Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Unusually busy?

3/31/09 Tuesday
It’s going to be an unusually busy day. Unusual? Nah, not really, every day I’m able I’m busy. There’s just more to do than I can keep up with. Cherie came home with a bunch of plants called “Cannas” or something like that. They were given to her by a lady that thinned out her patch of these flowers. That tells me they are possibly aggressive spreaders. I should go online and look them up to learn more about them. Regardless, they are here now and need to be planted soon so that preempts other plans. In addition to that the cats got into some of the herbs we have ordered and chewed the most expensive one up pretty bad. They had been sitting in a window waiting till I could get the herb garden area prepared for them. That requires moving railroad ties so I must wait till Tommie and Jamie come over to work off the price of the car. He said he might be free tomorrow. Till then I guess I must repot them with the hope they will survive. The only one we’re concerned with is the Stevia plant. It’s a source of natural sweetener that is extensively used in Europe but is banned here in the United States through the bribery of the major corporations that produce artificial sweeteners.

That’s the American way, isn’t it? Big money corporations influence, or more accurately “Buy” our politicians to make laws that inhibit any competition, no matter how small. The Monsanto’s of the agricultural world have been doing this for decades and have been successful in squashing many of the small farmers by piling up laws and fees they can’t handle. Did you know that in several states Monsanto, and now Eli Lilly, who bought the product, are sponsoring legislation that prohibit dairies from labeling milk as “Rbhg free”. Rbhg is a hormone developed by Monsanto to increase milk production in cows. With a growing uproar by consumers who don’t want this hormone, with it’s human side effects like growing boobs and even starting milk production in males. It’s rare but happened. So with dairies advertising they don’t use the hormone on the milk cartons it cuts into the other dairies sales and influences them to stop using, thus stop buying, the product. The audacity of making such a simple label illegal just blows me away. And the fact that politicians are bought to sponsor such an obvious miscarriage of the law, that is there to protect us, is a sad statement of how flawed our system has become, how corrupted it is now by big money in every corner.

Got to go. It’s poop scoop day so I’ll be running to Midland, where I’ll get as much stuff done in town as I can. Then there’s going to the landfill, there’s…lots of stuff. Bye now.

5 comments:

Amy E said...

Bob, would you provide a link to the ban on Stevia. I had been buying the liquid herbal sweetner at the health food store in the past, and wasn't aware it had been recently banned. It figures.

Amy E said...

I had to stop giving my daughters milk, except Promised Land Dairy's milk, because my youngest started developing at around 2 because of the hormones. My eldest is actually allergic to cow milk, so I am trying to find a milk goat. Those hormones in the milk are rough that's for sure.

Bob Westbrook said...

When I went to find a link I discovered that in December the FDA just approved two compounds made from Stevia for use in food. It's not that Stevia was banned, it just wasn't approved by the FDA preventing it's use. Here's a link about it. http://www.cspinet.org/nah/4_00/stevia.html
Of course the big money food corporations have been trying to squash herbal supplements for years by making them subject to FDA regulation.

Nate~ said...

that was a pretty good buy on that tractor Rob. I am going to build you a log splitter to go in the 3 point hitch. a website that might help you with your new toy is http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/index.php they have alot of knowledgeable people on there when it comes to pre 70's tractors. I will keep an eye out for some attachments. give me a call sometime, I lost your number.

Bob Westbrook said...

Good to hear it's a good buy. I really didn't have a clue. I'll have to spring for a shop manual for it. Somewhere between forty to eighty bucks is what I think I saw online. Implements would be good and might give me an excuse to run up there. I called your number a while back and left a message. That didn't seem to work. Email me at bobcarver2@yahoo and I'll send you mine.