It’s About Making Babies!

I Drive My Tractor in Pearls points to the February 2, 2009 Modern Militia Report, issued by the Missouri Information Analysis Center. The report cites “noteworthy militia activity from 1992 to 1999.

The Clintons

Funny, how that was the Clinton administration.

And now POTUS Barack Hussein Obama surrounds himself with many of those that made up the Clinton Administration.

I suppose that 9/11 could be laid to President George W. Bush – but the likelihood that it was that tailed off agitation present during the preceding Clinton administration seems more likely.

Remember “Obama the First”, Jimmy Carter lost us a long term ally, in the Shah of Iran. It was on his watch that hostages from the US embassy in Tehran were held by terrorists for 444 days – until President Reagan was inaugurated. It seems the Middle East does, and has, set it’s agenda by who occupies the White House.

Concern over renewed Paramilitary Group activity

So, back to Missouri, and concerns over militias. Pearls pointed out in her piece that “militia” in the Constitution is what we Americans enroll in at age 18 – when we register for the draft. That is, citizens. What this report and the drive-by media usually call militia are usually paramilitary groups, often fanatical, often disdainful of lawful government.

Cause for alarm?

In case you missed it, since taking office POTUS Barack Hussein Obama has taken several steps to abuse states rights and the constitution. Between the White House and Pelosi/Reid in the Democratically controlled Congress, there have been a number of chilling threats to states rights, and gun ownership.

Gun rights

As I have stated before, I see the second amendment, like the first amendment that protects freedom of speech, was included in the Constitution to provide a preventative, and a relief – if the government every becomes a tyrant to the people of the United States. The second amendment will never make firing on our government legal – but the possibility is intended to keep the government from becoming that kind of enemy to Americans.

Machiavelli pointed out, hundreds of years ago in Italy, that every tyrant makes disarming the common people the first priority. Which raises the hackles of patriots and citizens when the government takes steps to restrict gun ownership.

My thoughts on gun ownership

Two thoughts about gun ownership. One, is that in communities that have passed ordinances requiring a head of household to own and possess a gun – crime rates always go down. The second, is that mass shootings – happen in gun-free zones. Always.

Remember the “Santa” shooter a few months ago? Where an improvised sprayer filled with racing fuel was used with a hand gun to kill 8 people? One comment was that “he killed eight people not because he had a gun – but because he was the only one with a gun.” One slogan advocates of concealed-carry gun possession and use, is “When seconds count, the police are just minutes away.”

Bringing gun ownership into the public, and increasing awareness of safe handling, will do much more to reduce accidents than trying to ban guns. Criminals will always have access to guns, gun bans will only hinder lawful citizens – and risk a tyrannical government.

Depleting the nation of bullets for guns

The DoD buys bullets. That isn’t much of a surprise. American suppliers make casings of brass, and assemble the bullets. The military uses those bullets to practice, and occasionally in battle. But there are a lot of rounds fired every year. So the practice has been to collect the “spent” cartridge casings, and sell them through government-designated “liquidators”. To the tune of millions of dollars worth each year. The government specifies their ammo gets new casings – but many people prefer the fired-once casings.

Because re-shaping and making those used casings usable is a *lot* cheaper than making new ones of brass.

This month the Department of Defense, under Barack Hussein Obama, decided – hey, we can put a lot of hunters and militias and criminals, and other pesky gun owners, out of business! We just specify that those used cartridges have to be shredded first, before we sell them! Within days the policy was reversed for casings smaller than 50 caliber.

This isn’t just a case of increasing cost. Almost all new casings are sold to the military – and there is little capacity to make more than the current volume. So would some casings be diverted from military use? Would that shredded brass go to support China – the biggest buyer of base metals in the US? Would the lack of legal civilian ammunition sources bother criminals and “militias” with black market sources?

Turning around the Plot of the Shredded Casings

It turns out that police departments around the country, legitimate gun clubs, influential people that enjoy hunting and shooting, and lots and lots of concerned citizens brought their concerns to Congress. Police departments in particular were exposed to problems with this policy – they count on the lower cost of the “recycled” casing ammo for their needs – for training and equipping for the streets.

Not the first backstab from President Barack Hussein Obama.

There is a rash of legislation going around this spring, from registering food to registering guns and individual bullets.

And the US government has a long history of mis-using every piece of information they have ever gathered. As well as losing control of every database they ever put together. Consider our Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton – who, during her husband’s Presidency ended up known to be in possession of an FBI file on political opponents – a violation of federal law. So we, as a nation, watched the calendar. On the day after the Statue of Limitations ran out for prosecuting that particular crime, the Hilary-held files turned up, in the White House, with Hilary Rodham Clinton’s fingerprints on them.

No one should believe for an instant, that registering guns is not the first step in getting guns confiscated.

The Food Safety Administration – register those horrid, anti-Monsanto, organic and farmers market people, and regulate them out of business.

Monsanto and ADM operate world-wide. Much of their operations are no longer centered in the United States. Non-farmers may not be aware, but the large Agribusiness firms, a couple of years ago, got legislation passed – that let them protect patents on their wheat and corn seed. Wheat in particular had been used as in olden days – you go to the elevator, buy a truckload of wheat, and plant your crop. No more. The only wheat available for planting, for the most part, is what Monsanto sells. If they run short for a region, that region just doesn’t plant wheat. Or oats, or ..

Now Monsanto, ADM, and others in their niche are behind H.R. 875 – the proposed Food Safety Administration. The proposed bureaucracy will *not* improve food safety. The best they can hope for is to put everyone out of the food business that isn’t buying Monsanto seed and chemicals. No more roadside stands, no more farmers markets, no more “country egg” sales.

States Rights

Several pieces of legislation in the Congress, including the bullet-marking scheme, proclaim that because things get sold and traded inside states, that must be regulated in order to control interstate issues (the Congress is only allowed to regulate issues between states, not within). Here in Oklahoma we passed a “right to work” law that forbids contracts keeping non-union people from applying for any job.

In January, Obama signed a Presidential Order requiring only Union construction workers on any federal construction. Sounds like good old, Chicago-style morality, paying back political debts at the expense of lawful citizens.

“Militias” on the fringe – or leading the way?

So I guess the re-born Clinton Administration, under the Jimmy-Carter-like Barack Hussein Obama, might fuel the conspiracy fears of those wary of an oppressive government.

View from the Porch‘s Tam alerts to this piece of Big Government Tyranny. Thanks, Tam. It turns out the proposed NAIS – National Animal Identification System – was an inspiration to bozos buying votes with fear.

Linn Cohen-Cole gives a good rundown on this scary piece of tyranny, Goodbye Farmers Markets, CSAs, and Roadside Stands

The full text of the bill is at GovTrack.us H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

We just had people die, and disrupt lots and lots of food and lives, from the e. coli in peanut butter. So, what could be more safe than to require everyone that grows food and sells it off their farm – register with a new federal agency – the Food Safety Administration.

This registration includes random, at least annual, federal inspection. Safety records have to be in order. $1,000,000 fines. Per offense.

That is, they *really* want to punish anyone with the capital and assets to produce food.

From Crptogon’s review of the proposed law:

Does this really apply to fruit and vegetables? Yes.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

…

(12) FOOD- The term ‘food’ means a product intended to be used for food or drink for a human or an animal and components thereof.

How does this affect farmers who just sell fruit and vegetables at farmers markets?

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

…

(9) CATEGORY 5 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 5 food establishment’ means a food establishment that stores, holds, or transports food products prior to delivery for retail sale.

…

13) FOOD ESTABLISHMENT-

(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘food establishment’ means a slaughterhouse (except those regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act), factory, warehouse, or facility owned or operated by a person located in any State that processes food or a facility that holds, stores, or transports food or food ingredients.

That is, if you grow it, and you take it off your property to sell – you are a food establishment. If you haul your corn or wheat to the elevator, if you haul your cows to the sale barn – you are a food establishment.

If you grow it and someone else hauls it off – you are still a food production facility, and the FSA will be watching your records and premises. It is forbidden to forbid entry by FSA to inspect the operation or copy records. It is forbidden to fail to register.

Monsanto – GMO and “Better living through the chemistry we sell”.

It is interesting to note, among the rationale’s for this bill (emphasis added).

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

(a) Findings- Congress finds that–

…

(5) the task of preserving the safety of the food supply of the United States faces tremendous pressures with regard to–

(A) emerging pathogens and other contaminants and the ability to detect all forms of contamination;

…

(E) maintenance of rigorous inspection of the domestic food processing and food service industries;

(6) Federal food safety standard setting, inspection, enforcement, and research efforts should be based on the best available science and public health considerations, and food safety resources should be systematically deployed in ways that most effectively prevent food-borne illness;

Note that the wife of the author of this bill works for Monsanto.

Also under Findings; Purposes:

(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are–

(1) to establish an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services to be known as the ‘Food Safety Administration’ to–

(A) regulate food safety and labeling to strengthen the protection of the public health;

…

(C) lead an integrated, systemwide approach to food safety and to make more effective and efficient use of resources to prevent food-borne illness;

…

(4) to establish that food establishments have responsibility to ensure that all stages of production, processing, and distribution of their products or products under their control satisfy the requirements of this law.

(5) CATEGORY 1 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 1 food establishment’ … that slaughters, for the purpose of producing food, animals that are not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or poultry that are not subject to inspection under the Poultry Products Inspection Act.

(6) CATEGORY 2 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 2 food establishment’ means a seafood processing establishment or other food establishment (other than a category 1 establishment) not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Act, that processes raw seafood or other raw animal products, whether fresh or frozen, or other products that the Administrator determines by regulation to pose a significant risk of hazardous contamination.

…

(14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.

Notice the Cat 2 establishment includes whole milk, currently used for organic products such as soap, and for pet food. The pet food angle means, yep, feds watch that operation, too. Prepare to document and record.

Don’t let the “farm, ranch” list throw you. If you have something that goes into food for people or animals to sell or barter – you are a farm or ranch. Get ready to register.

Or protest this insanity – let your Congressman and Senators know you won’t be happy if this “change” gets passed.