Free Republic

A move in occupied territories in Ukraine to hold ‘votes’ on joining Russia could be a sign of Vladimir Putin realizing that he has to do radical things to save face and be able to declare victory in what is increasingly seen as a failed war. Votes being held in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson may indicate a move to annex these Ukraine territories into Russia. These moves are generating speculation on potential escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Sources tell NetNewsLedger that Russian President Putin is planning a major escalation including conscription. Over past weeks the Russians...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ignored cries of anger and desperation from farmers and provincial officials last weekend by pressing ahead with a climate change agenda that will dramatically reduce Canada’s use of fertilizer — the same ruinous strategy that drove Dutch farmers into revolt and destroyed the agriculture of Sri Lanka.The Toronto Sun reported on a dismaying Friday meeting of federal and provincial ministers, in which the latter could not convince the Trudeau administration to show any “flexibility” in its emissions targets, not even with a global food crisis on the horizon:Several provincial governments, and organizations representing farmers have...

Inflation is crippling rural America and driving some people to consider moving closer to cities in an effort to ease the financial stress, according to the latest analysis from one expert. Iowa State University professor Dave Peters has been studying the effect of inflation on people in rural communities as part of the school's Small Town Project. He found that this year alone, expenses for rural Americans had increased by 9.2%, but their earnings only increased by 2.6%. And Peters has pinpointed where it's hurting most. "Mainly, fuel prices, particularly among the farmer and agricultural community," he said. "They really...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces on Wednesday damaged a bridge that is key to supplying Russian troops in southern Ukraine, where Russia’s foreign minister said Moscow will consolidate its territorial gains.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told state-controlled RT television and the RIA Novosti news agency that Russia plans to retain control over broader areas beyond eastern Ukraine, including the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south, and will make more gains elsewhere.Lavrov's remarks and the Ukrainian missile attack on the strategically important Kherson region bridge indicated the nearly five-month war could broaden after unfolding mostly in eastern Ukraine since...

In the Netherlands, dairy farmer Martin Neppelenbroek is near the end of the line. New environmental regulations will require him to slash his livestock numbers by 95 percent. He thinks he will have to sell his family farm. “I can’t run a farm on 5 percent. For me, it’s over and done with,” he said in a July 7 interview with The Epoch Times. “In view of the regulations, I can’t sell it to anybody. Nobody wants to buy it. [But] the government wants to buy it. And that’s why they [have] those regulations, I think.” Neppelenbroek made the remarks...

The AG of North Dakota has taken action with a inquiry after billionaire Bill Gates’ latest farmland purchase. Bill Gates acquired six parcels of land in Pembina County. Tuesday, the office of the Attorney General sent out a letter asking the Red River Trust to confirm how the company plans to use the land and if it meets any of the exceptions to the North Dakota Corporate Farming Laws. "Bill Gates acquired six parcels of land in Pembina County. Tuesday, the office of the Attorney General sent out a letter asking the Red River Trust to confirm how the company...

LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts stepped up his fight against President Joe Biden on Thursday by ordering state agencies to resist the federal 30-by-30 initiative. Among other things, the order requires agencies under the governor’s control to stop providing money or staff support for any projects involving permanent conservation easements. It also puts an 18-month hold on state protections for new endangered species and directs the Department of Agriculture to publicize which local governments have taken positions opposing or supporting the Biden administration’s goal of conserving 30% of the nation’s land and water by 2030.

VALENTINE, Neb. – “Land: see Snatch.” On first look, the Biden Administration’s “30 x 30” plan looks like a scheme cooked up by Hedley Lamarr, the main villain from Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles.” However, far from the comedic genius of the late Harvey Korman, the new Federal land grab is a serious threat to private property owners in the United States. And it’s moving fast.. Just a few days into office, President Joe Biden released a flurry of executive orders, among them being through Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” (86 Fed. Reg. 7,619), which...

The US House of Representatives has passed a historic public lands preservation bill that pledges to protect nearly 3m acres of federal lands in Colorado, California, Washington and Arizona. The act combines various bills that languished without Senate approval during the Trump administration. Key provisions include permanently banning new uranium mining on land surrounding the Grand Canyon, giving wilderness designation to 1.5m acres of federal land, and preserving 1,000 river miles by adding them to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System.... ...The bill, called the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act, has strong support from the Biden administration, in...

California State Sen. Scott Wiener introduced legislation to increase affordable housing by easing zoning restrictions. Under Senate Bill 899, nonprofit hospitals and faith institutions like churches, synagogues and mosques, would be able to build up to 150 affordable housing units on their excess property, regardless of local zoning prohibits that type of housing. "Churches and other religious and charitable institutions often have land to spare, and they should be able to use that land to build affordable housing and thus further their mission. SB899 ensures that affordable housing can be built and removes local zoning and approval obstacles in order...

Botswana is a landlocked country which is situated in Southern Africa. It is my favourite country in the world. It is a "Wildlife Paradise" in more ways than one. It is home to the "Big Five" namely Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Elephant, and Rhino. They are called the "Big Five" because they were difficult to hunt on foot in the past. Botswana has reserved 40% of its land exclusively for wildlife. Botswana is home to many famous "National Parks" and "Game Reserves". The most famous are Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve. Chobe National Park in Northern Botswana is globally...

The Trump administration on Tuesday began the process of formally rescinding the highly controversial “Waters of the U.S.” rule, an Obama-era regulation that gave Washington broad powers over streams and other small bodies of water across the country. The rule, put forth in 2015 but subsequently stayed by the Supreme Court before going into effect, was one of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s top targets when he took the helm at the agency. President Trump earlier this year signed an executive order directing Mr. Pruitt to review the rule, and with Tuesday’s action, the EPA says it’s finalized that review and...

Gee, who could have possibly anticipated that threatening to steal (that is, expropriate without compensation) land from farmers who have worked it for generations would cause farmers to cut back on planting?  Thus, we have Bloomberg telling us, "South Africa's economy unexpectedly shrank for the second consecutive quarter in the three months through June."  The recession, based on a second-quarter decline in GDP of 0.8%, is entirely due to a steep decline in agricultural production: "the agriculture market fell back by 29.2 per cent, taking 0.8 per cent off GDP." This was entirely predictable.  Half a year ago, I warned that with expropriation of...

On Monday, the Department of Justice filed suit against the state of California, challenging a state law that purports to prevent the federal government from selling federal lands without the permission of a state agency. Passed by the California legislature in October 2017, Senate Bill 50 declares that, with limited exceptions, “conveyances of federal public lands in California are void” unless the State Lands Commission is provided a “right of first refusal” or “the right to arrange for the transfer of the federal public land to another entity.” The statute also prohibits purchasers of federal land from recording the deed...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put out a press release on the Friday before Christmas touting of his efforts to secure a $4.99 million federal grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service to The Nature Conservancy “to support the conservative of private lands” in Kentucky. “Senator McConnell contacted the NRCS in support of TNC’s application,” said the release. […] McConnell’s press release also quoted Will Bowling, who is the director The Nature Conservancy’s Central Appalachian Project. Bowling expressed his gratitude to McConnell for securing his group this multi-million-dollar grant of taxpayer money. …

In 2009, the federal government decided to take property from Kevin Brott and other landowners in Michigan for a recreational trail. That was done under the Trails Act, which allows the government to turn abandoned railroad lines into hiking trails. There is nothing inherently wrong in that, but under the Fifth Amendment, whenever government takes private property for public use, it is required to pay the owners just compensation. The problem is that under federal statute (the Tucker Act), property owners are only allowed to submit their claims for compensation to the Court of Federal Claims (CFC) if the amount...

A man who swiped an elderly woman’s house with phony documents did time for the crime — but an appellate court is letting the city off the hook for processing the paperwork that let the ex-con make himself at home.   A Brooklyn appeals court has ruled that a judge was right to toss a lawsuit brought against the city by Jennifer Merin — whose Queens abode was filched by a criminal who filed a fraudulent deed.   Merin, 74, had sued the city for not catching the forgery when the paperwork was first filed, but lost on appeal when the court...

Thomas Jefferson acquired 530 million acres for $15 million and, under the Constitution, relinquished the vast majority of it to newly created states and their people- and changed the world. Outgoing President Barack Obama has now locked up 553 million acres as national monuments, in disregard of the Constitution and the equal protection of law, leaving western states and their people with burning forests, polluted air, devastated water supplies, blocked off access, underfunded schools and dead communities- and also changed the world.

With a stroke of the pen President Obama has unilaterally declared vast swaths of land in Utah and Nevada as two new national monuments, thus putting them under control of the federal government.

President Barack Obama has unilaterally designated two new "national monument" nature preserves in the western US states of Nevada and Utah. The Bears Ears National Monument and the Gold Butte National Monument will protect areas rich in Native American artefacts from energy drilling. Some Republican in those states are opposed to the move and say it amounts to a federal land-grab..... In Nevada, the 300,000-acre Gold Butte National Monument outside Las Vegas will protect rock art, fossils and recently discovered dinosaur tracks......