We need to set priorities!

Glenn Beck likes to compare President Obama to a magician by saying that we always have to watch what his other hand is doing. The powers that be have thrown so much at the liberty movement in the last year, that it is hard to know where to direct our efforts. This could be intentional. If we split ourselves into many different directions, none of us will be effective. 

One of my most persistent critics likens me to a "gerbil in a wheel, spitting out worthless posts about secession-is-just-around-the-corner almost daily," a comparison I find laughable, but one which could become apt if we fail to focus on priorities. 

As a business analyst, I have to recognize that there are three constraints to every project: time, cost, and people. You cannot cut all three at the same time. If you want something done faster, you need more people, more money, or both. If you cut costs or people, you will probably need more time. 

Applying this to Ohio's liberty movement, we need to ask – among the many urgent needs we have to regain our freedom, which should we tackle first?

I observe that we can express most of our requirements as pairs -- actions needed in Congress that can be complemented or replaced by state actions. I list these pairs below. Note that I am ignoring the state budget and SB 5 because both are certain to pass in some form, most likely in a way that will work in the direction of smaller government.

My question to my readers is, which of the following should we be pursuing first, second, and third? Please comment; even if it is nothing more than "1.x, 2.y, 3.z."

	Actions by Congress	Actions by the State of Ohio
a	Refuse appropriations for the Libyan war.	Governor Kasich to refuse deployment of Ohio National Guard to Libya.
b	Repeal national health care, or "Obamacare."	Nullify mandatory health care in Ohio (legislation).
c	Abolish the Federal Reserve Bank.	Authorize state and local tax payments in gold or silver: "Honest Money."
d	Balance the budget.	Intercept federal taxes (through the Ohio Department of Taxation) pending a state board or legislative ruling on the constitutionality of federal expenses.
e	Repeal the USA PATRIOT Act.	Nullify the use of body scanners and aggressive patdowns in Ohio airports.
f	Modify or repeal federal gun control laws.	Nullify gun control for weapons both made and sold in Ohio (intrastate commerce). (Note: link is to bill in previous General Assembly)
g	Repeal federal drug laws, particularly those related to marijuana.	Nullify federal prohibitions on the use of marijuana as a prescription drug.
h	Repeal federal food laws that affect intrastate commerce in farm produce.	Nullify federal regulation of farm produce both grown and sold in Ohio (Manna Storehouse – but note that Manna Storehouse was an abuse of state power).

We need to round up corporate agriculture, not crops

I am not particularly well informed on agricultural issues; but I am in favor of sustainable farming, which means to me that we need to be careful what we use for fertilizers and herbicides. Jeffrey Smith, at the Institute for Responsible Technology, has written an interesting, and fairly scary, article about a "Sudden Death Syndrome" (SDS) that affects crops on land repeatedly treated with glyphosate (the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide). The article is well-illustrated, for us non-farming types. The illustrations provide documentary evidence of the claims made in the article.

According to Mr. Smith's research, such herbicides are not only responsible for SDS, but have led to crops lacking in nutrients. Glyphosate has entered our diets through corn, soybeans, meat, and milk, and has been associated with a number of human health issues, including a sharp increase in the incidence of Alzheimer's Disease since the 1990s. In support of that claim, the article notes that one of the primary triggers of Alzheimer's is a lack of copper and magnesium in the diet. A test of glyphosate applied to a Roundup-resistant alfafa (called "Roundup Ready") showed a 20% loss in the copper content and a 26% loss in the magnesium content the year following application of the herbicide.

Mr. Smith wants the Secretary of Agriculture to deny approval for Roundup Ready alfalfa. Approval of the strain will continue to support manufacturers of potentially dangerous genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

I am sure professional agronomists can find room for argument in the studies presented; but for the layman, it provides one more example of how large-scale government tends to protect the corporation at the expense of the individual. Decentralism will strengthen local governments and peer pressure; which I suggest would actually prove more effective at dealing with such issues.

Why the Food Safety Act is a bad idea

Charlie Earl at littlestuff-minoosha warns us how bureaucracies run amok in efforts to expand their mission. He uses the "camel's nose in the tent" analogy to suggest that the real purpose of the act is to destroy American agriculture.

He makes a good case. His writing style is such that if I try to quote it, it is sure to be out of context; but once you read it for yourself, you will gain a new appreciation for the reasons this act (and "Net neutrality" and a host of other bad ideas) must be resisted!

Good news -- the Food Safety Bill is apparently dead on arrival

The Congress has been playing so fast and loose with the Constitution lately, that it has tripped itself up on internal procedures! Case in point, from the New American,* quoting Natural News and Roll Call:

While Democratic Senators touted the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act as an “accomplishment,” conservatives and constitutionalists begged to differ. It appears, however, Americans may have run into some luck as a “blue slip mistake” may halt the bill in its tracks. Two different versions of the Food Safety Modernization Act were passed, one in the House and one in the Senate. The Senate version, touted as the softer one, passed earlier this week by a vote of 73-25. However, the two versions of the bill need to be reconciled, but the lame-duck’s full agenda inhibited the possibility of conference talks. The Hill reported that it was more likely that the House would approve the Senate version instead.

The House has rejected the bill, however.

In its haste to pass the Act, the Senate may have “forgotten” that it is the sole role of the House of Representatives to initiate new taxes. As the Food Safety Modernization Act creates taxes, the House, which was preparing to vote on the Senate version of the bill, must reject it.

If it doesn't pass now, it should not have any chance in the next Congress. Should, meaning "ought to, not necessarily will or must." The eternal vigilance rule still applies.

* Standard disclaimer. Yes, I know who publishes The New American, but (with occasional unfortunate exceptions), I judge such sources on the reliability of their sources. The New American usually contains very solid journalism.

Why we need to repeal the 17th Amendment

My fellow Ohio blogger Brian has been running a blog for some time dedicated to the repeal of the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution. I have to admire his tenacity -- to regularly post to and maintain a blog on such a limited subject. His point is that the states would have a stronger hand against federal tyranny if we returned to the original system of having the state legislatures elect the U.S. Senators, instead of them being elected directly by the people. That way, the states as states would have a stake in how the federal government is run. You can be sure, at the very least, that Senators elected by state legislators would end unfunded mandates on state governments. Right now.

In today's post, Brian uses the Food Safety Bill (S.510) to explain how the U.S. Senate has been rigged to favor corporate special interests, and presents a convincing argument based on today's news for repealing the 17th Amendment. It is well worth your time to read.

Update Dec. 7: Brian posted a comment in his own blog that is worth reposting here:

Thanks Harold. It's been up and down over the years but the blogging keeps me partially focused on the shenanigans in the US Senate.

Getting this repealed is a tough fight, but at least for now I hope we are waking people up to the origins of the US Constitution and the creation of Congress and the role the US Senate once had.

But even if the repeal did happen we would still need to make a modification and add a recall provision that was left out of the Constitution from the Articles of Confederation. That would put the states back into the Federal Government and restore the 10th Amendment.

Update on "Outlawing gardens"

My Nov. 18 piece "U.S. Senate bill seeks restriction on personal gardens" has done unbelievable things to my hit count. However, my standards are higher than that. While I do not always research thoroughly (and sometimes not enough), I do try to check the accuracy of what I write -- at least to confirm that there is a bill currently in the Congress that is cited by my source.

However, it appears that my piece might have inspired a reaction greater than what the facts justify. A writer to the Hoptown Hall Forum cited snopes.com, which I generally consider to be a reliable source. Snopes finds that claims that S.510 would outlaw gardening and saving seeds to be "mostly false."

So I read the official summary of S.510. Farms and restaurants are specifically exempted from the inspection provisions of the bill, so Snopes is correct in saying that the bill will not outlaw gardening or saving seeds. It does not appear to mandate the use of chemicals.

However, there is no question that the bill would erect a vast bureaucracy to regulate food, which given the Executive's penchant for creating its own law; would likely have led to absurdities like the ones we have been concerned about.

But Snopes (properly) ignores the most essential point. No matter how broad or limited the powers S.510 would grant to the new Food Administration, it is still an unconstitutional intrusion on the rights of states to regulate what is mostly intrastate commerce.

The bill has not been acted upon since December 2009, and I suggest that the lame-duck session of Congress has bigger fish to fry in its last few days. But pressing for its defeat is still very much in order for any liberty-loving activist.

Go ahead and plan your 2011 garden. You're going to need it.

U.S. Senate bill seeks restriction of personal gardens

Update Nov. 22: Corrects some of the statements made here.

Called the "food safety modernization act", S.510 would outlaw gardening and saving seeds, in the name of "safety". Obviously, it is an unconstitutional violation of intrastate commerce, if anyone other than a liberty activist still cares about the Constitution. It would also enable the Department of Homeland Security(!) to make Manna Storehouse an ordinary occurrence. The Senate voted for cloture yesterday, with a Yes vote from Ohio's Sherrod Brown.

We must urge Sen. Voinovich and future Sen. Portman to vote against it; and let Sen. Brown that we are agin' him on this bill.

The only good thing I can say about it is the (black) humor it has generated in Facebook:

When gardening is outlawed, only outlaws will have gardens.

And these from Jeffrey Jordan.

I'll give up my tomatoes when they pry my cold, dead hands from around them.

Give me pickles or give me death.

God, guns, and grapes made this country. Let's keep all three.

An apple a day keeps the black helicopters away.

Hell, no! We WILL grow!

Don't tread on my beans.

Uncle Sam Wants You to Eat at McDonald's.

Ho, ho, BHO. How much dill am I allowed to grow?

Pumpkins don't kill people. People kill people.

Virtual buckeyes to Heidi Perron and Teri Cain Owens in Facebook.

Manna Storehouse redux

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; but we really don't need the raid at Manna Storehouse to be imitated:

From SLMN News via Rebellion:

In another show of Federal illegitimacy, a FDA multi-agency “guns drawn raid” on simple dairy farm, orders 50,000 lbs of cheese destroyed. You see, the cheese wasn't processed in accordance with US government mandates, as directed by the processed dairy industry, partial owners of the US government.

One wonders how much longer it will be before a Ukraine style starvation by government will occur? Food as a weapon to force cooperation with a bloodthirsty government has a number of historical precedents, with the progressive/fascist Stalin's starving of millions in Ukraine the most infamous.

Missouri is a Southern State, how much longer do y'all think it will be before this happens in your State? It may already be happening.

It already has in Ohio. I hope Missouri has something like the 1851 Center to help the dairy farmer.

New health scare: orthorexia nervosa

NaturalNews.com reports that controlling one's diet can be considered a mental illness -- orthorexia nervosa:

In its never-ending attempt to fabricate "mental disorders" out of every human activity, the psychiatric industry is now pushing the most ridiculous disease they've invented yet: Healthy eating disorder.

This is no joke: If you focus on eating healthy foods, you're "mentally diseased" and probably need some sort of chemical treatment involving powerful psychotropic drugs. The Guardian newspaper reports, "Fixation with healthy eating can be sign of serious psychological disorder" and goes on to claim this "disease" is called orthorexia nervosa -- which is basically just Latin for "nervous about correct eating." ...

Getting back to this fabricated "orthorexia" disease, the Guardian goes on to report, "Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating. Refusing to touch sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya, corn and dairy foods is just the start of their diet restrictions. Any foods that have come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contain artificial additives are also out."

However, if you eat junk food, you presumably are mentally healthy (as the boardroom at McDonald's collectively heaves a sigh of relief).

But why, you ask, would they attack healthy eaters? People like Dr. Gabriel Cousens can tell you why: Because increased mental and spiritual awareness is only possible while on a diet of living, natural foods.Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control, you see. It literally messes with your mind, numbing your senses with MSG, aspartame and yeast extract. People who subsist on junk foods are docile and quickly lose the ability to think for themselves. They go along with whatever they're told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority, never questioning their actions or what's
really happening in the world around them.

Even worse, such a declaration speeds the day when political dissent will become a sign of mental illness, just as it was in the Soviet Union, but perhaps with a fancy new name like persistent political maladaptation syndrome (PPMS).*

Virtual buckeye to Liberty Voice.

* Inspired by NaturalNews.com's "Disease Mongering Engine," which satirizes the rash of invented ailments that infects our mass media.