Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? [Survival Today - an On going Thread #2]

May 05th,2008

[nw_arizona_granny]

Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training

I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/forecastearth/192/stew-doesn-t-always-mean-meat.html;_ylt=Asb_FLmtVG0L0TLyEKH2fG.tV8cX

Stew doesn’t always mean meat

By Jay Weinstein, Forecast Earth Correspondent
Posted Fri Dec 12, 2008 2:15pm PST

Related topics: Food and Drink, How-To, Veggies
More from Forecast Earth blog

To many, stew is synonymous with meat. Of course, lamb and beef stews are among America’s favorites. But in the interest of adding some less carbon-intensive ingredients to the winter menu, I looked for a vegetarian alternative that would be just as warming, comforting, and appropriate to winter’s cold.

I found the perfect solution in a hearty Moroccan squash tagine, served over steaming couscous.

With cozy aromas of cinnamon, cumin, and ginger, this fork-and-knife one-pot meal has all the stick-to-your-ribs appeal of a meat dish, and relies on squash, onions, and beans that can be sourced locally even in December (or kept in the root cellar from autumn).

A few spoonfuls of Harissa, a spicy North African chili paste that’s great either store bought or homemade, add complex flavors and a brilliant splash of color.

Moroccan Squash Tagine With Couscous

3 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped (about 4 cups)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
11/2 lb organic pumpkin, butternut, delicata, dumpling, or other squash, skin on, cut into large chunks
2 large horse carrots, cut into 2” sticks
8 small red potatoes, halved
1 tsp each ground cumin, ginger, and cinnamon
6 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 lb fresh fava beans or frozen peas
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup Spanish olives with pimento
1 can (14 oz) chickpeas, drained
1 qt vegetable stock
Pinch saffron steeped in 1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup roughly chopped Italian parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
Harissa (Middle-Eastern hot chili paste) to taste
1 pound couscous, prepared according to directions on the box
Chopped parsley and lemon wedges to garnish

Heat the oil in a large stew pot; add the onion, garlic, squash, carrots, potatoes, spices and 1 Tbsp kosher salt. Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened and become translucent. Stir in the tomatoes, fava beans, raisins, olives, chickpeas, vegetable stock and saffron.

Bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer; cover and simmer 30 minutes. Finish by stirring in the parsley and lemon, and seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Mix a small amount of broth with the harissa, and serve that on the side. Accompany with heaping plates of couscous. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon wedges.

Serves 8

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/sauces/sweet-sauce-and-syrup-recipes.html

Dessert Sauces, Spreads, Syrups & More

| 1 | 2 | Next >>

* Bavarian Cream
* Bittersweet Hot Fudge Sauce
* Butterscotch Rum Sauce
* Butterscotch Sauce
* Caramel Cream Topping
* Caramel Sauce 1
* Caramel Sauce 2
* Caramelized Milk
* Cherry Ice Cream Sauce
* Chocolate Almond Butter
* Chocolate Caramel Sauce
* Chocolate Glaze
* Choke-Cherry Syrup
* Cinnamon Butter Spread
* Cinnamon Fudge Sauce
* Claret Sauce
* Clotted Cream
* Cocoa Fudge Sauce
* Coffee Fudge Sauce
* Cracklin’ Hot Fudge Sauce
* Creamy Butterscotch Sauce
* Creme Anglaise
* Creme Fraiche
* Creme Patisserie
* Dulce de Leche - Sweet Milk Sauce
* Easy Maple-Flavored Syrup
* Favorite Hot Fudge Sauce
* Fresh Apricot Dessert Topping
* Fudgy Chocolate Sauce
* Grandma Flo’s Cocoa Syrup
* Heavenly Hot Fudge Sauce
* Hot Cocoa Fudge Sauce 1
* Hot Cocoa Fudge Sauce 2
* Kiwifruit Dessert Sauce
* Lemon-Nutmeg Sauce
* Lowfat Mocha Fudge Sauce
* Maple Dried Cherry Syrup
* Marshmallow Creme 1
* Marshmallow Creme 2
* Marshmallow Sauce
* Mexican Chocolate Sauce
* Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce

| 1 | 2 | Next >>

Return to Sauce & Condiment Recipes

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/holidays/giving/fromthekitchen.php

Holiday Gift-Giving Guide 2008
Gifts from Your Kitchen

Wrap up your holiday shopping without leaving the house! From flavored sugar and spiced oils to candied nuts and herbed salts, our crafty elves have cooked up tasty gift ideas for the foodies on your list.

Download festive gift tags for each recipe, complete with cooking and usage suggestions.

* Candied Lemon Peels: Recipe | Gift tag
* Candied Orange Peels: Recipe | Gift tag
* Chile Oil: Recipe | Gift tag
* Cinnamon Pancake Mix: Recipe | Gift tag
* Citrus Salt: Recipe | Gift tag
* Cranberry and Goji Berry Chutney: Recipe | Gift tag
* Herbes de Provence Salt: Recipe | Gift tag
* Sweet Spice Rub: Recipe | Gift tag
* Lavender Sugar: Recipe | Gift tag
* Maple Sugar Walnuts: Recipe | Gift tag
* Mulled Cider Spice Sachets: Recipe | Gift tag
* Preserved Lemons: Recipe | Gift tag
* Rosemary Olive Oil: Recipe | Gift tag
* Sugared Cranberries: Recipe | Gift tag
* Tangerine Sugar: Recipe | Gift tag
* Tarragon Vinegar: Recipe | Gift tag
* Vanilla Bean Sugar: Recipe | Gift tag

[nw_arizona_granny]

[Please pass this one one, a full cookbook for gluten free]

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/holidays/recipes/glutenfree-dairyfree.php

Holiday Recipes
Gluten-Free or Dairy-Free Recipes

Everyone can enjoy the holidays with our collection of special diet recipes. We’ve collected our favorite holiday dishes that meet gluten-free or dairy-free diets — and sometimes both! Please read over the ingredients carefully and check the tags at the end of the recipe for gluten-free, dairy-free and other special diet needs.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/cookies/

Favorite Cookies from 1941 to 2008

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/forecastearth/119/the-market-crashes-but-you-ve-still-gotta-eat.html;_ylt=AupDXpyQQm1i2mBTNkMJm1.tV8cX

The market crashes, but you’ve still gotta eat

By Jay Weinstein, Forecast Earth Food Correspondent
Posted Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:24am PDT
Related topics: Food and Drink, Locavore, Veggies
More from Forecast Earth blog

If your 401K has dipped as low as mine in this financial market turmoil, you may be joining me in some grocery belt-tightening. Luckily, that doesn’t mean that doesn’t mean we have to resort to the dirt-cheap, over-processed factory foods that pervade much of the standard American diet. The great news is that some of the most hearty, satisfying cheap fresh foods are coming into season right now: fall squashes.

You should be seeing great varieties of hard-shell squashes like acorn, butternut, delicata, hubbard, and kabocha squashes in farm stands, greenmarkets, and produce departments starting this week. Find your local source for these affordable fall treats at www.localharvest.org. The easiest way to cook them is to split them into manageable pieces and roast them in a 400-degree oven, sprinkled with a little salt and olive oil. Another easy meal for cool fall nights is a soup made by sautéing peeled squash with onions and spices, and then simmering with water or broth until it is velvety tender.

For about three bucks per person, you can make a vegetarian dinner starting with sweet butternut squash soup, and then going onto a main course of roasted, cumin-scented hubbard squash atop a lentil and rice pilaf, garnished with crispy baked pumpkin seeds. A salad on the side completes the scene. You couldn’t find a more seasonal, satisfying repast at any price, and by choosing local, plant-based ingredients, you’d be cutting transportation fuel and energy-intensive meat production out of the picture to boot.

Butternut Squash Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil (divided use)

4 cups chopped onions

4-6 cups peeled, diced butternut squash

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon mixed cinnamon and allspice

Chopped parsley to garnish

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a soup pot; add onions, squash, bay leaf, and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook over medium heat until vegetables give up much of their water, become very soft and tender, and begin to caramelize (brown) slightly on the bottom of the pot, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, about 15 minutes. It’s okay if the vegetables stick a little bit, as long as they brown on the bottom of the pot without becoming black.

Stir in the cinnamon and allspice. Add 8 cups stock, broth, or water; simmer 40 minutes. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and a drizzle of remaining olive oil. For a smooth soup, you can puree all or part of it in a blender before garnishing.

Serves 8

Cumin Roasted Hubbard Squash

1 hubbard or other squash (about 4 pounds), cut into 8 wedges, seeds removed

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons ground cumin

In a large mixing bowl, combine squash, olive oil, cumin, and 1 teaspoon salt; toss to evenly coat. Arrange seasoned squash wedges skin-side down in a roasting pan, baking dish, or cookie sheet. Transfer to oven (does not need to be preheated for this recipe), and roast at 400 degrees for 1 hour, until the edges begin to brown, and the flesh is very tender. Serve over lentils and rice, with a salad on the side.

Serves 4

Lentil and Rice Pilaf

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 bay leaf

4 cups chopped vegetables, such as celery, carrots, and onions

2 cups rice

2 cup lentils

1 cinnamon stick

In a saucepan with a tight-fitting cover, combine olive oil, bay leaf, and vegetables; add 1 teaspoon salt. Cook over medium heat (without browning) until vegetables have softened and given up some of their juices, about 5 minutes. Add lentils, rice, 8 cups broth or water, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil.

Lower to a simmer, cover tightly, and cook 20 minutes more, until lentils and rice are tender, and all liquid is absorbed. Season the pilaf with salt and pepper before serving.

Serves 4

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/report.htm?report=3196&param=APT

Jihadi Forum Links to Arab Physics Forum Thread with Nuclear Centrifuge Blueprints, Info

No. 2299 - March 26, 2009

A recent post on a jihadi forum Shumukh Al-Islam titled “The Path to a Jihadi Nuclear Weapon” linked to a thread on the Arab Physicists’ Forum containing information on uranium enrichment.
The full text of this report is available to subscribers.
Please login or register to request subscription information from MEMRI.

© 1998-2009, The Middle East Media Research Institute, All Rights Reserved. Materials may only be cited with proper attribution.

[nw_arizona_granny]

This message contains the following:

1. Cordless Stick Vacuums Recalled by Electrolux Home Care Products Due to Bursting Batteries

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09169.html

2. Lenovo Recalls ThinkVision Speaker AC Adaptors Due to Shock Hazard

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09170.html

3. Outerwears Inc. Recalls Filters Used in Fuel Funnels Due to Fire Hazard

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09171.html

[nw_arizona_granny]

Monticello: The Vegetable Garden
History of the vegetable gardens at the Monticello home of 3rd U.S. president Thomas Jefferson, who “grew 250 varieties of more than 70 different species of vegetables, precisely recording the details of their growth.” Includes photos, a map showing the location of the vegetable garden terrace, and information about the restoration of the gardens. From the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

URL: http://www.monticello.org/gardens/vegetable/

LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28154

[nw_arizona_granny]

Resource of the Week: Energy Information Administration Country
Analysis Briefs By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor

http://digbig.com/4ymmy

You probably already know about the Energy Information Administration
as the nation’s premier fishing hole for energy statistics of all
types.

The mission of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is to
provide policy-neutral data, forecasts, and analyses to promote
sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding
regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the
environment. Created by the Congress in 1977, EIA is the
statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy and as such is
the Nation’s premier source of unbiased energy data, analysis and
forecasting. By law, EIA’s products are prepared independently of
Administration policy considerations. EIA neither formulates nor
advocates any policy conclusions.

EIA provides a wide range of information and data products
covering energy production, stocks, demand, imports, exports, and
prices; and prepares analyses and special reports on topics of
current interest. These products are derived from energy data that
is collected by EIA staff. We design and send our statistical
surveys to energy producers, users, transporters, and certain
other businesses. Companies and households report directly to us.
We also make use of data from other sources, such as trade
associations and other government agencies.

You may never have explored the site’s International section, however.
Thus you might not be familiar with the EIA’s Country Analysis Briefs.
These are updated on an ongoing basis, and offer in-depth energy data
for each individual country regarding oil, natural gas and
electricity.

Does a nation have any oil reserves? How much does it import? How much
electricity generating capacity does it have, and what fuels does it
use to produce its power? A ‘quick facts’ page for each country
provides every relevant statistic in one location - such as this one,
for the country of Mexico.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Mexico/Profile.html

There’s also a page of links to each country’s relevant government and
utility websites, and to the country’s profile in the CIA World
Factbook and its U.S. Department of State Consular Information Sheet.
Finally, for each country, there is a Sources page that lets you know
where all the data came from.

You can access each complete report in HTML or PDF format. If you
think these reports will be useful to you in the future, you can sign
up to be notified by e-mail when a new one is posted. Just scroll down
the e-mail subscriptions page till you get the International
section and select all reports or just those from regions of the world
in which you’re interested.

Other aggregate sources of energy information for various countries
include:

* Europe’s Energy Portal (EU)

* Eurostat: Environment and Energy

* International Energy Agency

* International Trade Administration: Electric Current Worldwide

* NationMaster: Energy Statistics

* OECD Statistics Portal: Energy

* United Nations Statistics Division: Energy Statistics

* World Bank - Energy: Regions

* World Resources Institute - EarthTrends: Energy and Resources:
Country Profiles

http://digbig.com/4ymmy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Off the Shelf: Featured posts from ResourceShelf Visit ResourceShelf
now: http://www.resourceshelf.com
or click a link to view the
entire post:

* Streaming For Free: Introducing Documentaries on Hulu
http://digbig.com/4ymfs

* New: FAO Food Price Database - http://digbig.com/4ymft

* Top 10 Electronic Reminder Services -
http://digbig.com/4ymfw

* New e-book pricing comparison site: Ebookprice.info -
http://digbig.com/4ymfx

* Fast Facts: Geographic Names (U.S.) -
http://digbig.com/4ymfy

* IMLS Announces New Data Note on Libraries’ Role in Providing
Broadband Access -
http://digbig.com/4ymga

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http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/03/20/public-printer-of-the-us-sends-letter-to-president-obama-re-open-government/

Public Printer of the U.S. Sends Letter to President Obama Re: Open Government

From the Letter:

[The letter includes]…five goals and accompanying actions that GPO is prepared to undertake to help implement your initiative for transparency and open Government. We look forward to working with the appropriate staff in your Administration to help you carry it out.

Direct to Letter (6 pages; PDF)

Source: GPO

{There is a lot of grumbling going on in the declassified papers departments, it seems that Obama is not having an open gov as he promised and folks are asking why.
granny}

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http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/03/20/new-tools-quietube-for-video-calibre-from-e-books/

New Tools: Quietube for Video & Calibre for E-Books

+ From a News.com Post:

Quietube is a new tool to enhance the YouTube watching experience. The idea is that you can watch just the video with none of the other YouTube page elements. To do this you simply add its bookmarklet to your browser’s bookmarks toolbar, and click it on any YouTube page.

++ Calibre: iTunes for e-books?

Calibre is a cross-platform, open-source library for your e-books that can also sync them to your e-book reader. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, it offers a massive range of individual book customizations, as well format conversion and newspaper-style RSS feed grabbing, but lacks a slick interface that would go a long way towards convincing skeptics that it’s a powerful tool.

Source: News.com

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http://www.resourceshelf.com/

Todays posts, news in the library world, which involves all types of subjects, that they run across or research.

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http://www.resourceshelf.com/category/source-file/resources/e-books/

Latest articles on e-books.

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http://www.resourceshelf.com/category/source-file/resources/government-documents/

Latest articles on gov documents, interesting.

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http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/03/11/free-download-emerald-guide-to-baseball-2009/

Free Download — Emerald Guide to Baseball 2009

Free Download — Emerald Guide to Baseball 2009
(Shirl’s note: If you’ve already downloaded this, I just received word that a correction was made to the original and a new version has been posted. It may be downloaded after 10 a.m. EST on Thursday, March 12.)

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is pleased to to offer the Emerald Guide to Baseball 2009 as a free PDF to the world baseball community.

Edited by accomplished and acclaimed baseball historians Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer and published by SABR, The Emerald Guide distills the 2008 season down to 586 fact-filled pages that contain the pitching, fielding, and hitting statistics for every player active in the major and minor leagues in 2008. A bound version is available via print on demand at Lulu.com for $23.94. Every page in the bound edition is in the PDF.

To get your free PDF of The Emerald Guide to Baseball 2009, as well as the guides for 2007 and 2008, please fill out the form below and hit “Submit.” You’ll get an email with a download link, and one or two more from SABR, but that’s it. We won’t sell or give your information to anyone else.

Source: Society for American Baseball Research

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http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/03/24/federal-employees-ethics-official-quick-reference-chart/

Federal Employees — Ethics Official Quick Reference Chart

Ethics Official Quick Reference Chart (PDF; 97 KB)

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has published an Ethics Official Quick Reference Chart with links to Ethics-related statutes, regulations, and common issues faced by ethics professionals. It’s (also) offered in Microsoft Word format to allow ethics officials to update it as their needs change or new information becomes available.

Source: U.S. Office of Government Ethics

[Do you think any of them ever read this?? granny]

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http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/03/24/search-tool-launched-for-uncovered-government-documents/

Search Tool Launched for Uncovered Government Documents

More about a search tool we first posted about last week.

From the Article:

To commemorate Sunshine Week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) last week launched a search tool that allows the public to closely examine thousands of pages of government documents the organization has obtained through litigation and FOIA requests. The documents relate to a wide range of cutting-edge technology issues and government policies that affect civil liberties and personal privacy, according to a release from the organization.

Direct to Database

Source: GovTech

http://www.eff.org/issues/foia/search

[Go and check out the above sites, you will find much to interest you...no matter what your interests are...
It is one of those sites, where one click leads to two more.....granny]

[nw_arizona_granny]

Government

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White House Blog: Spring Gardening
This brief blog post from March 2009 announces the White House vegetable garden on the South Lawn, vegetables from which will be “cooked in the White House Kitchen and given to Miriam’s Kitchen, which serves the homeless in Washington, DC.” Features a downloadable diagram of the garden with vegetables and herbs that will be planted for the spring. From the White House.
URL: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/20/Spring-Gardening/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28147

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Health

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Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH)
The mission of this organization is “to serve as the community of professionals who study, practice & promote healthy humor & laughter.” The group promotes “’therapeutic humor’: Any intervention that promotes health and wellness by stimulating a playful discovery, expression or appreciation of the absurdity or incongruity of life’s situations.” Its website features articles and white papers, bibliography of books and articles, newsletter with links to news, and related material.
URL: http://www.aath.org/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27956

[upcountry miss]

There is a local company here that gives their shipping containers to their employees after being emptied. We obtained one from a friend. Not particularly attractive, but with a little imagination, it probably could be “spiffed” up. Haven’t had it long enough to use my imagination on it yet but it makes excellent space for storage of hay and shavings for our two miniature horses.

[Joya]

Post 5664; gluten-free cookbook link; BTTT.

thanks !

[DelaWhere]

>>>There is a local company here that gives their shipping containers to their employees after being emptied. We obtained one from a friend. Not particularly attractive, but with a little imagination, it probably could be “spiffed” up. Haven’t had it long enough to use my imagination on it yet but it makes excellent space for storage of hay and shavings for our two miniature horses.<<<

Oh boy! These can be a treasure trove!

They have been made into everything from housing to bomb shelters, hidden pantries, feed storage, chicken coops, workshops, and the imagination is the limit.

They are very sturdy - have to be to be able to have tons and tons stacked like they do.

Will have to look up some of the uses I have saved - somewhere... ;^)

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Ping to the above post, gluten free recipes source

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

* National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) Launches Pandemic Influenza Resource Library (Mar 25) Exit Disclaimer

* HHS Releases Interim Guidance for Cargo Trucking Management and Crew Personnel (Mar 23)

* New Method Could Improve Vaccines for Both Seasonal Flu and Bird Flu (Mar 17) Exit Disclaimer

* HHS Publishes Interim Guidance on Cleaning Transit Vehicles and Facilities during a Pandemic (Mar 11)

* Report: Sustaining Focus on the Nation’s Planning and Preparedness Efforts (Mar 6)

News Archive >>

News Releases News Releases Site Updates Site Updates

[nw_arizona_granny]

local company here that gives their shipping containers to their employees after being emptied.<<<

That is wonderful, storage at the least.

They have made commercial rental storage units of them here, one set up has been renting for about 20 years, brought in 20 or 30 and set them on a vacant lot.

Are they strong enough to be buried in a hillside for a root cellar?

LOL, or just plain storage, would be good enough for me.

[nw_arizona_granny]

You are welcome, it looked interesting and appeared to be a wide variety of recipes.

[DelaWhere]

Examiner Editorial: Expanded Americorps has stench of authoritarianism

Examiner Editorial 3/26/09
With almost no public attention, both chambers of Congress in the past week advanced an alarming expansion of the Americorps national service plan, with the number of federally funded community-service jobs increasing from 75,000 to 250,000 at a cost of $5.7 billion. Lurking behind the feel-good rhetoric spouted by the measure’s advocates is a bill that upon closer inspection reveals multiple provisions that together create a strong odor of creepy authoritarianism.

The House passed the measure overwhelmingly, while only 14 senators had the sense and courage to vote against it on a key procedural motion. Every legislator who either voted for this bill or didn’t vote at all has some serious explaining to do.

Last summer, then-candidate Barack Obama threw civil liberties to the wind when he proposed “a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the regular military. The expanded Americorps is not quite so disturbing, but a number of provisions in the bill raise serious concerns.

To begin with, the legislation threatens the voluntary nature of Americorps by calling for consideration of “a workable, fair and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people.” It anticipates the possibility of requiring “all individuals in the United States” to perform such service, including elementary school students.

The bill also summons up unsettling memories of World War II-era paramilitary groups by saying the new program should “combine the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service,” while establishing “campuses” that serve as “operational headquarters,” complete with “superintendents” and “uniforms” for all participants. It allows for the elimination of all age restrictions in order to involve Americans at all stages of life. And, it calls for the creation of “a permanent cadre” in a “National Community Civilian Corps.”

But that’s not all. The bill also calls for “youth engagement zones” in which “service learning” is “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.”

This updated form of voluntary community service is also to be “integrated into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula” at all levels of schooling. Sounds like a government curriculum for government-approved “service learning,” which is nothing less than indoctrination.

Now, ask yourself if Congress members who voted for this monstrosity had a clue what they were voting for. If not, they’re guilty of dereliction of duty. If they did, the implications are truly frightening.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/Expanded-Americorps-has-stench-of-authoritarianism-41869152.html

And this is from the San Francisco Examiner?????

I thought they were solidly in the Øbama camp...

[DelaWhere]

Monsanto Planting Seeds in the White House?

March 20, 2009
By Asher Miller
Post Carbon Institute

Apparently, President Obama is considering appointing Michael Taylor to head the new Food Safety Working Group. Who's Michael Taylor? From Food Politics (care of Jill Richardson):

Mr. Taylor is a lawyer who began his revolving door adventures as counsel to FDA. He then moved to King & Spalding, a private-sector law firm representing Monsanto, a leading agricultural biotechnology company. In 1991 he returned to the FDA as Deputy Commissioner for Policy, where he was part of the team that issued the agency's decidedly industry-friendly policy on food biotechnology and that approved the use of Monsanto's genetically engineered growth hormone in dairy cows. His questionable role in these decisions led to an investigation by the federal General Accounting Office, which eventually exonerated him of all conflict-of-interest charges. In 1994, Mr. Taylor moved to USDA to become administrator of its Food Safety and Inspection Service... After another stint in private legal practice with King & Spalding, Mr. Taylor again joined Monsanto as Vice President for Public Policy in 1998.

The man has moved in and out of roles at the federal government and Monsanto so many times he probably has whiplash.

So what's the big deal? (I'm not going to opine on Monsanto here, other than to say that I know quite a few people who think Monsanto is the most evil corporation in the world, and that's even after this AIG debacle.) Well, two things:

The first is that I find it puzzling, to put it lightly, that Obama would choose this guy to help ensure food safety. Here's what Taylor recently said:

FDA is in "bad shape" and the FSIS meat and poultry inspection system is "obsolete," Taylor said. "We're spending a lot of government money to do inspections that could be done by someone else," he said. "We need to complete the transformation of FSIS as a food safety agency, away from inspection to a science-based public health agency."

Yes, because it's been proven just how effective is lack of rigorous monitoring and regulation on the part of the government. We need more of less. Taylor was also responsible for writing the rBGH labeling guidelines for the FDA. The guidelines specifically prohibited dairies from stating that their products contained or were free of rBGH. Sounds safe to me.

Second, the appointment of Michael Taylor to the Food Safety Working Group would really belie Obama's pledge not to appoint lobbyists to positions within his administration. And this would not be the first time. Am I shocked? No. But this is not merely a matter of a politician going back on a pledge or dancing around the edges.

The AIG/bank bailout fiasco shows just how crippled the Obama Administration can be by conflicts of interest. Secretary Geithner has failed miserably at asserting the federal government's authority over the corporations to which we've handed out hundreds of billions of dollars. The banks aren't lending, and AIG and Citigroup are using our tax dollars to provide private benefits to some of the <insert preferred curse word here> who got us into this mess.

As Josh Marshall eloquently states, the real issue behind the AIG bonus debacle isn't the money.

There's no end of puffed up outrage and opportunistic posturing over the on-going revelation of the AIG bonus scandal. But some line has been crossed. And it's worth thinking really clearly about just what that line is. What is so damaging about this isn't the money -- which is almost trivially small compared to the many hundreds of billions we've already committed. The problem is what appears to be the president's mortifying impotence in the face of bankers and financiers who created the problem.

Appointing people who have close ties to--and, in many cases, have actually worked for--the industries they are responsible for regulating, is a losing proposition. Whether or not Geithner and other Obama appointees are intending to serve private corporate interests over those of the nation, their close relationships and possible conflicts of interest certainly don't help.

http://postcarbon.org/monsanto_planting_seeds_white_house