NEW YEAR – NEW CAFO LEGISLATION MOVES FORWARD

Last year not one of the three CAFO-related bills made it out of the legislative session.  This year, maybe common sense and the reality of environmental and health issues intertwined with huge factory farms will prompt our legislators to do what they are supposed to do:  pass laws that protect citizens.

New legislation regulating CAFOs would require annual inspections and other tightened regulations under a bill given initial approval by a House committee.   The House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee last week voted along party lines, with seven Democrats endorsing it and five Republicans opposing it.

The current bill would affect Indiana’s roughly 2,200 confined feeding operations, of which 625 are large enough for a separate distinction of concentrated animal feeding operations. The sprawling farms with thousands of hogs, cattle, or chickens are often opposed by neighbors because of their odor and potential impact on property values and the environment.

Several GOP members had concerns about additional regulations on the industry possibly driving up food prices.  That argument is simply a red herring.  The increased meat production is to benefit up and coming economies such as China, whose middle-class population is growing at an astounding rate, and, with that growth, the desire to live on a meat-based diet. 

“This bill is very troubling,” said Rep. Eric Gutwein, R-Rensselaer who, along with others, wanted to wait until an agricultural regulatory task force established by Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman finalized its recommendations.  You bet they wanted to wait.  That would be like waiting for the fox to tell the chickens how to protect themselves. 

Daniels and Skillman came up with their “Possibilities Unbound” plan in 2005 which focused on increasing pork production while backing off regulations.  One of the goals of the Plan was to review regulations to make Indiana a more “business friendly” environment.  In other words, Daniels and Skillman wanted to reduce regulations as much as possible. 

Among other provisions, the bill would require farm operators to disclose “good character” information, including violations in other states or pending legal action. It allows the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to consider this information before granting a permit.  This session our legislators appear to be ready to step up and make some tough but necessary decisions to protect us from the health and environmental impact of CAFOs.

Photo Credit:  Wikipedia

IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS ENDS 27 YEARS AGO TODAY

January 20, 1981 : Iran Hostage Crisis ends

The Shah of Iran

Photo Credit: Mr. Dowling.com

_____________________________________________

Minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, were released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis.

On November 4, 1979, the crisis began when militant Iranian students, outraged that the U.S. government had allowed the ousted Shah of Iran to travel to New York City for medical treatment, seized the U.S. Embassy in Teheran. The Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s political and religious leader, took over the hostage situation, refusing all appeals to release the hostages.  However, two weeks after the storming of the embassy, the Ayatollah began to release all non-U.S. captives, and all female and minority Americans, citing these groups as among the people oppressed by the government of the United States. The remaining 52 captives remained at the mercy of the Ayatollah for the next 14 months.

President Jimmy Carter was unable to diplomatically resolve the crisis, and on April 24, 1980, he ordered a disastrous rescue mission in which eight U.S. military personnel were killed and no hostages rescued. Three months later, the former shah died of cancer in Egypt, but the crisis continued. In November 1980, Carter lost the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan. Soon after, with the assistance of Algerian intermediaries, successful negotiations began between the United States and Iran. On the day of Reagan’s inauguration, the United States freed almost $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and the hostages were released after 444 days. The next day, Jimmy Carter flew to West Germany to greet the Americans on their way home.

SLIGHT OF HAND – DANIELS AND JOB COMMITMENTS

As a starter, here are the JOBS LOST numbers for 2007 under the Guv:

January – 911
February – 334
March – 569
April – 1836
May – 962
June – 111
July – 570
August – 1088
September – 908
October – 1115
November – 118
December – 483

9005 Hoosiers out of work.

Daniels is astute at using the podium from which to announce job “commitments” while in the background Hoosiers are losing jobs.  Many of the new jobs Daniels brags about are two to three years in the future.  A commitment is simply that – it mean a pledge or promise.  And pledges and promises can be broken as the Guv has learned with Getrag.  For those who don’t recognize the name, Getrag is a leading manufacturer of manual automatic transmissions.

Earlier this month, Inside Indiana News reported that autoparts supplier Getrag had suspended construction of a $530m dual sequential gearbox (DSG) transmission plant in Tipton County. Starting in 2009, the factory was set to produce 700k transmissions per year and employ some 1400 people.

Photo Credit: The Truth About Cars website

Indiana had provided several incentives to Getrag.  The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) ponied up $8.75m worth of performance-based tax credits and offered up to $500k for training grants. The state was on the hook for $3.4m for local road improvements.  According to Getrag Human Resource Director, Randy Cyman, the plant is on hold indefinitely while Chrysler and Getrag work out a supply agreement. 

But look for the Guv to step up his job announcements this next year. Something tells me we will be hearing more and more “commitment” announcements which have no impact on unemployed Hoosiers today.

HUCKABEE AND RELIGION – TAILOR CONSTITUTION TO GOD’S STANDARDS

Huckabee is getting desperate, and he is getting dangerously close to emulating the Islamic religious view of government. In Michigan, he made the following statement:

“[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it’s a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that’s what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards,” Huckabee said, referring to the need for a constitutional human life amendment and an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

Many Muslim countries base their governments and official duties on Islamic Law:

Saudi Arabia:

Sources of Law. – Word “law” in Saudi Arabia is understood to refer to Islamic law (in Arabic, Shari’ah). All secular regulations are subject to and interpreted in accordance with Shari’ah precepts.

Chapter 1 General Principles

Article 1

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its religion; God’s Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, God’s prayers and peace be upon him, are its constitution, Arabic is its language and Riyadh is its capital.

Pakistan:

Islam to be State religion

Islam shall be the State religion of Pakistan.

Iraq:

Chapter One: Basic Principles

Islam is the national religion and a basic foundation for the country’s laws; however, freedom of religion is upheld.

Iran:

Article 4 (Islamic Principle)

Article 4 is immutable and the Council of Guardians ensures that all articles of the Constitution as well other laws are based on Islamic criteria.

Afghanistan:

Chapter 1 The State

Article 2 Religions

(1) The religion of the state of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the sacred religion of Islam
(2) Followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law.

Article 2 Law and Religion

In Afghanistan, no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.

These are just a sampling of the countries with Islam as the national state religion. Huckabee’s statements go against the very reasons many of our founders came to this country. The Constitution prohibits both an “establishment of religion” as well as the use of a “religious test” for public officials. The Huckabee clip is below.

Huckabee is the worst kind of presidential candidate. He is a cleric, he is fanatical, he campaigns with his eye to exploiting religion using his beliefs – whether sincere or not, and he sees his interpretation of the Bible and God as the correct one. When Huckabee says “We should amend the Constitution to follow God’s standards”, whose denominational standards would be talking about? Reviewing biblical passages reveals that the Bible does not mention “abortion” or “homosexuality.” But, of course, tailoring the Constitution according to God’s standards really means tailoring the Constitution to Huckabee standards.

VERA BRADLEY – THE ULTIMATE OUTSOURCER TO CHINA

A big thank you to TDW for a blurb about Vera Bardley and her outsourcing to China. I was absolutely amazed when I read the post. And, not one to believe things without checking them out, I researched and found that others had posted online that they, too, had looked at their labels and found that yes, indeed, the labels say:

MADE IN CHINA

Still incredulous and somewhat skeptical about those statements online, I looked at the two items I had received as gifts. The first was a huge duffel bag I had received a couple of years ago. It said “Made in the USA.” Then I looked at my second, smaller bag – also a gift but received within the last year. The label had been slit with scissors right on the name “China”, but it did, indeed, say:

MADE IN CHINA

I have been so accustomed to thinking of Vera Bradley as a company totally devoted to maintaining jobs for Americans and right here in Fort Wayne, that the thought never crossed my mind that this icon of Fort Wayne fame and charity would make such a blatantly profit-making decision.

Photo Credit: SCORE

Vera Bradley’s president and CEO is former Indiana Department of Commerce Secretary Patricia Miller (left in the above photo), who helped lead a state trade mission to Asia from July 30, 2005 to August 7, 2005. Is it just possible she was making “deals” for herself while she was there? Or were the negotiations already in progress? How does one go about making plans to outsource American jobs?

After all, the duffel bag I received in 2006 still said “Made in the USA” while the handbag I received in 2007, 1 1/2 years later, said “Made in China.” Just about the right amount of time between a visit and a switch to outsourcing.

Photo Credit: ebay

The Vera Bradley website touts locations where its handbags have been spotted. Now the company can not only say “spotted in China” but also “Made in China.”

The website also states:

Located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Vera Bradley continues to remain steadfast in our commitment to excellent quality, exclusive designs and dependable customer service.

 

Committed to many things but not the American worker.

And here is a statement from SCORE:

Today, Vera Bradley Designs’ 75 employees produce over 800 products from a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing center in Ft. Wayne.

I suggest SCORE change its statement to include the locations in China which now make Vera Bradley items. Just to be fair about this, I do not know how many of the Vera Bradley products have been outsourced to China. But with every outsourced product, go American jobs.

Don’t look for the outsourcing of Vera Bradley items to lower product prices either. Visit the website, and it will be quickly apparent that prices have not dropped. The duffel bag in the picture above from eBay has a price tag of $139.95. The one I received as a gift – exactly the same but a different pattern – cost $85.00. Not only are prices not any cheaper at the website, the annual Vera Bradley sale at the Coliseum has simply become a way for women to show up, buy a large quantity of Vera Bradley products, and then proceed to overprice them on eBay.

So all you Vera Bradley obsessives out there, dig out those handbags and check the labels. Maybe you don’t care if Vera Bradley items are made in China instead of here, but, if you do, then you have the power to make a choice and commit to not purchasing any more Vera Bradley products.