Suicide Explosion in the US Military

Why do 1 out of every 35 enlisted men and women in the US military attempt suicide every year? Why is physical and sexual abuse inside the military skyrocketing? Why is drug abuse and alcoholism rampant? What about the exploding breakup of families and an exponential rise in divorce? Or how about the massive increase in sexual activity among male and female soldiers - many times in adulterous affairs - while deployed abroad? Meanwhile, back home, 'abandoned' wives have 'Jody' coming in the back door.

What will become of the abandoned children whose fathers are aabsent, not to mention the absolutely shocking absense of mothers who also are soldiers? What are the long-term consequences of all of these factors on society? To the defense contractors, 'perpetual war' has a nice sounding economic ring to it, but to society as a whole, can we afford the spreading circles of violence, confusion and disruption of orderly life now set in motion endlessly?

All militaries throughout the ages have used 'mind control' techniques as a part of 'military training'. This always has included the use of alcohol and other drugs to numb the reality of the murderous business of war. Human beings are not natural cold-blooded killers, but that is exactly what military duty is all about. In the confusion of battle, blood thirty acts of war are viewed as valorous and heroic. Upon return to normal civilian life, many soldiers experience severe regret and profound guilt over the things that they were ordered to do. This can become especially the case when the 'war vet' is unemployed, homeless, debt ridden, injured and alone due to the break up of family.

Where are the marching bands and grand speeches to reaffirm to the 'war vet' that the unspeakable acts of war violence were necessary and for the good of all? After a while, the vet does not feel like a war hero any more. He or she may feel like someone who does not deserve to live. What drug is going to erase the memories? What counsellor is going to make the guilt go away? How pervasive is this syndrome of guilt called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? What are its long-term consequences?

When is the vet going to be able to look his own children in the eye and feel good about the fact that he destroyed other families in other countries just because someone gave the order to "...take out some bad guys." Were those dead children and civilians 'bad guys'? Even if the wars ended tomorrow, what is society going to do with the literally millions of war veterans whose minds have been warped by the violence of modern war? Can they ever find peace, even in a time of peace, if we ever see a time of peace again?

Is this why WAR IS HELL?

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'U.S. Navy Attempted-Suicide Rate Near 3 Percent'

The Navy Times website reported on December 28 that a Defense Department survey of service members for 2008 showed a higher attempted-suicide rate in the U.S. Navy than any other branch of the armed forces.
Sailors attempted suicide at a rate of 2.8 percent, or approximately one out of every 35 sailors. This rate is three times higher than that recorded by the last survey in 2005.In comparison, the next highest attempted-suicide rate was found in the Marine Corps at 2.3 percent. The Army rate followed at 2 percent, and the Air Force rate came in the lowest at 1.6 percent.The 2008 Department of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Active Duty Military Personnel included responses from 28,546 service members. They were randomly selected from all branches of service, including the Coast Guard, and represent a mix of men and women of different ages, races, and ranks.The survey findings show an increase in illegal prescription drug use across the military branches and “dangerous levels” of drinking. The frequency and length of combat deployment “is no doubt playing a part in the stress levels that we’re seeing,” said Jack Smith, acting deputy assistant secretary for clinical and program policy for the assistant defense secretary for health. “It’s a challenging environment.” Smith indicated that since Marines and soldiers are more likely to face close combat, they are exhibiting higher rates of stress-related activities.Illicit drugs, including prescription drugs such as muscle relaxants and painkillers, were used by 28 percent of service members in 1980, but that dropped to 3 percent in 2002. By 2008, such drug use had risen to 12 percent.The reason for this may be that many of those who have been injured have found it difficult to get off their medication; they may still be experiencing pain or may have become addicted. Illegal drug use outside of prescription medication was at 2 percent in 2008. “I think that we’re still trying to determine the meaning of this,” Smith stated. “It’s the first time we’ve drilled down on that as a major issue.”According to the survey, 18 percent of service members reported major family stress, 23 percent said they were stressed by being separated from their families, and 27 percent noted high levels of stress in their work.About 42 percent of respondents reported physical or sexual abuse, with 8 percent saying the abuse had occurred since joining the military. “I think certainly it’s high,” Smith said. “I think we’re disturbed by those results.”Almost 50 percent of female Marines and sailors, and 43 percent of female soldiers, reported feeling stress simply because they are women in the military. Robert Bray, the survey’s chief investigator, noted that this could be due to being a single mother or to leaving behind children at home while they are deployed abroad.“I think the survey results speak for themselves,” declared Bray. “Being one of a minority in a largely male force — particularly in a deployed force — is something we need to be aware of and give some attention to.”It is also time to give some attention to the stress of perpetual war, to fighting in foreign lands with no end in sight. This is certainly taking its toll on America’s fighting forces. Our Founding Fathers warned of the dangers of foreign entanglements and of going abroad in search of monsters to destroy.The men and women in the U.S. military are bravely answering their country’s call to the very best of their ability, but it is time now to call them back home to America.

Swine Flu: The Third Wave Approaches

As the third wave of this pandemic approaches do not let down your guard against influenza. Make sure you are up on your Vitamin D at the very least. Consult previous posts on this blog for details. It aint over til its over and there are a lot of things that are taking place in many places around the world. What is happening in far distant places today may be happening here tomorrow. We are now approaching 4 million cases in Ukraine, where the Mossad agent Joseph Moshe said a bio-weapon would be detonated by Baxter Laboratories. There are now 698 official deaths from H1N1. That number is hard to assess because of limited testing of the sick. The real number is undoubtable much higher. Remember WHO told member countries to stop testing for H1N1 back in August! So all the numbers are suspect. What does all this mean to you? It means you and I are on our own. We have to do what is necessary to protect ourselves. There is going to be no help from the government or anybody else. Let us hope that we do not experience a 'third wave' of this Swine Flu Pandemic. Let us hope that the mutations that are causing high mortality in Ukraine do not become widespread.
Ukraine Fatalities Spike to 698

Recombinomics Commentary 23:55

December 30, 2009

3,722,314 Influenza

210,136 Hospital

698 Dead

The above update is the latest report from the Ukraine Ministry of Health. The increase of 23 dead in the past 24 hours is similar to the prior two days, bringing the three day total for this week to 65, which is similar to the rate at the beginning of the outbreak in October. The largest jump in the past 24 hours was in Donetsk, where the five fatalities raised the season total to 85 (see map). Although cases and deaths are decline across much of the northern hemisphere, the high death rate in Ukraine provides support for another wave of H1N1 in early 2010.The high death rate also raises concerns about receptor binding domain changes. Sequences released from four fatal cases by Mill Hill had D225G. Two more sequences, released by the CDC had D225N and were also likely from fatal cases. Recent reports of D225G and D225N in the same patients raise concerns that both changes were in these patients and sample selection or virus isolation procedures led to detection of one of the two receptor binding domain changes.However, the high death rate associate with either or both of these receptor binding domain changes raises concerns of the emergence of the changes at a higher frequency. Therefore, release of additional sequences from early as well as recent fatalities would be useful.

Grow A New Set of Teeth

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad told us that in the Hereafter all things would be made new. Not just a new heaven and a new earth, but even we ourselves would be made new. A new mind with new thoughts to think and a new body that could be turned by to the age of 16. And a new growth of food to eat. But what would any of it matter if we had either bad teeth or no teeth? Well, this may not be the Hereafter yet, but already we see the reality of what he taught coming into view.

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Grow-your-own to replace false teeth
The Guardian,

3 May 2004

The British institution of dentures sitting in a glass of water beside the bed could be rendered obsolete by scientists who are confident that people will soon be able to replace lost teeth by growing new ones.
Instead of false teeth, a small ball of cells capable of growing into a new tooth will be implanted where the missing one used to be.
The procedure needs only a local anaesthetic and the new tooth should be fully formed within a few months of the cells being implanted.
Paul Sharpe, a specialist in the field of regenerative dentistry at the Dental Institute of King's College, London, says the new procedure has distinct advantages over false teeth that require a metal post to be driven into the jaw before being capped with a porcelain or plastic tooth.
"The surgery today can be extensive and you need to have good solid bone in the jaw and that is a major problem for some people," Professor Sharpe said.
The method could be used on far more patients because the ball of cells that grows into a tooth also produces bone that anchors to the jaw.
The choice of growing a new tooth is likely to appeal to patients. "Anyone who has lost teeth will tell you that, given the chance, they would rather have their own teeth than false ones," said Prof Sharpe. The average Briton over 50 has lost 12 teeth from a set of 32.
The procedure is fairly simple. Doctors take stem cells from the patient. These are unique in their ability to form any of the tissues that make up the body. By carefully nurturing the stem cells in a laboratory, scientists can nudge the cells down a path that will make them grow into a tooth. After a couple of weeks, the ball of cells, known as a bud, is ready to be implanted. Tests reveal what type of tooth - for example, a molar or an incisor - the bud will form.
Using a local anaesthetic, the tooth bud is inserted through a small incision into the gum. Within months, the cells will have matured into a fully-formed tooth, fused to the jawbone. As the tooth grows, it releases chemicals that encourage nerves and blood vessels to link up with it.
Tests have shown the technique to work in mice, where new teeth took weeks to grow. "There's no reason why it shouldn't work in humans, the principles are the same," said Prof Sharpe.
His team has set up a company, Odontis, to exploit the technique, and has won £400,000 from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts and the Wellcome Trust.

Self Hatred Is a Lethal Disease

The following article and link give a scientific look at what it means to be afflicted with the disease of 'self hatred'. So afflicted, one becomes a danger to oneself and to others. This is not pleasant reading. It is sobering and even frighteningly depressing.

It makes you wanna hollar and scream! But what good would that do?

Makes you want to 'shoot the messenger' and say it ain't so. But, it probably is true for the most part. What makes it so unpalatable is the lack of love in the delivery of such bad news to the victims of this epidemic of 'self hatred' spawned by slavery and its aftermath. Our self hatred is only the reflection of the abusive and pervasive hatred that our would-be slave masters and oppressors threw our way for so many centuries. We are still running around with that seething hatred leaking from all our pores. It spews out in words and deeds that are destructive of self and kind. It makes unity impossible, or even normal family life! It renders impossible the relationships that would make business and economic development possible and blocks other advances that we as a people could be making. This self hatred is a lethal brew - it is the poison Kool-aid, and we should stop drinking.

What's the antidote to the poison of self hatred? It is the love that God has for us, made manifest in His searching the Earth for us, and as expressed in the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as represented by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

What we have to do is translate and transpose these self love teachings into the precise modern language of today's generation making them contemporary and relevant. More importantly, we have to translate these self love teachings into acts and deeds that programatically change the landscape of Black life as it is lived and experienced by our people everywhere. Words are the start of everything, but if Words do not become Deeds, then we can only become increasingly the victims of the pathology that afflicts us that makes us the enemy to self and kind.

This kind of scientific report, because it is objective, and virtually devoid of emotion, should be studied by us to help us hone a programmatic approach that will remedy the fatal illness of self hatred. We must do this. It is almost too late.

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CDC Report Shows Dangers of Black Males
September 27th, 2009
Black men are the leading cause of death among young blacks.
Based on a 96 page report on the causes of premature death by the CDC, the leading cause of death among young blacks of both sexes appears to be black men. See report.
AIDS.
According to the CDC, black men are ten times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV or AIDS than white men. Among black men who allege that they have never engaged in a homosexual act, the figure rises to about 15 times the rate that heterosexual white men are diagnosed. Studies by the CDC also conclude that black men are more likely to have HIV or AIDS and go undiagnosed than white men.
All of this translates to black women being diagnosed with HIV or AIDS at a rate of over 20 times that of white women. The general trend is for black men to catch HIV/AIDS from each other in prison and then give it to black women when they are released. The CDC believes that 74% of black women who have HIV/AIDS contracted it through heterosexual contact with a man.
A 2004 report by the CDC says that AIDS is the:
* the leading cause of death for black women aged 25–34 years.* the 3rd leading cause of death for black women aged 35–44 years.* the 4th leading cause of death for black women aged 45–54 years.
By way of comparison, AIDS was only the 11th leading cause of death for white women aged 25-34!Homicide
The same CDC reports say that homicide is the:
* the leading cause of death among black men aged 15-34 years. (Three age categories!)
* the second leading cause of death for black women aged 15-24 years.* the fifth leading cause of death for black women aged 25-34 years.
Among women aged 15-24, homicide accounts for 5% of premature deaths in white females, but 20% of all premature deaths by black females.
Among both black and white men, homicide deaths peak at aged 25-34. The death rate by homicide among white men in this age group is 12.5 per 100k, and accounts for 10% of all premature deaths. The death rate by homicide among blacks in this age group is 101.8 per 100k, and accounts for 48% of all premature deaths.
The majority of black female homicide victims are killed by a current or former boyfriend, which many refer to as “femicide.” About 93% of all black homicide victims are killed by a black perpetrator overall. 85% of white homicide victims are killed by a white perpetrator.
“The National Black Women’s Health Project” has identified the battering of women as the number one health issue for African American women (Joseph, 1997).
Femicide is a leading cause of premature deaths in African American women aged 15-44. (Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol 7, No. 1)
In 1998, Salber and Taliaferro reported that the spousal homicide rate among African Americans is 8.4 times more than for whites. The incidence of spousal homicide is 7.7 times higher in interracial marriages compared to intraracial marriages. (Source WebMD.com)
Relationships with black men dramatically increase a woman’s chances of dying young.
Black females aged 15-19 are 3.9 times more likely to die of homicide or AIDS than white females in the same age group. This increases to 4.4 time for females aged 20-24 and 7.3 times for 25-34.
White women who engage in relationships with black men dramatically increase their chances of premature death or long term health problems from murder, beatings, and STDs.

Mother Ruby, The Embodiment of How to Eat to Live!

At 112 years 'young' Mother Ruby Muhammad is an example to us all of how life should be lived. As you will read below, at 112 she has more life than many of us who are a fraction of her age.

We should learn from her example and try to be like her. The best way to honor her is to emulate her good example. And we have the technology to do so.

It's called: How to Eat to Live!

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The 'Mother of Sacramento'



by Jonathan Mendick



Making History in Sacramento Community Tags: americas christ unity church cotton culture georgia jimmy carter louis farrakhan mother of the nation of islam mother ruby mother ruby muhammad nation of islam obama peanut president jimmy carter ruby macie grayer sandersville san francisco south sacramento st paul suzanne brooksthe jazz generation we are climbing jacobs ladder<<>> Image 2 of 2Mother Ruby Muhammad is proof that it's never too late to do anything. An orphan who met her father when she was a teenager, Muhammad joined the Nation of Islam at age 49 and learned to read at 60.Sacramento's oldest supercentenarian at age 112, Muhammad will perform songs and tell stories about her life March 7 at the Imani Community Church. The first-time performer will be joined for the one-night-only performance by her friend, playwright and vocalist Suzanne Brooks, and Brooks' band, The Jazz Generation.The show is tentatively called "I Believe I Can Fly," after Muhammad's favorite song, written by R. Kelly. It also aligns with her positive outlook and her belief that if she had wings, she could fly.Muhammad was born Ruby Macie Grayer in Sandersville, Ga., in 1897. She grew up in Americus and worked on a farm that belonged to the family of former President Jimmy Carter.Muhammad's first memory is picking cotton. In her childhood, the family didn't own much, not even a bed. Muhammad's daily routine was to pick up her few belongings from the floor and work in a cotton or peanut field from 4 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m., said Brooks, who was asked recently to write Muhammad's biography."They were like slaves, really," Brooks added.On the farm, Muhammad used work tools as musical instruments. One of her favorite songs was "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder," which she plans to perform.Because she never had a formal education, Muhammad made her living doing housework. Besides Georgia, she has lived in St. Paul, Minn., San Francisco and Sacramento, where she moved to be closer to her daughter after Muhammad's second husband died.She's surprisingly physically and mentally sharp for a 112-year-old. Sitting in a recliner in her home in a South Sacramento retirement community, Muhammad moves to her couch without a walker to pose for a photograph.She wrote a book of poetry in 2001, and recites one of the poems off the top of her head. Muhammad claims she's still a limber dancer, an avid bingo player and a cook.She uses a hearing aid and owns a wheelchair that was a gift. But Muhammad is all smiles and can talk your ear off."She loves me and she helps (me) to understand love in a really special way," said Brooks. "She will call me sometimes at one or two in the morning to chit chat about politics, the world, or the environment."In 1986, the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, named Muhammad the Mother of the Nation of Islam.Muhammad said she loves the title of "mother," and added, "I'm proud I took care of children."She recalled finding a 4- or 5-year-old Jimmy Carter getting into her peanut sack."I shoved him off. He went 'Waaah,' " she said. "His mother came in the door and said, 'What happened?' I said, 'He fell.' "Carter didn't hold it against her. After all, Muhammad was the boy's nursemaid. During his presidency, Carter invited Muhammad to the White House."I love people and I think they love me," she said. "I may be fooling myself, but I don't believe I am. That's me."The great-great-great-grandma said she would like to be regarded as "the mother of the U.S.," "the mother of Sacramento" and "Mother Ruby to the whole world."Her goals include writing more books, being the oldest woman on Earth (she must outlast a handful of supercentenarians) and receiving a third invitation to the White House to meet the Obama family and eat dinner with them. "I didn't ever think I would live to see a black president," Muhammad said. "I like him and I think he'll make us a good president."She's traveled all over the United States, to Mexico, the Bahamas, Italy, England and France. Muhammad loves music, especially jazz, as well as writing poetry. "I do what I want to do, and I go where I want to go," she said. "I'm just happy to be alive."Her advice for younger generations?"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it. Plant that in your mind like a seed in the ground."Advance tickets can be purchased by mailing a check or money order with the number of tickets requested and return address to: 3325 Northrop Ave., Sacramento, CA 95864. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. The Imani Community Church is located at 2100 J St.
Check The Sacramento Press closer to the event date for more information.

53 Vaccine Shots by Age Six

Here is the latest from our medical researcher, Bro Kevin Muhammad. Here he goes into the government mandated vaccination schedule for our children. This is the challenge we are up against. In total there are 53 mandated vaccine shots by the age of 6, with more on the way! This is an outrage and obvious genocide that we must resist with all the might we can muster. What follows here is an excerpted portion. You can find the entire article at Bro Kevin's web site below.

© 2009 KEVIN A. MUHAMMAD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
HTTP://WWW.KAMUHAMMAD.NET
DECEMBER 25, 2009
In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful
This paper was co-authored with my twin brother, Julian K. Muhammad
. . . . .
DIVINE GUIDANCE AND ITS VALIDATION
In a lecture delivered on October 28, 2007, titled Black Youth in Peril, Part 1, the Honorable Louis
Farrakhan stated:
...A man by the name of Bertrand Russell advocated the use of vaccines to induce partial chemical
lobotomies and create a servile, zombie population. This is why, in America, there are soaring rates of
autism, and increasing amounts of vaccines being mandated for babies and young children...
These words became the foundation of the national anti-vaccination campaign launched in early 2008. The
initial goal of the campaign was and is to educate the citizenry about the dangers of vaccination. The second
goal is to ratify our own health policies regarding vaccination, under the leadership of the Honorable Louis
Farrakhan—policies that are in accord with the Will of the Creator. We should care nothing about what the
CDC, FDA and other government health agencies have to say. We have already heard from them, and their
ploys have only meant unnecessary suffering, debilitation and premature death for us and our children.
ANALYZING THE CDC’S NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULE
Just how many vaccines are mandated for babies and young children? Let us examine the CDC’s official
document, Recommended Immunization Schedule for Persons Aged 0 through 6 Years—United States
2009. Again, this document is released annually by the ACIP, in collaboration with the American Academy of
Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Most children in the U.S. receive vaccines from
the time they are born and throughout the rest of their lives. However, the lion’s share of vaccines are
administered during their most critical developmental years, which are between 0 and 6 years of age.
This is why this particular immunization schedule is extremely important, and should be an urgent matter
for all citizens. The following sections are divided according to the age of the child, detailing the kinds and
number of vaccines administered within each age category—according to the CDC’s immunization
schedule.
WHEN THE BABY IS 48 HOURS TO 1 MONTH OLD
The Hepatitis B vaccine is the first to be given, as previously stated. The vaccine is administered in a twodose
series. The first dose is given at birth, usually within 48 hours after the child is born. The second dose
is given when the baby is one month old. — number of vaccines administered: 2
What should a mother and father know about this vaccine? In addition to the “secretive” geneticallyengineered
microorganisms, the other ingredients in hepatitis B vaccines include: aluminium, mercury,
PAGE 8 FROM THE DESK
Part 1: Examining the CDC’s National Vaccination Schedule
formaldehyde, polysorbate 20, and MRC-5 cellular protein, a protein derived from the lung tissue of male
fetuses.
WHEN THE BABY IS 2 MONTHS OLD
At merely 2 months old, the infant begins a series of vaccinations, which consist of seven (7) different
vaccines. These vaccines are:
􀂄 Rotavirus
􀂄 Diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP)
􀂄 Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
􀂄 Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)
􀂄 Inactivated poliovirus (IPV)
Three of these vaccines (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) are usually administered in the combination
shot, DTaP. The number of genetically-engineered microorganisms, metals, industrial chemicals and drugs
being injected into the infant at this tender and supple age of 2 months is enormous. — number of
vaccines administered: 7
WHEN THE BABY IS 4 MONTHS OLD
After being injected with seven different vaccines at 2 months old or 8 weeks old or 60 days old, the infant
returns two months later (4 months of age) to receive the second wave of toxic shots. Again, the vaccines
are:
􀂄 Rotavirus vaccine
􀂄 Diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP)
􀂄 Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
􀂄 Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)
􀂄 Inactivated poliovirus (IPV)
— number of vaccines administered: 7
WARNING
Please be advised that every vaccine mentioned throughout this paper contains just as many
or more poisonous “secretive” genetically-engineered microorganisms and brain-damaging
chemicals.
WARNING
At this point, the 4-month old infant has received 16 vaccines, since its birth.
. . . . .
FROM THE DESK TOWARD OUR OWN HEALTH POLICY—CONCERNING VACCINATION - PAGE 9
WHEN THE BABY IS 6 MONTHS OLD
Two months later, at 6 months old, the infant receives another round of the same toxic vaccines that were
administered when she/he was 2 months and 4 months old, with the exception of the polio vaccine. The
third dose of polio vaccine is administered later in the immunization schedule. The vaccines administered
at the 6-month mark are:
􀂄 Rotavirus vaccine
􀂄 Diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP)
􀂄 Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
􀂄 Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)
— number of vaccines administered: 6
WHEN THE BABY IS 6 TO 18 MONTHS OLD
The infant receives the final dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine between ages 6 months and 18 months. The
pediatrician may recommend administering the Inactivated poliovirus (IPV) vaccine when the infant is 9
months old in order to reduce the number of shots given at age 6 months. — number of vaccines
administered: 2
WHEN THE BABY IS 6 TO 59 MONTHS OLD
The baby is given an annual influenza vaccine. In the initial administration of this vaccine, the baby usually
receives two (2) doses, spaced one month apart. In the following years, only one dose of the vaccine is
recommended. — number of vaccines: 2 +( 5 = 7)
WHEN THE BABY IS 12 TO 15 MONTHS OLD
The final doses of both the Hib and PCV vaccines are administered when the child is 12 months or older.
The first doses of measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (chickenpox) vaccines are also given at this time.
The measles, mumps, rubella are administered in one shot, called the MMR vaccine. To avoid giving all
four shots to the baby in one office visit, the pediatrician may give the MMR and varicella vaccines at 12
months, and the Hib and PCV vaccines at 15 months. The MMR and varicella vaccines may also be
combined into a single shot. Regardless how the injections are administered, the vaccines injected into the
baby are:
􀂄 Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) - final dose of series
􀂄 Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) - final dose of series
WARNING
By the time the baby is a year old, it has received 24 vaccines.
PAGE 10 FROM THE DESK
Part 1: Examining the CDC’s National Vaccination Schedule
􀂄 Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)
􀂄 Chickenpox (varicella)
— number of vaccines administered: 6
WHEN THE BABY IS 12 TO 23 MONTHS OLD
The baby receives two doses of the Hepatitis A vaccine between ages 12 and 23 months. The shots are
administered, at least, six months apart. — number of vaccines administered: 2
Here, we must note that most diagnoses for neurological diseases, such as autism—the so-called mystery
disease—take place during this time. The physician or pediatrician fails to acknowledge that the 35
extremely toxic vaccines the child has, thus far, received is the cause of this life-long, neurological disease.
Many parents also fail to make the connection; therefore, they keep allowing their “autistic” child to be
vaccinated, adding insult to further injury. Again, the ignorance of parents and their fear to defy government
vaccination mandates are the greatest threats to their children.
WHEN THE BABY IS 15 TO 18 MONTHS OLD
Between the ages 15 and 18 months, the baby receives the fourth dose of diphtheria, tetanus and acellular
pertussis (DTaP) vaccine. In some cases, the fourth dose is given as early as age 12 months, but it must be
administered six months after the third dose. — number of vaccines administered: 3
WHEN THE BABY IS 2 TO 6 YEARS OLD
An additional dose of pneumococcal vaccine or hepatitis A vaccine or one dose of meningococcal vaccine is
recommended for children between the ages of 2 and 6 years, who are in so-called “high-risk groups.” This
basically means all children. Government health agencies push this vaccine on all children. — number of
vaccines administered: 3
WHEN THE BABY IS 4 TO 6 YEARS OLD
About the time the child starts kindergarten, he/she receives the final doses of the following vaccines:
􀂄 Diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP)
􀂄 Inactivated poliovirus (IPV)
􀂄 Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)
WARNING
By the time the baby is two years old, it has received 35 vaccines (includes 3 influenza
shots).
. . . . .
FROM THE DESK TOWARD OUR OWN HEALTH POLICY—CONCERNING VACCINATION - PAGE 11
􀂄 Chickenpox (varicella)
The administration of these eight (8) vaccines, appears to be a major effort of drug companies and
government health agencies to ensure that the child has learning disabilities when entering school so that
he/she can begin receiving additional behavioral and neurological drugs—manufactured by the same drug
companies that make the vaccines.
Many state governments require proof that the child has received these vaccinations before allowing the
him/her to enter school. At this point, the parents whose children do not have their “shots” up-to-date for
reasons other than defiance against vaccination, rush to pediatricians to overload their children with the
missed vaccines. This is a sad state of affairs. — number of vaccines administered: 8
UNFATHOMABLE AMOUNT OF POISONS
Here, we must first note that few people have seen a person who has not been poisoned by vaccines.
Therefore, we can only assess the dangers of vaccines in the context of a world where most people succumb
to disease, mental degeneration, and death between the ages of 40 and 70 years, or 4 to 7 decades of life,
respectively. No one can deny that this is a very short lifespan. Unfortunately, it is the only frame of
reference we have. This makes it easy for parents to accept the extreme vaccination of their children.
Given this fact, it is in our best interest to examine the extreme toxicity of vaccines. The 53 vaccines that
children receive by the time they reach the age of 6 years saturate their bodies with “secretive” geneticallyengineered
microorganisms that come from different species of animals and insects; industrial chemicals;
other types of chemicals; various kinds of drugs; and neurotoxic metals.
For a list of the “ingredients” contained in the vaccines named in this document, please visit my website at
http://www.kamuhammad.net or obtain a copy of my book, The Case Against Hepatitis B Vaccination.
THE PATH OF OVERCOMING MEDICAL TYRANNY
The United States Declaration of Independence is the official document which delineated the justification of
the thirteen colonies that comprised the United States of America to break from the aristocratic oligarchy,
the King of Great Britain, in 1776. This document is more often cited by name than actually read by the
citizens of America. If it were read, we would discover that the conditions that led to this nation’s separation
from tyrannical dictatorship persist today. This document opens with the following statement:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
WARNING
By the time the child is six years old, it has received 53 vaccines (includes 4 annual influenza
shots).
PAGE 12 FROM THE DESK
Part 1: Examining the CDC’s National Vaccination Schedule
separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to
the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...
A few statements later, it reads:
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all
having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let
facts be submitted to a candid world.
These “facts” are often referred to as “The Crimes of the King.” It is a long and detailed list of abuses so
disrespectful of human life that one wonders if the King’s rule could have ever been called a government.
The first crime listed is as follows:
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
Let us consider this in the context of all that we have learned regarding the mass drugging and vaccination
of our children, specifically the aim of those who use the power of “government” to do this.
LONG TRAIN OF ABUSES AND USURPATIONS
The following is a continuation from the second paragraph in the 1776 United States Declaration of
Independence:
...Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light
and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to
suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a
design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient
sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former
Systems of Government.
According to the above, it was quite known at that time that human beings are more apt to suffer under
evils that are “tolerable” than to stand up, on the basis of “right,” to abolish the systems through which
. . . . .
FROM THE DESK TOWARD OUR OWN HEALTH POLICY—CONCERNING VACCINATION - PAGE 13
such evils are borne and enacted. This has much to do with our awesome ability to adapt, which can work
for us or against us. These “sufferable evils” are those that are short of flagrant abuses and blatant murder,
yet the result is the same—the society becomes one of injustice, inequality, misery, and enslavement.
Today, these abuses are shrouded as “good” government, and they are gradually heaped on us, which
makes them tolerable. However, to endure these evils is worst than being outright slaughtered.
In the Holy Quran 2:191, it states:
...for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter.
For a mother to endure the pain of carrying a child for nine months, only to witness the destruction of her
baby’s physical and mental capabilities and potential, under medical tyranny and for the benefit of the
aristocratic families who regard us as mere “cattle,” may be worse than slaughtering the child. To live with
fear and grief, having your human rights persistently violated, with no apparent recourse or redress, is like
not living at all. At some point, we must make a stand.
How long is the train of abuses and usurpations of federal and state governments? What is usurpation? It is
“the act of taking by force and as though with justification.” When it comes to governments, abuses are
usually justified through the enactment of laws. Is this not how vaccinations are pushed on the citizenry—
being justified by government officials, who frame laws that work for the benefit of the drug companies they
serve?
Indeed, the mass drugging of our children facilitated by federal and state governments is indicative of a
“long train of abuses and usurpations” by these governments. This has placed the citizenry “under
absolute Despotism”— tyranny and terrorism. The precedence for thwarting the gross and inhumane
tyranny is already established in the Holy Quran and Bible, and in the United States Declaration of
Independence.
We will continue with this subject in Part II of this series.

The RAW MILK WAR

Get ready to fight! The Big Dairy Lobby is coming full force to twist Congress' arm to outlaw raw milk. It is already a difficult proposition now to secure a supply of raw milk for yourself and family. The campaign for raw milk has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. While our efforts may seem meager, Big Dairy sees the writing on the wall - and they ain't pleased. Here's the deal. Big Dairy is founded on the abuse of dairy cows and dairy farmers! The cows are confined for life in what for all intents and purposes is a penitentiary for cows, standing all day and night on concrete slabs in tiny stalls (cells) with no room to move around, up to their knees in manure! Those cows die an early miserable death after a tortuous miserable life. Under such conditions you can easily see why drugs like steroids, antibiotics, growth hormone, etc are 'necessary' and why pasteurization is also 'necessary'. Contrast that to the life of a cow on a raw milk farm: in a grass pasture eating grass and herbs, fresh air, sunshine, freedom to move at will, the chance to settle down and grab an afternoon nap, the natural mating and birthing of calves, and dairy farmers who love cows and know each one by name! The confined cows are constantly sick and in pain and die at 15 to 18 months of age. The pastured cows are happy and contented and live 15 to 18 years! The milk from the pasture fed cows is clean and pure and does not need to be pasteurized for safety. It is already the safest thing on the planet. The so-called 'milk' from the industrialized cows is not fit to drink, even if it is pasteurized, homogenized and fortified. It really isn't good enough to bear the high name: MILK!

When you as a consumer, participate in a raw milk program, not only are you doing the very best thing for the health of yourself and family, you are also part of a liberation movement for the liberation of cows and dairy farmers who are right now enslaved and on the brink of extinction due to the evil business model employed by Big Dairy. When we deal directly with the dairy farmer and buy his milk raw, we cut out the wicked middle man who only pays the lowest possible price for the farmer's milk - sometimes the price is below cost, causing bankruptcy and hardship. When we create an increased demand for raw milk and raw milk products we are offering the dairy farmer an alternative to the slavish exploitation of Big Dairy. Well, wouldn't you know it, Big Dairy don't like what we are doing and means to put a stop to it by making Congress outlaw raw milk everywhere. So let us do all in our power assert our right to the highest quality food which is raw milk, as well as the right of dairy farmers to make a decent living, and the right of dairy cows to enjoy a happy healthy life.

We must be their protectors against those whose only wish is to exploit and degrade them.

Raw Milk Drinkers of the World - Rise and Fight Back!

Enjoy. Learn. Think. Act. Share.

Behind the push for pasteurization
If you love your milk so fresh you can still hear the moo, watch out: Big Dairy is coming after you – again.
Two lobbying groups backed by untold piles of dirty dairy dollars are urging lawmakers to put raw milk out to pasture, calling it a "significant food safety hazard."
But as long as we're talking farm, let's call that what it really is: hogwash (yeah, another farm word came to mind first... but I try to keep this family-friendly).
The International Dairy Foods Association and the National Milk Producers Federation want all unpasteurized products to follow the same standards as other milk products – in other words, they want everything pasteurized.
But the problem with raw milk isn't that it's dangerous – because it isn't. I've been drinking this stuff for years, and I'm just one member of a small-but-devoted army of raw-milk lovers. And believe me, we're healthier than most people.
No, the problem is that it's harder for Big Dairy to turn a profit on raw milk, and harder to tax.
Think about it – legal raw milk would mean small farmers everywhere could sell it at market price direct to consumers from roadside stands... the way many of them now sell peach pies.
Big Dairy wouldn't earn a dime off that. And Uncle Sam gets nervous because it would be difficult to keep tabs on all these small operations at tax time.
So instead, farmers are essentially forced to sell their milk to Big Dairy for a fraction of its value.
But the dairy barons can't ever tell you that... so they pretend it's about safety instead.
I'll say it again: Hogwash!
Pasteurization sucks many of the nutrients out of the milk, including vitamins C, B6 and B12. It even sucks the calcium out – any calcium you find in store-bought milk is usually added during fortification.
All that, and it's still not guaranteed to be perfectly safe. People still get sick and even die from bacteria in pasteurized milk – bacteria that, in theory, shouldn't be there.
One study found that between 1982 and 1997, 220,000 people were sickened by salmonella in pasteurized milk. During that same period, not a single person reported getting sick from raw milk.
Raw milk should be celebrated... instead, we're forced to hide and sneak and find creative ways around laws designed to stop us from getting our milk... like buying shares in cows the same way some people buy partial ownership of vacation homes.
If you're interested in all the benefits of raw milk, visit a local dairy farmer and see what he can do for you.
Not only does the real stuff taste far better than that milk-colored store-bought junk, but it contains more essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin D and a natural antibiotic called lactoferrin. Raw milk drinkers will tell you the benefits include weight loss, better immunity from colds and even pain relief.
One warning: Drinking raw milk means you may be treated like an outlaw... when all you really want is a chance to do your body good.

Understanding the Relationship between Health and Obesity

The following article just confirms what we thought we already knew, that being fat kills. Obesity may rate as the number one health problem in the United States - especially among Blacks and other minority people. The dislike of fat people is often in evidence in jokes and demeaning caricatures in movies and on TV. The fat guy or the fat girl, may be funny and laughable, but the obese are rarely portrayed as heroic or even intelligent. They are usually presented as hapless losers, lacking in self esteem and confidence.

Although this article scientifically shows that the obese die of heart disease at almost twice the 'normal' rate, obesity is associated with poor health across the board. High blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid disease, endocrine abnormalities, asthma, cancer, etc. For the obese and most of us are at least over-weight- this is old hat, but it is also misleading.

It is misleading because it engenders the idea that people are unhealthy because they are obese. Wrong! They are obese because they are unhealthy!

That's the reason why almost all diets and other weight loss gimmicks ultimately fail:

They do not make the obese person healthy! If you can get the person who is obese - obesity being but a sign of ill health- healthy, then the weight will take care of itself. Putting the cart before the horse makes matters much worse because if the only goal is to get the number on the scale to go down, then all kinds of metabolic tricks will be resorted to to accomplish that, but at a great price - an even greater deterioration of health. In other words, taking a person from what is already bad, to what is worse. So if weight is a problem that you are struggling with then know that your priority is to get healthy first, and the weight loss will follow.

If you are struggling with this problem, then give us a call at Abundant Life. We can help.

240 245 4147

Remember, a healthy body cannot be made obese.

It must be made sick first, then it can be made obese!

Enjoy. Learn. Think. Act. Share.
Obesity more deadly than previously thought
Being overweight is more deadly than previous thought as scientists discover increasing bodyweight increases the risk of dying from heart disease almost two-fold.
By Rebecca Smith

Recent studies found that being overweight may increase the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 82 per cent. Photo: PA
A study of one million father and son pairs found that being overweight may increase the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 82 per cent.
The research carried out by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and published online in the British Medical Journal attempted to iron out mistakes in previous studies and used the child's body mass index in association with the parent's cause of death.

This was to stop problems where certain diseases such as cancer that can cause weight loss, making it appear that thin people were at greater risk of dying.
It was found that this was not the case for lung cancer and being overweight, not underweight, made it more likely they would die from lung cancer. The results also showed that obesity posed a far greater risk for dying of heart disease than previously thought.

The Science of How to Eat to Live

Johnny-Come-Lately gets it right!

More scientific evidence that what Master Fard Muhammad taught the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is 100% correct:

"Fasting with the right food is the cure for all our ills"

Even cancer!

Now all we have to do is practice it and live, and live, and live, and live...

Enjoy. Learn. Do. Share.

More Evidence Links Longer Lives to Fewer Calories

Katie Drummond Sphere

(Dec. 21) -- The potential for calorie-restriction diets to lengthen our lifespans has been on the scientific radar for decades, despite predominantly animal-based testing. Now, new research is offering the first substantial evidence that eating less might lead to longer human lifespans. Biologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham grew healthy human lung cells and precancerous lung cells, and then fed them different amounts of glucose -- the simple sugars that fuel cell activity -- for several weeks. Healthy cells on a low-glucose diet lived longer than expected, and precancerous cells died off in mass quantities. The implications of the study -- the first to examine aging and life span using human cells, rather than laboratory animals -- could be profound as a growing body of scientific data suggests that calorie restriction might be a means to longer life and a reduction of aging-related illnesses such as cancer.Until now, the most promising research on calorie restriction has been exclusive to animals. Last year, Dr. Asish Chaudhuri, a biochemist at the University of Texas Health Science Center, concluded that mole rats -- who can live up to 30 years -- have a uniquely efficient means of mitigating oxidative stress, which causes cell degeneration and aging. Oxidative stress is, in part, a byproduct of digestion: the more energy a body requires, the more oxidative stress it incurs. Now, Chaudhuri is working with a grant from the Department of Defense to boost the cellular efficiency of primates by limiting their caloric intake. If all goes according to plan, he anticipates that troops will subsist on a limited diet within a decade. "Troops contend with more environmental and mental stress than most," he says. "Calorie restriction would give their bodies a head start." Of course, the collective research doesn't yet amount to proof that low-calorie diets can defend against cellular stress and extend lifespan in humans. But science has demonstrated that humans do benefit from calorie restriction. Improving aging-related bio-markers, like reduced rates of heart disease and diabetes, and a healthier body weight are all factors that can profoundly affect natural lifespan, estimated to max out at about 120 years. In one of the only ongoing human studies on calorie restriction, 132 participants in a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health were asked to reduce their calorie intake by 25 percent for two years. Tests will continue, with another 250 people starting in January, but one of the study's lead researchers, Dr. Eric Ravussin, is optimistic before even analyzing the results. "Tests in rodents and other animals have been ongoing since the 1930s, and they've shown that this is effective," he says. "So we already have a good idea of the mechanisms at work, before seeing them in humans." This new research out of Alabama, combined with studies on animal subjects and the short-term impact of calorie restriction on human test groups, offers considerable evidence that calorie restriction communities -- once fringe collectives that now boast a major online presence -- are onto something. But what researchers don't know might be the deciding factor when it comes time to dine: the NIH study has no plans to pursue a lifelong human trial, citing expense, a lack of willing participants and the ethical concerns over toying with children's diets. And it's worth noting that most study participants -- like most Americans -- started the trial with body mass indexes at the higher end of healthy, and then lost weight when eating less. A strict low-calorie regimen would logically improve health for an adult accustomed to over-consumption. Whether the regimen extends the natural limits of our lives is another question.
Filed under: Nation, Health, Top Stories
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Raw Milk Drinkers' Protocol

21 December 2009

Raw Milk Drinkers Protocol
By Abdul Alim Muhammad MD

Over the last couple of years, many individuals have approached me with questions about how to properly consume raw milk, a new food experience for many. As a major advocate of the consumption of raw milk, I have a great responsibility to respond to these questions and attempt to bring some clarity to an issue burdened by an enormous amount of confusion and misunderstanding. Some of the questions and concerns are undoubtedly borne of a lack of information on the one hand and the influence of disinformation on the other. This essay is an attempt to counter the negative influence of those who have made a career out of demonizing milk. This campaign to denigrate milk is more than a century old and is deep-seated and pervasive. A fuller presentation on the topic of milk is available in the on-going series of articles published in the Final Call Newspaper entitled, The Miracle of Milk.

The word milk has been misused and abused so much that I must make it clear that when I use the word milk, I mean ‘whole raw milk’ - milk from a healthy grass Pasture fed cow, that has not been pasteurize or homogenized, or skimmed of its natural amount of cream. I do not mean pasteurized milk and I certainly do not mean soy ‘milk’, almond or rice ‘milk’ for the simple reason: Only milk is milk.

Obviously if one heats or boils the milk, the milk is no longer raw and loses its medicinal value and may become problematic in those individuals who are lactase deficient. The myth that raw milk is dangerous and needs to be sterilized must be exposed for what it is: a false belief, based on a misunderstanding of historical and biological facts.

For the complete nutritional value of milk, please visit my blog Life Abundantly at www.lifeabundantly-alim.blogspot.com In the list of archived articles you will find on entitled: “What’s so great about milk, any way?” Suffice it to say here that raw milk is the best food there is on the whole planet and has the longest history of consumption starting from the first human who suckled at its mother’s breast. Milk has the greatest food value of any food and has the unique ability to completely build and maintain a human body by itself alone.

Therefore, milk should be the first food consumed when one starts a meal. The principle is an ancient one: The Highest First. As the highest value food the daily quota of milk is ingested first, before the ingestion of any other food. Autonomic response testing, also called Nutritional Response Testing, can determine exactly the amount of milk the body is asking for on a daily basis.

In some individuals, this may be 1 to 2 quarts (32oz. to 64 oz.) each day, representing the total caloric need of that person for the day. A quart of high-grade milk from a Jersey or Guernsey cow is approximately 1500 calories. 1500 calories is a substantial portion of the total calories needed per day to maintain body weight.

For example, the average sedentary man may need 2600 to 2800 calories per day, and the average sedentary woman may need 2100 to 2400 calories each day. Any one needing to lose excess weight (fat) can rest assured that a quart of raw milk will provide all of the necessary nutrients for the healthy support of life, but in a relatively low calorie form. A person on a milk diet who is “under eating’ calories by 1,000 a day, will lose weight – approximately 1 pound every 4 days. A very easy, convenient, no gimmick diet for healthy weight loss.

Get the milk in first, then, if there is a taste for some other food, add that on top of the milk. In many cases there is not true desire to eat some other food item. If there is the amount will be much less than otherwise would be the case, since the milk is so ‘filling’ and uniquely satisfies the hunger like no other food.

If you do it the other way around, and consume the milk after other, inferior foods, then there may be some reactions that some of the time may be a little unpleasant. Milk has a rapid transit time through the system of the body. It only takes around 6 hours for it to be ready for elimination. Other foods, especially heavy processed foods like pasta have a very prolonged transit time – maybe 36 to 48 hours. This is slow moving traffic that will be forcefully pushed ahead at a rapid pace by the action of the milk on the digestion system. The laxative effect is actually a good cleansing that is beneficial to the body, but it may have unpleasant and unpredictable social consequences. You could say that the milk is a big help in the proper reform of the diet; because it will quickly remove any ‘junk’ that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Remember, raw milk is never harmful. Even when the milk ferments or sours it never becomes harmful to the health. Left alone, sour milk, sometimes called buttermilk, can become yogurt, curds and whey, and eventually cheese. Cheese therefore is just milk that has been fermented in a certain way to produce a certain flavor sometimes over years! But it never goes ‘bad’. Milk, by its very nature, keeps indefinitely.
(To be continued)

Frankenstein Wheat On the Way Here

Frankenstein wheat is on the way according to recent reports from the Frankenstein Company, Monsanto. They are charging full speed ahead to get GM wheat varieties planted all over the country and world. The quality of wheat has plummeted as it is for other reasons, but now wheat will become just as dangerous to the health as soy beans, corn and canola oil. The options for a real food diet just got smaller.

We know what to do.

GM wheat is on its way
Five years after scrapping its trials, Monsanto calculates that the time is now ripe for GM wheat to make a comeback
Henry Miller and Colin Carter
guardian.co.uk,

Saturday 19 December 2009 16.00 GMT


Wheat is a critical staple crop, supplying much of the world's dietary protein. In 2007 world production was 607m tonnes, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice. The grain is used to make breads, biscuits, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles, and couscous, and for fermentation to make beer, vodka, and grain alcohol. Up to now, wheat has not benefited from the application of modern genetic engineering that has revolutionised the farming of maize, cotton, canola and soy. But that is about to change.
By 2004, Monsanto, the world's leader in the production of seeds for genetically-engineered crops, had made substantial progress in the development of genetically-engineered wheat varieties for North America. But suddenly in that year, the company scrapped its wheat programme, in part because of opposition from North American grain merchants and growers, as well as concerns that some major foreign importers would reject imports of all American wheat because they could be "contaminated" with genetically engineered varieties. European countries and Japan, which have traditionally imported about 45% of US wheat exports, have been resistant to genetically engineered crops and food derived from them.
In addition, food manufacturers doubted that the introduction of genetically engineered wheat would lead to a significant improvement in their profits because the cost of wheat is typically only a small fraction of inputs for most processed food products, and food processors were afraid of losing market share if environmental and consumer activists were to organise boycotts of food products containing "biotech" wheat. For the last 25 years, activists have opposed agricultural biotechnology, in spite of proven environmental, humanitarian and economic successes.Monsanto's abdication gave competitors outside the US the opportunity to become the first to adopt new technologies for genetically improved and lower cost wheat, relinquishing what could have been a first-mover advantage – the privileged position of the initial occupant of a market segment. However, American growers and millers have had a change of mind. In 2006, a coalition of US wheat industry organisations called for access to genetically-engineered wheat varieties with enhanced traits, and a survey released in February 2009 by the US national association of wheat growers found that more than three-quarters of US farmers wanted access to genetically engineered varieties with resistance to pests, disease, drought and frost. Such varieties are important as plant scientists and farmers continue to battle diseases such as leaf rust, the world's most common wheat disease, which can lead to yield loss of up to 20%. In Kansas, the heart of the US wheat belt, for example, leaf rust is the most significant pest, in 2007, it destroyed a shocking 14% of the wheat crop. American growers, caught in the middle between the inclinations of some of their largest customers and the developers of new wheat varieties, lost out on substantial benefits when Monsanto opted not to follow through with creating genetically-engineered wheat. This left the field (literally and figuratively) to countries such as Australia and China, which are now ahead in their research and field trials of genetically-engineered wheat. For example, the German plant science and chemical company Bayer and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) are collaborating to develop wheat varieties with higher yield, more efficient nutrient use and greater tolerance against drought.These developments are important for several reasons. Wheat farming is a struggling industry in the US, in large part because it has not received the technological boost from recombinant DNA technology that has benefited the corn and soybean industries. US wheat acreage is down by about one-third from its peak in the early 1980s, due to reduced profitability compared with alternative crops – in spite of the price of a bag of wheat flour having soared from $10 to a peak of $36 during the past 36 months. As a result, the US's position as a leading wheat exporter has declined over several decades, from a high of 50% of world exports in 1973-74 to only around 20% currently.Five years after letting their biotech wheat research program wither, Monsanto recently revealed plans to resurrect it. The agribusiness company not only announced in July 2009 that it would resume development of genetically engineered wheat varieties, it also further demonstrated its commitment by buying WestBred, a Montana-based wheat-breeding company that specialises in wheat germplasm, the plant's genetic material. Greater productivity in wheat farming achieved with improved varieties would confer an important environmental dividend: wheat is the largest crop in the world in terms of area cultivated (220m hectares) and is the second largest irrigated crop (each bushel produced requires 11,000 gallons of water on average), so enhanced productivity would conserve both farmland and water. (A more direct approach is being taken by scientists at Egypt's Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute, who have performed at least five years of field trials of drought- and salt-tolerant wheat created by transferring genes from barley into a local wheat variety.)
Monsanto's volte-face reflects the company's assessment that the various relevant factors – technology, business, public policy and customer acceptance – had now become favourable, and was spurred by the world food crisis that saw a tripling of the price of wheat and certain other food crops during 2008. But it will likely take at least eight years until the first varieties of Monsanto's genetically-engineered wheat could be commercialised in the United States. Monsanto and the US wheat industry may already have been relegated to the position of second mover, and whoever wins the race to get desirable genetically engineered wheat varieties to the marketplace will enjoy a strong cost advantage and attract market share in many importing countries.
Henry Miller is a fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of The Frankenfood Myth. Colin Carter is professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California at Davis

Raw Milk, the Key to Swine Flu Immunity?

Here are two articles that report on a 'new' finding about how our immune systems protect us from viruses. What is new is the accidenal discovery of a protein, IFITM3, that seems to be the key to immunity against the swine flu and other influenza viruses. This helps us to understand why alpha-interferon protects and even cures viral illnesses like HIV. Remember Kemron that was discovered in Kenya to cure AIDS? That's alpha-interferon, and IFITM3 is the protein that is induced by alpha and beta interferon and make it work. Remember too, that both alpha and beta interferon are present in raw milk, so drink up and stay healthy!

Enjoy. Learn. Share.
Natural swine flu defence found
A previously unknown natural defence against swine flu and other viruses has been discovered which could lead to new treatments.

By Rebecca Smith,

18 Dec 2009
Scientists found that the virus-fighting proteins protected against swine flu when levels were increased.
When the proteins were removed the swine flu virus was able to multiply in the body unchecked.
The accidental discovery may help to explain why some people develop serious symptoms when they contract flu and others do not.
The protein, IFITM3, and although it appeared to be connected to the functioning of the immune system, how it worked and what it did had never been understood.
Professor Stephen Elledge, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, who led the research, said: "We've uncovered the first-line defence in how our bodies fight the flu virus.
"The protein is there to stop the flu. Every cell has a constitutive immune response that is ready for the virus. If we get rid of that, the virus has a heyday."
The findings, reported in the journal Cell, could pave the way to new kinds of antiviral treatment, say the scientists. However, it remains to be seen what the long-term side effects of boosting levels of the proteins might be.
The news comes as Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer, announced the latest swine flu figures showing a further drop in cases with an estimated 9,000 new diagnoses last week.
It is thought over 800,000 people have suffered symptoms of swine flu since it first emerged in England in April.
It appears that the second wave of the disease is coming to an end but he warned that it is not know what will happen in the New Year.
Sir Liam said the NHS had coped 'brilliantly' with swine flu this year.
The vaccination programme is also progressing with three million people out of the nine million in the first priority groups already immunised.
More than 100,000 pregnant women have so far been vaccinated, Prof David Salisbury, head of immunisation said, out of around 550,000 women who are pregnant at any one time in England.
Two thirds of local NHS organisations have now reached agreements with GPs to start vaccinating children aged between six months and five years.


INTERFERON-INDUCED TRANSMEMBRANE PROTEIN 3; IFITM3
Gene map locus Chr.11
TEXT
The 1-8 gene family, which includes IFITM1 (604456), IFITM2 (605578), and IFITM3, is highly inducible by both type I (IFNA (147660)/IFNB (147640)) and type II (IFNG; 147570) interferons.
By screening a lymphoid cell cosmid library with a probe corresponding to the 3-prime untranslated region of IFITM1, Lewin et al. (1991) isolated a cosmid containing the IFITM1, IFITM2, and IFITM3 genes, which they termed 9-27, 1-8D, and 1-8U, respectively, within a single 18-kb fragment. Northern blot analysis of cells expressing the IFITM genes showed that IFITM2 is not as responsive to IFNA treatment as IFITM3 or IFITM1. Genomic sequence analysis determined that all 3 IFITMs contain 2 exons, with the interferon-stimulable response elements (ISREs) in the immediately 5-prime flanking sequence of the promoter/enhancer region. Unlike IFITM1, which has an ISRE and 2 CCAAT boxes but lacks a TATA box, IFITM2 and IFITM3 have 2 ISREs and no TATA or CCAAT boxes. Sequence analysis predicted that the 133-amino acid IFITM3 protein, which is approximately 90% identical to IFITM2, has an N-terminal signal sequence, 3 potential phosphorylation sites, and a C-terminal leucine zipper. Sequence variability is greatest at the C terminus. Immunoblot analysis showed that in response to IFNA, all 3 IFITMs were expressed as 14-kD proteins that could be further resolved by isoelectric focusing.
The International Radiation Hybrid Mapping Consortium mapped the IFITM3 gene to chromosome 11 (stSG13140

The Famine of 2010 - Food Riots?

As 2009 runs down, most of us on the East Coast of the United States are doing our best to cope with the worst blizzard on record for the month of December. Over 20 inches of snow fell over the mid-Atlantic area shutting down businesses, transportation, and yes, shutting down the government. Washington is paralysed. So most of us are worrying about how to get out of our own driveways, but another devastating threat looms on the horizon for 2010: FAMINE! Ameicans have been awash in abundance for so long that there is very little in the collective memory banks about the spectre of hunger - but that is about to change very quickly. The people who know about such things are of course the farmers. Below is a map of the disaster areas in agriculture as designated by the US Department of Agriculture for 2009. Following that is a long list of quotes from farmers from several States on what their reality in 2009. Their reality in 2009 WILL BE your reality 2010! It is not a pretty picture. It screams out to us that we must get ready now. In a few months it will be too late! When the food collapse occurrs everything else collapses with it. Then we will see how worthless the dollar really is and how impotent governmental power. Even military might evaporates in the midst of famine. Get ready and stay that way. Figure out how you are going to grow your own food now. Get your seeds and plan your garden.

If you don't get it right now, you probably will not get another chance.

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A Reality of Agricultural Devastation and Ruin
In this reality, the US farmers have suffered the worst harvest season ever seen. For those who have not been following my blog or developments in the agricultural world, below are a few of extracts, in chronological order, showing the full extent of the devastation experienced by farmers during 2009’s hellish harvest season. (to keep this short, I have limited it to 2 extracts per state)
[Iowa, June 29]"I'd say this year is one of the most unusual years we've had in the last 20 years," said Don Fry, executive director of the Des Moines County USDA Farm Services Agency. "Because it seems like it rains every second or third day, the ground is constantly kept wet. We've heard a lot of reports from people with wet spots turning up in fields that they and their parents ... don't ever remember being a wet spot."The combination of constant rain and cool temperatures this spring kept farm fields saturated, making planting difficult and hampering crop growth. Also, frequent rains have rinsed a portion of nitrogen fertilizers from fields and hindered the application of herbicides, all of which cuts into yields, Kester said."This spring has just been a terrible struggle," Kester said. "Anybody that mowed hay within the last three weeks probably lost their hay crop because it got wet."
[Nebraska, July 3]Lethal heat, hailstones as big as baseballs, rain seemingly without end and tornadoes, some reported to be a quarter- to a half-mile wide. After a relatively placid May, Nebraska's weather went from meek to mad in June.“I don't know where that switch in the sky is, but it turned on,” said Ken Dewey, an applied climatologist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.…“It rained somewhere in Nebraska every day of the month,” Dutcher said. For 25 of those days, some part of the state got more than an inch of rain; for seven of those days, some part received more than 3 inches.The Panhandle received so much rain, damage reports could end up showing that 1,000 miles of roadway were washed out, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.Widespread hail was reported across the state, with one rancher telling the National Weather Service that he found dead animals along the road. In the far western Panhandle, it hailed so much that the roads had to be plowed, as hail reached 6 to 8 inches deep.…According to the federal Farm Service Agency, some 750,000 acres of crops were damaged and a small percentage destroyed.
[Maine, July 25]This has been a bad year for dairy farmers: Milk prices have plummeted and rain has prevented them from getting onto their fields to harvest hay. Fertilizer they applied simply washed away in the rain.The longer hay grows without a cutting, the poorer the nutritional quality and the more money farmers will spend this winter to supplement it. Cornfields are rotting without enough sun or heat to ripen the plants."The season is lost," Julie Marie Bickford of the Maine Dairy Industry Association said Friday. "With milk prices so low and this feed disaster on top of it, farmers are like deer in the headlights."…Hay and corn are critical components of livestock feed, Bickford said. "This stunted corn and alfalfa is forcing farmers to purchase grain and feeds. That is a very bad situation. Prices are extremely high because of the Midwest floods earlier this year. Maine's farmers couldn't come up with a worse situation in their worst dreams."On Thursday, a 75-year-old former dairy farmer visited the Wright Place in Clinton. He recalled delivering glass bottles of milk and told Brian Wright that he never remembered a rainier summer."This is unreal," Wright said.
[Wisconsin, July 28]For Kevin Leahy, it’s a total loss. He doubts any of his 600 acres — of what used to resemble corn — north of Shullsburg will be harvested.…Kamps was at home during the storm and knew his crops would be in trouble when the oak leaves around his house started falling to the ground. The wind blew a drift of hail more than 2 feet high in front of his patio door, he said.“It was like a big sand blaster,” Kamps said. “I’ve seen damage before but not near so widespread and so major. This took everything we had.”
[Iowa, August 4]When hail decimated crops near Lawler and Waucoma in June, it was the worst Iowa State University Extension field agronomist Brian Lang had ever seen.Until July 24."I've never really seen bad hailed corn at tassel state and I've never seen it this bad, this widespread," Lang said. "There were 400,000 acres damaged with 10 percent totally destroyed. Even for the crop that didn't get hurt too much, this came at the worst possible time, tasseling."…"I've never seen a hail storm this big," said Julie Vulk, Farm Service Agency executive director in Winneshiek County and interim director in Fayette County. "It's just hard to wrap your brain around it."Vulk estimated that 50 percent of farmers don't have insurance.[Iowa was then hit by another devastating hail storm on August 9]
[New York, Aug 14]WEST WINFIELD - A panel of political representatives and aides sat for over three hours at a rally Friday in Mount Markham Middle School gym as over 200 upstate New York dairy farmers pleaded for action on a range of issues crippling their industry.One after another dairy farmers and others involved in the industry took a microphone to berate county, state and federal representatives from throughout the region.Some were brought to tears describing their inability to make a living, a few simply screamed in frustration and others demanded answers. But the dire situation facing the men and women speaking was painfully clear.“We are in a disaster,” declared Ken Dibbell, of Chenango County.…“The people who feed the nation can’t feed themselves,” Gretchen Maine, a dairy farmer from Waterville, “what’s wrong this picture.”…The time frames for both solutions seemed in contrast from farmers need for help, with many emotionally explaining they have either already abandon businesses or are on the brink.“I don’t think they get the message yet,” Tewksbury said, referring politicians unaware of the uncharacteristic display of emotions from prideful farmers. They don’t have until 2010. They have the next couple of months to decide if they can stay in business, he said.
[Texas, August 14]Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said Friday that at least nine of the 254 counties in Texas — the nation's most drought-stricken state — are suffering through their driest conditions since modern record-keeping began in 1895.Making matters worse are the relentless 100-degree days across the southern portion of Texas that has been under drought conditions since September 2007.The impact has been felt most by farmers and ranchers in the nation's No. 2 agriculture-producing state. Texas officials estimate statewide crop and livestock losses from the drought at $3.6 billion."We've had some dry spells, but not as bad as this," said Rod Santa Ana with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. "It hurts bad. A lot of these cotton fields didn't even come up. It's just bare ground. You'd never know cotton was even planted there."
[Wyoming, August 21]That's little comfort to David Kane, a rancher near Sheridan, Wyo., who said the grasshoppers on his ranch are the worst they've been in more than 20 years. Kane already sold off part of his herd because the pests ate his cows' food."They're devastating," Kane said. "They were so bad here on the ranch that we sprayed our meadows because the second-cutting of alfalfa wouldn't green up because they were eating it as fast as it was trying to grow."
[Wyoming, September 10]The Big Horn Basin dry bean harvest is beginning, but cool, rainy weather and diseases have taken tolls on yield.Mike Moore, manager of the University of Wyoming Seed Certification Service, said his agency is just starting windrow inspections, and some fields are not doing well.“It’s sort of tough out there right now,” he said. The only area that seems less affected by disease is the far southern end of the Big Horn Basin, Moore said. His inspectors have found blight and mold around Powell, Byron, Emblem and Burlington.“It doesn’t look like location is going to allow you to escape it,” he said.
[Texas, September 23]Bruce Wetzel has been a farmer in Sherman all his life, learning from his father back in the 1960's.He's seen all the ups and downs of producing wheat and corn in Texoma, and he says this was one of the worst years for corn.…"All the rain we got back in April and May, we got 20 inches of rain in a two week period there, really just damaged our corn. Our corn just never quite recovered from too much water,” said Wetzel.Wetzel says he lost about 50% of his wheat and corn crops this harvest season, a trend that farmers are experiencing across Texoma.
[New Jersey, September 26]"The rains have just killed me this year," said Tucker Gant, 51, a vegetable and fruit farmer in Elk, who estimates his total losses this year at nearly $220,000.…"Nobody has ever seen rain as drastic as this year, even talking to old-time farmers," said Grasso, a third-generation farmer who estimates losses so far at roughly $50,000.…"It's never been that bad as far as I can remember," said Gant, pointing to water pooling in a field as he drove his pickup truck along a bumpy dirt trail toward 35 acres of barley overrun by tall weeds. "I have never seen water lay there more than two days. It should have been harvested, but you can't harvest weeds taller than barley."
[North Dakota, October 5]North Dakota`s wet spring and summer is being followed by a wet and snowy fall.Two snowstorms have already turned the ground in much of the state white, and while the early snows will melt before winter sets in, many farmers may not get row crops harvested before the seasons change again, unless Mother Nature provides them with some dry weather.In North Dakota, it`s common to see autumn snow coat the state`s sunflower and corn crops, but acres and acres of soybeans covered in white is an unusual sight. October snowstorms have stopped many of the state`s combines right in their tracks, delaying the harvest of many late season crops.…Precipitation totals in some areas of North Dakota have already surpassed yearly averages, but farmers are more concerned about wet weather damaging the condition of the soybean crop than corn and sunflowers.
[Louisiana, October 8]Three weeks of heavy rains are threatening northeastern Louisiana's soybean, sweet potato and cotton crops, some of which have already shown significant deterioration in the fields."It's killing us," said Ouachita Parish producer Gary Mathes. "We cut some beans a week ago that we had to sell at a salvage price of $3 a bushel."…"We fought a short corn crop, but we had one heck of a bean crop and the rain is taking it away from us," Mathes said.Venoy Kinnaird said his farm has been drenched by about 20 inches of rain since Sept. 12."I've got some beans that I won't cut; they're not salvageable," Kinnaird said. "And I've got some sweet potatoes that are halfway out of the ground. Cotton has taken a terrible hit, too, even though we don't have that much planted around here this year."We're absolutely waterlogged. What's really bad is we're coming off of a disaster last fall."
[Nebraska, Minnesota, October 12]Weekend snow may have dealt a heavy blow to prospects for soybean harvest in Nebraska and other nearby states.Weather adversity could shave as much as 200 million to 300 million bushels from expectations for a 3.25 billion bushel crop nationally, a Nebraska soybean official said Monday."Our part of the country got snow," said Victor Bohuslavsky of the Nebraska Soybean Board Monday. "And I talked to people in Minnesota this morning and they hadn't hardly started harvest and they were blasted with snow."
[Louisiana, October 17]Northeastern Louisiana farmers finally saw the sun Friday afternoon, but it might be too late to save the bulk of the soybean, cotton and sweet potato crops."It's pitiful," said Caldwell Parish producer Drew Keahey. "I think it's going to be worse than last year."…But some parishes, like Morehouse, have received more than 30 inches of rain since Sept. 12, literally drowning crops that were mature and ready for harvest when the rain began.…Soybeans may have suffered the most, producers said."There will be a lot of beans that never come out of the field," Keahey said.
[Northern Kansas, October 16]Harvest so far has been about as awful as the new Bob Dylan Christmas album.Typically USDA's November yield forecasts increase, but this is not a typical year, as freezing weather has dinged yields and caused major crop quality problems.A colleague of mine sent me some snapshots of an Iowa farm that had seven inches of snow last Saturday. Northern Kansas had over 10 inches of snow. .
[Mississippi, October 21]Corn will suffer from quality issues. Soybeans will have significant quality and yield losses if harvested. Rice will suffer quality and yield losses with much of the crop is on the ground. Cotton crop will suffer yield and quality losses and cottonseed will have essentially no value.…Bolstering this is a fact-sheet released the week of Oct. 12 by Delta Council. The release says, “Large areas of the Mississippi Delta have received 15 to 20 inches of rain over the last 30 days with many areas receiving 25 to 40 inches of rainfall over the past 60 days since Aug. 15. In places this is anywhere from 400 to over 600 percent of normal.”The Delta Council release also quotes Steve Martin, interim head of the Delta Research and Extension Center (DREC) in Stoneville, Miss.: “Crop conditions are rapidly deteriorating. The USDA weather service at Stoneville reports that October has seen the second highest level of rainfall ever recorded (record was set in 1941).
[Illinois, November 2]The autumn monsoons are hard to figure, said Benjamin Sittrell, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in suburban St. Louis."Typically during the late-year period, it's our driest portion of the year," Sittrell said. "To see such astronomically high amounts of precipitation, where we got several inches above the previous record levels, is very abnormal.Sittrell said thousands of acres of farmland are under water, particularly in the flat areas of southern and western Illinois, where the Illinois, Ohio and Kaskaskia rivers are among several that are flooding.
[Arkansas, November 4]On Monday and Tuesday, Gus Wilson, Chicot County Extension staff chairman for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, made the rounds, visiting farmers and getting a first-hand look at what record rain has left of crops in the state’s southeasternmost county.…“It’s bleak,” Wilson said. “It’s going to really hurt these poor Delta counties because here, agriculture is all that we’ve got.”Earlier this season, the harvest outlook was promising.“In September, I was pretty happy with what I was seeing in the fields,” he said. “Now we are going to be lucky to make half a crop compared to the last couple of years, all because of the weather.”“Seven or eight weeks ago, we were looking at 1,100- to 1,200-pound cotton” lint yield per acre, Wilson said. “Now we’re 500 to 600 pounds.”The soybeans are just as bad. Back in September, “we had a good soybean crop. The yield was there,” he said. “We have lost at least 60 percent to 80 percent due to the weather.”“Our rice is going to be half,” Wilson said.…“This is the worst I’ve ever seen and I’ve been a county agent for eight years and around farming all my life,” Wilson said.
[Alabama, Georgia, north Florida, November 6]Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture Ron Sparks is calling it a “potential crisis” — the rainy weather conditions throughout most of September and October that have frustrated growers who were eyeing pretty good cotton, peanut, soybean and corn crops.The same holds true for producers in Georgia and north Florida, where harvest has been delayed by almost continuous rainfall, during what is usually the driest months of the year.“Prior to September, many producers were expecting to harvest a bumper crop and were very optimistic for the upcoming harvest season,” says Sparks. “Uncommon and unfavorable precipitation during September and October have degraded various crops and caused poor harvesting conditions, which caused the harvest to be behind schedule by around four to six weeks.”The major crops affected by the recent rainfall are cotton, soybeans, corn and peanuts, says the Commissioner. “Reports indicate that our state is in dire need of dry weather within the next two weeks, which may eliminate a potential state disaster [Area was then hit by 5+ inches of rains from Topical Storm Ida],” he said in early November. “Producers are already suffering from heavy September and October rainfall and dry conditions will not eliminate damage that has already taken place to crops across the state. Many producers are experiencing a sharp decrease in crop yield, lower grading, and crop damage from recent rainfall.”…“The bottom line is that Alabama producers are uncertain as to what the commodity markets will bring forth and where agriculture in our state is going,” says Sparks. “The recent weather conditions over the past two months will definitely have a negative impact on Alabama’s crop harvest.”…William Birdsong, agronomist at the Wiregrass Research and Extension Center in southwest Alabama, reported that wet and rainy conditions continued to delay harvest for row crops. Cotton yields and lint quality continued to suffer as a result of the wet conditions, he said. Less than 5 percent had been harvested in his area, and this could go down as the worst crop in years if the rain does not subside.
[Alabama, November 10]What had started as a good season for cotton could be a complete loss for some farmers if heavy rains hit fields before harvest, said Richard Petcher, agent with the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service."It's been a 30 percent loss so far in southwest Alabama, and more rain could make it 40 to 50 percent," Petcher said Monday. "Some fields are already a 100 percent loss." Financial damage from Ida could be in the millions of dollars for Alabama farmers, he said. Rains have delayed harvests by about three weeks affecting not only cotton but also leaving some peanut crops vulnerable to early frosts."The majority of the cotton crop is still in the fields," he said. "Peanuts are about 60 percent harvested. There's been concern about rain, but now it's almost panic."Soybeans have also been hurt by rain, with crops rotting and sprouting in the fields, Petcher said.
[Illinois, November 12]"I've been doing this for 30 years and I've never seen a year like this," said Ron Waldschmidt, a vice president with farm equipment dealer A.C. McCartney in Wataga, Illinois."It's not unusual in any given year to have wet conditions, or maybe a variety that tends to mold, or maybe the moisture is a little bit high. But this year, you've got it all," he said.
[Arkansas, November 12]On Nov. 4, Gus Wilson took a sample of soybeans with 100 percent damage.“It was the first time I’ve seen that,” says the Chicot County, Ark., Extension staff chair. “The situation here is bad, bleak. We’ll be lucky to make half the crop we’ve made in the last three to four years. That’s strictly due to the weather.”Chicot County in extreme southeast Arkansas has caught huge rains all fall. Now, watching crops deteriorate, Wilson says he’s not seen “a group of growers who’ve been more discouraged. Those who were planning to plant wheat may be out of luck. If there’s wheat planted and emerged in Chicot County, I don’t know where it’s at.”…Faced with a seemingly unceasing deluge in 2009, veteran farmers are struggling to come up with a similar year in the past.“My father is 82 years old and he’s farmed 55 to 60 years,” says Wilson. “He says this is the worst harvest season he’s ever seen. Out of his career, he said only one year comes close — he can’t remember if it was in the late 1950s or early 1960s.
[Virginia, November 17]Last week's torrential rainfalls have caused damage and delays to some Virginia farm crops, but the extent of losses is unknown, some agriculture experts said yesterday.Several crops that were recently planted or still in the fields were hurt by the widespread, three-day deluge, including winter wheat, barley and soybeans, said Molly Payne Pugh, executive director of the Virginia Grain Producers Association."There is definitely going to be damage," Pugh said. "I don't have a good feel for how much yet. Right now, we are assessing."
[Mississippi, November 23]On the dashboard of his truck, Allen C. Evans III, a farmer near Clarksdale, has a sheaf of receipts from the grain elevator, showing the damage levels of each load of soybeans: 39.9 percent, 67.9 percent, 51.8 percent. A born fretter, he is afraid to call, he said, to find out the final reckoning of the disastrous season."You're just kind of walking around like a zombie," Mr. Evans said, "saying, never could I have guessed that the best crop I've ever raised in my entire life - the one I never worried about - of all the crops to have taken away from us, how can this be the one?"In the Delta, those elevator receipts have become talismans of the times. Michael Patterson, who helps pay for his farming with the proceeds from his grain hauling company, displayed one showing a farmer who brought in 1,110 bushels of soybeans, but got paid for 11. The rest were damaged.That farmer was distraught, Mr. Patterson said.“You don’t want to be the generation,” he said, “that loses the family farm.”
These two realities can’t coexist!Farmers can’t be going bankrupt across the US thanks to the worst harvest season ever seen while at the same time producing the USDA's Biggest Crop Ever! Someone is lying, and evidence supports the farmer’s story.