thing that can cause soil nutrient problems on your property is pollution. One example is sulfur from factories falling on soils downwind and tying up nutrients. In this case sulfur is considered an "antagonist" and there are a variety of minerals that, when out of balance, can antagonize other minerals in the soil. On our property we lack selenium and our copper is antagonized by other conditions.
After the improved overall health of our animals, their greater resistance to disease, super improved hair coats and on and on----I am completely sold on the fact that all health starts at ground level---not with the carrot you pull from it.
My next post will be about plants that can help your soil which in turn can help your animals and the microorganisms that live in your soil. One big circle of life---but when part of it is out of balance the wheel doesn't roll very well.

I believe

I believe in GOD and I believe he has held my hand many times.

Recently I read this in a comment to Burdockboy's post from January 16th.

I like your Christ
I do not like your christians,
they are so unlike your Christ.

Ghandi


Now THAT I think sums it all up---definitely with myself included in that at times.

And you MUST read this and pass it on!

We may not live there but surely we can help. Pass this on. This could as easily happen to you or someone you know. We also need to let our elected officials know that we are tired of the same ole' same ole'. If we can lend our voice---let it be heard

See the article Fighting for the Future of our Farm and then go to their web site if you like--- but if nothing else pass it on to another person.

Another view

Yesterday I posted (titled Can we think for ourselves?) about an annoying article I read in the British "Economist". Here is another rebuttal that came through my email today from The New Farm. By the way--you can sign up to have them email you when they post their newest "magazine" each month which is how I found this today.
Oh yes--I noticed that I forgot to mention yesterday that the original article blurp I posted was from the "Economist" . So now you know and feel free to write the editor with your opinion if you like.

Can we think for ourselves?

Here is a comment from an article that I would like all of you to read:

The term “food mile” is itself misleading, as a report published by DEFRA, Britain's environment and farming ministry, pointed out last year. A mile travelled by a large truck full of groceries is not the same as a mile travelled by a sport-utility vehicle carrying a bag of salad. Instead, says Paul Watkiss, one of the authors of the DEFRA report, it is more helpful to think about food-vehicle miles (ie, the number of miles travelled by vehicles carrying food) and food-tonne miles (which take the tonnage being carried into account).

The DEFRA report, which analysed the supply of food in Britain, contained several counter intuitive findings. It turns out to be better for the environment to truck in tomatoes from Spain during the winter, for example, than to grow them in heated greenhouses in Britain. And it transpires that half the food-vehicle miles associated with British food are travelled by cars driving to and from the shops. Each trip is short, but there are millions of them every day. Another surprising finding was that a shift towards a local food system, and away from a supermarket-based food system, with its central distribution depots, lean supply chains and big, full trucks, might actually increase the number of food-vehicle miles being travelled locally, because things would move around in a larger number of smaller, less efficiently packed vehicles.

Research carried out at Lincoln University in New Zealand found that producing dairy products, lamb, apples and onions in that country and shipping them to Britain used less energy overall than producing them in Britain. (Farming and processing in New Zealand is much less energy intensive.) And even if flying food in from the developing world produces more emissions, that needs to be weighed against the boost to trade and development.

This is excerpted from: The Economist and originally linked from Pocket Farm

Now I just have a couple of comments.

1: why the he?? do people need to eat tomatoes in the dead of winter? I think that goes back to the whole sacrifice area that is starting to show up in articles. We want to whine about global warming but we still want to heat greenhouses to grow tomatoes in the winter time.?!?! Add zucchinis to that too. I love squash casserole but I don't eat it in the winter unless it came out of my fridge frozen as a leftover from summer (and then it's a bit watery) and we don't eat fresh tomatoes in the winter (as much because they just don't taste as good as summer grown tomatoes from yours or your neighbors/local farmers garden)

2: In regards to the comment about driving miles: It seems to me that if you buy from a local farmer you may be buying more in bulk. A whole or half a cow, a weeks worth of veggies at one time etc etc. This to me goes to the "sacrifice" of having a more city type environment also. Why do people in subdivisions have to drive 15 miles one way to the grocery? And if there were more local farmers markets that would help. Our only market is pretty far away AND only open from May until September. It misses part of the season.
Lastly I always thought food miles were the miles from farm to MARKET not store to home. I understand the issue of many many people driving a low number of miles but that still doesn't take into account things like wasted food (not sold/rotted/ruined in transport) and food brought in to compete with the same local grown food.

3: It's cheaper to ship apples in than to buy them local. Bologna! When we lived in another part of Georgia KNOWN for it's apple climate, apple festivals and apples---they shipped the majority of their apples to Washington state. Either for consumption there OR some of the apples were re labeled/bagged and sent else where as a product of Washington. I know you read that and think "she's mistaken that couldn't happen" but that is no exaggeration: We lived there and it is common common knowledge. Nobody thinks about it though. No big deal---I mean we have all the energy we could ever want to waste and waste right? I am not totally against food from other climates---I'll be the first to admit that some of the fruit I love is from somewhere other than local, but do we have to do what I described above? O.K---maybe I shouldn't eat the exotic fruit anymore yet on the other hand if we have to sacrifice can I at least ask that STUPIDITY be canceled out first???

I am starting to realize that even though I have talked and to a certain extent walked organic and environmental for almost 2 decades that I am not sacrificing enough. I will have to work on that quite a bit more. But as I stated above---as I sacrifice can I also hope/expect/ask/anticipate that stupid actions will also be stopped???

How about this link?

Groovy Green makes a really good point Here

And find the entire article on the John Edwards interview here at Hardball with Chris Matthews
Read down in this article and see what Edwards says about what Americans can do. There is more than just the quote from groovy green.

And here's another interesting article about the war in Iraq and the troops we might/will soon be sending
from the Left Coasters blog

Sorry---I seem to be in a very political mood today :-)

Not everyone disagrees

If you haven't read Public Citizen (www.citizen.org) they have a really good format and keep pretty abreast of a lot of hot button issues. Complete with links for more exploration. I like them so much I am going to put them as a side bar link on this blog.

They do have a really great page on the Estate Tax---the tax which has created much debate since W came into office and got rid of it. Well, was I was surprised to learn is that not all wealthy people want the tax repealed. They actually agree that it is better left in place.
Check it out for yourself since it quotes some of them--you might even be surprised at who doesn't want it repealed.
www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2182

Micro Farming Revisited

Last week I "reviewed" a book entitled Micro Farming, which I recommended to read about small farms and success on small acreage. Today while looking for some information (some grain suppliers) I followed my way through to these very interesting places.
First I started at the ovencrafters.net grain suppliers page: grain suppliers
Which took me to here: Field of Plenty--bioneer web site: www.bioneers.org . This is small excerpt of a book by the author telling why he wrote his book Field of Plenty (which I have never read) He touches on a number of small "micro farms". I got to this site since I was trying to find Jennifer Green and her heirloom grains.
That article sited in the very first paragraph this small farm as a prime example of success--- Fairview Gardens:

"Fairview Gardens is a twelve acre organic farm near suburban Santa Barbara surrounded by housing developments, urban sprawl and highways. This self sufficient farm which employs 15 people and grosses over 350,000 annually, produces over 100 fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, free range chicken, goats and other animals for over 500 families. In 1994 it was bought by a non profit and put into public trust to remain as a working organic farm and educational center called The Center for Urban Agriculture." (excerpted from a different source than the author of Field of Plenty)


The farm also has a book written about it entitled: On Good Land: The Autobiography of an Urban Farm by Micheal Ableman. I think I will try and read this.

Now when I see things like that---it makes it easier to believe that at some point I might be able to be somewhat food self sufficient. Obviously I need to put just a bit more time into it than I have previously :-)

Censorship or Safety

Recently I was sent this link from slashdot (please click on the highlighted text within the article too). I was also informed of legislation regarding censorship of blogs by Senator McCain which you can see here: Link
Both of these pieces of information bring up nagging questions about censorship, freedom of speech and constitutional rights erosion. Now I personally agree completely with doing everything we can to stop child porn and so there for Senator McCain's idea doesn't seem to really be a bad idea (originally I was told that McCains's legislation also included censoring blogs in regards to content issues like defamation of character and some other things---but I believe that was incorrect as I currently understand it. I could be wrong though). On the other hand where is it that you start down the slope and it turns into something nobody can stop anymore. I mean---most people would agree that at some time there could be people in "charge" that are less than honest. Or maybe they are just more power hungry, desire more riches or just have an extremely firm viewpoint on an issue that could be the opposite of yours. Now I don't have a problem with people with convictions---I have my own. But when do my convictions possibly conflict with the rights of others if I am the one making laws?? Where and when do you stand up and say "I agree with this issue---but I don't like where this could end up heading so I will vote no" Is that the same thing with National Animal Identification? Or Real ID? They are both for "good" reasons: protecting our food supposedly and protecting our selves supposedly. But will they? And what might happen after we already have those rules and a new elected official comes along and wants more laws or more control? What about laws regarding what you eat? Or drink? Where I live there are rules about drinking. Supposedly to make me a better person. By whose standards? Christian standards? or would that be Baptist standards? Or Seventh Day Adventist standards? Or Catholic standards? All three of those "standards" have differences---regarding something so small of an issue as to whether to have a glass of wine or beer with your steak. And that isn't even moving into the heavy issues. I absolutely detest smoking. And when I lived in Texas years ago and the law was passed to ban it in public places---I was glad! Then I moved to Georgia and they still have smoking in restaurants and other public places and I thought yuk! bummer!.
Now--my Aunt has asthma badly enough that smoking around her will cause problems. So I am for this "censorship". But when I recently read of the Free State Project, I realized that I was doing exactly to others the thing I detested most--censoring their right to choose. O.k. so I still choose not to be subjected to smoking in public---and I think that smokers could be a bit more polite about it, but what if the next thing is the type of clothing we are allowed to wear in public? or the music we can listen to?" or the t.v stations? Does that sound familiar to you? Why are we fighting in the middle east for "freedom"----when we are handing over our own freedoms right here on American soil?
Now if you are interested in seeing more things supposedly censored here is a link to a group that studies it:
Project Censored Media and this is what Wikpedia says about their organization.