Corruption is Legal in America
20 Wednesday Apr 2016
Posted 2016, Activism, American, Corruption, Cronyism, Indiana, Lobbyists, Special Interests
in20 Wednesday Apr 2016
Posted 2016, Activism, American, Corruption, Cronyism, Indiana, Lobbyists, Special Interests
in
26 Thursday Sep 2013
Tags
Agriculture Corporations, Bayer, Biotech Agriculture, Biotech Immunity, Dow, Farmer's Assurance Provision, Healthy Food, House of Representatives, Montsanto, Montsanto Protection Act, Organic Food, Section 735, Senate, Sygenta
by: Daisy Luther
Finally, as the result of an enormous outcry, the Senate voted down the rider that was recently approved by the House of Representatives. The rider would have continued Big Biotech’s immunity against prosecution resulting from their toxic farming practices and questionable crops.
As of September 30th, the so-called Monsanto Protection Act will be dead. This is a major victory for anti-GMO activists as it is the first time that Congress has decided in favor of the constituents as opposed to companies like Monsanto, Sygenta, Bayer, and Dow.
“That provision will be gone,” said Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), confirming the change to POLITICO. The Center for Food Safety, a Washington-based non-profit, welcomed the decision as “a major victory for the food movement” and “sea change in a political climate that all too often allows corporate earmarks to slide through must-pass legislation.”
“Short-term appropriations bills are not an excuse for Congress to grandfather in bad policy,” said Colin O’Neil, director of government affairs for the Center. (source)
The Monsanto Protection Act was passed last spring as a rider sneakily put into place by Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri (Monsanto’s home base, incidentally.) It was passed by both the House and the Senate (see which Senators voted for it HERE) , and then signed into law in a final act of betrayal by President Barack Obama, despite public outcry that the rider made the biotech industry untouchable and not subject to legal action regardless of the damage caused.
The biotech rider “could override any court-mandated caution and could instead allow continued planting. Further, it forces USDA to approve permits for such continued planting immediately, putting industry completely in charge by allowing for a ‘back door approval’ mechanism,” the Center for Food Safety said earlier this month upon news the House was reviving the measure. (source)
As the rider is due to expire at the end of this month, a renewal of the policy was written in and passed by the House last week, slipped into an important bill related to the federal budget, the FY14 Continuing Resolution (CR) spending bill.
Monsanto and its allies have argued that what the company sought was no more than what some federal courts have done themselves in the past: Allow farmers to continue to use GMO seed –under environmental guidelines—while the court review continues.
Monsanto successfully expanded support among farm groups also interested in some such stewardship program. But the language itself was unusually strong in that it directed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in no uncertain terms about how he should respond in future court cases impacting GMO seeds.
The secretary “shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law… immediately grant” temporary permits to continue using the seed at the request of a farmer or producer wanting such a stewardship program, the provision reads. And while Vilsack has been a big champion of the biotech industry, he was uncomfortable with what he saw as an effort to “pre-empt judicial review.”
“We have all known this rider’s days were numbered,” O’Neil told POLITICO. “But given the recent GMO contamination episodes of wheat and alfalfa in Oregon and Washington it is clear that our nation’s safeguards, in particular those of the federal courts, should not be under attack from policy riders like this.” (source)
This proves that by keeping a close watch on what our members of Congress are doing, and by holding them accountable in front of the public, we can affect changes. If we keep our momentum going, Big Biotech can be defeated.
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
07 Saturday Sep 2013
Tags
9-11 Remembrance, Blood Drive, Boy Scouts, Boy Scouts Surge, Community, Community Service, Elkhart County, Honoring America's First Responders, Patriotism, Sheriff Brad Rogers, United States Armed Forces, Wakarusa Indiana
Patriot Day/Remembering 9-11 Blood Drive and Ceremony
BLOOD DRIVE (South Bend Medical Foundation)
When: September 11, 2013
Time: 2:30pm – 5:30pm EST
Where: Wakarusa Memorial Park
(Behind Wakarusa Elementary School)
When: September 11, 2013
Time: 5:30pm – 6:15pm EST
Elkhart County Sheriff, Brad Rogers is our guest speaker.
Where: Wakarusa Memorial Park
(Behind Wakarusa Elementary School)
Bring Chairs – Their will be some shelter.
Your local scouting community is holding their 3nd annual Scout Surge a 9-11 remembrance ceremony at Wakarusa Memorial Park. This service will last approximately 45min. Please bring your chairs as we honor and our local first responders, our armed forces and their families as well as remember this day in our nation’s history. Our guests of Honor include all branches of our local United States Armed Forces as well as our Local and County First Responders. Help us say Thank You! You will also get a chance to see Memorials MedFlight Chopper!
On September 11, 2001 nearly 3,000 innocent people died in the most devastating terrorist attack upon our country. For the families and friends of those lost on 9/11, commemorating their lives in a meaningful way ensures that their memory will live on for future generations.
In the days following 9/11, people of all ages came together as one in communities around our country. Join the Surge and show your patriotism by participating in a Day of Remembrance in your community. With your help we will Always Remember! To learn more about Scout Surge please CLICK HERE
Blood Drive Facebook Link >> CLICK HERE
Ceremony Facebook Link >> CLICK HERE
12 Monday Aug 2013
Posted 2013, Activism, Civic Engagement, Elkhart County, Elkhart County GOP Party, GOP, Indiana, Politics, Tea Party
inNo meeting this week or next week week – Watch for 8/26 possibility
115 East Lincoln Ave, Goshen, IN
www.ECPatriots.org
2nd Amendment Patriots North: last Tuesday of the month.
Doing a build your AR-15 project. Feinstein freaks out.
Kosciusko Silent No More: meets 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month, and is well-attended – Seeking the 3-cornered stool balance. St Joseph Tea Party: meets 2nd and 4th Thursday at SB GOP Headquarters and is well attended (26)
Tea-MAC: meets at Beulah Missionary Church on old CR17 and Hively, the 3rd Tuesday of the month.
Dr. Ben Carson will be at at the Honeywell Center in Wabash, IN on October 20, 2013. Tickets at HONEYWELL CENTER or by calling 260-563-1102
02 Sunday Jun 2013
Tags
2013, 4th of July, Celebrate America, Community, Elkhart County, Elkhart County Indiana, Family Fun, Fireworks, Fireworks Display, Indiana, July, Music
Goshen’s Celebrate America recently held its kick-off meeting at First Baptist Church in Goshen, Indiana. Celebrate America’s 2013 fireworks display and patriotic program will be held Sunday, July 7th, at Black Squirrel Golf Course. Two musical groups, Exalt Brass and Gold will perform during the evening.
The patriotic program will begin at about 8:00 PM and the fireworks will go off at dark (about 10:00 PM). There is no charge for admission and free parking will be available at the First Baptist Church of Goshen, or Goshen Middle School. Both are on the corner of Plymouth and Indiana Ave. and are just a short walk from the Golf Course. Handicapped parking is available at the Golf Course. Bring your blanket, lawn chairs, lawn games, and picnic for a relaxing and fun family friendly evening! Concessions will be available.
According to Goshen Celebrate America’s president, Greg Lanzen, Celebrate America’s annual firework display is just the icing on the cake. “We celebrate with a party,” Lanzen said, “but the rest of the year we are busy overseeing different parts of Celebrate America with a patriotism education program at Goshen’s middle and elementary schools and with our veterans program.”
As part of the veteran’s program, Goshen’s Celebrate America partners with local veterans organizations to help send WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans to Washington D.C. to tour the city and Washington D.C.’s military memorials.”
Here is a video of Goshen’s VFW Post’s 2009 trip. Maybe you’ll see yourself or someone you know on this video:
10 Monday Sep 2012
Tags
Appreciation, Church Community Serices, Civic Engagement, Civic Service, Community, Community Engagement, Dave Hochstetler, Donation, Elkhart County, Elkhart County Indiana, Feed, Food bank, Food Pantry, Franklin Citgo, Fresh Garden Vegetables, Garden Crops, Generosity, Grateful, Green Beans, Harvest, Harvests, Helping Neighbors, Mr. Singh, Need, Neighbors, Ron Robinson, Seed to Feed, Tomatoes, Volunteering
“Elkhart as been good to me and my family. I want to give something back to this community.” Mr. Singh, owner of Franklin’s Citgo, said his generous gift to Elkhart families in need was his way of giving back to Elkhart County.
Thank you, Mr. Singh, for the financial gift you brought to us from your business. You’re helping us extend hope to lots of your neighbors. What a pleasure to meet you,” Rod Roberson, executive director of Church Community Services, is most appreciative of the support Church Community Services has received from businesses like Mr. Singhs and from much of the Elkhart Community.
Hi Everyone,
As summer is coming to a close, so will our gardens. But, we still have
some good harvests left to pick. We will go back to our regular schedule:
the Bullard Garden on CR17 will be picked on Monday, Sept 10th at 6:00 p.m.
This will probably be about our last picking. We might have one more on the
17th of Sept, but we will let you know.
The Goshen Garden on CR 36 will be picked on Tuesday, Sept 11, at
6:00 p.m. and we should have a “stellar” harvest of tomatoes and peppers. The
green beans are just about finished, but we still might get some this next
week.
The potato field will be tentatively be ready to pick up next Friday,
Sept.14. The field will be “turned” and then we have a 24 hr window to
pick up the potatoes before they turn green which is not good. We will need
about 50 volunteers with 5 gal buckets to pick them up and load them into
the containers that will then be loaded onto the semi. Date and details to
follow next early next week.
And finally, I’d like to thank the 7th grade class of St. Thomas School
for their wonderful support of the Seed to Feed program. They came to CCS
yesterday along with their teachers and mothers, took a tour of CCS to see
what happens on a daily basis at the Food Bank and then came to the Bullard
Garden to pick beans. The students, 50 in total, along with their teachers
and mothers all got down in the dirt and picked 430 lbs of green beans in
2 hrs. It was a good learning experience for the kids and what a wonderful
blessing for the Food Bank and the people they serve. Thank You kids,
teachers and mothers for your wonderful support!!!
Have a great weekend and we’ll see you at the gardens as we close out
the harvests over the next few weeks, and don’t forget the potato field.
Details will follow next week.
Blessings
Dave Hochstetler
Coordinator of the ‘Feed to Seed’ Program
30 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted Activism, Caring, Civic Benefit, Civic Engagement, Civic Service, Community, Community Service Event, Community Services, Compassion, Elkhart, Elkhart County, Emergency Measures, Event, Faith-base, Food, Food Aid, Food Pantries, Fundraisers, Goshen, Indiana, Labor Day, Labor Day Weekend, Labor of Love Plans, Neighbors, Tea Party, Victory Center
inTags
Church Community Services, Civic Engagement, Community Service, Elkhart County, Elkhart County 4-H Fair, Elkhart County Indiana, Elkhart Indiana, Emergency Food, Food Pantry, Give, Indiana, Republican Party (United States), Starbucks, United States
For 44 years, Elkhart Church Community Services Church Community Services, a faith-based not-for-profit agency has helped people in Elkhart County, Indiana, weather life’s storms and build more secure futures. They do do this through emergency assistance and intensive job and life skills training.
So far, in 2012 Church Community Services has assisted over 16,000 families.
Elkhart: Hart City Resale Store, Martin’s Grocery, Starbucks (U.S. 33), GOP Elkhart Victory Center, Miles Lab Restaurant, Sport’s Time Family Pub, McDowell Plating Co., Dibley Chiropractic Center & Family Video Stores
Goshen: Family Chiropractic Clinic
Wakarusa: Larimer Furniture Store, The Dime Store, The Dollar General Store (on Hwy. 19), Forest River Corp.
Mishawaka: Futon Factory, All Famiy Video Stores, B & B Molding and the Mishawaka GOP Victory Center
23 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted Achievement, Activism, Civic Benefit, Civic Engagement, Civic Service, Education, Elkhart, Elkhart County, Elkhart County 4-H Fair, Faith-base, Farm, Farming, Food, Food Aid, Food Pantries, Food Prices, FUN, Fundraisers, Gardening, Goshen, Hard Work, Independence, People helping Neighbors, Principles, Vegetables, Volunteer
inTags
Challenge, Church Community Services, Civic Engagement, Community, Community Service, Constitution, Education, Education Empowers, Elkhart County, Elkhart County Indiana, Ensuring Success, Family Fun, Food, Food Pantry, Freedom, Goshen, Indiana, Life Skills, Need, Soup of Success, Volunteer, Volunteering, Women, Work
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 7:45 AM
Subject: Seed to Feed Weekly Update
Hi Everyone,
This past week we had two great harvests at both of our gardens. There
were 29 volunteers who showed up at the Bullard Garden on Monday and 25
volunteers at the Goshen Garden on Tuesday. Thank You all.
We are moving the time of the Bullard Garden picking to 6:00 p.m. We are moving the time of the Bullard Garden picking on Monday evenings. We still need 30 volunteers to pick green beans and sweet corn. Although we will pick on Monday evenings, if anyone wants to pull weeds between the rows, please do so at your own time schedule. If more weeds are pulled,that means more beans get picked. The Bullard Garden is
directly across from Sorg Jewelers, C.R. 17. With 30 volunteers, weeds pulled and fast pickers, we could pick a 1000# of green beans in 3 hrs—-we have lots of beans!!!!!
The Goshen Garden has tons of green tomatoes that should be ready
soon. We will pick every Tuesday at 6:00pm and it is located at 14723
C.R. 36. Last week with 25 volunteers, we picked 11 boxes of beans, tomatoes
and peppers in 1 1/2 hours.
This was a great week and thanks to ALL the volunteers that came and
helped pick. See you Monday and Tuesday at the gardens.
Blessings
Dave Hochstetler
22 Wednesday Aug 2012
Tags
2012 Election, Congratulations, Enthusiastic Supporters, GOP Victory Center, Indiana Governor, Indiana Senator, Republican, Republican Phone Bank, Republican Victory Center, Tea Party, Top Achievers, United States House, Victory Center, Volunteers Needed
The Elkhart Republican Victory Center made the THIRD most phone calls last week of any political phone bank the nation. Only two political phone banks, both located in Chicago, made more calls. Many of those calls turned out to be incomplete calls registered to dead people.
Congratulations to top caller, extraordinaire, Joan Bice who has made 4,207 calls so far. Joan is a worker. She wasn’t FINISHED calling when I left
Please consider devoting at least an hour or so a week to being part of this WINNING TEAM. The Victory Center is air conditioned. There are snacks and drinks. There is pizza for dinner. And best of all–the people you will meet are fun and like-minded.
The phones are simple to use. And it is fun.
Elkhart Republican Victory Center
1620 South Nappanee
Elkhart, Indiana
Contact Ben Parsons: (574) 612-8725 or bparsons@indgop.org.
16 Thursday Aug 2012
Tags
Banking, Barnhardt, Con, Deposit account, Derivitaves, EFTs, Fail, Furtures, Liquidity, MF Global, Money, Money manager, Overleveraged, Ponzi Scheme, Principal Financial Group, Protecting what you have, Safety, Stocks, United State, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States courts of appeals
Time is running short. Get Your money and savings out of your bank! NOW! All legal bank and deposit protections are officially GONE.
Former money manager Ann Barnhardt, who, after the MF Global theft, honorably shut down her brokerage firm; so that, her customers would not be ripped off, is giving a new warning about the stability of US banks and the safety of individual deposit accounts. Legal rulings are siding against the people and for the banks; thus, get your money out and get it out now. This is because the market is destroyed and you no longer have any protection for any money invested in any investment, or banking, system anymore, according to Barnhardt.
For example: In a shocking precedent set by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision last Friday the court ruled that Sentinel’s use of $500 million segregated client funds to secure a loan from the Bank of NY Melon for it’s prop trading desk is not fraudulent but is rather perfectly legal.
‘What we’re seeing is the complete disintegration of the financial system before our very eyes! It’s Soviet!‘”, says Barnhardt, ‘You have got to get your money out of the financial system! Not just the futures markets, but the entire thing! Stocks, 401k, IRA. GET YOUR MONEY OUT OR ELSE IT IS ALL GOING TO BE STOLEN FROM YOU! IT’S ALL A PONZI!!!
“I don’t know what else people need. MF Global stole $1.6 billion, PFG Best is $225 million gone, who’s going to be next? It’s clear there’s no regulatory oversight. If you’re still in these markets you’re either stupid or on drugs! That’s the only conclusion that I can come to.”
CLICK HERE for the Sentinel Federal Appeals Court Ruling of August 9, 2012. The entire case reads like an after-the-fact rationalization of a predetermined conclusion.
Please pay particular attention to the section on equitable subordination, on pages 6 through 8. Unbelievably, the court acknowledged in that section that even though some of the bankers lied under oath during the trial, that fact did not prove “sufficiently egregious” actions on the part of the bank.
I will quote the opinion: “Instead of finding that their testimony [i.e. their lies] justified a finding of egregious bank behavior, the district court essentially found that the bank officials were such artless liars that they couldn’t have been concealing deliberate wrongdoing.” See page 7, column 2.
So in other words, a U.S. Court of Appeals has found that if a banker lies under oath during a trial, that fact proves that the bank was innocent of any misconduct with respect to the subject matter of those lies.
Did we get transported to bizarro world without knowing it?