I haven’t qui-i-i-i-te been drawn into the Christmas spirit yet, but there’s still hope. Today I wore a Christmas sweater and I mailed off two giveaways that I did on the Art Journal list and a surprise package for a friend in Alaska. I might even dig out my Christmas earrings. Ooh, sparkly!

Monday night I participated in some civic engagement. Our historic district neighborhood association is fighting against a developer who wants to build a huge dormitory in a little space without the streets to support the traffic about a block and a half from my house. I would be sandwiched between this behemoth and the university. Needless to say, most of us ain’t happy about it. We’d like to see the property redeveloped, but almost anything else would be better. So we filled the zoning commission chamber and we won the first round - the zoning commission recommended against the development. The biggest battle will be next, in front of the City Council, who can still approve it over the Zoning Commission. Which begs the question - why the hell do they even have a zoning commission or spend money on comprehensive plans when they don’t bother to follow the recommendations?

But being a part of the winning team on Monday night was heady and fun. The lawyers for the developers sat behind me in the chambers and they were clearly stunned from the beginning at the way it was going against them. They had about 5 supporters in the chambers other than themselves and the other approximately 80 people were opposed. They fretted and muttered and sputtered. They had a powerful lawyer named Henry Isaacson whose practice is built upon winning these kind of cases. At the end, I turned around as I put on my coat and caught his eye. We locked eyes for about three long seconds, and I simply grinned like a happy fool. That felt good.

Don Vaughn, our state senator, was our lawyer and he did a great job. I didn’t like Don before because he named Craven Williams as a role model at one time, which led me to believe that he was either clueless, gullible, or crooked. However, I have to admit that Craven had a ginormous number of good people fooled - most people did not have the perspective and knowledge that I had of his true character. (I used to work at Greensboro College where he was president for years.) So I’ve changed my opinion of Don and I’m happy that he is my state senator.

A lot of people just don’t get why we don’t want this project here. It’s a beautiful thing, all right. But it needs to be over on Lee St. or some other area nearby that is a large enough tract and has large enough streets to support it. That’s not so hard to understand if you live here and deal with the parking and traffic on the streets every day. And they seem to think that these students, rich enough to rent a room in this high-end residence hall, won’t ever drive anywhere. Or at least they want us to believe that students never go anywhere but class and home.

Plus, we wouldn’t necessarily mind apartments. But this is for 725 students, aimed at the age group of 18-22, rented by the bedroom. What we’d really love to see is a mixed-use development with small shops, offices, and living areas.

Some of the morons commenting at the N&R say that the College Hill residents are afraid of losing rental income to this development. I don’t know anyone who opposes this who has rental property. And students aren’t the only people who rent in College Hill. These commenters make huge assumptions that have little basis in reality, yet they won’t shut up. What makes people speculate in public about subjects that they are totally ignorant about?

The development company has claimed that UNCG is in favor of this development, but UNCG has not spoken out. In fact, UNCG wanted to buy this property but were outbid by this company. Yet they have raised the name of UNCG again and again as if they are partners with them. I think that this backfired on them, because one of the zoning commissioners pointed this out.

Just the fact that I’ve had my faith somewhat restored in my government this week has made me pretty happy. What a rare feeling. Guess I’d better savor it while it lasts.

Here’s a link to a post I wrote about three years ago about NAIS. Or, more simply put, NAIS would put small livestock farmers out of business and then our only choice would be factory farms. One of the most short-sighted and unfair programs EVER, the cost of NAIS would be overwhelming to small farmers yet hardly felt by big agribusiness.

Copied from a post in September 2007:

Why is raw milk illegal in our state?

We deserve a choice about raw milk. The government has no problems with selling raw meat or cigarettes, and they leave these risk choices to the consumer. It has orchestrated a major publicity campaign against it which is extremely biased, and they often report news where the testing is unverified, and then they do not send out press releases that retract the stories after testing has cleared the farm of any culpability. They are hounding many small farmers out of the dairy business in the states that allow raw milk sales with restrictions.

UPDATE JUNE 11: HB 2524 will NOT be voted on June 11th by the House Ag Committee. There will be NO rally, either.
Details to follow.

The bill to block the rule for dye in pet milk will be voted on next Wednesday, June 18, 2008.
—————————————————————–

(this is copied from the email Ruth Ann Foster sent out this afternoon. To get on her alert email list, email her at EatReal@gmail.com.)

URGENT SUPPORT NEEDED FOR HB 2524 – THE BILL TO STOP BLACK DYE IN RAW MILK FOR PETS

NORTH CAROLINA RAW MILK ACTION ALERT
From Ruth Ann Foster, Greensboro, NC Chapter Leader and Raw Milk Coordinator
June 4, 2008

BACKGROUND
Last fall the NC Agriculture Department (NCDA) adopted a rule, which requires all raw milk sold for pet consumption (pet milk) must be denatured with a charcoal colored black dye. Our letters of objection to the Rules Review Commission successfully delayed the rule from becoming “law”. However, the rule now sits in the NC legislature and it must pass in both the House and Senate.

Just a few days ago, Representative Pricey Harrison introduced HB 2524 to reverse the rule. To successfully stop the mandatory black dye in pet milk, there are many hurdles and many votes that must happen in record time.

HB 2524 must pass through the House Ag Committee, then it goes to the Health Committee before it can be voted on by the full assembly. If HB 2524 passes there it will cross over to the senate where it will be heard in one (or more) of their committees before the full senate can vote on it.

This bill must pass this session or it is dead. The legislators are now in Short Session, which is normally held for appropriations only. Bills are not customarily introduced in short session. However, the Administrative Procedures Act under which rules are made, states that a blocked rule must be sent to the legislature at their next session. Obviously, the NCDA timed it this way to make it next to impossible to get through both the House and Senate in just a few weeks.

ACTIONS TO TAKE - ASAP
Call, write, and visit the legislators and tell them to support HB 2524.
It is absolutely imperative that HB 2524 is referred to as raw milk for animal consumption only. We are protecting our pets’ food.

CALL the NC House Agriculture Committee members:

Chairman Rep. Hill 919-733-5830 Deweyh@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman Rep. Bell 919-733-5863 larryb@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman Rep. Braxton 919-715-3017 Vanb@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman Rep. Brisson 919-733-5772 Williambr@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman Rep. Faison 919-715-3019 Billf@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman Rep. Lewis 919-715-3015 Davidl@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman Rep. Williams 919-733-5906 Arthurw@ncleg.net

Members:
Rep. Coates 919-733-5784 Lorenec@ncleg.net
Rep. Daughtry 919-733-5605 Leod@ncleg.net
Rep. Holloway 919-733-5609 bryanh@ncleg.net
Rep. Kiser 919-733-5782 Joek@ncleg.net
Rep. Langdon 919-733-5849 Jhl@ncleg.net
Rep. Pate 919-733-5755 Louisp@ncleg.net
Rep. Starnes 919-733-5931 Edgars@ncleg.net
Rep. Steen 919-733-5881 Fredst@ncleg.net
Rep. Tarleton 919-733-7727 Culliet@ncleg.net
Rep. Tolson 919-715-3024 Joet@ncleg.net
Rep. Tucker 919-715-3021 Russellt@ncleg.net
Rep. Underhill 919-733-5853 Aliceu@ncleg.net
Rep. Walker 919-733-5935 Tracyw@ncleg.net
Rep. E. Warren 919-715-3023 Edithw@ncleg.net
Rep. Wray 919-733-5662 Michaelw@ncleg.net

House Agriculture Committee Meeting:
DAY & DATE: Wednesday, June 11, 2008
TIME: 12:00 Noon
LOCATION: 1228 Legislative Building, 16 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601 (919) 733- 7928

VISIT
The Ag Committee will vote on HB 2524 at their next meeting June 11, 2008. We need a lot of people to attend the noon meeting. It is important to meet with members before their committee meetings. We may schedule a rally for Tuesday, June 10th, to increase awareness for all legislators. TBA

TALKING POINTS FOR HB 2524 – RAW MILK FOR PETS

Safety
• We want safe local food for our pets – many of us prepare all food given to our animals
• Pets will not drink black milk
• Many orphaned and rescued animals rely on raw milk – pasteurized milk makes them ill
• Farmers need unadulterated raw milk for young or orphaned animals
• Zoos rely on clean raw milk for the same purposes

Economics
• Farmers rely on the extra income pet milk sales provide
• Consumers will not purchase a deliberately adulterated food for their animals but will travel to South Carolina where they may purchase raw milk on the grocery store shelf

Necessity?
• There are only two pet milk producers licensed with the NCDA (they were forced to sign under coercion by the department)
• Both producers are organic
• There is NO organic dye
• Adulterating their organic raw milk with a synthetic dye would render it non organic and force them out of business

SUMMARY
HB 2524 is necessary to stop the black dye in raw milk sold as pet food rule adopted by the NCDA. Flow of the bill will be as follows:
1) House Ag Committee
2) ” Health Committee
3) Full House
4) Senate Committee(s) (TBA)
5) Full Senate

All this must happen within this session or it will be DEAD. Bureaucrats are not elected officials and should not be allowed to make our laws.

EVERYONE must work to get HB 2524 passed. It is easy to assume that someone else will act and most often the response is less than adequate. We need support now. EVERYONE and that means EVERYONE, needs to participate in protecting our food supply, our farmers, and our rights.

Thank you all in advance for your hard work and support.

Best,
Ruth Ann Foster
Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader,
Greensboro, NC

I’m back! What a whirlwind of inspiration THAT was. But, for right now, I’m so very sorry, but it is necessary for me to dip briefly into politics, just to get it out of my system. You see, I live in North Carolina. Tomorrow’s primary will be the first time we’ve had any influence over the Democratic nomination since I’ve been able to vote.

Which means, of course, that we’ve been bombarded with phone calls. Let’s not even talk about turning on the TV - it probably won’t happen while I’m awake for at least the rest of the year. I do have an answering machine (I know, you young’uns have “voice mail,” and I also still have a computer with a floppy disc drive and a phone that attaches to a wall, so sit down) so I can screen the calls. One of the great things about leaving the state this weekend was not listening to the phone ring. I did get to answer a poll, which gave me a little tingle.

Anyway, I’d just like to say that if ever I had been inclined to vote for Sen. Clinton, those inclinations would be stomped deader ‘n hell right now. Today a former Clinton supporter told me that he’d been turned away by her idiotic gas tax idea. Personally, my bugaboo has always, always, always been lack of manners and negative campaigning, and, I gotta say it, OUTRIGHT LYING.

My favorite columnist (since the great Molly Ivins passed away) is now Gail Collins of the NYT. Gail doesn’t suffer a fool gladly, and pretty much parcels out the comeuppance to anyone who deserves it, which let’s face it, includes everybody in the whole damn campaign and politics in general. Here’s an excerpt from her column on Saturday:

“Obama believes voters want a sensible, less-divisive political dialogue, that the whole process can become more honorable if the right candidate leads the way. Hillary really doesn’t buy that. She has principles, but she doesn’t believe in principled stands. She thinks that if she can get elected, she can do great things. And to get there, she’s prepared to do whatever. That certainly includes endorsing any number of meaningless-to-ridiculous ideas…

“On Tuesday, root for the Democrat whose vision of the political process comes closest to matching your own. And I do not want you to be swayed by the fact that Hillary and Barack are finally having a policy debate, and it’s about the dumbest idea in the campaign.”

I keep hearing from Clinton supporters that the political process is dirty, and you have to get ugly to win. But if that’s the way it is, then we are very, very lucky, BECAUSE we can change it. It’s up to us. Vote for a different way of thinking about politics tomorrow. Vote for Obama.

It’s finally official, I’m forty-seven today. It’s my birthday, and I get to talk about anything I want!

There’s a lot in the news right now about the Democratic superdelegates and their commitments to Clinton or Obama. I’m an Obama supporter - you can see it there in the sidebar - and I’m a proud liberal. To be honest with you, I don’t see a lot of differences in the two candidates’ policies. Neither is liberal enough for me and I don’t like the choices either have made in pandering to big business.

Here’s the major reason I am supporting Obama: he can beat the GOP. The polls show it. If Hilary wins the nomination, it will be John Kerry all over again. She will bring the division with which this country has been cursed with her to the race, and we’ll be doomed to another four years with a Republican president. If by some miracle Clinton does win, do you want to relive another four years of that kind of nastiness and mudslinging? I don’t.

One of my friends, a big Clinton fan, says that she hopes that McCain does win, because she thinks that the next president will be blamed not being able to repair the destruction that the Bush administration has wrought. I see her point, but I don’t like that kind of negative thinking.

Of all the GOP candidates, I can stomach McCain the easiest. At least he has some common sense about the environment and isn’t in denial most of the time about other issues. It has always stuck in my craw that he kissed GWB’s ass after the way he was treated in the 2000 election though. It didn’t jive with the honest perception I had of his character.

Yeah, Obama. He has the momentum to take this election, and he will be a uniter. I find it refreshing that so many Republicans and independents are supporting him. He will do fine as president - I’m not concerned about his experience. That’s what you have good advisors for. We need someone to bring this country together.

All that being said, I hope that the superdelegates will support the people’s choice. If that means that the citizens in their district or state support Clinton, that’s the way they should vote, and vice versa. This is the first time that I’ve been aware of the superdelegates, not knowing much about the political process, and it would be a damned shame to thwart the will of the people again after the debacle of Gore’s “loss” in 2000. Don’t do it, y’all. Don’t be power brokers. Support the citizens.

Not that I expect politicians to change. I’m probably going to change to independent after this election because I don’t want to be associated with either party. Of course, I’ve threatened that for years.

From Bob Herbert in the NYT today:

However this election turns out, Mr. Obama can be credited with a great achievement. He has drawn tons of people, and especially young people, into the political process. More than anyone else, he has re-energized that process and put some of the fun back into politics. And he’s done it by appealing openly and consistently to the best, rather than the worst, in us.

I think that last sentence sums up why I may be crossing over to the Obama camp. I love Dennis Kucinich’s and John Edwards’ philosophies. But here’s why I’m not supporting them:

Kucinich: My father and I both have seen UFO’s pretty up close, and we’re known skeptics, so that negative spin didn’t bother me. The only things that bother me about Kucinich is a) some of the animal rights activists on his social network are obnoxious and pushy, b) he never stood a chance and I knew it, and c) dammit, I just cannot pronounce his name correctly and it is embarrassing. But he was the only one who seemed to sincerely get it about our nation’s food and farm policies, and that is so sad.

Edwards: I love his anti-corporate schtick. He is absolutely right and as courageous as Kucinich in his stand and I am so close to the line in supporting him. Sandy is supporting him now. BUT, a) he has made some major dumb-ass mistakes on the campaign trail and we can’t afford that when the swiftboaters come out from under their rocks, b) I have been pissed off at him ever since he practically handed Dick Burr his Senate seat by chasing the presidency in 2004, and c) eh…there’s just something there that bothers me. Sandy said that it was because he was a Southern white boy. I don’t think that’s it - I have no problem with Southern white men in general as long as they’re not racist or sexist, just like any other man. I just don’t feel good about him deep down, like there is a sincerity problem.

I thought that was an odd remark for Sandy to make, since I have often complained about being judged by my accent. Maybe his accent reminds me subconsciously of Bill Clinton. That could be true.

I won’t even go into why I can’t stand Hillary. It will be a cruel day if I ever have to vote for her just to stop the G.O.P. from totally sinking this country. However, I wouldn’t wish the next presidency on anybody that I liked, so maybe it would be just. I would like somebody with different ideas that I feel that I can trust.

When it comes down to it, I’d like to see all this bitter partisanship to end and become a working partnership of people listening to each other’s ideas. I know that it seems like an idealistic fantasy. But you have to be able to imagine it and believe that it could happen as a starting point.

In North Carolina, our vote in the primaries don’t count because they are held so late that the nominee is already chosen. But in spirit, I think that I’ll support Barack Obama.

Just wanted to remind Greensboro residents that tomorrow is primary day, and Joel needs your votes.

This city needs someone with long-term vision.

This city needs some brains that are not stuck in a rut and are willing to do what is needed in our rapidly changing environment.

This city needs some public servants who understand the needs of small businesspeople and the importance of livable, sustainable neighborhoods.

This city does NOT need any more real estate developers that allow rezoning in every instance that a developer requests it, and it needs people who recognize their tricks in starting high and renegotiating down to get what they wanted in the first place. It needs people with a vision of our quality of life.

This city needs honesty, transparency, and respect for its citizens.

Vote for Joel Landau.
www.joellandau.com

(He understands the importance of good, clean, and fair food, too.)

District 1 voters, if you’re interested: I’m voting for Luther Falls. I was very interested in Tonya Clinkscale, but the fact that she is in real estate bothered me too much.

This is an urgent call-to-action from the Center for Food Safety. Passage of this language into the 2007 Farm Bill would stop state and local governments and voters from deciding what is best for their local communities. We have a chance to stop it at the House Agriculture Committee level if you take action quickly. This is much like the Food Uniformity bill that was nearly passed last year.

Here’s part of what the Center for Food Safety says on their web page above:

The primary intent of this passage is to deny local or state rights to regulate genetically engineered crops or food. This would wipe out the restrictions passed by voters in four California counties and two cities, and could limit the powers of the California Rice Certification Act and its ability to prohibit the introduction of GE rice varieties. Local and state laws pertaining to GE crops have also been passed in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. All of these democratically enacted laws are threatened by this language.

I took out the language provided by the Center for Food Safety and inserted my own, copied below.

The right of local governments to decide what is best for their own communities is at the heart of our democratic system. By their own auditor’s admission, the USDA has a terrible track record of monitoring food and agricultural products of questionable stability and safety. Just look at what happened to rice farmers last year.

I would like to think that a large area of organic farmers could be protected from contamination from pharma and other GE seeds by local zoning laws and regulations if the local government deemed it in the community’s best interest. Once a farm is contaminated, an enormous economic hardship is incurred. That farmer often has the choice of going out of business or being forced to do business with certain corporations. There is no justice in this situation.

Our small farmers must be protected from prosecution by large corporations like Monsanto, who have a history of contaminating farms, suing the victims, and winning. Local regulation and zoning could resolve these problems and ensure that there is a fair deal for small farmers and agribusiness alike.

This is a matter of protecting your citizens and small businessmen. As a small farmer, the descendent of generations of small farmers, and an organic consumer who would like to see the supply for organic produce increase to meet the growing demand, I beg you to remove this language from the 2007 Farm Bill.

:::Rant Alert:::

From an editorial on food safety in the New York Times today, referring to The Jungle by Upton Sinclair:

The answer, Sinclair believed, was always the same: providing the American people with the gritty truth that they needed to protect themselves. “The source and fountain-head of genuine reform in this matter,” Sinclair insisted, “is an enlightened public opinion.”

This represents part of what I’ve been brooding over in recent days: What if most people sincerely do not want to hear the truth? What if most people fear change more than truth? What if most people are willing to accept unsafe food produced under horrendous working conditions as long as it’s cheap, convenient, and the production is hidden from their view?

That’s what gets me down. Because that’s what I hear, in silence and actions and different words, from many people that I respect and love. And I don’t think things will change until people begin the hard work of listening to the facts and allowing themselves to care. Right now, they don’t want to hear it or think about it. They would rather trust what industry (through government cronies and marketers) tells them. Why was there widespread outrage one hundred years ago, but not now?

I know that people are overwhelmed with other problems, but what could be more important that what you put inside your body, and your family’s bodies? As long as we accept filth and poison and untested technology in our food supply without even questioning it, and the government sides with corporations instead of consumers, why should corporations change what they are doing?

As long as I have a choice, and most people do, then I want the information I need to make the best choice. I can’t imagine having an inkling of an idea that my food is not safe and not wanting to know more about it. Yet, that is what I hear, over and over. “I don’t want to know.”

I don’t expect people to eat exactly like I do, and I’m not perfect in my eating habits. But, for example, why not spend the same amount of money spent on soda or upscale coffee on buying a carton of eggs that aren’t produced in conditions that are inhumane to the chickens and unjust to the farmers struggling to make a living under the huge corporations that constantly demand more profit? Did you know that it is legal to feed arsenic to chickens, which passes on to you and your children? That industrial chickens are crammed in six or more to a tiny cage where they cannot move? I’m talking about spending an extra buck or two a week on a product that is available in most stores or farmers’ markets, that tastes better and is more nutritious. Doesn’t that one small choice seem reasonable? Corporations will supply what we demand.

As for people who do not have choices in food, such as children, the elderly, people in institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons, and the very poor who must rely on charity for their food, why does the government of this country allow a system in which they do not have choices?

Why can’t there be enforceable standards that do not cut out the small farmer or food producer who seeks to provide a quality product; that don’t apply the same bullshit rules geared toward an industry that handles hundreds of cattle an hour on an assembly line to an slaughterhouse that handles a few cattle an hour with care? That allows the farmer to slaughter her own livestock or produce dairy products on a small commercial scale with a reasonable level of oversight? Where are our priorities?

Just asking.

Ironically, there was a feature on the front page of our newspaper today about the struggle of small dairy farms in the area, and how most of them have closed because it was more profitable to sell the land to developers. The ones working hard to make the transition to organic and marketing on a local level are doing better, but government regulations make it difficult and super-expensive for small dairy farms to operate because everything is geared to accommodate huge confined milk-em-til-they-drop dairy farms.

If we don’t make informed choices now, the choices will disappear. Some already have. We have to listen, act, and demand better choices from the new folks in Congress.

Build Our Community: Buy Local!

Supporting independent businesses creates local jobs, preserves economic diversity, safeguards the environment and contributes to a just global economy.

Big box stores like Wal-Mart are steamrolling their way into cities and towns throughout the country, pushing down wages and forcing small, local businesses to close because they can’t compete with these mega-companies’ predatory practices. But there’s something we can do! On Saturday, November 18th, let’s vote with our dollars in favor of locally owned, independent businesses and against the negative impacts of chain stores and big box stores on our communities!

Why Buy Local?

• Local businesses produce more income, jobs, and tax receipts for
  local communities than big box stores do.
• Local businesses are more likely to utilize local ads, banks and
  other services.
• Local businesses donate more money to nonprofits and are more
  accountable to their local communities.
• Supporting local businesses preserves the economic diversity of
  our communities and the unique character of our neighborhoods.
• Supporting local businesses is good for the environment, because
  it cuts down on fuel consumption. Buying locally produced goods
  reduces the need to ship goods from thousands of miles away
  and also cuts down on the distances shoppers travel.

And don’t forget to also buy Fair Trade, organic and green!

National Buy Local Day sponsors include Co-op America, Democracy Unlimited, Global Citizen Center, Global Exchange, Liberty Tree Foundation, Organic Consumers Association, Social Ventures Network, and others.

From www.buylocalday.org.