Change Is A Way of Life. The Final Post.

"Changing Farm Patterns," Courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting
All Rights Reserved.  Copyright 2020.  No reproduction without artist's permission.

For several years now, my urban-based and other friends have encouraged me to leave my little farmhouse.  "Too isolated," they've said.  "Too out of touch and remote," they've said.  "Unhealthy, toxic environment surrounded by industrialized farming practices," others who are environmentally oriented have said.  The sights, smells and water quality confirm that it's not the best place to live anymore for me.

These well-meaning friends have not totally understood just how much I've savored the quiet, the peaceful existence and the creative concentration of living in the country in the county of my childhood on the family farm that was my home for the first 18 years of my life after years of living in cities like St. Louis, Manhattan and other more hectic and insane places.  If you are one of my pals in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Kansas, Texas or Illinois who've often said, "I really would love to visit you because it looks so peaceful and fresh air clean," I will remind you that looks can be deceiving.  A picture can be worth a thousand words at times.  Your opportunity to visit has passed as my little home is filling up with moving boxes as my dog and I get ready for the next phase of life.  If you want to help pack up, please get in touch.  I need help on this end of the move.

"Yes, I was in New York on 9/11," I say to some who remember that day well and "This place provides some peace of mind after all the traffic and hectic manic pace of city life."  These are often my responses to people who ask why I'm back here after many years of living out of state.  Plus, when I'm trying to keep it to a brief answer:  "I'm back here to be closer to my family."  Well, its now time to make another change and move to a smaller city where I went to college, learned about photography/art and can attend adult classes "for free" at that same university - still have some learning to do.  My new residence has close friends in the arts community, close family members near there in the Branson area as well, easy access to art, theatre, music and folks that I've shared some big history with in life.  My out-of-state friends will enjoy that there's an airport that is not 45 minutes away from my home.  Long-time friends will be able to drive to my new place so much easier without much GPS intervention or backwoods directions like "Make a right turn when you pass the big radio tower and where you see the big cattle ranch sign then stop at the first Casey's station when you hit the first small town.  Call me and  I'll come pick you up there."  That effort always took at least 30-45 minutes each way off of our time together. A road detour once sent one of my friends WAY off track - took an hour to find her in a Walmart parking lot.  It was a source of much amusement during the entire weekend.  

Friends who suffer from asthma or other lung-related or heart related difficulties won't have to worry about which way the wind is coming from at my new home.  My dog will possibly stop his coughing fits and reverse sneezes whenever we go out to do yard word.  Strange, but I'm moving to a city to escape the air quality and lack of water purity living with a factory farm as my neighbor.  And recent signed resolutions by our President will make that water quality even worse.  

President Trump signs resolution to permit dumping mining waste into waterways.
 Washington Post article posted 2/17/2020

This administration has already undone most of the positive governmental protections for the environment  the National Parks Services, the Environmental Protection Agency and other positive moves made by both Republican and Democrat administrations before him.  Yes, a few tears have been shed over what is happening to the beautiful, lush green Missouri that my brother and I grew up in -- being able to swim or fish in local ponds or rivers, not worrying about e-coli if we fell in one of those ponds or rivers.  It's been a sad thing to watch this lovely landscape deteriorate.  

My entire career has often been based on traveling to different places, moving every so often for job-related reasons.  Coming back to the farm six years ago to be with my family and elderly father was my transition into retirement.  A downsized job in Arizona in my late 50's meant freelance and other regular income sources were difficult and inconsistent.  Spending more time back in Missouri showed me that it was time to make a change and get closer to home because both Thanksgiving and Christmas spent here saw my Dad going into the hospital both holidays.  Not great signs.  My father who farmed all of his life died of colon cancer in May 2019.  Hence, the growing cancer trends that I've seen happening in this small southwest corner of an agri-based business model for industrialized farming practices continued to decline on a personal level for me.  Had my own little "cancer scare" recently after a routine mammogram but it all turned out to be a "false alarm," thank goodness.  I'm no fool.  My poor mother died of ovarian cancer over eight years ago.  Cancer sucks.  It's time to leave.

Life is fleeting.  Change is constant and a way of life for many.  And because of that fact in life, it has been a difficult decision to begin a move elsewhere after my father's passing last May.  My family understands and that is all that really counts in my book.  My really close friends get it as well, so as my extended family their opinions count, too.  I don't feel like the smelly neighbor has won, but my health does not make it conducive to not remaining near it any more.  It has not won, because even if I'll stop writing this blog, I will continue to resist CAFO legislation, CAFO operations and do my part in trying to make as much of a difference as "one woman's opinion" can accomplish.  Can't do it alone.  It's up to the future generations to step in and take over.  It's up to those of us who went through the 1960's and 1970's to keep speaking out.  It's sad a little girl from Norway is the only person with courage enough to speak out on behalf of environmental issues - the children need to take up the charge and make things happen.   And I still have a nasty cough hanging on after my bout with the flu last month despite getting the pneumonia and flu shots this year.

We don't know where it really comes from yet, but the coronavirus has been a very frightening news story these days.  Another article from The Washington Post business section demonstrates that one:

Big Data Won't Save You From Coronavirus. 

Washington Post Business Section article published 2/17/2020

It has been scientifically proven that CAFOs cause some horrible health consequences in those living near them in various states.  That is why - if it comes near your town - you should go see the "Right To Harm" documentary film about the health consequences of living near one.  This well-made award winning film finally opened my eyes that my health consequences were not just my "advancing age" or my "imagination."  They were consistent with others who lived in close proximity to these things. Other people were experiencing the same thing across the United States.  Please check it out if it comes near your home.  It's touring the entire country right now because this is a bigger problem than just in Missouri.  Here's a link to their website so you can learn more: 

Right To Harm Documentary website link.

Tickets are being handled through Eventbrite.  Most of these screenings are free and sponsored by local groups interested in the environment.  One was just recently held in St. Louis.  Looks like the next showing is coming up in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In my new home, I will remain a member of certain environmental and local control farm-friendly organizations that are resisting the spread of CAFOs in my home state, fighting for water/air quality and environmental protections.  You'll find me volunteering to work the phones and try to help make things happen in my own little way even if it is just stuffing envelopes or calling my legislators about an upcoming piece of legislation.  There will be more like-minded folks in my new home.  And won't have to worry about who I'm saying the wrong thing to at the wrong time.  It will be easier to be outspoken.

Spoke and protested at the March Against Monsanto rally some years back in Greene County and it was a satisfying experience connecting with others who also dislike this chemical killing company that is now Bayer-Monsanto, so no longer an American corporation really.  Here was my poster design because I think children should be taught in school as part of the curriculum how to grow their own food, keep control of the seeds used to make that garden grow and work toward a more sustainable agricultural environment.

You might see me at different meetings for causes that are important to me in Greene County in the future like women's issues, arts causes, environmental nonprofits or animals, poverty, homelessness or drug addiction.  Currently, I am a rural citizen member of Missouri Rural Crisis Center and will probably remain one for years to come.  If you want to get involved, please check out their website about volunteering, getting info or being a member. You can volunteer, join or just sign up to get information.  Good folks working for local control, rural communities and sustainable agriculture:  

Missouri Rural Crisis Center

Another organization that I am a member of and will remain so for the coming years is The Sierra Club.  They work to make things better in the environment for those of us who wish continue to live in a beautiful planet for the remainder of our lives and those who follow us as future generations.  Used to love going river canoeing.  Hope I feel comfortable doing so sometime in the future.  See if there's something that interests you then be a joiner, not a follower:

The Sierra Club Website

There will be more joining as I get more involved in different museums, art organizations and other things.  As the old saying goes by a spiritual writer whose sense of humor and life view that I've enjoyed over the years (Ram Dass), Be Here Now.  Live in the present and look forward to the future.  You cannot change the past, but we can learn from it.  It's my plan to continue to learn, do art and work for causes that I believe in supporting until the day that I move into the clouds, greet people I love at the Pearly Gates and maintain my relationship with God.  Teach less and do more.  Stay strong as I can with the sadness that surrounds so much of life on this planet.  

Here are two lovely visuals that say something similar to Ram Dass' teachings as well as other spiritual leaders in different ways:
  

So the journey continues.  This blog will not.  I'm going to go out and do things rather than writing about them.   Go out and do more art and photography.   Pack boxes for the move to music I love with my dog at my side.  Have lots of friends on the other side of this move who have already said they'll come help me unpack.  Spend more time with those I love.  Listen to more music and dance.  Go see good theatre, concerts, art exhibitions.  Play games that are fun and educational, not violent or mean spirited.  This last post is not a real "farewell," just a "see ya later down the road of life."  Keep up the good fight - it's well worth it.  Do it for the children.

And here's a little music to accompany my Exit Stage Right as they say in the theatre.  Call these my farewell songs for now.  Four songs that mean a lot to me and count as my favorites as travel or any time music.  PLEASE ... Get up and dance a little with someone you love, your pet, a significant other or alone --- it's all fun:

Lee Ann Womack - "I Hope You Dance."

Bruce Hornsby & The Range - The Way It Is (Official Video)

Sheryl Crow - Everyday Is a Winding Road (Official Video)

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Giving It All To The Wind + lyrics

Thank you for the time you've spent over the years reading this "one woman's opinion."  Just to be clear, there is no compensation for my words--just my expression of what has been going on in life.  There are no salaries paid or gratuities given.  And I own no copyrights to any of the above images except the Photoartdb photographs that begin and end this blog. That's my "art."   Take care.  Enjoy and see you on the other side.   Have a great life!

"Swirled Skies," Courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting
All Rights Reserved.  Copyright 2020.  No reproduction without artist's permission.

Comments are by this individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. Am not a scientist, so can't claim my own scientific research but just comment on what is happening. These words are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks. Anonymous comments not accepted. Stand up for your opinion. Thanks for your thoughtful and kind responses. Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)

A New Year & Decade With More To FEAR.

"Clouds on the Horizon-December 31, 2019"
Photoartdb Consulting.
 Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved.

It seems fitting to start the New Year and New Decade of 2020 with another blog posting.  Sorry it's been so long since I've been able to post or have the energy to post anything.  We had some sadness in our family in 2019 with the loss of my father and beloved aunt.  Time has seemed better utilized grieving in private, doing family things, handling the aftermath, consoling each other and hanging tight with our family members as we all grieve the passing of two very important human beings.

Since last year, there have been a number of things taking me away from writing and photographing things that are my preference at this stage in life.  During the entirety of 2019, my health deteriorated pretty significantly in my upper respiratory area leading to a "cold" that became bronchitis at the end of 2018.  I've also had moments when it was hard for me to breath after working outside.  This breathing difficulty took away my energy and ability to move with the same vigor as usual.  Took fewer teaching assignments this past year to cope with my health and energy issues.  Also had to significantly reduce much of my volunteer work.  The same circumstances seem to be doing the same thing at the end of this year as well, but believe taking the flu and pneumonia shots have made my immune system stronger.  However, I know what the culprit is and where it lives.  It's my Factory Farm Neighbor around the corner.

We are now entering January 1, 2020.  A new decade usually is a time to pause and make new resolutions and look forward to new beginnings.

What does all this personal stuff have to do with my usual blog topic and "The Factory Farm As Neighbor"? Well, it occurred to me that the South winds have been prevailing this late fall into the winter season.  Like other folks who live near to these CAFOs, my health has been going downhill the last six years while I've tolerated this stinky "neighbor."

And my other observation and impressions are that there is so much cancer in this area, water purity issues have been escalating.  The stench does not leave even when the wind is not from the direction of my neighbor.  Also, here at the end of December, the grass has not truly died because we have had no real severe frost - weather patterns have shifted dramatically all over the country.  Usually winter has a hard freeze by now to kill off the vermin and germs.  My smelly "neighbor" fumes come from the direction of the CAFO barn, consequently I have placed two wind directional devices in my yard that I can hear when they start turning, so I know that the wind has shifted and the toxic air will be coming my way.  That wind makes my pets cough, my eyes burn and chest ache.

It also crossed my mind this holiday season that I've now been residing in this little farmhouse for six years.  During the entire time, I've had two different types of serious health setbacks necessitating operations that have made me think seriously about the systemic roots of what they could be caused by.  Confined or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) often cause upper respiratory diseases for those living close by.  There is scientific proof to this fact.  People with asthma are advised not to spend a great deal of time near these operations or they could suffer significant health risks.   Talk about interfering with our right to enjoy a peaceful rural existence, as well as jeopardizing health for long-term residents or visiting family members.  It is no surprise to me that my relatives who rented out this house before I moved in were unable to keep tenants no matter how low the rent was and had not rented it for two years before I moved back to Missouri.  My "smelly Factory Farm neighbor" is just around the corner, less than a half mile.  Close enough to make a difference, stink up the air and cause harm to me and make my dogs cough.  When the wind comes from the the direction of the CAFO, it's time to go inside, close the windows and hunker down.  Enjoying the country air becomes a prescription for illness, coughing, stinging eyes and other unpleasantries.

Missouri has now passed laws this past year that enable Cattle Producers to raise their cattle in CAFO's.  Can you imagine the methane gases, the stench for neighbors and unhealthy beef that will be produced from those atrocities?  It is indeed sad that the Missouri Cattlemen's Association was behind the legislation in Jeff City that passed and felt it necessary to denigrate a small nonprofit educational organization that has for decades supported the interests of the small independent farmer who chooses to use sustainable agriculture to run their operations vs. those who have embraced industrialized farming with all of the problems that it brings in terms of health, local control, economic turmoil, citizen/neighborhoods well being, clean air, clean water and the possibilities of hazardous illnesses like MERSA.  What a shame indeed.

One of my quests in life is to try to know my food sources.  This dated article caught my eye from www.newfoodeconomy.org a long time ago.  Because among all the food recalls for e-coli and other problems surfacing in pork, ground beef, lettuce and other usually-considered healthy produce, this was one trend that was not usually at the forefront of the mainstream media up until this past year.  When will we stop poisoning ourselves?  When will we realize that China and other overseas companies should not control our food sources and farmlands.  The following article was published on January 3, 2019 and written by Sam Bloch:

The Listeria scare that hit Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Walmart 
equalled 100 million pounds of recalled products in 2018.

A very interesting documentary came out in 2019 that deals with "Right To Farm" legislation and its impact on the health of rural communities. The film is called "Right To Harm" and is offered through free screenings in various cities around Missouri right now.  There's an upcoming screening coming to Kansas City on January 16, 2020.  It's my plan to be there unless other life circumstances interfere.  Copyrighted image for the film produced by Hourglass Films and initially released in February 2019 is shown here:




If you want to visit their website to learn more and view the official trailer for this documentary, here's the link first to the YouTube posting:

Right To Harm Official Trailer

Filmmaker's Website link can be found by clicking text below:  

Right to Harm - Exposing a public health crisis in rural communities across America

Check the Eventbrite.com app to find other screenings as well as info about the upcoming Kansas City screening this month.  

Eventbrite

It's important to educate ourselves on where our food is coming from, how industrialized farming is impacting our health and this film provides one point of view to consider.  Start your new decade by learning more about this important issue and educating yourself on all aspects of this fight.  Food resources, Clean water, Clean air are all really important to sustaining our lives.   Some day in Missouri, you might find yourself in my shoes worrying about the personal health impact that "The Factory Farm As Neighbor"  in your county or neighborhood is having on your life, health and family members' well-being, too.  

Because music makes everything seem a little better as we fade into the sunset of 2019 and welcome the sunrise of 2020, I'd like to share one album that I'm really enjoying right now -- Jesse Malin's "Sunset Kids."  There are some lyrics that really resonate with me right now in the song as 2020 begins and Factory Farms are still my neighbors, like this one "When it all blows up and it all comes down and it makes you sick, but you're still around..."  

 Click on the link below.  Enjoy this little tune and grab  your favorite partner to get up and dance a little....Welcome to 2020 in America:

Jesse Malin "Meet Me at the End of the World" - 

Official Music Video - YouTube

Keep It Clean.  Keep It Green, America.  And Hang In There ... We could be on the Threshold of a new Decade of Change.   Make a resolution to educate yourself more about where your food is coming from and what it's doing to our collective health.  

Don't just complain about it.  Do something to make change happen.

Comments are by this individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. Am not a scientist, so can't claim my own scientific research but just comment on what is happening. These words are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks. Anonymous comments not accepted and will be deleted. Stand up for your opinion. Thanks for your thoughtful kind responses. Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)

The Elections Are Coming 'Round the Corner ... So Pay Attention to the Right Candidates to Meet Farming Needs!

Smaller CAFOs similar to this one are sometimes able to "run under the radar" for meeting state standards.
 Copyright 2018 Photoartdb.  Photo provided by courtesy of photographer.

  The local, state and national elections are coming up soon so now is the right time to think about those candidates who are going to do the right thing when it comes to farming legislation.  Voter Beware: Not Everyone Is Dealing In FACTS or Telling the Truth (Where the term "alternative facts" ever evolved mystifies me.  Aren't "alternative facts" just non-truths or outright lies?).  One of my favorite posters on Facebook is this one:

   It has been a while since posting in this blog.  Mainly, it has been because of a disease that I contracted down in Mexico through the water or meat consumed while down there during a combination of pleasure and advocacy work for nearly a month.  It has taken another month to recover my health enough to be able to teach, go about my normal business and maintain clarity of mind.  As background, you should know that I have been going to Mexico since the late 1970's and always knew that drinking the water from an unfiltered source was a surefire way to become ill, so "bottled water" has become the usual request from my friends, family and others who accompanied me on trips there.   The last four days of my trip, a close friend and I became deathly ill with a weakening, chronic and long duration unpleasant illness that made the return airline travel a real challenge.  In our discussions on what could have been the source, we hit upon two things as possibilities:

• The water from a "supposedly" filtrated system at the condo development where we were staying that was used to cook brown rice pasta.
• The ground beef that we bought in a local supermarket after checking it over to be fresh from the over-the-counter meat department.

  After much discussion and speculation on our part so we could give good information to our respective doctors in different cities, we determined that it was probably the ground beef and not the water as the source of the illness.  Many of you who follow Concentrated Animal Factory Operations (CAFO) know that these operations are quite prevalently located South of the Border due to the lack of regulation in those countries.  On future trips, I will think more carefully about what I am using for meal preparation down there.  This event was my first ever negative experience in food prep for my travel companion and me.  It will not be repeated.  This photo taken in Nuevo Vallarta where we were sort of symbolizes the devastation of greenery and vegetation that was observed from my last visit to the country:

"Poor Palm Tree"
Photo courtesy of Photoartdb
Copyright 2018

  Those of you who know me understand that I am an Independent when it comes to political considerations and voting for candidates.  A friend of mine calls me a "Libertarian" - not a "Liberal" because I am very conservative on some issues - but this definition fits my point of view:  "doctrine of free will" being the keywords to focus on here.  The definition from the Dictionary website is:

lib·er·tar·i·an

ˌlibərˈterēən/

noun

1. 1. 

   an adherent of libertarianism.

   
   
   

   "libertarian philosophy"

   • 
     
2. 2. 

   PHILOSOPHY

   a person who believes in the doctrine of free will.

  It has always been my practice to vote for "the person not the party" - ALWAYS.  Here lately, the Green Party has offered up a few candidates that intrigue me.  As you may know, Monsanto is not a favorite company of mine.  The State Auditor candidate from the Missouri Green Party this year is Don Fitz, who has been a community activist in STL for many years.  He organized a debate about the use of Monsanto products on State properties or "green ways" in St. Louis and other parts of the State.  Here is the information off of their Facebook announcement about that debate.  The debate has already occurred, but the issue still remains.  There is some contact information here if you want to find out more about his candidacy and platform.

"Audit purchases of poisonous Roundup by the State of Missouri.

In July 2018, a San Francisco jury awarded $289 million to black groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson due to cancer resulting from his exposure to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.

As Missouri Green Party candidate for State Auditor, Don Fitz is calling for a full audit of purchases of Roundup for use on roadways, state parks, schools and government buildings. He also wants to know how much could be lost in lawsuits if the State of Missouri fails to pledge to not use Roundup and similar herbicides.  Can you join the Missouri Green Party at the debate between candidates for State Auditor to ask for an audit of herbicide use? The debate is at 1:30pm Friday September 14 in St. Louis.  If you can join us, call 314-727-8554 or email fitzdon@aol.com"

  Another organization that I look to when researching subjects about who are the right candidates and legislative issues that will benefit my small independent farming family and myself is the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, which I've written about in the past on several occasions.  Why am I a member and continue to be an advocate for their good work?  Because in difficult times for our family, this organization reached out and actually helped us.  Please check out their website, consider volunteering or being part of the good community work they do to support small independent farming families in our State who practice sustainable agriculture in their day-to-day operations.  Here is a link to their website to learn more:

Missouri Rural Crisis Center

  Finally, here's a personal "shout out" for my younger brother who operates our independent family farming operation.  You could say that I'm prejudiced and you would be right, but my brother knows and writes about his subject well.  It's because he has lived the story of the small independent farmer from his birth.  Recently, he wrote an op-ed article about the Farm Bills coming out of Washington, D.C.  Many of my urban friends have said in some variation to me, "Oh, the new bills coming from the Trump administration are going to make great things happen for your family, aren't they?"  

   Well, the simple answer is "No, they will not.  However, they will be extremely helpful to the large corporate farming operations"  The reason is more clear if you read this op-ed article that was published and appeared in TheHill.com website.  Here's a link to the article:

Farm bill farce: Corporate ag reports huge profits while farmers 
struggle to feed their families

  It is always my practice to try and end these blogs on a more positive or upbeat note.  Even if you have a Factory Farm as your Neighbor around the corner causing your animals to have breathing issues or even causing you to have more respiratory issues than you did in past locations where you resided ... that doesn't mean you can't try to see the upside of things.  

   Another two of my favorite Facebook posters are these about the humane treatment of animals and one that mirrors my general life philosophy, which is "If I can laugh about it, maybe I can get through it":

  Have a pleasant weekend, y'all.  Try to do the right thing every day.  Vote for the right person or legislation that best suits you and those you love.  Whatever you do ... Please Register to VOTE in the upcoming elections and show up at the polls to make your voice heard.  You know that my take is that if you don't vote, you forfeit your right to complain when you don't like what the elected candidates do after taking office.

  Here's a little music to help you get through the weekend from the late great Aretha Franklin and a clip from one of my favorite movies about Angels coming to earth and doing good deeds.  God Bless You, Aretha - hope you are singing in the great gospel choir that God has assembled upstairs.  The song title is appropriate to my feeling about most politicians in Washington and elsewhere -- "Chain of Fools".  Now get up and dance your blues away:

Aretha Franklin "Chain of Fools" and Michael the Angel

   Thank you for your interest and reading my wandering thoughts about what's going on in the surrounding world and how can we make positive changes for the Greater Good.

###

Comments are by this individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. Am not a scientist, so can't claim my own scientific research but just comment on what is happening. These words are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks. Anonymous comments not accepted. Stand up for your opinion. Thanks for your thoughtful and kind responses. Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)

Sows, Pigs, Politics, Corporations & Valentines

"Winter Arrives" Copyright 2018.  Photoartdb.  All rights reserved.

It seems like winter wanted to wait so it could roar into Southwest Missouri with an entrance worthy of someone distinctively important who needs to be paid attention and honored.  It's somewhat like the way some politicians walk into a room or down a hallway, expecting all ears to be attuned to their wisdom and sage guidance.  Not exactly the way they're being perceived these days in Missouri or on the national scene with one scandal after another diverting attention from the important concerns of the people they were elected to serve:  healthcare, economic issues, new foreign markets for our farming community - especially the small independent farmer - retaining our clean water sources and protecting their cleanliness, and local control of our farmlands and protecting the rural citizens' health.

Since moving here now almost four years ago, temperatures have not dropped into the minus numbers one time until this year.  Although the snow and icy moisture is welcomed, the bitter cold contributing to record flu numbers with children and our elderly dying as a result.  Listening to the evening news, it was noted that there were 30,600 cases of flu in Missouri alone putting us in the top States combating this virus.  Our family certainly struggled with it through Christmas and into the month of January.  It was also sad to watch the school children cope with the disease that would come, leaving a cough behind and then sometimes a recurrence.  Makes me wonder why people doubt the phenomena of "global warming," when it is so clear that something is shifting with the weather patterns and their impact on our environment, our health and changing farming patterns.

My New Year's Resolutions this year were fairly simple.  It's my firm belief that keeping things simple as I age will be the best way to ensure that they are done.  The first one was to start speaking out when wrong and unethical things occur and to not be a part of a Silent Majority who will allow democracy to be twisted and used for the benefit of the "few".  Still believe in the adage that Government "for the people, by the people" is the best system, but it is clear our system is broken.  My second resolution was to try and keep my health at a better level than it has been since moving here four years ago by trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  It is my wish not to be a burden on those that I love as I enter my "golden years."

As a result of the first resolution, it was my decision to attend a Lobby Day hosted by the Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC) in early January.  Several focuses of the visit to our elected representatives in the State Capitol was to encourage legislation to preserve and defend local control in rural communities, as well as to put a limit on foreign ownership of our Missouri farmlands.  Do we really want other countries controlling our food resources?  It does not seem like a wise move to me or others who believe in sustainable and independent agriculture.  

Finally, lobby day participants were encouraging the Senate to halt an egregious act of our Governor Eric Grietens whereby changes were made in silencing the people's voice on the important Clean Water Commission (CWC) by replacing experienced and independent commission members with new members who have clear ties to the industrialized farming lobby.  Without confirmation by the Senate, these new members took action immediately to approve out-of-state corporate factory farms to be built in rural Missouri despite strong community opposition in the areas impacted.  These new members are up for vote soon  (within the next few days, actually) by our Missouri Senators who can stop this unfair action by the Governor by refusing to allow these commission members to be seated.  Two things need to be put into action:  The Senate voting NO and rejecting Governor Grieten's pro-factory farm appointees; then the legislature should change the law back to have the public's voice once again on the Clean Water Commission. If you wish to do something, please contact your State Senator now and ask him or her to vote NO on these new appointees and encourage changing things back to the more fair makeup of the CWC.  Clean water is something that we have come to take for granted.  Having travelled in the Far East, Pacific Rim and Latin America, I can tell you that we are lucky to have the amazing waterways in this State.  They should be protected and preserved or we will end up like many third world countries with the disease and other plagues that the lack of clean water can create.  

If you feel like you want to get involved and make your voice be heard, participate in the next Lobby Day scheduled for Valentine's Day - February 14, 2018 - by contacting Brian at the Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC).  You can find more information by checking their website at:  

Missouri Rural Crisis Center website

A recent Letter to the Editor in the Joplin Globe about the CWC called attention to how important it is to take action and call your Senators today about these new appointees.  Please read it and take action if you feel compelled to maintain the clean water in our rural communities.  Click on the link and you will find the phone number of the State Capital switchboard.  Ask to be connected with your Senator and ask that they VOTE NO on Grieten's appointees.  This confirmation may take place before February 3, so act today.

What can be done on the CWC Letter to Editor by a local farmer and rancher 

- Joplin Globe, 1/18/2018

Moving back to my first resolution, something happened in the hallways of the State Capitol that I thought would never happen in these times, especially now that young women are speaking out about sexual harassment in the workplace.  It gives me great hope that my grandnieces will not have to endure the embarrassment of ever being put in such situations.   I'm of an age where my parents taught me to respect elected governmental officials but to know that they should be held accountable to a certain set of ethical standards and morality.  I also participated in the women's liberation movements in the 1970's to try and ensure "equal pay for equal work."  After college, I worked for a large radio station in Springfield and went on to jobs in large corporations in marketing services and communications.  I did my best to ensure that ethical standards were kept in the ad campaigns that I worked on both in the ad agencies and companies that I represented.  And my radio news stories reported and written by me were verified and fact checked before they ever made it on the air.  Back then, Walter Cronkite was my hero, so were Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein along with their publisher at the Washington Post, Katherine Graham and Executive Editor Ben Bradlee.

Stories in the daily news have changed my point-of-view greatly.  I see little to respect among many politicians.  Many of them behave like pigs themselves.  Lobbyists run free and even sometimes author the legislation going through our Congressional Chambers.  Knowing that respect should be earned and not given freely, my stance as an Independent Voter has been strengthened by seeing partisan interests take precedence over the people's interests.  While visiting various State Representatives' offices, our group had one very positive interaction with one of the legislative assistants who listened carefully to our points, took our information and allowed us to move forward.  Other newly elected representatives and senators who took the time to speak to our group resurrected my faith and hope that perhaps there were people taking positions that would save our natural resources in Missouri.

Suddenly, we were stopped in the hallway by an elderly gentleman that I later found out was Representative Warren Love (R) of the 125th District.  He started talking about his days on a farm before he became a politician.  It was easy for me to see that he was winding up for a "hallway filibuster" to detain our group.  Since I'd been standing for a good part of the morning handing out flyers in front of the House Chambers and having a rather bad knee, I decided to break off from our group and go rest my sore joint for a moment while he regaled the group with his tales of "when I was a farmer and had a few pigs on my small farm".  I could tell that this guy was full of hot air, out of touch with what was going on now with small independent farming operations and intent on delaying the progress of our group.   While resting my knee, I got into a conversation with a farmer who reminded me a lot of my father and who had practiced farming "the old fashioned way" for years.  Time slipped away and I didn't make it back to the group.  My forte is really to talk to people to help them understand legislation coming through the channels -- after all my job before retirement was in communications and marketing services.  

When my group returned to the tables, the person that I'd ridden with to Jefferson City said, "I was looking for you. Where did you go?"  I couldn't believe that my presence was that important since there were far more experienced folks in the group than me to talk about the issues - I was a "newbie" at this stuff.  On the way home, he explained further.  As I was not there when the next section of my story happened, I called several women in our group that I was fortunate enough to meet that day to get their take on what had happened and verify the facts.  I'm now confident enough pulling out my old journalist's hat to relay the story to my readers confident in its accuracy.  

It seemed that while Representative Love was recounting his days on the farm, he started talking about sows and delivering litters on his farming operation.  He suddenly - apparently feeling his oats with a captive and polite audience - said something like "Well, you know how it goes with those old sows after they give birth, they go right back into 'heat' again.   Now you ladies know all about that, don't you?"  Add the "good old boy" chuckle to the end of this sentence.

My mouth fell open and my eyes flew up to my eyebrows in disbelief and I gasped!  How dare him?  How unbelievable rude?  Then I understood why my companion who knows me darned well wanted me to have been there.  There is no way that I could not have said something ... loudly and directly ... to this man who took advantage of his legislative position by hurling an insult at both the women AND experienced male farmers standing in that group!  How could any intelligent voter put such an embarrassing, sanctimonious human being into office to represent their area?  Power has obviously taken the humility from this person and many of our elected officials these days. This is not behavior to be respected.  It is behavior that is out of tune with today's societal norms, but then I've been seeing worse things happen on television and in the news stories that I've been reading lately.  

In later recounting the story to a friend who also supports environmental issues and takes trips to Jeff City to lobby for different causes, he told me that this same Rep. Love made a comment about the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that he would like to "personally put a nail in the coffin of the HSUS" before he was out of office.  What kind of ignorance drives such a statement to a group of voters?  From the HSUS website, their focus is:  "The HSUS seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals—a world that will also benefit people."  Any farmer knows that if you care for your flock or herd in a humane and sustainable manner, the animals will return that care by providing sustenance for hungry masses that is not full of hormones or carrying detrimental viruses like MRSA.   It has been shown in independently funded studies that Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) often harbor and spread this virus to humans and other animals - it is airborne.  One article by Maryn McKenna in the January 22, 2014 Science Section of Wired.com cited the correlation between this deadly disease and CAFOs.  You can read the article by clicking on this link:  

"ALMOST THREE TIMES THE RISK OF CARRYING MRSA FROM LIVING NEAR A MEGA-FARM"

My own health has taken a downturn since the proximity of one of these operations is right around the corner from my own rural residence.  One of the factors enabling this growth of CAFOs in the State of Missouri is the prevalent thought that corporations are now "individuals" with the rights of an individual.  Having worked for several pretty large corporations, I totally disagree with this viewpoint. Corporations are legal entities created within the law to do business in specific areas.  

In a book first published in 2002 called "UNEQUAL PROTECTION:  The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights" by Thom Hartman, in Chapter 21 End Corporate Personhood, he writes "...new laws controlling corporations aren't the ultimate answer.  Instead what is needed is a foundational change in the definition of the relationship between living human beings and the nonliving legal fictions we call corporations.  Only when corporations are again legally subordinate to those who authorized them -- humans, and the governments representing them -- will true change be possible."  

People can make changes in their governments and corporations should be held accountable for their actions in a court of law.  We truly need change to preserve the future for our children.  As for Representative Love, my final comment is that he is indeed a "pig" for behaving in such a disgusting manner around the people who were there to exercise their rights to make their views known in our State Capitol that day.  Hopefully, his constituents will recognize this behavior is unacceptable and he will not represent anyone in the future.  It's time for him to "go back to the farm" and see what kind of changes have happened as a result of his poor representation. Pigs are intelligent animals, so I hate to insult them by putting Love in their company, but the human variety has a great deal to learn before they should be allowed in civilized company.  He should know better than to sling mud on those poor sows or us.

It's always fun to leave on a lighter note.  Sometimes, I laugh just to keep from crying.  Here's one of my favorite signposts from social media these days:  

Finally, I'd like to dedicate this song from one of my favorite groups to Representative Love and others like him whose "piggy ways" were certainly demonstrated clearly by his words and demeanor.   Here's a more classical rendition of the Beatles' song written by George Harrison with appropriate visuals:

Piggies, Classical Rendition from YouTube

Until next time ... enjoy the view before it's gone.

"Looking Back on the Country that Was" Copyright 2018.  Photoartdb.  All rights reserved.

And remember ... this is just one woman's opinion.

Comments are by the individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. Am not a scientist, so can't claim my own scientific research but just comment on what is happening around me. These words are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks. Anonymous comments not accepted. 

Stand up for your opinion. 

Thanks for your thoughtful and kind responses. 

Please keep language clean and our farmlands green.