Sunday, January 31, 2010

Government controls and the 2010 CENSUS

Exclusive: The 2010 Census, the Constitution

The year 2010 is another Census year, and many Americans are concerned about the apparent politicization of a process that has been with us since our Constitution was first written.

The director of the Census Bureau will now report directly to “White House senior management” instead of to the Commerce Secretary. “Senior management” likely means Rahm Emanuel, an Obama political crony who is currently serving as White House Chief of Staff. The move was part of what prompted Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to withdraw as commerce secretary nominee. According to the Wall Street Journal,

Mr. Gregg also cited issues involving the Census Bureau. That appeared to be a reference to reports that the White House, responding to concerns from black and Hispanic lawmakers, would be highly involved in the political decisions surrounding the decennial count. The parties have battled for years over how to carry out the survey, with Democrats tending to favor methods that would increase the number of minorities, giving them greater clout in redrawing the congressional map. Mr. Gregg has been critical of those approaches.

Initially, the community organizing group ACORN was to play a large role in conducting the Census, but the Census Bureau severed all ties with the group after a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute used hidden-camera footage to show ACORN employees advising them on how to skirt the law.

"Over the last several months, through ongoing communication with our regional offices, it is clear that ACORN's affiliation with the 2010 Census promotion has caused sufficient concern in the general public, has indeed become a distraction from our mission, and may even become a discouragement to public cooperation, negatively impacting 2010 Census efforts," read a letter from Census Director Robert M. Groves to the president of ACORN.

"Unfortunately, we no longer have confidence that our national partnership agreement is being effectively managed through your many local offices. For the reasons stated, we therefore have decided to terminate the partnership," the letter said.

Privacy advocates are also concerned that, as part of preparation for the census, GPS coordinates for every front door in the nation were collected. What happened to good old fashioned maps?

Also somewhat telling about the political machinations behind this year’s census is the fact that there is no question asking if the residents of a home are either citizens or legal residents. According to the Washington Times,

It appears that this is the first census to omit this inquiry. Question 13 of the 2000 census form specifically asked the following:

Is this person a CITIZEN of the United States?

-Yes, born in the United States-->Skip to 15a

-Yes, born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Northern Marianas

-Yes, born abroad of American parent or parents

-Yes, a U.S. citizen by naturalization

-No, not a citizen of the United States

Meanwhile, they want to know your ethnicity (with Hispanics getting their very own section), age and sex. And if you were lucky enough to receive an American Community Survey, it has questions like whether you currently have a job, what cars you own, how old your home is, how many bedrooms it has, how many toilets are in it and how much you pay for fuel to heat it.

But are you a citizen who pays taxes and is eligible to vote? Eh, not important.

Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-MN) says she refuses to answer any questions on the census other than the first one, which asks how many people live in the home, citing concerns about “very intricate” and “very personal” questions. Census spokeswoman Shelly Lowe says that anyone over the age of 18 who does not answer all of the questions could face a $5,000 fine.

But is that constitutional?

Article 1, Section 2 of our Constitution deals with the enumeration (counting) of citizens, which happens for the purpose of determining how many House representatives each state receives:

The actual Enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct.

That’s it. It says nothing about checking off a box with your ethnicity, age, or whether your home has three or four bedrooms.

If you don’t have a problem answering all of those questions that have nothing to do with how many people live in your congressional district, start checking off boxes.

But if you feel the Census questions are too inquisitive, we've heard some people are doing this: answering the first question about how many people live in the home and then taping a copy of Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution to the bottom of the form.

And if you’re worried that you might be targeted to pay that $5,000 fine, consider that by the time the red tape gets unsnarled, you’ll probably be dead.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.5338/pub_detail.asp

I, for one can tell you I will not fill out anymore than the number of people in my home no matter what they do!

"Better to live free for a day than spend eternity in bondage."

Haiti: Deal with the devil?

I never really knew anything about Haiti until this last tragedy that devastated it's people.
I did know that they were considered a poor country and relied on foreign aid for existence but what I didn't know was the history that has haunted this island community and for how long.

Some say their had been a deal made with the devil somewhere around the time the French took over the Spanish occupation when they tried to forcibly convert them to Catholocism and deny all other deities.

What I understand this far is that Haiti has had a long , rough history. Can a country continue to last and at some point become prosperous when it is unable to take care of itself? Does it have that capability if foreigners would let the people live their own lives witout intervention?

I am reminded of a saying:

Lao Tzu - "Give a Man a Fish, Feed Him For a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, Feed Him For a Lifetime"

Are we perpetuating the problem by continually giving aid without teaching them how to become independent? If they are unable to work toward that independence have they not also become reliant, enslaved to the one offering the aid?

Although there history is tragic I see the only way to help them is to teach them and if they have the knowledge, stay out of their way, except where necessary, and have them build upon what they know.

I often wonder with all of the wars throughout the ages due to religion and property, if countries are somehow still using Haiti as a pawn, a patsy to trump one nation over another out of greed.

Anyway,I found an interesting article with regards to Haiti's history and thought it would better clarify just what has happened there since its founding.

Read it here:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/money/Haiti+lost/2501542/story.html

I have friends that have been, are going and will be going to Haiti to help where needed. I know our pastor has asked our congregation to step up and send a group on a mission there to offer aid and to further the gospel of Christ in a land to offer home to the hopeless. I, for one, look forward to standing with others to help to those who desperately need it.

If there was no pact with the devil, the history that plagues this nation would be enough to consider making one who does not believe think otherwise.

Support ASPCA ?...How bout the children?

I recently saw commercial that really got me thinking, Rarely are they much more than an annoyance, with the volume loud and obnoxious but this one was a plea by Sarah McLaughlin that would tug on any heart strings of anyone with a pulse and is truly sad. View the video here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ - 133k - Cached


Viewing the video, at first glance, disgusted that their would be so many people that I talk to that believe people are "genuinely good" that would have such disregard for the lives of thier pets, then became rather angry and disturbed that I would see such a commerical for animals that fail in comparison to the abuse our children receive or the failure to acknowledge the millions of babies that are aborted each day.

We have commercials about poor people, abused animals, those who are suffering in third world countries, and drug addicts. We have commericals that have become so graphic, it appears that it is necessary to get through to so many who have somehow become so numb to the things that really matter, missing the source of the problem.

Can you imagine what people would say if they had billboards of aborted fetus', or showing the pieces, parts of those who have been aborted? How graphic would they need to be for those to get it?
WHy is abortion considered a constitutional right but doing meth, abusing animals, committing murder and spousal abuse, just to name a few, are not?
Constitutional law's intent was to try to stop the abuses of the minority and to treat people with the same respect under the law, with strict regard to morality!
Rule of law not arbitrary rule of man!

Do you suppose that abortion photos and commercials are not televised or printed in newspapers or billboards because deep down people know it isnt merely a choice without consequences or because people would have to be held accountable for their failure to retain and exercise personal responsibility?

You know, there is one thing above all else, it is the selfishness and lack of personal responsibilty that is to blame, both as individuals and collectively as a nation and throughout the world.

All of the worlds problems stem from the selfish sinful nature of the individual who fail to take responsibiltity and the failure to be held accountable saying: " Dont Judge!"

When will we define the difference between judging others and holding people personally accountable for their actions? Isn't that what the law was originally used for? Now with it's "relative" nature has no absolute guideleines so " whatever is right for one individual may not be right for another. " If this is so then how do we accept the rule of law as anything but arbitrary?

Personal responsibilty, If you take the blame for the mistakes you make without blaming others, you wont have the need to be "judged" or held personally accountable avoiding the embarressment.
Next time we look for self help books, lets consider "How to hold eachother accountable without being offended", be good to eachother and exercise personal responsibility.
If we do, there would be little need for government control, what a concept!
Constitution revisited, limited government, personal responsibiltiy and our founders original intent!










Equal rights...?

Is anyone as sick of hearing about "Equal rights" as I am? Does anyone even understand the meaning of equal rights both in the biblical and constitutional context? Isn't it ironic that the definitons have a distinct parallel relationship, I mean being that " we arent a Christian nation or tht we werent't founded on Christian principles?

Equal rights never meant that everyone was entitled to have the same material things, the same spiritual things, the same blessings and the same judgements but that we all were created equal in the eyes of God to pursue the same things, in otherwords to have the equal opportunity to acheive our goals according to the dictates of our individual conscience.

I was having a discussion with my son this morning about debt and the difference between the socialistic equal rights and what God had envisioned for equality among men, since he is presently visiting colleges and has wanted to be a doctor, I thought it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

Mom says that he shouldnt get into too much debt on his own and he should only strive for what he can pay for, I explained to him, although she is right about the dangers of debt, if her idea were true no one would ever have become a doctor because it would have been too cost prohibitive.

To make a long story short, I told him, if he was sure that was what he wanted to do, he should take that gamble knowing it will pay off in the long run.

I explained to him there is a reason why people are rich and some are poor,there is a reason why some people are more accomplishecd than others, some are willing to take chances to acheive their goals and some are not!

As I will soon be faced with four sons who will all be in college, I face tremendous debt, if I make too much I will not be able to utilize the benefits of grants and loans that the less fortunate have that are payed for with my tax dollars. Is this equal rights? Or elevation and catering to" special interest?", to a minority,not extended to "All Americans."

Should I not have the benefits that other American citizens have just because I was fiscally responsible or that I took risks that payed off or that I made good choices when others that benefitt from government systems did not? Maybe I should have been given incentives because I made good decisions, afterall, scripture says" if we are faithful with a little we can be trusted to be faithful with much more.

I remember scripture about the men given talents.( See MAtthew 25:15-30) Their were three men, one was given five, the others two and one respectfully. God blessed the one that invested his, not to the one that buried or squandered it.

According to the scripture:

Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away.

The Constitution states that all men are created equal, not that they were all entitled to the same things equally but we all have the same opportunity to take the same risks, to make good choices, to rely on God for guidance...some will take the risks and some will not and all of us will suffer or reap the consequences for the choices we have made.

Constituionally and biblically, no one has the RIGHT to take from one person and give it to another by force. It has always been the charities that have given from the heart that have changed lives never the government.

If the government plays the tyrannical role and elects to force individuals to pay for those who are unwilling to work for themselves, how is it that those with their hands held out plan on acheiving world peace that they all adhere to as their utopian mantra?

Case in point, "the rich get richer...Where's ours?" already they complain and what they want isnt even theirs, wait until they get what isn't theres and it gets taken away.

Do we really want to open that can of worms?

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Government control over midwifery

The Idaho legislature passed a bill in 2009 that attacks the family's right to freedom in midwifery care and will have devastating consequences when it becomes law on July 1, 2010:

Families in Idaho will no longer have the right to choose who will deliver their baby at home; licensed midwives are the only legal option.

Some women (with certain health conditions) will be left with no option for midwifery care for their home birth.

Midwifery as it has always been practiced, without drugs and without licensing, will now be a felony on the second offense.

Some areas of Idaho will no longer have midwifery services for home births.


The Mandatory Midwifery Licensure Law which is causing all these problems and many more can be easily fixed by simply amending the law to make it a voluntary licensure. Under a voluntary licensure, the licensed midwives would be able to get access to the drugs they want, while unlicensed midwives would be able to practice as they always have, without drugs and without government regulations. This freedom in midwifery care would allow Idaho families to choose which type of midwifery best suits their unique circumstances.

Representative Pete Nielsen is introducing this voluntary amendment to the Midwifery Law. There is a lot of resistance in the legislature to this amendment. But if we don't make them fix it now, it will only be harder once it's in place.

In order to accomplish this monumental task, we need to apply a full-court press right from the start and keep it on strong. Our goal must be to push it through the House in one month. If it takes another month to get it through the Senate, we can get it on the Governor's desk for a signature right about the time the legislature adjourns for the year.

ACTION:

The House Health & Welfare Committee Members must first vote on whether to even allow Rep. Nielsen's amendment to become a bill. If they don't allow it, it is essentially dead this time around.

Please contact the Committee Members right away and let them know that you support amending the Midwifery Law to make licensure voluntary. You can copy and paste all their email addresses into one email:

sblock@house.idaho.gov, pnielsen@house.idaho.gov, jmcgeach@house.idaho.gov, tloertscher@house.idaho.gov, pshepher@house.idaho.gov, lluker@house.idaho.gov, jmarriott@house.idaho.gov, sthayn@house.idaho.gov, jboyle@house.idaho.gov, mgibbs@house.idaho.gov, jthompson@house.idaho.gov, fwood@house.idaho.gov, jrusche@house.idaho.gov, schew@house.idaho.gov, bdurst@house.idaho.gov, gsayler@house.idaho.gov


Or if you would prefer to contact them another way, click here,

http://legislature.idaho.gov/about/contactbycommittee.cfm

then select HOUSE Health & Welfare Committee.

A Midwifery Report is available for more information; an easier-to-read version pops up when you click print.

For freedom in midwifery care,

Mirelle Stevens, consumer of midwifery

mirellestevens@yahoo.com

(208) 478-8683

Mr President, you need to provide Jobs!!!!!

Oh, if I hear that one more time! As you may or not know, I have a deep respect for the "Law of the land" called " The Constitution" and every decision that is made in my head I try tobegin with:

1. Gods Law
2. Natures Law
3. Civil law

If civil law violates the other two then it really isnt a law at all, I think one of ouor founders said it. That being said, relating to the above statement, is job creation outlined in the "limited duties" of the president in our Constitution?

No, It is not! Not healthcare, not bank ownership, not real estate control, not food control, not freedom of speech supression, not calling the people who voted him into office names like domestic terrorist or right wing extremists or what not!

Our Constitution is being violated and if the people were educated in it enough and weren't out for their own special interests and including the will of the people in a republic ( NOT A DEMOCRACY) they would realize that it isnt at all majority rule!

I could go on forever about these issues but I wanted to share a thought I had.

As I was walking through the grocery store today, I passed by what was predominantly the younger generation using the unmanned checkout counters, you know the do it yourself checkouts that require no one to help you?

I wonder if they realize the hypocritcal nature of what they are asking the president to provide. I thought more about ATM's, gas stations( that were once manned and still are in Oregon) and other jobs that were terminated in the name of convenience.

Wake up people, if jobs are what you want then you may want to think and learn about the free market small business entities that have provided these jobs throughout our history and not condemn them while using your methods of convenience that have taken those jobs!

Government control over dairy industry 2

This letter to the Ag committee from my friend Paul Hamby:

To: Idaho Senate & House Ag Committees

The controversy over raw milk boils down to people’s basic right to choose what they eat, from whom they can purchase their food and how it is produced.

There are compelling arguments for and against both types of milk. I believe raw milk and processed milk are both reasonably safe when produced, refrigerated and distributed in the proper way.

Commercial bottled milk carries some potential risks, with pasteurization often being cited as the culprit. However, if you have ever made tomato soup for your family by combining a can of soup and a can of milk and heating to just below boiling, then you pasteurized the milk. I think the other steps of processing are more dangerous. Homogenization changes the structure of fat cells. Pouring cold milk into a just made hot plastic jug changes the flavor by adding plastic particles. If toxins can leach into bottled water from a plastic bottle, then isn’t it possible that milk can get toxins from a plastic milk jug? Knowing that risk, I still drink pasteurized milk from plastic jugs, but prefer milk from glass bottles.

I am in full support of pasteurization of milk produced in a traditional commercial setting. Milk shipped to a processing plant, handled and transferred by machines several times should be pasteurized.

Raw milk is reasonably safe when it comes from healthy animals, harvested in a clean sanitary way, quickly cooled and stored at 40 degrees or below. Thousands of Americans consume raw milk every day. Banning or limiting the production, consumption or distribution of raw milk will not stop the free market – it will only drive it underground. Limiting Idaho farmers to only 3 cows makes no sense. Are you suggesting that someone cannot produce clean milk from 4 cows or 9 goats? America experimented with this concept in the 1920’s with Prohibition of Alcohol.

In the 1970’s, the media went after butter because some scientists said it caused heart disease. America switched from butter to margarine. Respected doctors told their patients to switch. Today we know that real butter is healthier than margarine. The dairy industry suffered. Americans health declined based on bad science.

‘Scientists’ and activists have been sounding the alarm a lot recently. Just a couple of years ago the nation was terrified of mosquitoes. West Nile virus was predicted to kill many many Americans. The virus is real but the pandemic never materialized.

History is full of examples where government officials with good intentions created rules with unintended consequences. Communist governments who attempted to control their nation’s food supplies usually ended with people starving.

Thomas Jefferson warned us;

"If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."


This issue is really about Liberty and personal choice. Liberty and Freedom come with Responsibility. Laws and government intervention take away all 3.

If the Idaho government has a role to play in this issue, it should be that of educating. The Milk Board could publish a list of safe practices for those new to milk production. Become a trusted source of reasonable advice and what would otherwise turn into an underground movement will be better informed. These Safe Practices could be posted on the State Milk Board page on the MDA web site.

Safe Practices could include:

- udder preparation

- sanitation

- quick cooling of milk

- animal health and testing for communicable diseases

- Milk testing – CMT test and electronic cell count tests

- Lab testing of Milk

- The pasteurization issue can be presented this way: Consuming Raw Milk is a personal choice that comes with some risk. Please study the issue and be informed before producing or consuming raw milk. Pasteurization is simply heating milk to a specified temperature for a specific period of time to destroy potentially harmful bacteria.

Since Y2K, the Homestead and hobby farm movement has continued growing. Many of these folks believe raw milk is a healthier alternative. They will continue to produce milk for their families and neighbors.

Idaho already has a great program for promoting locally grown food. This effort ties right in, but please don’t handicap your local producers by limiting the number of cows or goats

http://www.idahopreferred.com/consumers/dairy.htm

I would ask you to not regulate raw milk, not limit the number of animals, but direct the Ag department to publish Safe Practices for Idaho residents who want to produce raw milk.

In closing, I ask you to consider this question;

Who actually owns our bodies? The individual person or the government?

Paul Hamby

Maysville Missouri 64469

816 632 0602

I am writing to because I have extensive experience with both commercial dairy farms and small raw milk producers worldwide. I have customers in your state and they have asked me to write to you as an expert on dairy farms of all size. I am also active in www.campaignforliberty.com and have cc the Idaho coordinators above. Here is my bio:

Paul Hamby was raised on a 50 cow family dairy farm. His entire family consumed fresh raw cow milk every day from 1955 to 1979. His children were raised (and thrived) on fresh raw goat milk from the age of 6 months to 2 years. His animals were tested for communicable diseases. His milk was tested weekly. Hamby consumes both raw and pasteurized milk and prefers milk from glass containers.

Hamby owns a dairy equipment and supply company based in NW Missouri. He has designed and installed more than 100 commercial milking systems for cows, goats and sheep.

Recommended reading;

Boise Weekly; Raw Deal Idaho moves to combat illegal sales of "real" milk
http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/raw-deal/Content?oid=1332521

The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights

http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Milk-Revolution-Americas-Emerging/dp/1603582193/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263602722&sr=8-1

The Untold Story of Milk, Revised and Updated: The History, Politics and Science of Nature's Perfect Food: Raw Milk from Pasture-Fed Cows

http://www.amazon.com/Untold-Story-Milk-Revised-Updated/dp/0979209528/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Hamby Dairy Supply guide for Milking Dairy Goats

http://reviews.ebay.com/Milking-Machine-Instructions-for-Dairy-Goats_W0QQugidZ10000000001759182

Hamby Dairy Supply webstore www.hambydairysupply.com our milking machine history site; www.surgemilker.com


Thank you Paul!

Government control over the dairy industry 1

I received an email from a friend today that he asked me to forward to my friends when I received an email from a new friend that received my email from another friend who emailed me back to better inform me of what the impact of government owuld be in this industry. I love technology, you never know who gets the email you send.

Anyway, because I write about issues related to government issues as well as religion, I felt that this was an appropriate email to post to help inform the public.

I had asked if the information he sent me, including his personal information would be ok posted and he assured me it was fine, so here is the email regarding dairy legislation and the effects government control would have on the industry. The first letter is to the raw milk advocates and the response and rebuttal is in my next post.

Dear Raw Milk Advocate:

As you may be aware, there are currently proposed legislative rules before the House and the Senate in Boise concerning Cow/Herd Share Programs in Idaho and our ability as Farmers to continue to provide these services to people who wish to use them. There are some good parts to the proposed rules which will help to assure the cleanliness of the milk, such as regular testing of the milk for bacteria counts, etc. However, there is one proposal which could, in effect, drastically limit the availability of raw milk from Herd Share Programs in the future. That is that each herd would be limited to no more than three lactating cows or seven goats or sheep.

This limitation, in my opinion, is unrealistic, as it in no way serves to reduce the risk of contaminated milk; safe milk depends on cleanliness. But it does severely limit the amount of milk a single farm can produce for its boarders. Therefore it will limit the number of consumers who can use the boarding services.

If you agree, and you would like to help protect the right of consumers to drink raw milk please contact the legislators listed below and let your voice be heard IMMEDIATELY!

The House and the Senate work simultaneously to hear the rules. Below are each of the committee members of the Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee and their email addresses:

Senator Tim Corder (R), Mountain Home – Chair, tcorder@senate.idaho.gov
Senator Chuck Winder (R), Boise - Vice Chair cwinder@senate.idaho.gov

Senator Gary Schroeder (R), Moscow, gschroeder@senate.idaho.gov

Senator Brent Hill (R), Rexburg, bhill@senate.idaho.gov

Senator John McGee (R), Caldwell, jmcgee@senate.idaho.gov

Senator Leland Heinrich (R), Cascade, lheinrich@senate.idaho.gov

Senator Melinda Smyser (R), Parma, msmyser@senate.idaho.gov

Senator Edgar Malepeai (D), Pocatello, emalepeai@senate.idaho.gov

Senator Les Bock (D), Boise, lbock@senate.idaho.gov

A good day

For the last year I have become more and more concerned with the direction of this country and what seemed to appear that I was among a minority, only a few who really understands the magnitude of what is happening and what history has tried to teach us but has been ignored, until last night where I saw a small glimmer of hope.

As I had mentioned in previous posts I would be more than happy to post good news when I felt like there was some to share and today is that day. It would be hard for me to imagine that there is anyone who hasn't heard the media frenzy about the Dems Coakly upset to the "Independent republican" Brown and the near 50 year reign for the dems is over. What a shock it must have been to those who have been so focused on pushing their agenda that they haven't even been paying attention to their constituents, is this only the beginning?

As leary as I have become over this past year, I am excited to see the pedulum swing back so quickly but am not holding my breath as the republicans record isnt much different than that of the dems.

I am hopeful that this event has awakened Americans to the decietful nature of our leadership and will ignite them to become more educated in the history of this nation and the mistakes other societies have made in previous generations after all history is what allows us to learn from those mistakes.

As Ben Franklin said, " A country that doesnt know where it has been doesnt know where it is going." The wisdom from the grave is astounding, we can either heed their warnings or ignore it and see what happens.

One small look into history and it will tell you that we are ignoring our history and are doomed to repeat the same mistakes unless we become educated.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
Hosea 4:6