AGAINST CONCERNS OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS, PLUM ISLAND WILL BE MOVED TO KANSAS

REPORT:

Manhattan, Kansas was selected as the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) location after an extensive three-year site selection process that included a thorough risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, and security assessment. The Manhattan location puts the NBAF in proximity to research of NBAF-related missions in veterinary, agriculture, and bio-security research expertise, and resources. This location also puts NBAF in proximity to a major hub of the veterinary pharmaceutical industry.
The NBAF will be built on a site on Kansas State University adjacent to the existing Biosecurity Research Institute. Once construction of NBAF is completed – an estimated five-year project – the current mission activities at Plum Island Animal Disease Center will begin to transition to the new facility. The transition process is expected to take approximately two years.

MY RESPONSE TO SIERRA CLUB'S "FARMING" EXPERIMENT

By Roni Bell Sylvester

If these little darlings "HAD" to plow, grow, harvest, can, get kicked by a cow, charged by a bull, pecked by a feathered not so friend, slapped in the face by a manured tail, try to drive the tractor with a loaded hay wagon down a hill without having it jackknife, hay or harvest wheat in 100 degree temps where you get to enjoy the chaff scratching the hell out of your sun burned "red neck", meet with millions of regs made by these smart ass city people, deal with Mother Nature year around, stand for hours in a furnace kitchen to can corn, beans, peas, peaches, cherries, beets, carrots, tomatoes, jams, jellies, bake bread every day, forgo any normal high school activities because you have to milk the cows in the morning BEFORE you go to school...then get right home to gather/sort/milk the cows and scrub the gutters and clean the bulk tank every night, sew every pedal pusher you wear, drive your bike into town for piano lessons, grease the zerks in the combine blades, hoe row after row after roe of corn without rest/Perrier or IPod, and teeter on top of the silo silage praying you won't loose your balance and fall to sure death, they wouldn't think farming is just a romantic romp in a meadow!!!
In 1966, I read "Between Parent and Child" by Hiam Ginott - and it was the first time I'd ever heard about asking a child "How do you `feel' about blah, blah, blah."
I asked my Mom "I don't remember us ever talking about `feelings'- on the farm. Did we?"
She was hoeing - slowly she turned around, leaned on her hoe, looked at me with complete astonishment and thoughtfully answered, "Why Ronita. No. I never thought about feelings. When you had to go down to the barn and milk the cows, I never thought about asking, `how do you feel about bundling up and making your way through blizzards, electrical storms and monsoons to milk. Work never stopped and waited to see how we `'felt'. It needed to be done...and we all just did it."
We're into the generations of people who were given "choices" and they chose "not to work." Now they get to "play" in the fields of fluff, where they'll stay disconnected from reality, and subsequently keep choking the life out of us resource providers.
As Chuck (my farmer husband) keeps saying, "We have a nation full of baby birds in a nest, beaks wide open chirping, `feed me, feed me, feed me, YOU take care of me!!!"'
They're so damn stupid they don't know they're killing the very source of their gifts!!!
What a touchy, feely crock of a school! Completely misleading (like Michelle Obama's garden) unrealistic!!!!
I "feel" sick about the whole lie!

Here's the article "My Response..." is in response to... :-)
________________________________________________________________________
http://www.greenrightnow.com/dfw/2011/08/22/students-plow-their-way-to-the-top-of-sierra%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98cool-school%E2%80%99-rankings/
Students plow their way to the top of Sierra’s ‘Cool School’ rankings
August 22nd, 2011
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Want to know what’s going on at the nation’s greenest colleges?
Just follow the young adults in the flannel shirts and rubber boots. No, those aren’t the latest fashion trends. That’s farm attire, practical togs for students plowing the land and exploring nearby swamps, streams and forests as part of their sustainability program.
Look more closely and you’ll find undergrads tilling the soil with oxen at Green Mountain College, processing grapes at University of California, Davis, getting in touch with their inner Thoreau in the Adirondacks via St. Lawrence University and wandering like John Muir across vast acreages of green space at Stanford and Cornell.
“The pendulum has really swung back to the age of these kids grandparents or great grandparents,” said Avital Binshtock, lifestyle editor of Sierra magazine, which just released its 5th annual Cool Schools rankings identifying the top green campuses.
“They’ve taken up knitting. They want to have chickens in their backyard and learn how to plant a plot of land.”
Grandparents, yes. But even moms and dads reared in the 1960s and ‘70s might recognize a lot of what’s going on as a renewal of the back-to-nature movement they participated in when “ecology” was the catchall term. Today’s young people, though, may be even deeper in the, um, compost, as they follow their professors into the field, literally, to take part in academic courses in sustainable land use, food production and green energy generation.
This modern tilting toward more earthy classes is just one part of a matrix of changes taking place as campuses try to improve their carbon and food footprints, move to more efficient energy use and attract the top students, who are increasingly looking at whether prospective schools are walking a green path.
Binshtock, who oversaw the 2011 Cool Schools project ranking 118 campuses for their climate-cooling practices, says research from multiple sources shows that a university’s commitment to sustainability is part of what students consider in selecting a school.
And once on campus, today’s students are not shy about demanding increased academic offerings as well as more eco-friendly operations. If they don’t like what they see, she said, “they get activist about it.”
That means schools that already are going green are impelled to transform themselves even further, like the University of Washington, which claimed the No. 1 spot in the 2011 rankings with its three farms, collection of LEED Gold-certified buildings and greener energy program relying on hydropower.
Not all universities are moving as swiftly to change, Binshtock said, but at many campuses there is a “perfect cocktail” of student desire for sustainability both in the curriculum and in operations, which is reinforced by compatible faculty and administrative goals, Binshtock said.
That’s resulted in a blossoming of sustainability course offerings and the growth of the nature- immersive courses, as well as the expansion of organic and local food offerings in cafeterias and changes in infrastructure.
Several of the schools at the top of the rankings employ co-generation power plants that have helped them reduce their reliance on coal or nuclear power.
Students are no longer silent on such issues. At many campuses, they have protested their school’s dependence upon coal power, with its heavy carbon pollution, providing yet another reason for universities to find alternatives and pushing the green movement into almost every arena of campus life.
“So it’s student led. It’s campus led. It’s also faculty led,” Binshtock said. “They’re forward-thinking people, and they would like to see the world going in a better way also.”
The Cool Schools rankings are based on a survey designed to measure a university’s progress on sustainability in 10 areas: energy supply, efficiency, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, administration, financial investments, and a catch-all called “other initiatives.”
All 118 schools that returned a survey were ranked. Weightings and considerations are explained in the report’s methodology section.
Copyright © 2011 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

DEAD SKUNK STINKIN' TO HIGH HEAVEN

By Michael R. Shannon

Conservatives make a fundamental mistake regarding government employees. Frequently conservatives rail against lazy workers, using the enthusiasm–challenged as examples of all that’s wrong with government.

Yet drones making personal calls on their cell phone aren’t proponents of bigger, more intrusive government. Those disciples of inertia are, in a way, our friends.

It’s energetic and ambitious employees who want to expand government and these are the workers conservatives should be trying to eliminate.

Look at Virginia’s DMV, that long–time conservative whipping boy. Sluggish DMV employees aren’t agitating for more authority. They’re content with processing the license or registration paperwork at the standard glacial pace.

Sleepy employees aren't trying to expand DMV jurisdiction into selling government tires or oil changes. Their only goal is to discover once and for all what ratio of closed to open customer service windows produces the maximum number of disgruntled citizens with the least elected official outrage.

If you mistakenly inject a few highly motivated employees into the DMV the wait may go down to a comparatively speedy half–day, but with time on their hands the new hires may decide to go out into the parking lot and check the tint density on your SUV windows.

Virginia’s Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the real–world example of the damage and expense an eager–beaver employee can cause. VDOT scientist Bridget Donaldson has lately become concerned about that unfortunate byproduct of highway use – roadkill.

It’s not that she’s worried about the potential proliferation of small roadside memorials to squashed raccoons; Donaldson is preoccupied with the entire flattened fauna disposal process.

VDOT currently spends about $4.4 million annually disposing of animal carcasses, which only goes to show it takes a long time to clean any gene pool. In 77 percent of the cases crews haul vehicle victims to the nearest landfill and, according to Donaldson’s scare statistics, that can be a 40–mile round trip. The rest of the time practical VDOT employees simply bury the creature by the side of the road.

As a taxpayer, I’m satisfied, but then I’m not a ‘scientist.’

Instead of simply drinking coffee from her World Wildlife Federation mug, Donaldson wants to fix what ain’t broke and have VDOT embark on a new initiative that will cost more money and “help the environment.”

She claims that burying Rocket J. Squirrel by the side of the road could release harmful pollutants and bacteria, to say nothing of the damage adding his corpse to the critical mass of Happy Meal boxes and plastic bags in the landfill might produce.

If this was during former governor Tim Kaine’s administration, Donaldson could have simply recommended animal carcasses be stored in closed rest stops — instead she wants to compost the critters by mixing carcasses and wood chips, which sounds suspiciously like a Kashi bar to me.

But isn’t burial the original composting? And what could be more natural than decomposition, which doesn’t require the use of fossil fuels? If Donaldson is correct regarding the release of “harmful pollutants and bacteria” from burial, then every cemetery in the country is eligible to be declared a Superfund site.

Donaldson is simply not content to let roadside maggots do their work in peace. She wants to store vulture vittles in large gasoline–tanker sized drums that can cost up to $80,000 each. Presumably these cemetery cylinders will be cruising the Commonwealth looking for customers, which will surely burn more gas than the occasional landfill trip.

And how many road pizzas will it take to fill one of these behemoths? How much protective gear will the poor soul have to wear when he adds the last few fur frisbees to the marinating mix, if he hopes to survive the odor onslaught? And who wants to be stuck behind one of these critter containers during an August traffic jam on I–95?

Her alternate composting method requires building large concrete plazas for the putrefaction piles with the rotting runoff directed into a water–treatment plant that will have to be modified or built from scratch at additional taxpayer expense.

I’ll just bet every economic development authority in Virginia will be lobbying to get one of these “earth–friendly” odor–paloozas for their jurisdiction.

We should be thankful Donaldson doesn’t want a Wiccan to say a few words over the dearly departed.

A computer solitaire–playing VDOT scientist would’ve been content to let nature take its course, saving taxpayers the expense of studies and subsequent “solutions.” Which is why I’m now calling on conservatives to live and let live with the lethargic and embrace the ennui.

Smaller government depends upon it.

WHAT PROPERTY DOES FEDERAL OWN?

By Roni Bell Sylvester

Before Federal mandates any more monument, park, wild land, road less, wild and scenic, most precious, last great place, great and only jewel and so forth designations of U.S. land and water, it should be an absolute requirement that federal provide complete surveyed deeded documents of all properties it considers it owns; i.e. a full documented inventory!
A mostly ignored, although inseparable, is the destructive impact said mandates have on private property owners whose properties abut (and entities who have written usage agreements) land and water allegedly owned by Federal.
We strongly recommend our elected officials stop said mandates on "so-called public" lands, and demand Federal provide documented proof of its inventory.
Because Federal cannot maintain that which it claims to own, it needs to liquidate a great deal of it by giving "Conditional First Purchase Option" to those whose deeded property has abutted and been the primary source of taxable income for no less than 25 years.
What property does federal own?

TIPS ON - MAKING YOUR CASE

A part of an address given at the Independent Cattlemen Of Wyoming (ICOW) www.IndependentCattlemenofWyoming.com

By Roni Bell Sylvester on June 20, 2011

Never forget. When you’re presenting something to someone, count on the fact that someone else is presenting them just the opposite. The recipient of these contraire presentations has to make a decision (choose) between you – and the other. If your case matters enough, you’ll want them to choose you.


1) Presentation is everything!
Have you ever wondered why there are so many bad actors on the big screen or TV? It’s because they are “professional auditioners.” They know how to present their product.
Same goes for campaigns. People usually buy the candidate who "auditions well."
2) Be a problem solver.
Think up some practical, workable solutions in advance of your meeting. Go in with the intent to help them solve a problem. Be firm, but not so rigid you snap.
Read as much on the subject as possible. See what others have presented. Boil it down to its simplest form, and then present a solution, in a new and creative way.
3) Watch your words.
Most likely the person you’ll be making your case to will be a bureaucrat. Picture them as a little guy or gal, with vulnerabilities, feelings and the ability to get scared…just like you.
Don’t threaten, bully, or try to quote law. They will shut down, dismiss you, fight you, or clomp onto something and use it against court of law…against you.
4) Remember the B’s: Breath, Body, Butt, Boobs.
Don’t let any of it stink or hang out!
Dress in a way that shows you respect yourself and the person you’re meeting. Check those little things, because 99.9% of the time, they will become the big things that kill your deal.
Remember, the recipient will choose you…or the other.
5) Mind your manners. Manners never go out of style.
Be polite before, during and after your meeting. Don't foget to write a Thank You when ever someone does something nice. Let them know they're appreciated.
6) Be alert to what’s going on around you.
Build and keep in mind a whole picture. Don’t be myopic and think only of your special area.
7)Choose “one area," then stay focused on that.
8)Know what it is you want to know.
Bill Jackson, long time ag reporter for the Greeley Tribune gave me this advice. It's worth repeating!
9)Identify and get to know your enemy.
Then work hard to maintain a united front with one another.
An affective ploy eco-terrorists and government use, is to stir neighbors into fight’n and feud’n by dangling money and puffed up agreements in front of them. When they’ve fractured and splintered the neighbors away from one another, they easily pick them off one by one.
10) Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
The only stupid question is one where you... “don’t know want you want to know." A gracious person will answer kindly. A slob won’t. How the person answers will be more telling about them…than you. And that, will be good information for you to have.
11) Rely on our Constitutions as your foundation, and truth, for everything.
Our U.S. and State Constitutions are written in plain speak. That’s how brilliant our forefathers were. They knew the grace of putting words together in ways everyone could understand…and apply. Don’t let anyone try to sell you on some deep philosophical psychobabble interpretation. They’re contorting it to serve their goal of self-enrichment.
Construct your presentation around upholding our Constitutions. Demand your governments follow Administrative Procedures. Expect them to terminate any activity that is un-Constitutional!
12) Have each person who sets foot on your property sign a Property Admittance Agreement.
You’ll find Sample Forms on: www.LandAndWaterUSA.com. Look for one that most closely suits your particular situation, tailor, then use it.
Each person who asks to mull around on our property, hunters, wood gatherers, public servants, children, the help, higher education teachers, relatives, should be required to sign a “Property Admittance Agreement.”
Another form that’s useful is the “Public Servants Questionnaire.”
Ask, “Are you a government employee?” If they say yes, have them sign both the Private Property Admittance Agreement – and the Public Servants Questionnaire. Signing these agreements won’t stop those who intend to harm, but knowing their name is on a legal agreement will definitely slow them down.
13) Show me the law.
If someone shows up on your doorstep and starts barking orders at you, take Karen Budd-Falen’s tip and state firmly, “Show me the law.”
Stand your ground. Don’t take, agree to take, or sign anything right then. Make them show you the law, and leave materials for your review. Tell them you’ll consult with your lawyer and get back to them.
Don’t be a jerk and play games. Give them a definite date you’ll get back to them…then do it!
14) Never lose sight of how you factor into the equation.
A talent God gave me is - the ability to read people. I can read human body language the way Doc Beeman can read a horse.
Something really interesting emerged from one of the many times I was asked to sit and “read the players around the table.” Much to my surprise I discovered: Everyone around the table was so busy reading each other, that none – read themselves. That’s right. None “factored themselves into the equation.”
Example: One would act like a complete jerk, explode the whole deal…then walk away bitching about “those lousy bastards.” They never saw how it was their action - that aborted the deal.
Donald Trump is a master at “factoring himself in the equation.” While he’s studying the other players, he never loses sight…of himself. He’s a good model to study.
15) Call whatever by its correct name.
One of the reasons why Land And Water USA is fast becoming one of the most reliable resources on the World Wide Web is the fact we’re not afraid to call whatever by its correct name.
Examples: It’s not “wild” horse. It’s “feral” horse! They’re not prairie “dogs,” they’re prairie “rats!”
Know that political correctness is a necessary part of behavior modification, and don't play into that game!
Remember. You're a good person. You see very clearly, and recognize the difference between right and wrong, good and evil.
The political correctness police refuse to identify themselves, so to us – they’re phantom nothings!
Unlike eco-terrorists, the phantoms and low bred bureaucrats, we don’t engage in bad – or illegal behavior. We’re not rude. We’re just accurate. And that – scares the hell out of them!
16) Empower your local authorities to - “claim their authority.”
Federal must recognize local authority! That’s the law. Federal is required to notify counties the minute they think of an action. Help your County Commissioners put a coordination plan in place. Federal must recognize that authority. Use that authority to pull harmful actions targeted to a screeching halt!
To read the entire address, please go to: www.RoniBell.Blogspot.com

HELP FROM NARLO

So how is government treating you?

* Are you having problems with your city, county or state land use agencies?
* Is a state or federal agency putting pressure on you for something you did, or didn’t do?
* Is your state, county or city passing draconian land use or environmental laws?
* Are you suffering fines or penalties for land use or environmental code violations?
* Are you being threatened with eminent domain?
* Are your neighbors suffering the same fate?
If so, the 10-P's of "The NARLO Offense" offers solutions for your particular situation, without having to hire an expensive lawyer and go to court.
To learn more about the 10-P's of "The NARLO Offense" log onto our website page at:
(NARLO - www.narlo.org)
Nationally recognized organization on freedom, liberty and property rights issues.
Washington State USA

__________________________________________________
A Thank you from Ron Ewart for posting on LAW USA blog.
Thanks very much Roni.
We keep trying to find ways to help rural landowners with problems that seem insurmountable when they are facing them all alone, as most landowners must do.
My sincere gratitude for you posting "The NARLO Offense" to your websites.
We are, as we speak, planning even more intiatives for the urban and rural landowner, as well as even for the poor city slob who takes for granted what the rural folk provide for them ..... you know, like food.
The city folk are up against Agenda 21, smart growth and sustainable development, but they haven't a clue that they are in danger from these programs.
Give my best to Chuck. Hope you are both well.
Thanks again and take care,
Ron

Dear Mr. Learn,

The propaganda never ceases. Your front page story in today's Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/09/global_mining_companies_are_fo.html
rings the usual Global Warming alarm bells without ever acknowledging that there are many, many of us in the scientific community with first rate credentials who say this is FRAUD. Instead you excuse your lack of balance by saying that you could not reach one of the industrial participants. Surely you understand that this issue goes beyond the direct participants in this battle: the coal industry and the Sierra Club. There is good solid science that you and your readers need to consider.
When you say: "To keep temperature increases in the relatively safe zone of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, climate scientists say, fossil fuel use needs to peak in 2020 and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions need to drop 8 percent by 2030 compared with 2007," you completely fail to acknowledge that many of us think that is absolute rubbish. At the very least you need to say "some climate scientists," and follow your statement with a balancing comment from those of us who strongly disagree.
I know you feel that everyone opposes coal because of its dirty image. But coal is a vital national resource that can (and is) being used responsibly. If real pollutants like sulfur and mercury are properly controlled, coal does far less damage to the environment for useful energy produced than wind, solar, ethanol, and bio-diesel. Coal has a very bright future not only as a source of electricity but as a source for all sorts of hydrocarbons from synthetic fuels to plastics.
And of course, carbon dioxide from burning coal is rapidly recycled into everything from food crops to NW forests. The Carbon Cycle is a vital part of life on this planet. Alarmists will NEVER tell you that an average CO2 molecule has only a five year lifetime in the atmosphere. We know that from isotope studies. Current atmospheric concentrations are near the minimum (not the maximum) to sustain life on this planet.
Isn't it time to move beyond the propaganda and acknowledge some of the science? The future of this country depends on honest science.
Gordon J. Fulks, PhD (Physics)
Corbett, Oregon USA