Public remains stunningly ignorant about residential solar

After months of wrestling with the County Building Department about permits and codes, excruciating financial gymnastics and down and dirty back-breaking spadework, we finally got our solar installation up. It’s a massive 3 kw (stc) photovoltaic pole mount. We feel…

New Mexico man arrested, drugged, detained for two years; now wins $22 million reward verdict in lawsuit

(NaturalNews)After spending two years in solitary confinement without ever having been convicted of a crime, 58-year-old Stephen Slevin has finally been awarded a whopping $22 million from a federal jury for his improper treatment by Dona Ana County in New Mexico. The Miami Herald…

Hugely-expensive Chicago homeland security program replete with failure

They say the road to hell (and financial ruin) is paved with good intentions. And so it is with a massively expensive project for Cook County, Chicago that cost taxpayers more than $45 million and has been an abject failure. The goal was to make citizens safer, but…

Mobile fluoride vans to target communities that voted to remove chemical from public water supply

Back in October, the Pinellas County, Fla., Commission voted 4 – 3 to stop adding artificial fluoride chemicals to the county’s municipal water supply, which serves roughly 700,000 residents (http://www.naturalnews.com/033801_fluoride_water_supply.html). But now local…

Saying no: Sheriffs fed up with worsening federal interference, bureaucracy

(NaturalNews) Adding a new wrinkle to the phrase, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not taking it anymore,” several California sheriffs, as well as one from Oregon, say they aren’t cow-towing to the federal leviathan anymore. Last month, at the Yreka fairgrounds in northern California, the sheriffs – who, of course, are elected by the people – gathered with a large group to discuss what to do about Big Brother and his consistent meddling in state and local affairs. Speaking of the federal bureaucracy, Plumas County (California) Sheriff Greg Hagwood declared, “A giant has been awakened, and they didn’t count on that.” One by one the sheriffs recounted their experiences with an ever-encroaching federal government, whether from the aspect of emergency management, the foisting upon local jurisdictions of federal mandates, or the passage of federal statutes which many now feel run roughshod over state and local governments, inhibiting their ability to mold their own laws and policies around the needs of their respective populations. “I had spent a good part of my life enforcing the penal code, but not understanding my oath of office,” Sheriff Dean Wilson of Del Norte (Sacramento) County told the group. “I was ignorant and naive, but now I know of the assault against our people by the federal government,” he said, receiving some of the loudest and longest applause of the gathering. Event host Sheriff John Lopey of Siskiyou (California) County said one of his biggest pet peeves was the federal government’s ever-increasing environmental regulations. “I have told federal and state officials over and over that, yes, we want to preserve the environment, but you care more about the fish, frogs, trees and birds than you do about the human race. When will you start to balance your decisions to the needs of the people? We are right now in a fight for our survival,” he said. No one makes the case better that the county sheriff is the real supreme law of the land than former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack. Speaking at the event, Mack says the word is beginning to get around. “It’s becoming a national movement now,” Mack said, noting he planned to announce in January a national education movement that he anticipates will draw about 200 sheriffs from around the country. “The county sheriff is the last line of defense guarding our people’s liberty,” he said.

Another one bites the dust: Alabama’s most highly populated county hires bankruptcy lawyers in advance of financial meltdown

(NaturalNews) In what is shaping up to become the nation’s largest-ever municipal insolvency, Jefferson County, Ala., officials recently hired a major law firm to tackle the county’s approaching Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing. A federally-mandated sewer upgrade project plunged the county into severe debt back in the 1990s from which it has since been unable to recover. And since none of their alternative efforts have been successful, county officials say bankruptcy may become the final, and only, option. “Everything we’ve been trying to do to avoid bankruptcy has failed,” said County Commissioner Sandra Little Brown to FOX Business in a recent interview. “So now, we have to get an agreement or we go bankrupt.” Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff and Stern, LLP, the same law firm that handled the massive 1994 bankruptcy of Orange County, Calif. — which, to this day, remains the most expensive municipal bankruptcy in history — has been tasked with overseeing Jefferson County’s bankruptcy filing. If county officials decide there is no choice but to go through with the filing, then Jefferson County will assume Orange County’s spot as top bankruptcy. Jefferson County is continuing talks with creditors to try to negotiate a settlement, but so far none have offered an “acceptable” solution, according to County Commissioner Jimmie Stephens. Jefferson county’s general fund remains at a major shortfall, and its bond debts represent tens of millions of dollars. According to FOX Business, the county’s overall debt clocks in at more than $3 billion. “We’re ready for a negotiated settlement. Or we’re ready to file bankruptcy,” added Commissioner Brown. “One or the other.” The filing will indeed be major, but it will likely not be the last. A 2010 report on cities nearing default and bankruptcy indicates that in addition to Jefferson County, both Harrisburg, Penn. and Detroit, Mich. are assuming the same financial fate (http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/28/news/economy/american_cities_broke.fortune/index.htm). Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/26/us-usa-alabama-jeffersoncounty-idUSTRE76P5DK20110726 http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/07/29/can-alabama-county-avoid-being-countrys-largest-bankruptcy-deal-possibly-within/

Help save Nick’s Organic Farm from government takeover!

(NaturalNews) A 31-year-old heritage organic farm in Maryland is being threatened with takeover by the county in which it is located, and your help is needed to stop these efforts. Nick’s Organic Farm is the only farm in Montgomery County, Md., that produces organic seeds, and it is strategically located in a uniquely protected area far away from genetically-modified (GM) crops and other contamination factors. But the county’s education board recently voted to turn this special farm into a private soccer field complex, of which there are already hundreds throughout the region. Nick Maravell of Nick’s Organic Farm has been cultivating the special 20-acre plot of clean, protected land in Potomac, Md., for the last three decades. Located just outside of the Washington, D.C., area, Nick’s Organic Farm is also one of just a few organic seed-producing farms in the entire Chesapeake region, which makes it an even more invaluable asset to local citizens. For 30-plus years, Nick’s Organic Farm has been supplying the local community with fresh, organic produce, and it has also supplied countless farmers with its uncontaminated, organic seeds. The farm’s many years of cultivation have also created nutrient-rich, organic soil, which as some NaturalNews readers already know cannot be created overnight. Soil microorganisms and organic matter take years to develop and mature, and once they become established, they produce healthy soil for growing highly-nutritious, nutrient-dense produce. In other words, if Nick’s Organic Farm is replaced by soccer fields, it will likely be lost forever. The farm cannot simply be moved to another site because it would take years to become established, both in terms of organic certification and soil maturity level. Soccer fields, on the other hand, can be located anywhere without much issue. With all this in mind, it becomes abundantly clear how foolish it is to destroy the local treasure that is Nick’s Organic Farm to develop a soccer complex that could easily be located elsewhere. And yet that is precisely what Montgomery County officials are attempting to do in this case. Despite the fact that Nick’s Organic Farm is responsible for helping start numerous organic farming organizations throughout the state, including the Maryland Organic Food and Farming Association, the Maryland Small Farm Cooperative, and Future Harvest – Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, officials seem to think that soccer fields will be a better fit. Unfortunately, Nick Maravell does not actually own the land in question — it is an unused part of Brickyard Road Middle School that the county has been leasing to Maravell for the past several decades. It is a situation that has resulted in numerous benefits for both citizens and local and state farming efforts, but one that the county officials apparently view as inconsequential. According to reports, the Montgomery County Board of Education (MCBOE) met with Montgomery County Executive Isaiah “Ike” Leggett back in March to discuss the issue of turning the land into soccer fields, and the two groups did so in secret. Shortly thereafter, the board voted to turn Nick’s Organic Farm into ball fields, and gave Maravell only two business days notice that his lease would be expiring. News of this sudden land-use change immediately sent the community into an uproar, especially when they discovered that Leggett’s office had been in contact with soccer organizations for several years prior to the surprise vote. Government officials appear to have completely disregarded the appropriate open process by which surplus land use is evaluated, and instead discreetly made plans for the site behind the scenes without public input. Worse, citizen inquiry into the matter revealed that county officials had succumbed to financial lobbying by Montgomery Soccer Inc. (MSI), a large soccer organization that had been pushing for the development of more soccer fields in the area. The county’s actions clearly violated its own master plan rules — these rules dictate that land-use decisions must be open and transparent, as well as adhere to specific guidelines — and instead conducted an illicit business deal in secret. On June 9, a public meeting was held at the Potomac Community Center to discuss the issue, and many local residents spoke out against the county’s unethical, and potentially illegal, decision. You can watch a video montage of that meeting here: http://vimeo.com/24995214 Supporters of Nick’s Organic Farm have also set up a website to help save it from being destroyed. There, you will find a petition, information about contacting Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, and a place to sign up to help volunteer with the campaign: http://www.savenicksorganicfarm.org/ The Cornucopia Institute (CI) has also posted a job opening for a local field organizer to help organize activities, coordinate volunteers, and develop strategies to win the fight against Montgomery County and save Nick’s Organic Farm. You can learn more about that job opportunity here: http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/07/help-wanted-local-field-organizer-for-campaign-to-save-maryland-organic-farm/

McDonald’s threatened with lawsuit over toys in Happy Meals

(NaturalNews) The Los Angeles Times recently reported that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is planning to sue fast-food giant McDonald’s if the company does not comply with its demands to remove toys from “Happy Meals”. CSPI claims that marketing unhealthy food with toys is contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic and should be stopped immediately. The announcement by CSPI comes just weeks after a California county banned not only toys but all other promotions aimed at children that involve McDonald’s Happy Meals. By doing this, the county believes that children will be less attracted to fatty foods that are high in salt and calories. According to the same article, back in April, Santa Clara County, California, also banned toy promotions from fast food meals sold in unincorporated parts of the county. Spokesmen from McDonald’s denied that Happy Meals are inherently unhealthy, citing the fact that the meals are of an appropriate size and that children have the option to swap out the fries and soda for apples and juice. They also explained that giving away toys with children’s meals is part of the fun of a family dining experience. Since 2008 when apples were first introduced as an option in Happy Meals, customers have ordered them more than 100 million times, illustrating that when given healthier options, customers often choose them for their children instead. But those opposed to the toys insist that including them in Happy Meals is contributing directly to the obesity epidemic because it makes the generally unhealthy meals highly attractive to children who do not know any better. And while acknowledging that parents ultimately bear the responsibility of controlling their children’s food choices, CSPI believes that using toys to lure kids into McDonald’s is so powerful and “predatory” as a form of marketing that parents often have a difficult time resisting their children’s nagging Still others say that placing heavy restrictions on what McDonald’s can include in Happy Meals may be a bit severe and overbearing, and that it will do little to effectively reverse the nation’s obesity epidemic. Some are even suggesting a compromise in which McDonald’s limit its new toy offerings to once a month rather than once a week, in order to reduce the number of times children want to go to McDonald’s to get a new toy. Sources for this story include: http://www.latimes.com/news/health/sns-health-mcdonalds-happy-meal-lawsuits,0,1457303.story http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2010/06/happy_meal_toys_under_fire.html?wprss=checkup

Reclaiming Ireland’s Culinary Heritage, One Roast Lamb or Sponge Cake at a Time

Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe is a cookery school in County Cork whose influence is felt worldwide.