Legalectric

Farmageddon: The Unseen War on American Family Farm has 2 Minneapolis screenings this weekend.

Sat, Oct 15, 1pm at St. Anthony Main
and
Sun, Oct 16, 3pm at Bryant Lake Bowl

The Saturday showing will be followed by a special panel discussion and Q & A.

Panelists include:

• Sarah Anderson, Minnesota State Representative - 43A, author of the Minnesota Raw Milk Access Bill .
• Kathryn Niflis Johnson, BSN, RN, natural health educator, Optimal Health Connection
• Diane Miller, Minnesota attorney, co-founder National Health Freedom Coalition/Action
• Paul Reese, Minnesota grass-based dairy farmer
• Tracy Singleton, owner of Birchwood Cafe

In a large part, this is about raw milk, and what agencies are doing in their “regulation.”

From the Press Kit, here’s her SYNOPSIS:

Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is
under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms
that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and
were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of
misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.

Filmmaker Kristin Canty’s quest to find healthy food for her four
children turned into an educational journey to discover why access
to these foods was being threatened. What she found were policies
that favor agribusiness and factory farms over small familyoperated
farms selling fresh foods to their communities. Instead of
focusing on the source of food safety problems — most often the
industrial food chain — policymakers and regulators implement and
enforce solutions that target and often drive out of business small
farms that have proven themselves more than capable of producing
safe, healthy food, but buckle under the crushing weight of
government regulations and excessive enforcement actions.

Farmageddon highlights the urgency of food freedom,
encouraging farmers and consumers alike to take action to preserve
individuals’ rights to access food of their choice and farmers’
rights to produce these foods safely and free from unreasonably
burdensome regulations. The film serves to put policymakers and
regulators on notice that there is a growing movement of people
aware that their freedom to choose the foods they want is in
danger, a movement that is taking action with its dollars and its
voting power to protect and preserve the dwindling number of
family farms that are struggling to survive.

Aside from unprecedented corporate toadyism?  Bowing to corporate greed at public expense?  Methinks it means that the feds are stomping on states’ rights, and the states will fiercely fight to preserve their authority.   Despite assurances by DOE’s Lauren Azar that they won’t be doing anything they already can’t do, I’m beyond skeptical.

The feds will have one big fight on their hands, a la the fight about states’ rights, whether for consultation on NEITC transmission or their right to deny transmission permits under the NIETC regs:

NIETC designation of corridors tossed out by 9th Circuit Court!!

Denial is NOT withholding… Piedmont v. FERC

Obama’s transmission push is ostensibly based on a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by federal agencies, note that it is about “federal lands.”

Memorandum of Understanding - 2009

CLICK HERE for the page that claims they’ll “expanding the scope of activity beyond federal lands.”  How long before they change that sentence?!?!

For lots of info about this from a more easterly perspective check here:

The Power Line: A View from Calhoun County

Here’s what it could mean in practice - a $60 million pay-out to allow the line to go through:

Obama Administration Draws Criticism For Fast-Tracking Transmission Line Project Through National Park Units

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on October 10, 2011 - 1:41am

A decision by the Obama Administration to fast-track seven power transmission line projects, including one through several units of the National Park System, has drawn condemnation from conservation groups.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the fast-tracking shows the administration’s commitment to developing “the kind of critical infrastructure we should be working together to advance in order to create jobs and move our nation toward energy independence.”

“This is not ‘fast track,’ it is a short circuit in which political appointees are putting their thumbs on the scale to skew the review process,” Mr. Ruch added. “It is one thing to select an alternative after the conclusion of the NEPA process, but is something else to decide on the alternative before public comment has even begun.”

© Copyright 2011 National Park Advocates, LLC.

Minnesota now has government shut-down.  Gee thanks.  To the Republicans, give me a break… this “Compromise” is breathtaking, bullshit beyond belief:

“Confidential Draft” (6/29/11)

Offers - 6/30/11

I won’t slave for beggars pay, likewise gold and jewels,
I would slave to learn the way to sink your ship of fools…

The bottles stand as empty, as they were full before,
Time there was and plenty, but from that cup no more
Though I could not caution all, I still might warn a few
Don’t lend your hand to raise no flag atop a ship of fools

Let’s hear it for Minnesota, a state with a legislature putting a Constitutional Amendment to a vote, “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?” and also trying, but failing, to also put to a vote the stripping constitutional checks and balances from the judicial branch.  And doing it in the name of “God.”  Makes me want to puke.

Yes, folks, it’s the inflamed “gay marriage” bill that I am so disgusted with, well, more correctly, I’m so disgusted with the people promoting it, the vitriolic fear and hatred flying out of the capitol and all things political, and the promotion of this nonsense by people ignorant of what the bill even says, by people ignorant and uncaring of who it affects and how it affects them.

Let me be very clear.  I’m an attorney, licensed in the state of Minnesota, sworn to uphold the constitution, state and federal, which is no small task, and I’m struggling to do my small part.  I’m one who grew up being carted around to my mothers pretty tame churchy “social justice” meetings, soaking in the imperative of “good deeds.”  In 4th grade I quit saying the Pledge of Allegiance when I realized there wasn’t “liberty and justice for all” and vowed to work towards it; one who religiously attended and enjoyed both sessions of Mayflower’s Confirmation class and chose not to sign up when I saw the glorious theories weren’t being practiced; transferred into Central H.S. as part of the first magnet class and sounded off at the School Board meetings as they were trying to wiggle out of the NAACP suit about Minneapolis’ segregated schools (did you know the court defined “segregated” as a 30 some percent minority school, yet a 100% white school was NOT “segregated?”); was a programmer and board officer for years at KFAI Community Radio recognizing the importance, the necessity, of independent voices; and drove a million bleary-eyed miles over 12 years in a Kenworth/Peterbilt to get through school to be “where I am today,” in a career I love, fighting for human and landowner rights when faced with steamrollers of utility infrastructure and ill-conceived land-use projects, suffice it to say that I am hypersensitive about the importance of standing up.  Standing up is not optional, standing up is not a question… it’s an inherent part of our job as humans, our duty as citizens, our calling as living breathing beings on this planet to leave it better than we found it, and it’s for each of us to figure out how we do that.  The bottom line is standing up.  There is nothing worse than standing silent in the face of injustice.

Here’s a video, thanks to Carol Duff, about public perceptions, speaking out, and silence:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

There are no exceptions, here, folks. It’s ALL. Everybody, liberty and justice for all.

It’s not just “liberty and justice” for those you like, not just liberty and justice for those you agree with, not just to your select friends & relatives, not just liberty and justice for immigrants from your grandparents era, not just those who don’t make you queasy, not just liberty and justice who believe in your God, not just those who don’t challenge your belief system, but it’s liberty and justice for ALL.

ALL… liberty and justice for ALL…

Here’s the first engrossment text — where’s the “liberty and justice for all” in this?  As my mother would say… is this a Christian thing to do?

Here’s what they tried to amend it to, but failed, trying to take out the checks and balances of the judicial branch:

“Section 1. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSED.
An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution is proposed to the people. If the amendment is
adopted, a section shall be added to article VI, to read:

Sec. 14. The judicial branch has no jurisdiction under this constitution to define marriage. The
legislature has the sole power to define marriage.

Sec. 2. SUBMISSION TO VOTERS.
The proposed amendment must be submitted to the people at the 2012 general election. The
question submitted must be:

“Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that the judicial branch has no
jurisdiction under the Minnesota Constitution to define marriage and that only the legislature has
this power?
Yes ……………..
No ……………….

Here, linked, is where it passed in the Senate.

Here, linked, is where it passed in the House.

And on the federal side, they re-upped the “Patriot Act” also this week… sigh…

We have our work cut out for us… in Minnesota, it comes to a vote November, 2010.

This is worth a watch…

Senate video of hearing

I’ve been receiving a lot of emails about the upcoming hearings, now this has happened and emails are coming in about it.

She has a good handle on it, the job, the role, and she’s been on energy issues f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  I’ve just put it on, and she is sounding nervous, with reason, given the tone of some of what I’ve been hearing.

Now she’s got a story about Koppendrayer and Pugh, where LeRoy told Tom that this was not the legislature and he didn’t have to vote with the chair, Tom proceeded, and LeRoy then said,  “You don’t HAVE to vote AGAINST the Chair EVERY TIME!”

Right now, she’s addressing questions from Sen. John Howe, from here in Red Wing, but he’s asking about things that are before the Commission right now, which she cannot address, it’s like asking a judge in confirmation hearing about issues before the court, she can’t go there… and from the sound of it, she’s not real familiar with the Goodhue Wind case, where the statute does allow County regulation.

Explaining differences… “You can’t just shoot off your mouth like I could as a Senator.”

Sen. Howe is now addressing “personal bias” and I wonder if he knows about her role in limiting nuclear generation and nuclear waste in Minnesota?!?!  And balanced with that is her role in putting nuclear waste “in Goodhue County.”

And now a question about repealing the coal moratorium.  HELLO, where do these folks think that there’s a need for a coal plant?  She’s talking about generation and transmission planning, decreased demand (too weak on that, she should have the specifics).   They’re wanting answers to questions like “What would be the circumstances for the public interest to add a new coal plant?”  Unreal… no understanding that there’s no need.   Sen. Metzen is saying “we used to think we were 5,800-6,000MW short and now, I don’t think the need is there.”  Well DUH.  I’ve been providing info to the Senate and House Energy Committees for so long about need and lack thereof, how is it that so many haven’t gotten it through their heads that there is NO NEED!

Sen. Scott Dibble is now referrring to a facility proposed, can’t tell if it’s Big Stone or Mesaba, probably Mesaba, “a facility that there were questions about.”

Sen. Doug Magnus: “What are your thoughts on transmission… how are we going to move this energy around where we need it?”  There’s a number of transmission cases coming up before us… PUC has decided the first of the CapX lines, that line is intended to help support renewables.  Related to that… one thing that’s been interesting, because there’s been transmission gaps, and logjams in recent years, more of the wind projects have been located closer in to the metro area… as we site more of those transmission lines… that will help bring wind farm siting more back to the high speed wind areas that are more rural… not quite as much contention.   I did carry bill in 2005 to allow CapX utilities to get cost recovery to build out transmission…

(gotta get back to work!)