Thursday, June 22, 2006
By MERRY FIRSCHEINSTAFF
WRITER HASBROUCK HEIGHTS
-- Library Director Michele Reutty is under fire forrefusing to give police library circulation records without a subpoena. Reutty says she was only doing her job and maintaining the privacy oflibrary patrons. But the mayor called it "a blatant disregard for the Police Department," which needed her help to identify a man who allegedly threatened a child.
Reutty, the director for 17 years, now faces possible discipline by the library board. Members of the Borough Council have suggested she receive punishment ranging from a letter of reprimand in her personnel file to a 30-day unpaid suspension. But the Library Board of Trustees said it would reserve judgment until a closed-door hearing next month.
Police received a report May 10 that a 12-year-old borough girl was allegedly sexually threatened by a man outside the municipal building.The library is on the second floor. The girl told her parents, who called police. The suspect, who has been identified as a 23-year-old Hackensack man, did not molest the girl, said borough Police Chief Michael Colaneri.The investigation is ongoing through the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, Colaneri said.
The girl told police the man was carrying a library book with a certain title. The next day, borough police detectives asked Reutty to tell them who took out that book. Reutty said she refused to give the information to police without a subpoena -- in accordance with New Jersey state statutes governing access of private information from libraries, she said. Police came back with a subpoena later that day. Reutty conducted the search and told police she could not find a book with that title. So, police asked her to show them all the records of everyone who took out or renewed a book for the previous 10 days. Reutty asked for another subpoena because those records are computerized and not kept at the library.
On May 12, Reutty said, she complied with the second subpoena -- which required a special computer program by the Bergen County Cooperative Library System. Police found the information right away, which helped them to identify the suspect, according to Colaneri. But borough officials say Reutty intentionally stonewalled the police investigation by putting the library first. They also charged that she did not follow procedure by contacting the borough's attorney when she received the subpoena. Instead, she called a lawyer from the state library association.
The whole episode is "shocking," Reutty said Wednesday. "I followed the law. And because I followed the law, at the end of the day, the policemen's case is going to hold strong. Nobody is going to sue the library and nobody is going to sue the municipality of Hasbrouck Heights because information was given out illegally."
On Tuesday, about 20 librarians from around the state attended a joint meeting of the Borough Council and the library Board of Trustees in a show of support for Reutty.The group included the executive director of the New Jersey LibraryAssociation, who told borough officials that the organization would revise its rules governing subpoenas."I will ask the Attorney General's Office and the [state] Police Association to sit down with us and look at those regulations," saidNJLA head Patricia Tumulty.
Reutty is the first vice president/president-elect of the librarians' organization. Several residents spoke in Reutty's defense, saying she must have been confused about the borough's rules. But Reutty dismissed that interpretation. "The main issue here is privacy of information, and all of this could have been handled by education," she said. Reutty did the right thing, said Arthur Miller, her lawyer. "At no time did Michele Reutty say to any police officer or anybody else that she would not give the information if it was properly requested,"Miller told the council. "She said you've got to get proper court authorization."Borough labor lawyer Ellen Horn, who also represented the library trustees, said Reutty was "more interested in protecting" her library than helping the police."It was an absolute misjudgment of the seriousness of the matter,"Horn said at Tuesday's meeting.
Reutty said the issue has grown to encompass a larger issue."I think it would have been so easy for me to just resign when all of this started happening," she said. "But it's not just me anymore. Thisis so that other librarians, when faced with a subpoena, will do the right thing."
E-mail: firschein@northjersey.com
http://www.northjersey.com
Friday, June 30, 2006
Newswire: Library chief draws cops' ire
Editorial: The Coming Starvation In America
ANON'S NOTE: From the article below, it is clear that the founders of the United States of America had a different understanding of the purpose of government than what many Americans have in modern times. At the beginning of the United States of America most citizens would have farms or at least gardens to be able to grow their food. However, in the event of an national emergency where there wasn't food, perhaps war or a weather catastrophe like the "dust bowl" that happened in the midwest when the crops died due to lack of rain, the founders of the U.S.A. intended that Americans not go without food. It comes across that manyAmericans think all Americans should never have an emergency that requires outside assistance - no sickness, no unemployment, no persecution - and to always be able to provide for themselves and their families even in such an evil country as the U.S.A. has become.
The writer of the article below says that the U.S.A. is becoming more communistic. However, that doesn't really describe what is happening in the U.S.A. From what I've read communism would be when there are a few people at the society's top that are independently wealthy or have high paying careers and everyone else has low paying jobs. There are a few wealthy people at the society's top but many Americans don't have any jobs or income at all.
In modern times when more than 15 million Americans that need jobs can't get jobs, food banks, including the ones run by churches, are turning away many Americans asking for food. With living in apartment sand condos many Americans do not have a yard in which to grow a garden.
What do they expect Americans to do, steal food or do without, get sick, and die before their natural time? Churches receive the most donations of all charities. They should be able to afford to buy food for Americans in food crisis. If they don't get enough food donated from the public, churches should buy food from food wholesalers and grow gardens to have fresh food for Americans in food crisis.
From the article below you can learn why and how the food supply in the U.S.A. is so low. In the U.S.A. a few children have been starved to death by their parents. Unless something is done to change the attitude of the powers that be in government and churches, there will be more starvation in the U.S.A. and even cannibalism.
Sincerely,
ANON
THE COMING STARVATION IN AMERICA
By James P. Wickstrom
Antechamber.net
The government of the United States, by Law was to always maintain a three year mixed-grain survival storage for every man, woman, and child in the United States.
Like most Laws of the land, the politicians never took heed as to why our wise ancestors had this reserve requirement established. It was to make sure, that, in the time of a National Emergency, the people had the most important mainstay needed for survival individually and as a Nation.
Remember, the people make the Nation, the Nation does not make the people. In the 1960's and1970's the different political administrations of Washington, D.C. walked away from sanity and started to give the surplus grains which where in elevator storage all over the country, to other nations, such as the Soviet Union, India, etc...
This continued over two decades, until the elevators were empty and the reserve of grains that were in reserve as per a national crisis....were gone. Of course this was done as to inhance international "friendship" with other nations, even if those other nations were self-admitted enemies of the United States.
Remember, there was enough grain in storage, paid for by the Americantax-payer, to last the masses inside the United States for three full years, if need be. But now it all is but gone!
To read the rest of the detailed article click on below link:
http://www.wisdomstore.us/survivalism2.0.html.0.html
Comedic Editorial: Be Patriotic, Blow up the Neighborhood
Be Patriotic, Blow Up the Neighborhood
By DANNY GALLAGHER
Life was so much simpler when we were kids. There was no job we had to sell a part of our souls to go to everyday. We didn't have to fill out complicated tax forms or risk going to jail because we forgot to carry the one or didn't realize that a mechanical bull isn't a healthcare expense.
Death wasn't hiding around every corner waiting to catch us off-guard so he could fill his quota and let us wander in front of a bus, over an open sewer hole or into a pitbull breeding farm with sausages in our pockets.
We feared nothing, we wanted to experience everything and we thought we could live forever. Boy, we were stupid. When you're born into this world, you literally think that nothing can hurt you. Your mind is only focused on what's stimulating about it, what's exciting about it, what's fun about it.
They don't know the consequences yet because it looks like too much fun.That's why kids are always leaping off roofs with umbrellas, jumping cars with their skateboards or playing catch with bear cubs.
I long for that mindset in this day and age when the local news loves to scare people into watching stories about "What You Don't Know About Toothpaste Can Kill You" and "Sneeze Guards Can Either Be Your Best Friend or Your Most Bloodthirsty Enemy."
Adults love to create enemies for their kids because fear is a cheap babysitter. Rock music usually fits the profile. Anti-music advocates like to say it promotes drug use, violent tendencies and Satanic messages in its lyrics, which is hard to prove when they can't make out half of the words anyway.
When a kid gets hurt by a certain toy, parents like to scream bloody murder about how they worry the Hasbro corporation is committing genocide for the sake of a quick buck as opposed to worrying about how their child was dumb enough to lose a limb with a Nerf football.
But around the Fourth of July, parentls always rely on an old favorite form of fear to ferment in the foreheads of frazzled folks (no, not alliteration): fireworks. It's the same sad story. Some kid in a backwater town goes to a clearing with some friends to celebrate the independence and sacrifice made by our forefathers by blowing up the world with a mess of M-80s, Black Cats and Testosterrors. He lights one in his hands, rears his arm back and flings his arm forward with a huge smile on his face. There's just one problem. He forgot to let go. He gets third degree burns, grounded for the summer and has to learn how to make armpit fart noises with his left hand, and the rest of the neighborhood doesn't get to have any fun on the fourth.
Then, years later, we scratch our heads and wonder why voter turnout is so low. This year, however, cities and counties are banning fireworks not because they'll injure the wee-ones. Some parts of the country have gotten so dry during the summer that they are afraid the fireworks could cause rolling wildfires.
That's right, Lil' Johnny is not only endangering himself by lighting that Whirly-Bird, he's in danger of turning the whole town into a crispy chicken chunk.
Fireworks are dangerous and could possibly cause some of the problems these people are worried about. But it's only one day a year. It's not like we're asking to have fireworks going off every single day. It's a tradition.
Blowing up America on the 4th of July is like having turkey at Thanksgiving, jack-o-lanterns at Halloween and Dad passed out drunk in the egg nog at Christmas.It's celebrating the gallantry and bravery made by our Revolutionary forefathers who used explosives to fight off the British and win back their independence.
It's in our theme song. "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." I didn't hear anything about wussy snap-pops or sparklers once in that song.
Event: FERAL VISIONS GATHERING AGAINST CIVILIZATION
This sounds like our kind of event! Sad that we don't have the money to travel that far this year. *sigh* Maybe next year. *grin*
FERAL VISIONS AGAINST CIVILIZATION
The 4th Annual Anarcho-Primitivist Gathering
August 4th 13th [Full Moon on the 9th]
HIGH ELEVATION SKY ISLAND MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA
Location and Directions will be revealed one week prior to the gathering on our web site and voice mail: http://us.f543.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=feralvisions%40greenanarchy.org 1-866-460-2945
REWILDING: PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND SPIRITUALLY
•Introduction to anti-civilization thought
• In-depth forum for anarcho-primitivism/green anarchy
• Applying our visions and dreams to our lives
• Emphasis on primitive skills, liberation and resistance
• Hiking, foraging, community building and more!
Come gather in the beauty and wildness of the sky island mountains of southeastern Arizona! Engage in healing, rewilding and deep discussions on self-reliance, resistance and survival. Share skills and knowledge of ancestral lifeways/primitive skills, wild edible and medicinal plants, liberation, industrial collapse and anything else your wild and defiant imagination can conjure!
We are also proud to be offering this year a special children's autonomous space and a kid-friendly learning/play environment. Feral Visions is about building community, healing, resistance, and rewilding physically, mentally and spiritually. As we gather in wilderness, our goal is to help break down mediation between ourselves and our world, empower each other, make stronger connections with one another and our earth, and apply our dreams and visions to our lives. The entire event is centered on active participation, and we hope that people will bring their knowledge and experience, as well as being prepared to be relatively self-sufficient (water and some communal meals will be provided).
What to Bring: Bring what you need, including several layers of warm clothes (it's high elevation, so it can get cold at night), personal eating utensils and bowls, sleeping bag or blankets, tents or tarps, flashlight, water filter, toilet paper, snacks and personal food, water containers, small cookstoves and fuel for personal meals. THERE MAY BE A FIRE CLOSURE. FIRE DANGER WILL BE EXTREME! Bring acoustic musical instruments, propaganda, friends and family, respect, security consciousness, special skills and knowledge, and an enthusiastic and participatory attitude!
We are also looking for: bulk food (rice, grains, beans, spices, dried foods, veggies, roots, etc.). Large cooking utensils (pots, pans, knives, 5-gal. lidded buckets, large water jugs, garbage bags, portable stoves and fuel, material for latrines and their upkeep (shovels, wood ash, buckets, tp, soap, etc.), tarps and ropes for communal kitchen, people to give more formal discussion workshops and specific skills and FINANCIAL DONATIONS!
What to Leave Home: You'll be hiking in about a mile or so, so minimize your possessions you want to carry. LEAVE YOUR DOGS AT HOME. Please leave weapons, heavy drugs, alcohol, recording devices (including video cameras) at home as well. Abusers and abusive behaviors will not be tolerated at this gathering. Come to participate, not to drain. This event is for all of us to participate in, not just those who initiated the call. Law enforcement is not welcome.
At the Site: The site is at a high elevation so it's cold at night, warm, even hot, during the day. It is a wild place and needs to be treated with care and respect, especially as it is land held sacred by the local indigenous people. We want to create as little impact to the site as possible. There will be a designated kitchen, latrines, workshop and camping areas. It will also be at the height of fire season, with possible fire closure, so extra care will be necessary (including no personal fires and extreme caution when smoking). Please pack out everything you brought in.
Tentative Schedule: We want to keep the schedule open for everyone to participate in, and will be presenting a more formal schedule at the beginning of the event. We expect lots of folks with certain skills and knowledge to be present, so we want to be flexible. We hope informal discussions skill-shares will naturally occur. We do recognize, however, that some folks will not be present for the entire event, and that with large numbers of people, some informal structure can help. We have decided to propose loose themes for each day, both on the theoretical and practical level. These are suggested general orientations.
There will be a morning circle and info boards to let folks know what discussions and skill-shares will be happening.
FRIDAY Set-up, Welcome, Security Culture, Volunteer Sign-up and Story-Telling
SATURDAY Intro to Green Anarchy and Primitivism/Intro to Earth Skills and Ancestral Life-Ways
SUNDAY Apocalypse Always/Various Primitive Skills Instruction
MONDAY Great Mysteries & Their Unveiling/Various Primitive Skills Instruction/Self-Defense Training
TUESDAY The Myth of Revolution//Various Primitive Skills Instruction/Self-Defense Training
WEDNESDAY Forward to Nature!/ Various Primitive Skills Instruction/Self-Defense Training
THURSDAY Playing at Insurrection//Various Primitive Skills Instruction/Self-Defense Training
FRIDAY Group Dynamics/Various Primitive Skills Instruction
SATURDAY Animating Subversion/Various Primitive Skills Instruction
See you in the wild!
Editorial: Politics Before Government is Unacceptable
Politics Before Government Is Unacceptable
By Frank Salvato
CNSNews.com Commentary
The fact that politics has replaced government in this country should be unacceptable to every American citizen.
Our Founders were wary of a government of factions and rightly so. A government of factions, by its very nature, places the well-being of the faction (or political group) above the well-being of the nation. It is because of this that special interest groups and fringe factions, small in number but armed with bullhorn mentalities and big mouths, have come to take priority over good government and the will of the people.
Today it is clear that partisan politics has indeed replaced good government in our representative democracy. "Leaders" in the House and the Senate, from both sides of the aisle, have placed the political well-being of their parties above the needs of the nation. One only has to listen to the positioning of Harry Reid or the carefully choreographed responses of Bill Frist to understand that most often it is the issue taking the backseat to the political position. In today''s United States government, it is more important for a politician to position his "faction" in the best way possible for the up coming elections than it is to do the work that best benefits the American citizenry.
A perfect example of this is the inability of Congress to secure our nation''s borders. GOP leaders in the House recently announced that immigration reform was not a likely possibility this year. This is due to the fact that the Senate produced a bill that didn''t exclusively address the border issue and, instead of heeding the public outcry, incorporated the politically charged issue of immigration reform into their proposal.
Despite the fact that every opinion poll taken on the issue of border security has indicated that a consistent 80% of the American people demand that our borders be secured right now, politicians place their political livelihoods ahead of the demands of their constituents. This will result in Republicans accusing Democrats of not having the intestinal fortitude to secure the borders in the midst of a global war against radical Islamofascism and Democrats accusing Republicans of not caring about the hard-working downtrodden just trying to achieve the American dream. Both accusations are extreme. Both accusations are politically motivated and geared toward the 2006 and 2008 elections. And both accusations achieve nothing but the status quo, leaving our borders porous.
Another good example of how politics has replaced good government in the United States is the gridlock over Social Security reform.Only those who would find it acceptable to re-write American history could be arrogant enough not to admit that when President Roosevelt introduced the concept of Social Security his end goal was to include a "system of voluntary old age annuities."
Translated into the language of today, Roosevelt envisioned exactly what President Bush has been suggesting, that the American worker be afforded the opportunity to take a portion of their Social Security payroll deduction and invest it in safe, qualified private accounts. But politicos invoked a very transparent outrage centered on the unlikely. They argued that if a person invested poorly, or if the markets crashed ala the 1920''s, the poor investor would be left destitute. Of course, logic mandates that investing only a portion of your Social Security payroll deduction in the private sector would still leave the "destitute" something and that the proposal suggested by the president spoke of specific investment opportunities existing within a limited portfolio.
The larger issue for the politicos with regard to the partial-privatization of Social Security is that they would lose a substantial amount of revenue generated for the government trough. This revenue is too often mismanaged and borrowed against to pay for the pet projects that they think make them look good at home.
This leads to another example of how politics has usurped the mandate of government: pork barrel spending.
Republicans and Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives all agree that the drunken-sailor spending spree that Congress - not the president but Congress - has been on for the past six years is outrageous and unacceptable. Yet funding still gets proposed for bridges to nowhere and legislation for funding rodeo museums and tropical rainforest biospheres still finds its way into bills that are critical to our country.
Pork barrel spending is designed to paint the elected official - the porker - in a favorable light to his constituents back home. Because we live in an age when the term "civic responsibility" might as well be written in Sanskrit, this most often works. But more and more people are realizing that Congressional fiscal mismanagement is detrimental to not only the country but the individual. Once again politicians' actions demonstrate it is more about their personal and their political party''s well-being than it is about those who sent him to Washington in the first place; their constituents.
It is well past time for the American people to communicate to their elected officials that the status quo of politics over government is unacceptable. This requires Americans to make the time to be civically responsible and to understand the issues better than just chewing on the agenda-driven slop that emanates from television, newspapers and radio. It requires Americans to understand all facets of the debate - not the argument, but the debate - and to realize that a more well-rounded, intelligent understanding of the facts can only lead to a more cohesive and less divided nation.
So, while John Kerry opportunistically keeps erasing and replacing the date on his resolution to "bring the troops home" in the hopes of being right one of these times so that he can claim a political victory where there really isn't any, we should all contemplate doing something to replace his kind in government.
Gathering the facts on the important issues and voicing our displeasure with the politics-over-government crowd is the first step. Re-engaging in the American political process by re-establishing a true representative democracy is the second.
Newsbits
Amending the US ConstitutionThere have been 27 amendments to the United States Constitution. Their ratifications took place between Dec. 15, 1791 and May 7, 1992. But which century produced the most ratified amendments? The 20th century produced 12 ratified amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The 18th century produced 11 (The first 10 – the Bill of Rights -- were ratified simultaneously). The 19th century produced only four(SOURCE: _http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendments.html_ )If you want to know more about them, go to the above link,they are listed and explained.
NAFTA Super Highway
http://www.infowars.com/articles/nwo/american_union_media_cant_contain.htm_
See the picture in this article above
Supreme Court Ruling on Police Raids Endangers Citizens
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200495,00.html
Newswire: Protect your kids from themselves
Many of you by now know that MySpace.com is being sued by a 14-year-old girl who claimed on MySpace.com to be 15, when she was 13, so she could get beyond MySpace age restrictions and who then met a 19-year-old man online who then raped her when they arranged a meeting.
She and her mother claim that MySpace.com should have known that she was underage and should have stopped the girl from arranging the meeting with an older man ... somehow.
And therefore it's completely MySpace.com's fault that this unfortunate incident happened.
Now the rapist is claiming that he is actually more of a victim than the girl and says he will also be suing MySpace.com for allowing the girl to claim that she was 15-years-old when, at the time, she was 13-years-old.
The term "personal responsibility" is begging to become an oxymoron.
In other news, MySpace.com has put into place new security policies prohibiting people older than 18 from entering space reserved for 14 and 15-year-olds because, as we all know, no pedophile would ever lie about his age.
Time Magazine 22-Jun-06
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1207043,00.html
Editorial: Tagging Terrorist Chickens
*National Animal Identification System (NAIS) Proposal Overview
**THE LATEST TYRANNY: TAGGING TERRORIST CHICKENS
*Have you heard about the National Animal Identification System(NAIS)? The radio ads feature a "farmer" telling us how hard it isto make a living farming today - harder than it was for Momma and Daddy. Worse yet, now we've got the risks of all these new diseases. But - /golly, golly, gee -- /the government is going tohelp. They've come up with a 'voluntary' program to register our farms and animals to protect us and our animals from diseases. All good Americans will sign up.
Characteristically, the radio propaganda-speak beareth no likeness to the truth. To prove that for yourself, visit
Newswire: Utility Stamps Out Microsoft's "Phone Home" Anti-Piracy App
French developers offer a tool that detects and roots out what they term "spyware"
A charge Microsoft hotly disputes.
By Gregg Keizer
Courtesy of TechWeb News A French firewall testing site has posted a utility that disables the controversial Microsoft anti-piracy application that's been criticized for "phoning" home daily.
Firewall Leak Tester, which specializes in firewall stress tests, has released RemoveWGA, a program that deletes the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification Tool. The tool is one of two components that Microsoft has been aggressively promoting as a way to detect counterfeit copies of Windows ( WGA Validation Tool), then nag the user if a bogus Windows is found (Notification Tool).
Two weeks ago, Microsoft came under fire for not making it clear that WGA communicates with the company on a daily basis. Microsoft later issued a statement that denied its anti-piracy software was spyware, tried to explain why it was pushing the Notification Tool via Automatic Update, and said it would modify the software so it "phoned home" to Microsoft less frequently.
Firewall Leak Tester's RemoveWGA utility only deletes the in-testing Notification Tool; it leaves the Validation Tool intact.
"The Validation part is mandatory for some not critical downloads from Microsoft, but the Notification part is not mandatory at all, and you are able to install all of the security updates without installing this one," Firewall Leak Tester said on its Web site.
RemoveWGA can be downloaded from here.
This isn't the first time that Microsoft's WGA has been sniped. In August and May 2005, hacks took aim at the Validation Tool.
Source: http://www.linuxpipeline.com/189601715?cid=rssfeed_pl_lxp
Newswire: The Zero Tolerance Militarized Police State
Nagin's National Guard mandate model for post-9/11 cammo law enforcement
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
http://www.prisonplanet.com/index.html
Mayor Ray Nagin's order that National Guard troops be used to patrol New Orleans is a method of law enforcement quickly engulfing major US cities as crime becomes terrorism and men with machine guns and camouflage become the vanguard of a militarized police state.
Acting at the mayor's request, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco ordered 300 National Guardsmen and 60 state police officers to patrol the streets after five teenagers were shot dead in an SUV in a gangland style killing. Curfews are also to be enforced in addition to the militarized patrols, a flagrant abuse of _posse comitatus_ http://www.dojgov.net/posse_comitatus_act.htm and a frothing over-reaction to a handful of murders.
Earlier this month, Cleveland City Councilman Zach Reed _labeled some teenagers "terrorists"_ http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2006/070606_b_Terrorists.htm and said that "the time has come to make Ward 3 a police state and submit a true zero-tolerance policy," having been handed federal grants for off-duty police patrols and surveillance camera systems. The homogenization of common street thugs and drug dealers with terrorists has enabled the federal government and local government officials to enact dictatorial policies that would not look out of place in Fallujah.
The Fallujah-Louisiana parallel is clear - after four US government contractors were killed and dragged around the streets of Fallujah by Iraqi citizens, many establishment Neo-Cons called for the entire city to be nuked. If a serial killer is on the loose in your city, is the answer to just wipe out the entire city? Should the bill of rights and the American way of life be trashed for the sake of a couple of gang murders?
How can the government justify these measures in the name of protecting a law-abiding population whom it completely disarmed during Hurricane Katrina, as criminal gangs and looters stalked neighborhoods? The precedent for mass gun confiscation in times of real or manufactured emergency was set during Hurricane Katrina when police and national guard patrols forced homeowners even in areas unaffected by the hurricane _to hand over their legally owned firearms_ http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2005/090905gunconfiscation.htm at gunpoint.
New Orleans Police Chief Superintendent Warren Riley recently _reiterated his desire_ http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/6/5/165303.shtml to confiscate legally owned firearms before having to back down under threat of a lawsuit.
New Orleans was turned into a hellhole laboratory where the future zero tolerance crackdown, in times of real or manufactured crises, was beta tested under the pretext of chaos, after the federal government _deliberately sabotaged_ http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2005/060905femasabotaging.htm relief efforts.
Meanwhile, _a nationwide FEMA program_ http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/may2006/240506femaplan.htm is training Pastors and other religious representatives to become secret police enforcers who teach their congregations to "obey the government" in preparation for a declaration of martial law, property and firearm seizures, and forced relocation.
This program has already been activated in 1300 counties and is set for completion at the end of August.
Newswire: Pharma Crops and Alergen-Free Soybeans
Are there pharma crops in your state?
Pharma and industrial crops are genetically engineered to produce
products like drugs and plastics. Most pharma crops are corn or other
food crops. UCS has concluded that it will be virtually impossible to
keep these crops?not meant for consumption?out of the food supply.
To find out if pharma crops have been approved for planting in your
state, visit our newly updated pharma crop database at
http://go.ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/pharm/index.php?s_keyword=XX
Allergen-free soybeans without genetic engineering Researchers have
identified two soybean varieties that do not contain the primary protein
that causes soy allergies.
The scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and at
the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Donald Danforth Plant Science
Centre in St. Louis screened more than 16,000 soybean lines.
The two varieties will be made available without patents to breeders who
are seeking to produce allergen-free soybeans without genetic
engineering. Crop Science will publish the findings later this year.
Read more about the soybeans at
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?ng547&m/sn509&c=ygonxcyvsuqokio&idP=1
Read FEED online:
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/feed/feed-june-2006.html?print=t
FEED is an online publication of the Union of Concerned Scientists
Thursday, June 29, 2006
The Great Race
We used to get our mail between 11am and 2pm depending. Now we have Vladimir the Vampire mailman who delivers around 7pm! Gads, it's thrown my whole schedule off!
The bunnies are now mobile and have begun to chase mommy all over the cage trying to sneak more milk. I've seen it happen often, it looks like it's time to start weaning. *chuckle* I'm sure mommy will get started on that rather soon now that her children have decided to start making a nusiance of themselves. *snicker*
The baby rattlings are growing their first short fur as of yesterday. Fat, healthy, and, I decided what that sound is they make, they are chirping!
I have added some chromium picolinate to the rat food as clinical tests have shown that it prolongs the healthy lifespan of rats, especially if given from birth, but also if started later in life. *grin*
We set down newspaper for mulch and weed supression in the garden, put most of the rest of the tomatoes into the ground, and mulched everything.
I seem to have overcome my terror of wasps and bees during the trip to the permaculture farm somehow. I'm still wary, but not terrified anymore. *smile* Maybe someday, I will have a beehive on my property. Honey is yummy.
We hadn't really planned on going to "The Great Race", but I had a Freecycle(tm) delivery a day earlier than expected, and it was over by the mall, so we dropped in, and true to my word, I wandered around bored for about 20 minutes snapping photos until I decided that there was some fun to be had there after all. *grin* Old cars look neat. Though the fact that they were covered in magnets was a bit difficult to overlook.
We had arranged to meet the Freecycle(tm) person at "the used game shoppe across the street from the mall" There were two of them *chuckle* So we got out the walkie talkies (that we forgot to take out of the car the other day), and I drop Keebler off at one and go wait at the other. We will not miss this Freecycle! (tm). *laugh* Anyway, I was at the right spot, and I called Keebler to come over to me like we had planned. By the time he had arrived, I had already given her some of my excess tomato plants (now that I had some in the ground, I know how many I have to "spare") and she had given me some great suprises I hadn't planned on.
He walks up, panting after having me tell him several times over the walkie that I can't understand him, and I ask him "what the crack" he had said. Apparrently, if you look like a refferee and you have a walkie talkie, you are invisible to cops, even at a flat out run across traffic. Much the same effect as wearing a tie and having a clipboard. Interesting. *laugh*
I promised some friends that if we went, I'd take pictures, so here's a hearty slew of them. *chuckle*
I found the ambulance a friend mentioned when they told me about the race coming to town.
And a lovely hood ornament.
I saw something that caught my eye. Even though I'm not much of an automotive buff, there's something to be said for a vehicle made before the nation's extreme obesity problem (it seats two) that has all sorts of neat little gadgets on the dash, and looks creepily similar to the most space effecient housetrailer on the market, the Airstream. Gotta love anything that rolls and looks like a silver bullet I say. *chuckle* Isn't it cute?! 
Everyone was moving out by the time we were ready to leave, but we got there pretty late too.
We found the most gas effecient vehicle at the auto show. But somehow I don't think it's vintage... Or a car for that matter. *laugh* I think I liked it best of all though.
Keebler found something, and he played it to death! *laugh* Wiggled all the knobs, opened all the hatches, I mean, there was some SERIOUS goofery going on there! He even found their travel plan and showed it to me, then threatened to steal their stash of MREs. Of course he was a bit perturbed about them not locking down their seat hatches properly, and went to tell them about it. On the way out (after more investigation and playtime) He mentioned that they had even forgotten to lock the wheel and because of that he could just start it up and drive it around the parking lot (Hummers don't have keys). *smirk* Have I ever mentioned on here that he used to be in the army? Is it obvious? *laugh*
I found something I coundn't resist: A Rambler! Gets 25MPG in the city, is automatic, adorable, green, and my favorite feature: It's made out of solid steel! Second favorite being that I could stick one of the children in the engine compartment and close the lid *chuckle* Gotta love having that much room to work on an engine! The price was a beauty too. Anybody want to buy me a new car? 
Keebler didn't realize what kind of car it was until I came up behind him and whispered "beep beep" LOL I wonder if they really can go 110 in second gear? *snicker*
Of course, no matter where we go, somehow the children find us *laugh* Karaoke wasn't happening tonight. Something about a speaker or something busting, but the kids decided to go look at the pretty cars, and they caught us getting ready to leave.
Driving out, some idiot in a paperboard car cut me off (might as well be paperboard if he had caused me to hit him). I honked him, and he drove
r e a l l y s l o w
All the way to where he was going to turn. I think he tried to yell some obscenity at me and my massive steel tank of fiberglass destruction, but I couldn't really hear him very well since both of the horns under my hood were activated at the time. *Huge Evil Grin* Idiots make me all agro. *smirk*
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Instant Expert & Gardening
The bug was a Crane Fly, otherwise known as a mosquito hawk. They don't eat mosquitoes like commonly believed, as their mouth parts are too soft to bite anything. They either eat pollen, or, like bees, eat nothing after reaching adulthood. Most Crane Fly species lay their eggs in the ground, where the larvae eat the roots of mainly turf grasses. Most species also rest with their wings outspread, which lead to my confusion. My Crane Fly is an aquatic species whose larvae reach adulthood under water. I am under the belief that, the strange orange crane fly was attracted by my pond, same as our now-resident dragonfly. Gods I love the internet. *grin* Instant expert strikes again! Thanks to a friend from The Ratlist who identified it for me.
We also found some sort of web /silk-making caterpillar underneath one of the leaves of the Hokkaido plant. I picked it off and dropped it in the pond as a fishy treat. *chuckle*
The ratty girls tore down their hammock during the night, and the baby ratties' ears are no longer plastered to the side of their heads.
The bunny babies have their ears open, and all but one (the mostly white one) of them have their eyes opened now.
The peppers are fruiting, and we've given away two miniature peppers to friends & neighbors. They taste great so I'm going to save some seeds and hope they weren't some sort of hybrid, even though it is likely that they are. Either way I'll have some good yellow peppers next year. *grin*
We've been hand polinating the heck out of the hokkaido plant and we're seeing baby fruits already. This is our first squash to flower so we don't have to worry about preventing cross-polination of the fruits for seed saving until another squash starts flowering, which looks like it could be any day with all of the buds we have coming up on some of the plants.
We decided to plant some of the tomatoes in the greenhouse (uncovered at this time) for the summer with the express idea of covering it and adding artificial sunlight come fall to encourage continued production (hopefully) throughout the winter. (Wouldn't it be nice?) Put about 8 plants into the ground, along with the dead baby rats for fertilizer (circle of life must continue). We;ll likely put even more in tomorrow. It sure would be nice if we could find some nice dirt somewhere, we're running out! I think it looks better with eyes instead of camera. *sigh* Ah well.
The girls are off with grandma again, as of this afternoon. They're going to miss going to the great race and looking at all the cars, but that's the decision they made. They're going karaoke again (It just finally started back up after a month-long hiatus) We'll probably have them back either late tomorrow night (unlikely with my mother's track record) or before noon on Friday. No worries though, It'll give us more of a chance to get everything packed and ready for the camping trip. *grin*
I'm paying all my bills early this month so that I will not have to worry about them when we head out.
Behold! The great flaming tiki goddess of fertility! Ph34r me! (and rejoice in the bounty of the harvest too of course) *giggle* Shadowplay is fun stuff.
Another Reason Why I Don't "do" The National Rainbow Gathering
While I'm all for people forcing police to allow others to visit a free and peaceful gathering of like minded individuals, I am not for the signing of permits, the use of violence, or the punishing of individuals for attending an event. I mean really, what if I invited some folks to go camping in the woods with me, and they invited all of their friends. Should my friends or I be punished because a load of people showed up? I don't think so.
I won't go to a national gathering because of the a-camp (alcohol camp), the random fights that break out nowadays, the idiots going to gathering near theit (pregnancy) due date with nobody with them that knows anything about delivering babies, the thefts, and more that are rampant at the more recent events.
This next week July 1-7 we will be at "The Gathering of The Tribes", an alternate (but not competing) event that happens in a few lucky states. There is no a-camp, and it is much closer to what the origional Rainbow Gathering was supposed to be. Non-violent, everyone sharing and helping eachother out, and like minded individuals sharing time, food, and thoughts with one another. I'd be afraid to take my kids to a national, but the Gathering of The Tribes? Its like family. See you there! *grin*
CLARK — The Rainbow Family peace gathering turned hostile Tuesday when agroup of attendees began hurling rocks and sticks at law enforcement officers, U.S. Forest Service officials said.
The incident forced the officers to abandon a checkpoint they had established near the entrance to the Rainbow gathering campsite in NorthRoutt County, Forest Service spokes woman Diann Ritschard said. Officers had not returned to the checkpoint as of Tuesday afternoon.
The rest of the story: *MainStreet*<http://www.freerepublic.com/~mainstreet/>
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Another Beautiful Day
It was nice and cool today, with a small threat of rain. We actually did get about a 20 second sprinkle, but that was really only enough to make us put out the rain catchment buckets before it stopped. :P
My hand painted signs advertising my new Yahell groups on the bulletin board at the Radish. Hand written and painted signs are what happens when my printer isn't working. *chuckle* The groups are "SWMOGrowers" and Springfield Community Garden something-or-another (I'm sure one could do a group search and find it) The groups are pretty small right now, what with them being recently started and all, but I see a bright future for them as time flows onward.
Not going to the bar today, as our favorite bartender isn't going to be there after all.
The baby bunnies have started to open their eyes, and mommy bunny is much relaxed with us dragging the babies out of the cage for about 15 minutes at a time.
Worked in the garden a bit, placing more dirt over the grass (seems to be easier than tilling by hand). Found this crazy bug. I have no clue what it is 
(any ideas?) but it didn't look like it was eating the plants. I'm thinking maybe it is one of those strange beneficial wasps maybe? We're still going to till a little bit, but that's just for carrots. If you haven't seen an ozarkian rock carrot before, let me tell you, it's a hoot (and hard to harvest)!
Keebler went to look for a job for a bit early in the day, and cut down that most problematic limb that was blocking the light for the garden. When he got back. YAAAY for sun!
We showed off the baby bunnies to the neighbors, I offered some cigarette coupons on Freecycle(tm) and asked for some metal buckets & some storage drums (any kind). I received a couple of responses about the stuff so we'll see what we can manage to get together by the end of the week.
I finished the cage for the girl ratties and their babies. It has six separate levels (one soft & bouncy), and all of the floor levels (except the bottom floor) is carpeted to prevent bumblefoot. Gads they're spoiled. *grin*
The view inside the igloo.
Ladybug & I cleaned up the girls' room quite a bit this morning, and she and Littlebit worked on it even more tonight. I'm really proud of their initiative. I didn't even tell them to clean, I just started in on it and they decided they needed to help. *smile* I could say that had something to do with my propensity for throwing away anything I find on the floor, but they were not arguing about that either when I did it! *shock*
Newswire Alert: How Safe is Your Private, Protected Information When it's in Government Hands?
Feds hit by rash of data breaches
FTC said Thursday that it had lost laptops containing sensitive data
By By Hope Yen WASHINGTON
The government agency charged with fighting identity theft said Thursday it had lost two government laptops containing sensitive personal data, the latest in a series of breaches encompassing millions of people.
The Federal Trade Commission said it would provide free credit monitoring for 110 people targeted for investigation whose names, addresses, Social Security numbers - and in some instances, financial account numbers - were taken from an FTC attorney's locked car. The car theft occurred about 10 days ago and managers were immediately notified. Many of the people whose data were compromised were being investigated for possible fraud and identity theft, said Joel Winston, associate director of the FTC's Division of Privacy and Identity TheftProtection.
"Basically these were attorneys who were going to file a lawsuit, and they had relevant evidence on their laptops," Winston said, noting thatthe FTC employees did not violate security procedures by storing the password-protected laptops in their cars."We will be reassessing what procedures we have to make sure reasonable measures are taken to protect data," he said.
Widening data breach
The disclosure comes amid a widening data breach that is expected to cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars. In all, five government agencies have reported data theft, including the Veterans Affairs Department, which on May 22 acknowledged losing data on up to 26.5 million veterans. At the Agriculture Department, a hacker who broke into the computer system, obtaining names, Social Security numbers and photos of 26,000 Washington-area employees and contractors. Victims will be offered free credit monitoring for a year after the break-in in early June.
At Health and Human Services, personal information for nearly 17,000 Medicare beneficiaries may have been compromised in April when an insurance company employee called up the data through a hotel computer and then failed to delete the file.
Social Security numbers and other data for nearly 1,500 people working for the National Nuclear Security Administration may have been compromised when a hacker gained entry to its computer system last fall. Officials said June 12 they had learned only recently of the breach. Credit monitoring may not be enough.
On Thursday, a House panel was cautioned that credit monitoring alone may not be enough to protect Americans whose names, birth dates andSocial Security numbers were compromised at the hands of the government."The worst-case scenario is that the veterans file finds its way to a public distribution source, such as the Internet," said Mike Cook, a co-founder of a company specializing in data breaches. "If this happens, the stolen identities will lose their connection to the VA data breach and groups of fraudsters might actively trade that data among the fraud community," he said. "More people might have access and could misuse those identities on a grander scale."
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $160 million in emergency funds for credit monitoring for veterans on a 15-13 vote; some Republicans objected because the VA has said it can use existing funds to pay for credit checks."I don't think it's acceptable to tell our veterans we lost your personal information, and by the way, we're going to cut your healthcare to pay for it," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who sponsored the amendment to an agriculture spending bill. On Wednesday, the VA announced it would provide free monitoring for a year, taking responsibility after the data was stolen from a VA employee's home in suburban Maryland.
The VA said it would also hire a contractor to do data analysis to help pinpoint identity theft; the agency, however, did not offer specifics, saying it wanted to see wha tbids they receive. Noting "it's not going to be cheap," VA Secretary Jim Nicholson pledged not to take the money from current VA programs. So far, the department has already spent $14 million to set up a call center and notify veterans by letter, and it's spending an additional $200,000 a day to maintain the call center.
Theft evidence can take months
During the House hearing Thursday, Cook said identity theft victims typically don't become aware they've been hurt until six months after their data was stolen, when creditors come calling for money owed. At that point, it's likely the thieves will have moved on - having made just a few purchases so they don't attract notice - and started using another victim's information. As a result, a credit monitoring service would raise a red flag after it was too late, Cook said. He said data analysis technology was available to help identity theft as it occurs, particularly in the typical casesin which thieves use stolen identities to fraudulently obtain credit cards and then make purchases. Rep. Steve Buyer, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said he believed the VA and Congress should consider additional safeguard measures - even if it means costing taxpayers more."The concern is, are we creating a false expectancy - that if the VA does credit monitoring, I am safe?" said Buyer, R-Ind. "I still have great fears."There have been no reports of identity theft so far from the VA data breach, one of the nation's largest. But Nicholson acknowledged this week that authorities - who believe the burglars were not specifically targeting the sensitive data - are nowhere close to apprehending those responsible.
Source: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13492060
Related Article: Hacker breaks into USDA computer system http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13470744
I wonder how many people realize what this could possibly mean in addition to everything else, other threats, ect., about what will likely happen if/when NAIS and other citizen tracking laws pass...
Forgot What Day It Was
(A picture to liven up the post)
Let me start by saying the weather today was fabulous!
Keebler went to look for a job this morning while Littlebit and I worked in the garden a bit more. We yanked up some treelings that were growing too close to the shed (roots destroy foundations), and cut down another sapling that was starting to get too big (again, too close to a shed).
I also finished putting together the new ratty cage for the girls. After we cut the carpet for over the wire floors, they can move in. (They're littter box trained)
When Keeb came back, we went to the big home improvement store and bought an oxycetelyne torch for use in culling the herd of wild bicycles. Soon we shall (if all goes as planned) a new 'transforming' bike trailer with a lid, and at least one of those fancy-schmancy kid trailers that is built like a bicycle lacking the front wheel so the kid can help pedal. *grin*
We also moved the upside-down tomatoes to a sunnier spot so that they could start to put on some flowers. We had to turn them right-side-up to do it, but we staked them nicely, and hopefully they will flip over again and do well. We wouldn't have thought to move them, but one of the plants had somehow managed to nearly sever itself at the stem be3cause of the recent windstorms. We flipped it and put in a lot more dirt at the now-top in the hopes that it will root from the stalk and survive to give us some fruit.
Picked Ladybug up from her biodad's house, chatted for a bit, then dropped by the library for some videos. We were driving home for some well-earned rest, when I remembered that today was monday, sent Keebler in to grab some horchata ice cream treats, and had him lock up his bike, then headed to The Radish.
At the radish, there were even more new people, and cups to paint! *grin* The capatalism corner had been expanded to include a clothing rack with Radish shirts, and the beverages were selling well. At the end of the night, we counted to beverage donation box, and there was over $15 in it! I'd say that means selling cold beverages is a hit. The cups should be on a rack being sold within the week if all works out well. It was really neat to use the bake-on paint. I gotta get meself some of that stuff. *grin*
We also pseudo-scheduled a few play dates for a bit further in the week. I hope we can find the time for it all *chuckle* The bunnies are nearly doubling their size every 2 days, and the rat babies are growing strong.
*ponder* When I started writing this, I had thought it had been a rather uneventfull day. I guess it was busier than I had thought. No wonder I'm tired.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Action: Call Congress Today About Key Medical Marijuana Vote
Congress will vote on an amendment this week (as early as Tuesday night) that would protect cancer, AIDS and other patients who use marijuana for medical reasons from federal prosecution. Make sure your Representative votes the right way: call him or her as soon as possible, and forward this alert to everyone you know. (You can check DPA's website to make sure Congress hasn't voted on the amendment before you call).
What to Do: Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask to speak to your Representative. If you're not sure who represents you, the operator can tell you. You can also look up your Representative by entering your zip code at the top of the page.
What to Say: Once the operator transfers you to your Representative's office, give the person that answers the phone the following message:
"Hi, I’m a constituent. I’m calling to urge my Representative to vote for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce spending bill, which will be voted on this week. This issue is very important to me."
(Hinchey-Rohrabacher is pronounced Hinchee - Roy Bocker.)
Then forward this alert to friends, family, etc.
More Information
Responding to the growing conflict between the states and the federal government over the issue of medical marijuana, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) will offer an amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations bill that would prohibit the U.S. Justice Department from undermining state efforts to provide terminally ill and chronic pain patients access to doctor-recommended medical marijuana. The amendment would prohibit the Justice Department from spending any money on arresting or prosecuting medical marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. 161 members of Congress voted for a similar amendment last year.
11 states have enacted effective medical marijuana laws - Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The U.S. Justice Department, however, continues to spend millions of dollars arresting medical marijuana patients and their caregivers - even in states where medical marijuana is legal. At a time when violent drug cartels remain at large and threats of terrorism continue to emerge, it is irresponsible for the Justice Department to jeopardize public safety by wasting scarce law enforcement resources conducting raids on hospice centers and medical marijuana patients.
The Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment would not prevent the Justice Department from arresting people using, growing, or selling marijuana for recreational use. Nor would it prevent the Justice Department from arresting medical marijuana patients in the states that have not approved the drug for this use. It simply prevents the federal government from arresting cancer, AIDS and MS patients that use marijuana for medical reasons in states that have adopted medical marijuana laws.
Substantial majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents support medical marijuana. A 2001 Pew Research Center poll found that 73% of Americans support medical marijuana. A 2002 Time/CNN poll found that 80% of Americans support it. The Institute of Medicine has determined that nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety “all can be mitigated by marijuana.” Allowing cancer, AIDS, and MS patients legal access to medical marijuana is supported by the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Bar Association, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, and Kaiser Permanente, among other groups.
Please urge your U.S. Representative to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment to the Justice Department spending bill by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Contact the Drug Policy Alliance:
Drug Policy Alliance
70 West 36th Street, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Slow Day
Stayed home most of the day relaxing and catching up on all the emails and work we missed when we were out wandering the woods yesterday.
Dumped all of the water catchment buckets into the pond that we could, and used the rest of the water to take care of the garden and the house plants. The fish are getting much larger now, and I attribute it mainly to their nearly exclusive steady diet of naturally grown wildcrafted mosquito larvae. *chuckle*
Later we visited G&G's house and did a bit of shopping for another DIY project. Yes, I promise to have it documented here like I did the pond filter. *grin* 
How is it that I can seem to make plants behave abnormally? Above is my African violet. I told myself that I would NEVER get an African violet because they are so notoriously high-maintenance. So someone gives me one. A little one. Covered the top of a 3" pot. Short, and dense. I put it in the bedroom, water it daily via it's tray, and what happens but that it puffs up, blooms more, and starts to raise up on a stalk! I swear I must have a neon green thumb! (I also seem to have the ability to make a mum into vining greenery*boggle*)
The bunny babies are getting bigger all the time, even though their eyes are still closed. I have started to supplement mommy rabbit's diet with a little powdered KMR (kitten milk replacer) for even more extra vitamins while she is nursing. Not that she's looking unhealthy by any means. Birthing seems to be a very healthy thing for her, and she seems to be in prime happy healthy shape. *smile*
I added some KMR to the ratty mommy foods as well, and put both mommies into the same cage again. Everything is moving along quite nicely. Now if I could just get Keeb to stop trying to pick arguments with me over nothing. *smirk*
Ladybug is spending the night again with her biodad.
Wild Foods& A Day Behind
Baby ratty litter #2 was born. Several stillborn. Yodette was depressed for a while, but now she has 8 healthy babies left and all is well.
Walenda's babies are doing well also.
We carpooled with V to a local permaculture "farm", and got lost on the way. I got so angry that I stopped the car in the middle of the road, parked, and started walking to cool off. Trust me, this was the positive alternative. *laugh* 
Never one to waste an opportunity, I took some lovely photos while I cooled off.
Red Clover
Wildflowers are plentiful on the roadside in late june.
But are sometimes difficult to identify. 
While others are obvious.
Sometimes, it is worth it to 
just have a pretty picture.
Especially when one doesn't have to pay for film.
Photography is so cathartic.
We did finally find the place and ended up spending about 7 hours wandering in the woods. I am again sunburned, but it was REALLY worth it. Sheep are cute!
I've been wanting to make an edible forest for a while, but this was the first time I'd seen anyone else who had thought of the idea, much less was making one!
Saw a wooden lock and key, and Ladybug got to try a bow drill for firemaking again. This nutcracker is high speed, low drag as Keeb would say. Even Littlebit could use it, and it was, like everything else, fully manual. (I never realized how sweet missouri walnuts are! We are SO gathering them for our own use this year.) There was much wild snacking as we wandered the property, and we were gifted some cattails and wild food seeds, and invited back sometime in the fall.
We caught this little fellow eating black raspberries, had him pose for us, then let him go 
on his merry way.
Keebler forgot the extra batteries I'd asked him to bring, but I forgot extra drinking water, so I guess we're even. *chuckle*
Littlebit had a blast helping the butterflies out of the car before we left. Were gifted some HUGE eggs right as we were loading into the car. 
When we got home, Ladybug's Biodad called us to have her dropped off for their spelunking expedition.
It was a long, tiring day, but it was REALLY fun!
