Free Republic

Dairy farmers are pressing federal antitrust regulators to investigate why large food companies are making hefty profits while farmers are going broke. The average dairy farm in the state lost about $100 per cow per month this summer, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. With more than 1.25 million cows in the state, it means the industry is losing roughly $4 million a day. ~~ Snip ~~ Feingold said he wants the Justice Department to reconsider the 2001 Dean Foods merger with Suiza Foods that helped make Dean the nation's largest milk processor and distributor. He also wants antitrust...

JOHANNESBURG – Nestle says it will stop buying milk from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's wife's farm after facing worldwide boycott threats. ... Internet boycott calls had followed reports in Britain's Telegraph that Nestle was buying Mugabe's milk. The Telegraph reported that the farm's former owner, who is white, sold the farm after a campaign of violence.

Six Colorado dairies have filed for bankruptcy protection this year amid banking problems and low milk prices. Four of the banks had loans from Greeley-based New Frontier Bank, which collapsed in April... Bob Winter, a member of the Colorado Farm Bureau, says he believes more Colorado dairies are preparing to file for bankruptcy protection

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held an "emotional" press conference to caution the rest of us "about the language" we use. "We all have to take responsibility for our actions and our words" and "any incitement they may cause." Some people aren't as "balanced" as we may think, Pelosi pontificated. It's hard to decide which is more repugnant, her acting ability or her double standard. Madam Speaker, perhaps you're the one who isn't "balanced." Consider: Would a balanced person equate the Tea Party rallies and town hall meetings you've maligned with the "violence of the ‘70s" to which you referred?

...Milk dumped on roads and farmland to protest drastically lower prices... European milk farmers have dumped three million litres of fresh milk onto pastures and roads in a massive, organized protest against lowered dairy prices. In Belgium, farmers spread milk across roads near the southern town of Ciney. Elsewhere, about 300 tractors dragged milk containers through plowed fields in southern Belgium, dumping a day's worth of milk production in that region. "It is a scandal to dump this, but we have to realize what the situation is," said Belgian farm leader Erwin Schoepges. "We need a farm revolt." Milk farmers...

American citizens are being asked to weigh in on California's Harvey Milk Day bill. The California Assembly has passed a bill establishing an annual day to honor openly homosexual San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, who was assassinated November 27, 1978. SaveCalifornia.com president Randy Thomasson is calling on conservative Christians to contact the governor's office. "The bill -- which will honor a sexual predator, a polygamous relationship advocate, and a public liar -- and extend a homosexual, bisexual, transsexual agenda as a role model to children to aspire to is going to the governor after a short stop on the...

The White House announced today the names of 16 people chosen by the Administration of Hope-n-Change to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. "...These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds," Obama said in a statement. "Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs," he said. "Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way." U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, praised Obama for selecting...

The late San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk received the presidential Medal of Freedom award today with 15 other recipients ranging across the professional and ideological spectrum, from the late supply sider Jack Kemp to tennis star Billy Jean King to Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose absence from the health care debate due to brain cancer treatments has weighed heavily on the White House. The medal is the country's highest civilian honor. President Obama said all the recipients "share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great...

An Iraqi woman shows off the butter that was made on her family's farm near Mahmudiyah, June 23. Photo by Sgt. Mary Phillips, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. MAHMUDIYAH — Soldiers with the 120th Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, and a family of Iraqi dairy farmers are spearheading a program to increase milk and cheese production in this community, the first dairy initiative the North Carolina Army National Guard Soldiers have started with the Iraqis. Capt. Sara Woods, Civil Affairs Team 31, said the intent is to revitalize the area's dairy industry.Using microgrants, the pilot farm will...

WAYMART - Joe Davitt's tone curdled as he discussed the trough in milk prices. "We're the only self-employed business that has no say in what we get paid," Mr. Davitt, 39, said Wednesday as he gazed at a cluster of Holstein cows feeding in the barn at his 145-acre farm. "I can't afford to quit because what the cows would bring wouldn't be enough to cover my debt." A slump in milk prices is taking dairy farmers to the woodshed. Expenses exceed milk payments at many dairy operations. "There were times before when the prices were low, but the costs...

An artist's proposal to create a pink cloud over the intersection of Market and Castro streets is creating a stir in one of San Francisco's most whimsical neighborhoods. The idea is recycled from 2000, when artist Christian Werthmann's "pink cloud" was one of two winning proposals for a city art piece to commemorate the late Harvey Milk, a supervisor and gay rights advocate. There was no money at the time to fund the project, so it was shelved. Now it's back - revived by Supervisor Bevan Dufty and the San Francisco Arts Commission to add some flair to the temporary...

After crossing the bricked finish line on Sunday, the winner of the Indianapolis 500 will drive into the winner’s circle, be presented with a celebratory wreath and take a swig from a cold bottle of milk. The latter is one of the grandest traditions in sports, but also one of the most confusing. Why milk? Why is it in a bottle? And (this one was actually asked by a girl I knew in college) has it been sitting in the sun all day? After solving mysteries in Beijing, Boston and Augusta, GA, the old Y! Sports investigative unit is here...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday threatened to sue a San Diego County school that refused to let a student present a report on slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk until her classmates got their parents' permission to hear it. David Blair-Loy, legal director of the ACLU of San Diego County, said the principal of Mt. Woodson Elementary School in Ramona violated the free speech rights of 6th-grader Natalie Jones, who was the only student in her class prevented from giving an in-class presentation. Principal Theresa Grace concluded last month that the subject of the girl's...

The brand of Sanlu Group, the dairy company embroiled in China's tainted-milk scandal, was sold at an auction Tuesday for 7.3 million yuan (1.07 million U.S. dollars), court officials said. An unidentified individual entrepreneur from south China won the bid at an auction in the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court in northern Hebei Province. No further information about the bidder was released. The auction started at 7 million yuan and drew three bids from only two bidders. The "Sanlu" brand was worth 14.9 billion yuan in 2006, according to the China Brand Asset Evaluation Center. Sanlu Group, which was based in...

With encouragement from an Oscar-winning screenwriter, a state Senate committee approved legislation Wednesday that would designate a day honoring slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk. The Senate Education Committee voted 7-2 to send the bill by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to the full Senate. It would designate each May 22 — Milk's birthday — as Harvey Milk Day. The "day of special significance" would recognize Milk's life and contributions to the state but would not be an official holiday, meaning there would be no cost to state government. It also would encourage public schools to conduct "suitable commemorative exercises"...

A CANCER-CAUSING protein has been found in milk produced in an eastern China city. Three people from the dairy producer, including its legal representative, have been detained. Authorities tested 14 batches of milk products from Morning Garden Dairy Co Ltd in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, and found 11 of them were contaminated with protein hydrolyzed from leather waste, a substance which could have been used to increase the apparent protein content in milk products, Shanghai Evening Post reported yesterday. The case, which follows the fatal Sanlu milk powder scandal, has been referred to police, according to local authorities. Mao Jianhua,...

Since we've all worked hard all week, It's time to kick back, relax, forget about politics and enjoy a nice full glass of iced tea or Soda. Enjoy

Evidence for health claims is thin, but a Pittsboro woman is pushing for testing. There is nothing smooth about a cool glass of camel's milk. The animals aren't cooperative, milk production is less than stellar and it's illegal to sell across state lines. Still, proponents, led by Millie Hinkle of Pittsboro, say camel's milk may be an elixir, curing maladies from allergies to autism to diabetes – although the science behind such claims is thin. The prospect of a cure-all is what inspires Hinkle, a naturopathic physician who read about the health benefits in a magazine three years ago and...

... The contrast between the media's portrayal of homosexuality and the reality of that lifestyle is striking. But, if the real behavior were shown, we would hear the truth about the medical problems associated with this behavior, the high rates of suicide and other issues that reflect reality--not the rosy picture that has been sold to the American public. Only God knows what we will be seeing 20 years from now. Will the media and Hollywood continue to demonize Christians and conservative Jews to the point it will be illegal to quote Scripture that offends those who practice ungodly behavior?...

The Bay Area took center stage at the Oscars when Sean Penn was honored for his performance in "Milk." Not only did the story of the former San Francisco supervisor put the Bay Area in the middle of the show but Bay Area resident, Penn, used his acceptance speech as an opportunity to dig into California politics and a hotbed Bay Area issue. In case you missed it, check out his speech below. Or for more on Penn's speech, check out Penn Pleas for Gay Rights, Rourke at Oscars.