Month: May 2011

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World Health Organization Reschedules RF (wireless) is “Possibly” Dangerous!

World Health Organization – PRESS RELEASE N° 208 – May 31, 2011

IARC CLASSIFIES RADIOFREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AS POSSIBLY CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS

Lyon, France, May 31, 2011 ‐‐ The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer1, associated with wireless phone use.

Background

Over the last few years, there has been mounting concern about the possibility of adverse health effects resulting from exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, such as those emitted by wireless communication devices. The number of mobile phone subscriptions is estimated at 5 billion globally…

Conclusions

Dr Jonathan Samet (University of Southern California, USA), overall Chairman of the Working Group, indicated that “the evidence, while still accumulating, is strong enough to support a conclusion and the 2B classification. The conclusion means that there could be some risk, and therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk.” …

read the full report – WHO RF Press Release

PG&E, the Smart Meter Corp. in this video stated that World Health Organization (WHO) has found that RF is safe. This reference to the WHO findings has been used by RF industry to “prove” RF tech is safe. Today WHO reversed its position!

From: stopsmartmeters.org

World Health Organization Declares Wireless a Cancer Risk- Mesh Network Must be Deactivated to Protect Human Health

To date, a total of 42 local jurisdictions have demanded that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) halt further installation because of widespread reports of health impacts and other concerns…

Aside from cancer risks, wireless meters have been widely reported to cause headaches, dizziness, ringing in the ears- even memory loss and heart palpitations among susceptible individuals due to the constant bursts of microwave radiation.  The movement against wireless meters is the sharp end of a growing movement demanding health-based standards for wireless technology…

full article – stopsmartmeters

Call Governor Shumlin and tell him WHO now considers there is danger in RF tech. If you want him to reverse is stance on S.78 to exclude Smart Meters from the bill until there has been a moratorium to prove there is no health risk, tell him! Here is a sample letter you can use with the basic information (link)

Phone: 802 828-3333
TTY: 800 649-6825
Fax: 802 828-3339
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Can Vermonters Opt-out from Smart Meters? UPDATED

SEE BOTTOM OF ARTICLE FOR DETAILS ON HOW VERMONTERS CAN OPT-OUT

Why Stop Smart Meters?

Utility customers have noticed huge increases in their bill after a ‘smart’ meter is installed- in some cases hundreds of dollars more than usual. http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/12/customers-revolt-as-smart-meters-accused-of-overbilling/#

Read the interview with the Electronic Frontier Foundation about how ‘smart’ meters violate privacy.

Smart meters do not result in energy savings, according to Reuters.  They may even increase energy consumption.

Whistleblowers interview on Smart Meters

The CA Public Utilities Commission, an appointed (not elected) body who are meant to regulate utility companies, has ignored popular local opposition and recklessly continues forcing ‘smart’ meters onto the people of CA.

full article – http://stopsmartmeters.org/why-stop-smart-meters/

PRESS RELEASE from the Karolinska Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Stockholm, Sweden, February 3, 2011

Scientists who study radiofrequency radiation from wireless technologies have issued a scientific statement warning that exposures may be harming the development of children at levels now commonly found in the environment. Pregnant women are cautioned to avoid using wireless devices themselves and distance themselves from other users.

The Seletun Scientific Statement has now been published in Reviews on Environmental Health (2010; 25: 307-317). The article recommends that lower limits be established for electromagnetic fields and wireless exposures, based on scientific studies reporting health impacts at much lower exposure levels. Many researchers now believe the existing safety limits are inadequate to protect public health because they do not consider prolonged exposure to lower emission levels that are now widespread…

Many countries are promoting wireless communications on a community-wide scale for energy management and conservation. The SmartGrid concept could require every home to have a wireless electric and gas meter in place of their existing meters. If implemented, it will greatly increase the intensity of new wireless emissions in homes, schools and every other building that uses electricity and gas.

full press release – http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/docs/Karolinska_Institute_press_release.pdf

Assessment of Radio frequency Microwave Radiation Emissions from Smart Meters

FCC compliance violations are likely to occur under widespread conditions of installation and operation of smart meters and collector meters in California. Violations of FCC safety limits for uncontrolled public access are identified at distances within 6” of the meter.

full report – http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/

the Sage Report responds to the EPRI – linked below.

Sage Report on Radio-Frequency – Radio Frequecy Exposures from Smart Meters

February, 2011

EPRI (The Electric Power Research Institute) conducts research on issues of interest to the electric power industry, and is largely funded by electric utilities in the United States.

Currently, the data made available by the utilities that are installing smart meters is non-existent, piecemeal and without sufficient basis to verify.  In addition, there are different types of meters being deployed, so a full accounting of each one should be public information.

full article – http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/?page_id=460

No Smart Meters San Francisco Blog (videos) – http://nosmartmeters.blogspot.com/

The following link has a list of local governments within California who are opposed to the mandatory wireless  ‘smart’ meter program.  Names of cities and counties are linked t0 news coverage or official council minutes that substantiate each city or county’s inclusion.

TAKE ACTION – Tell Governor Schumlin and your state Reps. you want the option to opt-out and keep your analogue meter. Governor’s office – http://governor.vermont.gov/ Legislator’s e-mails arranged by county – http://www.leg.state.vt.us/lms/legdir/districts.asp?Body=S&Session=2012 House Representative’s e-mails by county – http://www.leg.state.vt.us/lms/legdir/districts.asp?Body=S&Session=2012

Inform your community!

From CVPS –  Can I opt out from CVPS SmartPower®?

We recognize that there may be some customers who would prefer not to have an advanced digital meter installed at their home. Customers have the right to opt out of the CVPS SmartPower® program. However, we strongly believe that together we can all benefit from updating and improving our electric system. Customers who choose to opt out must contact CVPS’ Customer Information Center at 800-649-2877, and will also be required to pay a monthly fee of $10 to cover the cost of meter reading and additional equipment expenses. (This fee has now been waived) – VPR News story

link http://www.cvps.com/ProgramsServices/smartpower/TheFacts/AnswersToYourQuestions/index.asp#answerSix

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Movement to reverse corporate personhood comes to Boulder

By Jefferson Dodge

…David Cobb, the Green Party’s 2004 candidate for president, is a primary spokesperson for Move to Amend and sits on the initiative’s seven-member executive committee. He will be speaking on “Creating Democracy and Challenging Corporate Rule” in several Colorado cities this week,…

Cobb discusses the three possible ways Move to Amend can reverse the Citizens United decision, from convincing two-thirds of our congressional representatives to approve an amendment to the Constitution (it would then go to the states for ratification) to triggering a Constitutional Convention with support from two-thirds of the states.

Finally, he says, if subjected to enough cultural pressure, the Supreme Court could reverse itself, as it did in Brown v. Board of Education to outlaw Jim Crow laws.

Move to Amend has collected more than 111,700 signatures online for a constitutional amendment that would:

• Firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.

• Guarantee the right to vote and to participate — and to have our vote and participation count.

• Protect local communities, their economies and democracies against illegitimate “preemption” actions by global, national and state governments.

Cobb describes this as a watershed moment in the country’s history.

“This moment in time is a democracy crisis, so what we need is a democratic movement, much like what is happening across the Middle East, Latin America and Central America,” he says. “We need to start taking ourselves seriously as ‘we the people,’ actually having the sovereign right, and dare I say sacred responsibility, for creating a just, compassionate society. If we start to think that way, we can change reality.”

More information is available at movetoamend.org.

full article – http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-5626-we-the-corporations.html

VT Corporate Personhood Resolution – Corporate Personhood Resolution

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Shumlin’s decision to veto water safety bill perplexes proponents

by Taylor Dobbs | May 30, 2011 – VT Digger

…Kim Greenwood, staff scientist at the Vermont Natural Resources Council, who worked with the Agency of Natural Resources on the bill, said there was very little opposition.

“I was very surprised (it was vetoed) because there wasn’t a lot of controversy around this,” she said. Greenwood said that there were questions raised about which tests should be done and some concerns about the bill’s implementation, but not the legislation itself. “I’m not aware that there was a lot of – or any – opposition to the bill,” Greenwood said.

“It is striking,” Greenwood said in a statement released by the council, “that on the same day the governor signs a landmark health care bill, he vetoes a measure designed to protect public health by requiring the testing of new drinking water wells for arsenic, lead and uranium, among other things.”

Deb Markowitz, secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, said while her office had been communicating with the governor’s office about S.77, there had been “no prior conversations with the governor about this specific bill.”…

full article – http://vtdigger.org/2011/05/30/shumlin’s-decision-to-veto-water-safety-bill-perplexes-proponents/

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Massachusetts backs Vermont suit against Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Friday, May 27, 2011

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – Massachusetts intends to file a “friend of the court” brief supporting the state of Vermont in a federal case brought by Entergy Corp. over the state’s authority to halt continued operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant after next year.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a motion Wednesday seeking to file the brief by June 13, according to Assistant Attorney General Amie Breton. Proceedings in the case are scheduled to begin June 23.

Meanwhile, the state of Vermont has filed suit in federal court challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing the Vernon reactor for an additional 20 years as a violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

The Conservation Law Foundation, on behalf of the Brattleboro-based citizens’ group New England Coalition, also sued the NRC for approving a 20-year license for plant beyond 2012 without plant owner Entergy first obtaining a water quality certificate or waiver from the state.

The filing last week in the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., contends that NRC issued a license for the plant in March without a water discharge certificate from the state, as required by the Clean Water Act.

“It’s the state’s responsibility to issue the certificate, it’s Entergy’s responsibility to apply for it, and it’s NRC’s responsibility to make sure that all that has happened before they issue a license,” said coalition spokesman Raymond Shadis.

Full article – http://www.gazettenet.com/2011/05/27/massachusetts-backs-vermont-suit-against-nuclear-regulatory-commission?SESS5bd48b21875116cd73d694e5d5bd4d45=gnews

 

 

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Arnie Gundersen Gives Testimony to NRC ACRS – May 26, 2011

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) held a special ACRS meeting Thursday May 26, 2011 on the current status of Fukushima. Arnie Gundersen was invited to speak for 5 minutes concerning the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident as it pertains to the 23 Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactors (BWR’s) in the US and containment integrity. Mr. Gundersen was the first engineer to brief the NRC on the implication of Main Steam Isolation Valve (MSIV) Leakage in 1974, and he has been studying containment integrity since 1972. The NRC has constantly maintained in all of its calculations and reviews that there is zero probability of a containment leaking. For more than six years, in testimony and in correspondence with the NRC, Mr. Gundersen has disputed the NRC’s stand that containment systems simply do not and cannot leak. The events at Fukushima have proven that Gundersen was correct. The explosions at Fukushima show that Mark 1 containments will lose their integrity and release huge amounts of radiation, as Mr. Gundersen has been telling the NRC for many years.

Supporting Documents:

AP1000 Containment Leakage Report
http://www.fairewinds.com/AP1000-Containment-Leakage-Report-Fairewinds-Associ…

Beaver Valley Unit 1 (Testimony to NRC)
http://www.fairewinds.com/content/beaver-valley-unit-1-gundersen-testimony-nr…

Millstone 3 Containment (Testimony to NRC)
http://www.fairewinds.com/content/millstone-3-containment-gundersen-testimony…

AP1000 Design Flaw (addressed to NRC)
http://www.fairewinds.com/content/ap1000-nuclear-design-flaw-addressed-to-nrc…

Ramifications for the AP1000 Containment Design
http://www.fairewinds.com/content/ramifications-ap1000-containment-design

Crystal River Delamination Update
http://www.fairewinds.com/content/crystal-river-delamination-update

Attachment – Arnie Gundersen to ACRS 5-26-11.pdf (59kb)
http://fairewinds.com/sites/default/files/Arnie%20Gundersen%20to%20ACRS%205-2…

©Fairewinds Associates
http://fairewinds.com/

 

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ACTION PAGE – Interstate Shipment of Raw Milk HR 1830

Quick Action HR 1830 – http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6822#Action

Send a Fax to Your Legislators – Ask Them to Co-Sponsor & Pass HR 1830

112th U.S. Congress – House Bill HR 1830

Congressman Ron Paul has once again introduced a bill that would allow the interstate shipment of raw milk and raw milk products for human consumption, HR 1830.* We believe that there is a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of our choice including raw milk, contrary to FDA’s claim that there is no such right in itsresponse to a lawsuit over this same matter.* We believe the federal ban against transporting raw milk for human consumption across state lines is a violation of our rights, despite FDA’s assertion that any transaction that involves crossing state lines with such milk is illegal.

* We should be free to obtain raw milk from any source, including those outside our own states’ borders, just as folks in Maryland and in D.C. itself sought raw milk from Pennsylvania dairy Rainbow Acres.

* We demand the termination of an unjust law that interferes with the exercise of our legal right to consume raw milk.

* We support passage of HR 1830 into law – a bill that would effectively end the interstate ban and bring about the realization of benefits as delineated in the Talking Points for the same bill (HR 778) introduced in the 111th Congress.

While the consumption of raw milk is legal in all fifty states, the sale of raw milk is illegal in about half the states. Passage of HR 1830 into law would enable everyone to exercise their right to consume raw milk, whether they live in a state where the sale of raw milk is illegal or in a state where the sale is legal but sources are limited.

No doubt, the demand for unpasteurized milk has expanded beyond the estimated nine million raw milk consumers revealed by the 2008 CDC survey. Growing numbers of consumers are crossing state lines to obtain raw milk and raw milk products. It is time to recognize that the federal ban is an unjust, unworkable law.

Ask Legislators to uphold freedom of food choice through the petition in support of HR 1830.

For the full Farm to Consumer action page  – http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/petitions/pnum1079.php

 


 

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On Track to Lose Our Public Lands

by Bill Willers / May 27th, 2011 – Dissident Voice

The political right and its economists now recommend selling federal assets to pay down the nation’s debt…

What assets? Forget for the moment things like buildings and highways, and consider the most cherished assets – our public lands in the form of national forests, BLM lands, national parks and wildlife refuges. A third of the nation, ours in common, is a gift beyond price to pass to our descendants. It is a public treasure we may lose, for it is firmly in the crosshairs of moneyed interests intent on “privatizing”. Who is capable of buying such public assets? Think of corporate “persons” in petroleum, insurance, industrial recreation, pharmaceuticals, defense, agribusiness, banking and the like. And don’t forget their 37,000 K Street lobbyists who lavish unlimited cash on lawmakers, or of the billionaire faction of “Haves and Have Mores” George W. Bush called his “base”.

On May 18, when asked what he thinks about the idea of selling Utah land to help pay down the federal deficit, Utah Governor Gary Herbert responded, “It’s an idea that’s not new. It’s been talked about for the last generation. If we want to reduce the deficit and balance the budget at the federal level, why don’t we sell some of the federal assets, and of course we have a lot of federal land that they can liquidate and help balance the budget. I think it’s certainly worth exploring.”…

We the people, now “owners”, would be transformed into “customers” paying market demand. And now a multi-trillion dollar debt is providing the needed argument for selling our national treasure…

It is understood that the privatization of public domain has to be done by degrees to avoid unwanted reaction. Beckwith made this clear with his reference to “the contracting out of support services to private firms operating for profit” to be accomplished in “tentative steps”. Such contracting is increasingly common in the form of “public-private partnerships” and “competitive outsourcing”. And as those standing to benefit from privatization use their considerable political and economic might to achieve their goals, it is passing “under the radar” of the larger public mind.

full article – http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/05/on-track-to-lose-our-public-lands/

Here is a related article on the “corporatization of land” – Hedge fund managers pour assets into farmland

 

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Fairewinds Update: 5/22/11

The Implications of the Fukushima Accident on the World’s Operating Reactors

Gundersen says Fukushima’s gaseous and liquid releases continue unabated.  With a meltdown at Unit 1, Unit 4 leaning and facing possible collapse, several units contaminating ground water, and area school children outside the exclusion zone receiving adult occupational radiation doses, the situation continues to worsen. TEPCO needs a cohesive plan and international support to protect against world-wide contamination.

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Genetically Engineered Food: Failed promises and hazardous outcomes

From Beyond Pesticides: A presentation on the hazards and politics of genetically engineered foods given at “Sustainable Community: Practical solutions for health and the environment,” Beyond Pesticides’ 29th National Pesticide Forum, April 8-9, 2011, Denver, CO.

Speakers:
— George Kimbrell, senior attorney, Center for Food Safety, San Francisco, CA
— Jay Feldman (moderator), executive director, Beyond Pesticides, Washington, DC

more videos from Beyond Pesticides – http://www.youtube.com/bpncamp#p/u

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Fear or Love?

 

We can live our lives based on fear, or we can base our Life on Love. Fear is the belief in the absence of Love, Love is the very essence of Life and is ever-present and unhindered by all beliefs. Beliefs are like the blinders a horse wares, it limits the view and directs the attention, making Love the unviewable periphery. Though it is unviewable Love and all its functions are in full operation.

As we see the erosion of Human Rights and our understanding of them waining, we also must recognize that this is a part of Divine Will or Natural Law. In order to see the light sometimes we must go to the greatest depths of darkness. All that is playing out within our societal and economic worlds are a reflection of our own inner fighting with nature and our own self-worth.

Once we recognize the divinity in humanity and equality is the vision of our sight, natural balance and Original Autonomy are present and operating, this is Nature or Heart culture. Our use of natural resources will reflects a deep understanding of their finite and thus invaluable nature. In this recognition comes true generosity, a desire to share all that one has especially with others that have not. This is the original Dharma or “Right Action”, Earth Ethic.

How can we expect such a change from a profiteering and manipulation based society? First we must attain this vision of “the equality of others” for ourself. As individuals in competition with one another we automatically except a survivalists-complex, Separation. From this idea of separation we assume that harm or loss to the “other” won’t impact oneself. This Law we may not experience in the immediate because energy is subtle, it cycles through life in unexpected and many times undetected ways.

As the East becomes more developed and increasingly attracted to a material-life the Natural balance declines. As the West becomes increasingly unsatisfied with this material-life our natural balance (inner and outer) is slowly coming back into balance. The key for our progress now is to seek the root of sustainable life through our direct relation with nature including all of the human family. Creating harmony within our relations requires humility and the ability to step outside of your personal opinions. By doing this not only do we allow others to be who they are without restriction we expand our own idea of our “personality”, who we are. This limited self-identity that is what holds us back, is always trying to get more than it needs and always at the expense of others. This Ego of our current society is trying to rob us of our individual identity and stack us into boxes labeled by numbers and words. You are more important than that!

In the face of it all we must respond with our attention fixed on Love and Love’s fully operational laws. How to respond with Love to some abstract system? In our day to day living, we can exercise the vision of non-doership, once we understand it is all apart of the Divine Will we need not be emotionally affect, it is like being an actor in a play. By not assigning blame to any individual as the “doer” we allow the space for change. Once we assign doer-ship and blame to an individual we are confining a reality which is way larger and more complex than we can possibly perceive.

This does not mean we need be idle and say it is all Divine Will! We still must stand on our feet and actively envision and proclaim Loves operation, especially in the place where fear or the absence of Love is claiming attention. In Solidarity and Love, Simha

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War Tax + Green Spending = Social Engineering

Smart Meter Diagram from http://wsrl.org

Vermont, ahead of its time! Green! Renewable Energy! Sustainable Development! A Carbon Neutral Goal!…… Whose going to make it all possible? The War Industry? YEP! See  A Smart World Agenda

Related article from Gaelan Brown  – Vemont’s War-Tax-Included Cost of Fossil Fuels

Lockheed Martin’s Microgrid Development Center Enhanced With Five Times Greater Capability

An intelligent microgrid is an integrated energy system managing interconnected loads and distributed energy resources, including renewables such as solar and wind power that operate with the power grid or in an independent mode.  The MDC ensures Lockheed Martin provides the most effective solution for customers so they have a reliable source of energy powering their most critical operations….

The MDC pairs innovative systems-engineering processes with software and hardware-in-the-loop testing to evaluate a wide variety of intelligent microgrid solutions.  The lab simulates possible energy generation and consumption scenarios, including load fluctuations and unexpected events that could affect the stream of energy.  The new energy resources, storage units and advanced control room increase the amount of energy introduced in testing and the ability to manipulate it five-fold.

Lockheed Martin’s enhanced MDC control-room consoles take advantage of the safety critical instrumentation and control technology developed for nuclear control rooms by Lockheed Martin Nuclear Systems and Solutions.  The control room provides design engineers and operators the ability to rapidly develop and test microgrid technologies using real and simulated equipment.

full article – http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lockheed-martins-microgrid-development-center-enhanced-with-five-times-greater-capability-122501578.html

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Civil and Sovereign Society an Old World Ethic

We are in a critical moment of History, the citizenry of the world are standing up demanding a change in governance, most wanting a “true” democracy, where the people have a voice. In our present situation people feel like defenseless victims of the ever growing conglomerate of Commerce and Government. Citizens want an equal seat-of-power in the governance of their own lives, as a democracy is supposed to provide. To understand how we got where we are, we must look at our education system, the following article articulates the severity of the issue.

America Gets an F in Civics Education

May 23, 2011, by AAUWFellow

Earlier this month, the National Assessment Governing Board released its U.S. report card on civics, which evaluates fourth, eighth, and 12th graders’ knowledge of civics. The results were very disheartening. Of students in the 12th grade — who are about to turn voting age — only 64 percent tested at or above basic knowledge of civics, and only 24 percent tested at or above the proficient level.

AAUW Achievement Award Winner and retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was present via satellite at the event when the results were announced. She said, “We cannot afford to continue to neglect the preparation of future generations for active and informed citizenship.” O’Connor has created a program to help foster civic knowledge in our nation’s youth, iCivics, which provides an interactive forum for children to learn more about the democratic process….

full article – http://blog-aauw.org/2011/05/23/civics-education/

The following article from Freedomadvocates.org shows the importance of understanding definitions within our founding documents from a historical perspective.

Understanding Unalienable Rights

The Declaration of Independence reads:

“That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…”

This means that human beings are imbued with unalienable rights which cannot be altered by law whereas inalienable rights are subject to remaking or revocation in accordance with man-made law. Inalienable rights are subject to changes in the law such as when property rights are given a back seat to emerging environmental law or free speech rights give way to political correctness. In these situations no violation has occurred by way of the application of inalienable rights – a mere change in the law changes the nature of the right….

Modern dictionaries blur the difference, as does modern intellectual thought. The modern definition of unalienable is the same as the historical definition of inalienable.

full article – http://www.freedomadvocates.org/articles/legitimate_government/understanding_unalienable_rights_20090805368/

Here is also another example of a phrase that is defined by extreme opposites.

“SOCIAL EQUITY”

Within the Conservation economy – Social Equity implies fair access to livelihood, education, and resources; full participation in the political and cultural life of the Community;… As Martin Luther King observed, “where there is injustice for one, there is injustice for all.”

Within the World Market Media – Social Equity is the perceived value of an individual, organization, or brands reputation…

link – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_equity

“Civil Rights” is thought by many to be synonymous with “Black Liberation”…. Yikees. Many people don’t understand what human rights are and have no interest in finding out… IEEeeee. If we are to become a society that reflects the beauty of its individuals we must change this detrimental trend. Educate yourself and others, your Rights are the key to a peaceful and just world.

https://vermont4evolution.wordpress.com/human-rights/

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Commercial rice growing takes root in Vt.

FERRISBURGH — Last Wednesday morning, some 100 students and adults wearing traditional cone-shaped hats stood ankle-deep in a flooded rice paddy pushing delicate yellow sprouts into the clay soil.

No, this wasn’t a tableau from Southeast Asia — it was right here in Addison County at Ferrisburgh’s Boundbrook Farm.

While not a typical New England planting scene, Boundbrook Farm is not a typical Vermont farm. Erik Andrus and his wife, Erica, run the 110-acre diversified farm, and they also bake and distribute bread under the name Good Companion Bakery…

“Most rice production that’s currently going on in the state is on a small scale,” said Darby. “There hasn’t been a lot of work done on pest management or fertility.”

Darby said she hopes to work with Andrus as he expands the scale of the operation to do research that will help other farmers to add rice to their mix of crops.

“There’s an increasing demand for information on diversified crop production,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of new crops, and a lot of old crops being revived.”

Andrus expects one acre to produce about 4,000 pounds of rice.

“It’s an incredibly productive crop,” he said. “It’s as good as corn, but the cash value is much higher.”

And although there is an American rice industry, Andrus said the shifting food market in Vermont has created a great demand for rice that’s locally grown. In fact, he’s already sold his entire expected harvest — half to a grain co-op in Massachusetts and half to City Market Co-op in Burlington….

full article – http://www.addisonindependent.com/201105rice4836jpg

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The Repeal Amendment

Leash being prepared for Congress – World Net Daily Exclusive

May 20, 2011

WASHINGTON – A nationwide effort to increase the ability of the states to put a leash on federal power has taken a step toward reality with the introduction of the Repeal Amendment into both Houses of Congress.

The proposed constitutional amendment would check the power of the federal government by permitting a vote by two-thirds of the states to override an act of Congress.

The amendment is co-sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; James Risch, R-Idaho; and John Cornyn, R-Texas. It also has been introduced in the House by Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, along with 13 co-sponsors including Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.

“The sole purpose of the Repeal Amendment is to restore the balance of power in our system of government as provided in the original Constitution, reserving most of the power to the states and the people while still recognizing a federal  http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=300745 ,” Enzi and Bishop wrote in a May 12 commentary of Foxnews.com.

Read the full story about how states are reacting to Washington’s power plays, in “STATES OF REBELLION: How legislators and governors nationwide are openly challenging a rogue president.”

They complain that states have become increasingly saddled with unfunded federal mandates that they struggle to pay.

“At present, the only way states can dispute a federal law or regulation is to challenge the law in federal court, or seek an amendment to the Constitution,” Enzi and Bishop wrote. “A state repeal power provides another constitutional way to reverse abusive congressional acts and administrative regulations without relying on federal judges or permanently amending the Constitution’s text.”…

Thus far 13 state legislatures have backed calling an Article V convention to force Congress to consider the amendment, according to RepealAmendment.org

full article –   http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=300745 

Our Founding Fathers gave enumerated powers to the federal government and reserved most of the power to the states and the people.  Today, the federal government has usurped the power that the Founders originally intended for the states and the people.  The Repeal Amendment is dedicated to restoring our nation’s liberty by advocating for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that restores the balance of power between the states and federal government.

Tell Senator Leahy and  Senator Sanders to Sponsor this Amendment –

http://leahy.senate.gov/contact/

http://sanders.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm