U.S. Dairy Farmers Killing Cows While Obama Quietly Lifts Tariff On Israeli Milk Products.
In simple terms, the President of the United States just eliminated another wall of protection for American dairy farmers and stopped the flow of much needed levy cash into our faltering economy. More here
Make sure to follow the links in the article as well.
Visit the Israeli Dairy Board for a list of Israeli based dairy’s, all of whom have websites. Not all will be exporting but find out who these companies are and go from there.If you find anything substantial please let me know.
You may not be about the BDS movement but its time that we put U.S. interests back into the U.S. don’t you think?
This is going to be a category all its own. I contemplated starting an actual blog just for this topic but in reality, I don’t have time to maintain yet another one. I’m not an Oprah fan. She is part of the fascist Chicago system and it really amazes me that she has so much power over public opinion-from her launching of Dr. Phils career to her diet gurus books to the book club and the Obama endorsement, the woman can move mountains. But I bet she wouldn’t talk about moving those mountains if Mohammad was involved……….She talks about what will sell her image. Beyond that, nada. If you have that much power, then you should use it responsibly, especially since there is no way anybody was ever going to fire the woman!
Anyhow. That is what this series is about. I fully expect that you read the links I provide. Its for your own good.
Thing One:
In May of 2004, when the state began its case against artist Steve Kurtz of the Critical Art Ensemble on charges of “bio-terrorism”(1)(which was later changed to mail and wire fraud and then dropped), I began paying more attention to the wider swath of the population and activities now being labeled as terrorists in the post 9/11 US. Kurtz’case illustrated that artistic activity that was critical of power was not immune to state repression. (emphasis mine.) Source.
Most of you who have been reading here for a long while might remember my position on what I call “movements”. As an example, It starts with the “green” one and moves into the “self sufficiency” one, at which point they meld so you have “green self sufficiency” etc. I was sufficiently bored yesterday and after visiting the handful of blogs that I respect, I went on a hunt for that category thinking that perhaps things had changed. I visited a couple of the ones I used to visit but found that they were still writing about the same old shit. Good for them but not so good for the larger picture.
It is a given when we think on this movement that we assume “left wing liberals” but that isn’t entirely true. I have seen websites that are green and self sufficient who essentially state, “Trust your government. They will save you. All you need is some backup. They will come and get you. (like in Katrina?) Pray. etc. etc. etc. and I have seen sites where the middle of the road are involved (trust your government again) as well as the more left wing (that would be Democrats) among us (trust in your leader this time)
I use this particular movement as an example because to me, its on the level of pop culture as a whole but the facade is Just. Scratch that surface and you don’t find answers, power, unity or universal/political accomplishment. Here is my case:
- Its been a few years now and it has failed to affect global or national policy and it has not affected agribusiness or any other aspect in the larger framework. So beyond identifying the problems, nothing has changed.
- No new ideas or innovations, with a full reliance on traditional knowledge until further advised.
- No activism or any kind of direct action, including a notable lack of calls for global boycotts.
- Virtually no political discussions (the right wing are more brave about that and do discuss politics openly. That I don’t agree with them is irrelevant).
- An over reliance on chump change (the White House organic garden as one shining example) as victory cries.
- Turning “Rebellion into Money”, as Joe Strummer said (and did).
- Hierarchy based on blog stats, published books or paid talks rather than achievement ( self imposed and misleading).
- Not risk takers in general.
- Stagnating.
So as a movement, its essentially a farce regardless of how noble the effort may be. Its a farce in the sense that it is not a movement but a lifestyle complete with commercial aspects. Motives are often self serving, or stop at being a matter of individual principle, but all too gentle and non demanding. In other words, its becoming the status quo.
Now I would buy it if it was declared to be a Ghandi styled tactic but it isn’t. It’s not even remotely about non violent civil disobedience. If I am wrong, prove me wrong. But until we move past this stagnation, we are not going to save our planet much less ourselves by being quiet and self centered.
I am excluding the Green is the New Red type of activism here and for good reason. They are a movement because its about direct action and the activists risk their own freedom to affect change on a broader scale, not to make life easier on themselves, not to publish books or save money. They see and act on a bigger picture and tackle issues head on. I am also excluding those who are not outwardly activist but have gone back to the land as their activism. I think that these people are the backbone of what is left to our civilization right now because they have created a very open dialog that has steered many to correct information (again regardless of whether I agree with them or not). I also exclude those in the the above movement who operate on ethics and principle. I know they are out there and am acquainted with a few. You know who you are.
Which brings me to the question: where are the activists in my example? Who is sticking their necks out really? Not a single blogger within that very strict definition of “green and self sufficient” that I have come across and in fact, the only thing that comes remotely close to encouraging activism at all in that admittedly narrow definition of mine, is the trust in the power of the people to quietly affect change by daily actions, by voting and by reading very narrow visioned books published within the brotherhood of the movement, nothing too controversial or “negative”. A mistake. One must read widely from all manner of ideology to understand anything fully.
You have to learn to look beyond the manure pile in pursuit of truth. And the truth will scare that manure right out of you.
My biggest observation though, is the one that disturbs me the most. Its the one about power to the people which I think is a myth. Perhaps starting there with that single point, we can stop not only our own stagnation but also better define the “movements” from the status quo. Keeping us distracted and content is the role of the status quo and its working. We are back to step one, only now we are recycling. Its not enough.
I’m writing this because I have thought long and hard about these things. I’ve been doing research that gives me the creeps but at the same time shows me the truth. Without that truth, the blind will continue to lead the blind into the pit that our civilization has dug for itself. If we have a chance in hell, we must be discerning in pursuit of truth. We must see the role we are playing ourselves in complacency.
Regardless of your political beliefs, start at this link. Its truth. It stinks but its truth.It will hurt. It will anger you. But if you walk out with actual knowledge, you will be better off in the end.
This is how bored I am in actuality, I title my post after the day of the week. Yawn.
Bored and burnt out. Not a good state of mind to be in. I’m writing in order to see if I can amuse myself or not. I can’t even muster some humor at the moment. I hate winter with a passion sometimes. Its just too windy and cold. As air tight as the windows are, the wind is still making its way through the poorly tuck pointed brick exterior. That is quite a problem and it makes me think about what we are going to do with the farm which is far from air tight.
Usually with spare money (which is seriously lacking at the moment) I would go out and buy lime green home accessories. Works for me. Or daffodils (not yet in season). I’m very receptive to color therapy.
Years ago, when I was wearing all black all the time, a Pagan psychic I was barely acquainted with told me to start adding color to my wardrobe and to stop wearing bright red lipstick. That bright red did not count towards “color” as far as she was concerned. It was making me angry she insisted and she detected that my energy was far to low for being as young as I was.
The next day, another Pagan acquaintance who I barely new, brought me a bag of tie dyed clothes. She said that she had spoken to the psychic (on the phone, not telepathically) and they decided to make me give up black. And she was speaking to my mouth which had my signature red lipstick on it. She said it concerned her because she wanted me to be happy and realize my full potential. Etc. Etc.
Honestly, I don’t think I was unhappy but I know I have never been an extroverted life is a bowl of cherries person. I could of been more energetic. I will give them that. And I appreciated that they cared either way.
I picked out one single item from the bag, a pistachio colored sweater and gave the rest away to a homeless person I ran into. My acquaintances were dismayed!
It was a long while before I realize that white with black does not make color and that gray is not exactly a color when it comes to clothes. Not a bright color anyway. But I do feel great when I wear red and that lime green is a spring and summer favorite of mine.
Have any of you ever explored color therapy? At the time, my friends seemed a bit quirky but the fact is, since then, lots of studies have been done that prove that color can affect your physical and mental health.
Color makes your life happier because it makes you happier on a physiological level.
I look at what I am wearing right now. Black sweats. black and white top (the one that I got caught wearing in public with purple sweats, remember?LOL!) and black sweatshirt. Old habits die hard.
But my lips are bare.
Honestly, I have so much to do right now and I’m not sleeping well. Fighting for the boy with the school currently. It’s a friendly fight (so far) in which they are bringing up irrelevant arguments. I know they mean well but the problem I’m trying to make them see, and they don’t want to see because they have been trained to not see it, is that you cannot apply a cookie cutter to every child in the system.
They have cookie cutter solutions, ones we have tried in earnest but have not worked. They want me to try again. I feel that time is of the essence. Give me something that works and I’ll try it. But I won’t bang my childs head against a wall just to allow for their failures to have a chance to succeed. My son disproves their theories and they can’t stand that idea. But what they can’t handle is when a parent is not towing the line. I simply cannot.
We have the childs best interest in mind but I am the only one who actually cares.
We know what the boy has done or not done. Now lets see what the system has done and not done. How else can we identify the exact problem? You wonder why American kids are said to be stupid? The hand that feeds them is stupid. The system, not the people. But its stupid to keep investing in a system that doesn’t work and its absolute torture to be the only one saying, “the Emperor has no clothes”.
Seriously, I need a pill.
A childhood friend of mine got invovled heavily in drugs when he was very young. Cocaine specifically but also speed and heroin. I’ve kept touch with his mother through my mother over the years and know his sad story, its impact on his family especially his mother. He calls me now and then and occassionaly has sent me letter from the many prison cells he has lived in over the years.
At some point, he became extremely bipolar and is now under heavy medications. His crimes have always been of a non violent nature, usually petty theft but California has that three strikes rule so every time he gets busted, he spends an awfully long time being punished.
Long story short, he is out again. His mother called me to tell me the news but also to ask me about Hepatitis C. She was asking me based on the fact that she knows I’m into alternative health care so was desperately seeking a cure for my friend, her son.
I of course cannot cure Hepatitis C but I spoke to my friend who I will call Joe for our purposes.
He explained that once one is incarcerated, blood work is drawn prior to entering the prison system. He had the all clear at the time, no Hepatitis of anykind and no HIV or anything else.
He then explained that the only thing he thinks could of lead to catching Hep C was using his cellmates nail clippers which cut him. Then he started to remember something else. He said he was in a section of the prison with 400 others and the cafeteria staff hated them all. One day, everybody in the section got violently ill and it was found that the food workers had put feces in their food.
Because he is bipolar he doesn’t stick to the topic at hand easily. I’ll be following through on this story later.I’m assuming that this section of the prison was for mental patients.
He then said that in November, he got ill again, jaundice, nausea,high fever, etc. etc. and was told he now had Hep C.
I checked around online and find that for the most part, Hep C is non symptomatic in that it does not present itself like the Hep A or B would. He was describing Hep A or B to me.
While he was recovered when he came home, he still has some symptoms that he describes which remind me of when I had my children and my liver actually failed. Long story there.
I made him go to an emergency room that very night and they took blood work but the results are not in. He also bought milk thistle which I think will help him. He called me again yesterday in a panic. He hadn’t gotten the test results yet and wanted reassurance that if he had cirrhosis or cancer that they would of hospitalize him. I assume they would have……..
I’m waiting to hear what happens next. Its through this friend that I have been given a view of prison life and while we are all apt to dismiss prisoners rights, the amount of prisoner abuse is horrendous. In all honesty, my heart is breaking for Joe. To be mentally ill and mistreated like that (the food poisoning, the lack of having the ability to fight that or have it investigated, etc).
Image courtesy of wikipedia
Cannibis Sativa, produces hemp which has a THC content of 1 percent. It is purposely bred for fiber (or food, seed, paper,etc) whereas the same genus intended for herbal usage is purposely bred for a higher THC content (3-20 percent). The fiber variety actually has another substance in it called CBD which blocks out THC so it would be counter productive to smoke it.
There is much going on with the legality of growing this sustainable, eco friendly and extremely useful cash crop which remains illegal to grow in the U.S. I have much to say about that but I’m going to turn to hemp as a fiber today. However, if you want to add information to this post about the legalities, history, etc, feel free to do so in the comments section.
Hemp is a bast fiber plant, similar to jute and flax. The fibers themselves are found around the hallow core of the stalk. They offer length (8 inch average), strength and durability as well as possessing antimildew and antimicrobial qualities. It has low elasticity on its own and is considered to be a good fabric to keep cool when combined with other fibers. Some sources even state that hemp will naturally block UV rays. Read a good overview here.
This is hemp roving
My experience so far
I am a beginning spinner, using only a spindle at this point and was told to stick to wool for now. Cellulose fibers (and some protein fibers such as silk) are said to be a little bit tricky to handle in comparison to wool . This turns out to be true but this doesn’t mean that its impossible, just challenging to do so for a beginner. But it can be done. Here is the proof.
I could find no direct information on how to handle hemp for spinning but did find some on how to handle flax on a spinning wheel so adapted it. I also found that fiber preparation is not widely discussed. With wool, one teases the roving to loosen the fibers. The wool I have experienced withstands handling very well.
I found that hemp must be treated very gently and that extensive teasing would encourage separation at approximately 8 inch intervals! That was the major hurdle. I did fan out the supply as I went along and I found myself having to separate some of the fibers which had matted together (caused by the gummy lignans?) However when I first started, I didn’t seperate that much and found slubs would nearly disappear with extra twists. Twisting the separated supply back to the yarn proved to be another challenge but I was able to figure that out. Roughly, I fanned out both ends, overlapping the supply about 3 inches into the yarn. I then carefully twisted to the meeting point and had to manipulate my way up the join slowly. This is the best way I can describe what I did. If it isn’t clear, I’ll try to clarify.
I noted that once I put too much weight on the supply, it would seperate. This lead me to realize that while hemp’s fiber length is considered “long”, in comparison to wool, its much shorter. I do agree that the fiber length is around 8 inches with some of my supply having even shorter length which I pulled off and put aside as I went along.
Other notes: I chose to make a length of leader yarn from the hemp to test it out. I spun this counter clockwise which is one recommendation for spinning flax. I then forgot to spin in that direction for the rest. I therefore can compare. My leader yarn is about as thin as #10 crochet thread. Its extremely strong and smooth despite the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing at that time. No slubs.
The rest of the yarn is also very strong but not as smooth, pretty “hairy” actually and that is at a clockwise spin. Its slightly thicker than my leader and not as even. Next time, I will spin counterclockwise.
I tried wetting the supply but that just encouraged breakage so I wet the twist prior to winding on, mostly because the hairiness bothered me. I found that my supply held a twist without much struggle without wetting.
As I spin, I wonder what I’m going to do with the yarn I’m making. I have no idea. I contemplate dying it but it has great tone to it that I am enjoying. I still have a days work ahead of me to finish up my supply and it still needs to be boiled to set the twist. I decided to not worry so much about what I am going to do with it at this point in favor of just enjoying the process and learning how hemp handles.
Personal feelings
Call me crazy if you want but I equate spinning hemp with gardening. Its a matter of constant diligence, patience, hard work and tenderness while knowing when to step aside and let nature take its own course. At some point, synchronizing something in myself with the natural needs of the fiber rather than the other way around became the obvious solution. Yes, the act of spinning is about creation and to some level about control. If you try hemp and are a beginner, its important to know that you can control it but you have to let it guide you. Don’t expect anything else and you’ll do fine.
Would I use it again? Yes. I had purchased 5 oz. of it and while it maybe enough for some things, it won’t be for others.
My next step is to learn how to blend it with other fibers. I’m not clear if this means blending prior to spinning and then spinning singles together or if it means plying two singles from other fibers that have been spun separately, or both. I’ll soon find out.
I apologize to those of you who are not spinners and I apologize to those of you who are. To the first group, the vocabulary must seem foreign to you while to the second group, that same vocabulary must seem crude:)
I welcome any information or tips that I am missing here. I’d like it if this post and comments contained as much information on hemp as anybody can offer from all perspectives, not excluding folklore, politics and usage. I plan on transferring this to a notebook in which I hope to keep on the fibers I spin with samples.
If you don’t spin but enjoy working with fiber, there is nothing wrong with starting a similar notebook with purchased yarns. I think the world of fibers is fascinating!
The girl went to volunteer for her ceramics teacher yesterday (day off of school). She was asked to help because some other teachers wanted to learn to make platters. Funny enough, my school calender says that this day off of school was a “professional development day” which happens every month. I certainly hope the physics and computer teachers making ceramics learned something that they could apply to their students development! Tax payer money well spent.
But that isn’t the news. The news is that one attendee was the boys math teacher who I met and tried to respect but just couldn’t. Why? She was clearly unyielding in her belief that a boy who has a problem learning in her class is fully to blame.
So the girl comes home and goes straight to her twin. I hear lots of anger in her voice.
She tells the boy, “Ms. Blank is a bitch!!!!!Man oh man, you need to get out that class!” He replies and back and forth it goes.
What happened? The girl is always courteous which is why the ceramics teacher asked her to help out in the first place. When Ms. Blank needed help though, she didn’t wait patiently for the helpers (students remember, children really) had time. She didn’t wait her turn like upright citizens naturally would. No. She demanded help. Right now! And when the girl had no choice but to go and help her (the girl knew who she was and tried to avoid it), Ms. Blank actually barked orders at my girl, as if she knew how to do ceramics but the girl did not. Which makes you wonder why she didn’t get off her lazy ass and do the work herself since she knows the ins and outs all on her own.
The girl said that the other teachers were grateful enough to say “thank you” but Ms. Blank sniffed down her nose at the helpers, perhaps uttering the nearly inaudible, “hmmph” now and then. She then talked through explanations made by the ceramics teacher. The girl reports that Ms. Blank touched the clay as little as possible and speculated that this was because of her dragon lady fake nails which are grotesque no matter who wears them.
I figured she was a nasty piece of work on immediate contact with her myself but, as I said, I tried to respect her enough to give her the benefit of the doubt. Yet, I also suspected that she had some sort of racist conflict going with my son who appears to be whiter than white.
Ms. Blank is ethnic and it turns out, a very sad stereotype and therefor a very poor example (an embarrassment actually) of her race. As an educated woman, an adult and a public servant, she should know better. She should strive to go beyond with all her might. But no. She takes the easy way out.
My son has been subjected to racism as a “white boy” (which he isn’t) and as a Palestinian. But its the “white” part that gets him the most hate and this hate is based strictly on being blue eyed and light skinned. That hate always comes from people who are ethnic, victims of racism themselves. If one is anti racist on behalf of ones own culture only or better yet, just on behalf of themselves, then they are missing the point completely.
That these sentiments occur in school by actual employees does not surprise me at all. What gets me is: how does somebody dare to perpetuate a stereotype of their own race (which is somewhat racist, self defeating and an expression of self loathing in my opinion) and then pour that hatred onto students so blatantly?
And why is it that I just can’t call a spade a spade when I go to remove my son from her class? Because he looks white. Members who belong to the “master race” don’t get the same amount of concern on matters of racism than those who look ethnic. In fact, we are liable to get laughed at for even suggesting such a thing! I can’t play the race card on his behalf but the teacher could in her defense.
I suppose that is a good thing though because racism is just one issue at play.The main one is that the teacher doesn’t want to do her job, which is to teach effectively. She doesn’t want to remove her resentment when a student is not responding to the very little effort she puts into that student. She is all about control and judgment. Does her racism come into the equation? I’m convinced it does but racism is so complex that it can’t be the only issue.
We don’t talk about racism when it pertains to “whites”. We act as if whites are immune to it. But its a pretty serious issue because it helps to keep racism going. And its condoned. When did it become okay? From the outset.
When the kids were in 8th grade, they studied the civil rights movement. My daughter had a good teacher but the woman, who was white, was also a bleeding heart. She kept trying to urge the minority students to stand up against the white man! She kept urging these students to understand that the odds were against them unless they got that education that white America would rather deny them. As she spoke, ethnic children whispered “white trash” to my daughter and another girl.
My daughter and the other girl emailed the teacher and told her what she was encouraging. The teacher just had no clue! She apologized and began to speak of all kinds of racism and de-emphasized the “white as enemy” part. But the damage was done.
Surely there is another way?
I have to face a big problem. And I have to face it honestly.
My boy does not want to finish high school. He feels its too much pressure and in fact presents a good arguement. Of course, I’m not encouraging this “plan” of his but I have to ask myself why I am not doing so? I know he can take a GED and get on to college where he belongs and will do very well once he is removed from the game that public education has become. He has always been able to figure out the game but is much too immature as of now to know how to navigate his way through it on his own. I know he is wanting out of a situation that he feels is mostly wasting his time, not serving his needs and completely frustrating to him. I feel his pain.
So why do I not let him take an alternative course of action? I’m afraid he will regret it. I’m afraid that I will regret it.
Yet, I took an alternative route. I did it all on my own accord. My parents were too busy making ends meet to realize that I was going to school but not actually going to class. My brother who didn’t even bother to go to school, used to come home and burn the letters sent home warning of our “truancy”. He was partying. I, nerd that I am, was sitting getting a real education, in the school library with only a supportive librarian as my teacher and guide.
Why? Because I would try to go to class and I always found that they were teaching things I already knew. In fact, in two years, I only fully attended any math classes they gave to me and all art classes. I would go to take the state tests and not go back for results. One semester, I did do English Lit because it interested me. But the teacher was an ass. He told us that if we wrote a five page essay on something or other, he would give us all A’s. I fell for it like a sucker. He laughed in our faces when we asked about his end of the promise. He even told one student that he never got the essay….which was a lie.I never trusted the system again after that.
So to my safe haven I went, seeking refuge. Eventually, somebody official found me and I was hauled to my counselors office. The counselor had been looking for me for at least a year, sending notes home and sending notes to teachers. He didn’t yell at me. Instead he held a piece of paper and said, “You belong in college. These state test results are remarkable. I know you are bored and so I’m going to get you to college as soon as possible.” And he did. The very next year I began my life long journey in higher education. That meant I skipped two full grades. Two years saved! I have no regrets.
I always knew that the boy had my temperament which is why I have encouraged him to persevere with eyes wide open. You can win while navigating within the system. You can make it work for you. But you have be a self advocate to a point. Yet you have to have an adult on your side. I had the counselor. My son has me. But I have to fight the system for him. And he has to fight with me. He doesn’t want to fight. He wants me to fix it and I am not sure that I can fix it enough. The damage is done.
Then there is the social aspect of dropping out. He will be stigmatized and so will we as a family. I’m not too worried about our part in that, but once he is out, he’ll see his friends seem to go on with the idyllic American high school experience. I watched that from the sidelines a well. I watched my friends go to prom, graduate on stage. Its only in retrospect that I realize that there was nothing really important about any of that.
So on and on my internal conversation goes. What I want is the best for him. He doesn’t fit the mold. But it might be too premature to break that mold.
