Daily Archives: August 5, 2012

08/5/12

Making Oregon a “Dry State”

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
Hat Tip: Nancy Jacques / Ask Marion

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness… Treasured guarantees from the Declaration of Independence. Except that life depends on water and in a stealth power grab of staggering scope, governments and agencies have laid claim to the very rain itself.

This ties into the socialist precept that the government shall own the means of production, including the means of food production. If you are looking for the logical implication of Obama’s recent rant that “You didn’t build that!,” that the necessary components of anything you build or grow come from government, this is where you arrive.

It has always been the American ideal that you own land and all that is on it. It’s yours, not the government’s. That should include the water that is on that land or that falls on that land. But it would seem that Oregon is more in tune with state collectivism as Gary Harrington of Jackson County, Oregon found out the hard way recently. He owns 170 acres with 3 ponds on his land. Most of us would consider it a no-brainer that the water on his land was his to do with as he sees fit. Oregon has other ideas and is instituting water prohibition:

Oregon law that says all of the water in the state of Oregon is public water and if you want to use that water, either to divert it or to store it, you have to acquire a water right from the state of Oregon before doing that activity.

And:

If you build a dam, an earthen dam, and interrupt the flow of water off of [YOUR OWN] property, and store that water that is an activity that would require a water right permit from us.

And:

Under Oregon law, all water is publicly owned. With some exceptions, cities, farmers, factory owners, and other water users must obtain a permit or water right from the Water Resources Department to use water from ANY source…

Note: “publicly owned” means “not yours.”

For the heinous crime of water collection, Harrington has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $1500 fine. Why, how very, very Communist:

Communism, the political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the major means of production (e.g., mines, mills, and factories) and the natural resources of a society.

And lest you think this is just a whacky Oregon thing, think again. The EPA has gone insane with Communistic glee and is wreaking havoc across America with the help of Obama, the Progressives and their regulator minions. Indiana is our next stop:

There is a story in Net Right Daily about landowner, Dexter Lutter of Noble County, who thought he was cleaning up the water supply and creating a healthier environment for years to come. Instead, he is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines from the EPA, whose main goal is complete control over all land, air and water.

His crime? Check it out on Net Right Daily, excerpted below:

…A small manmade open ditch ran through Lutter’s property in Noble County, Ind. It was in need of repair, and Lutter got permission from his county to place tile drains for the collection of the agricultural discharge and cover over the eroding open ditch. This not only saved county taxpayer dollars, but also cleaned up the water supply and prevented further soil erosion.

But that doesn’t matter. According to Noble County and Lutter, they were told they violated the Clean Water Act. This is despite the fact that Lutter said the ditch was manmade and used only for agricultural discharge and did not impede the flow of any main waterways — usual exemptions under the Clean Water Act.

It seems both the EPA and Army Corps are no longer content just monitoring activity in “navigable” waterways—as stated in the Clean Water Act, which has commonly lent itself to waterways where a vessel could in fact, navigate. These agencies seem to think they need to adopt a different interpretation of the law, which gets them another step closer to controlling all water in the U.S…

Mr. Lutter now faces the loss of his business thanks to the overreach of the EPA.

In fact, Obama is seizing western water supplies now. Didn’t hear about that? Not surprised, the lamestream media is not covering it (well, maybe covering for the administration or covering up criminal overreach, but not covering the story). But just because you can’t see a terrorist, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy. Now the EPA and the feds are brandishing lawsuits which, if won, will award them future water rights of states – starting with New Mexico. Control the water, control the food, control the people. Ask Mao, Lenin or any other dictator. If people won’t comply, starve them out. Think it can’t happen here? It’s already started.

The lawyers told the committee the U.S. government is apparently trying to take over legal management of the state’s water supply. The federal government has asserted claims for damages to groundwater in a natural resource damage case in New Mexico involving Chevron/Molycorp. The claim seeks for those damages to be awarded in the form of future water rights management.

The federal government’s lawsuit has caught the attention of the Western Governors’ Association.

“Claims by federal trustees of this nature are unprecedented and are of great concern to the Western states,” said Pam O. Inmann, executive director of the Western Governors’ Association, in a letter to Tom Vilsack, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Ken Salazar, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. “…The ramifications of such legal position extend to the very heart of the Western states exclusive ownership and/or management and control of the groundwater resources within their respective boundaries.”

Perhaps a refresher of where this came from (other than Karl Marx) is in order:

U.S. Congresswoman Kay Granger – 12th District of Texas
March 30, 2012

Weekly Enewsletter: An Executive Order You Should Know About

Dear Friend,

With all that is going in Washington these days some things don’t make the news the way they should. Fourteen days ago President Obama issued an Executive Order that you should know about. This order gives an unprecedented level of authority to the President and the federal government to take over all the fundamental parts of our economy – in the name of national security – in times of national emergency.

This means all of our water resources, construction services and materials (steel, concrete, etc.), our civil transportation system, food and health resources, our energy supplies including oil and natural gas – even farm equipment – can be taken over by the President and his cabinet secretaries. The Government can also draft U.S. citizens into the military and force U.S. citizens to fulfill “labor requirements” for the purposes of “national defense.” There is not even any Congressional oversight, only briefings are required.

By issuing this as an Executive Order the President puts the federal government above the law, which, in a democracy, is never supposed to happen.

As President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, he has the Constitutional authority to issue executive orders. And while similar orders have been made before by presidents from Eisenhower and Reagan to Clinton and George Bush – it has never been done to this extent.

It is still unclear why this order was signed now, and what the consequences are for our nation – especially during times of peace. This type of Martial Law imposes a government takeover on U.S. citizens that is typically reserved for national emergencies, not in a time of relative peace.

I want you to know I am following this very closely. If you would like to read the order for yourself please click here.

Sincerely,

Kay Granger
Member of Congress

Get it?

We said this was incredibly bad when Obama signed it and now you are beginning to see what he has in mind for us. Want more? Well, let’s take a stroll all the way back to 2007 shall we? From Maggie’s Notebook:

Senate Bill 787 is known as the Clean Water Restoration Act. OpenCongress.org said it seeks to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the United States over the waters of the United States – which is a change from jurisdiction over only the “navigable waters” of the United States.

In 2007 the EPA and the Department of the Army “clarified” the definition of “Waters of the United States,” as such:

1. All waters which are currently used, or were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;
2. All interstate waters including interstate wetlands;
3. All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds, the use, degradation or destruction of which could affect interstate or foreign commerce including any such waters:
4. (i) Which are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes; or
(ii) From which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce; or
(iii) Which are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;
5. All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this definition;
6. Tributaries of waters identified inparagraphs (s)(1) through (4) of this section;
7. The territorial sea;
8. Wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are themselves wetlands) identified in paragraphs (s)(1) through (6) of this section; waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons designed to meet the requirements of CWA (other than cooling ponds as defined in 40 CFR 423.11(m) which also meet the criteria of this definition) are not waters of the United States.

Then there is this notation at the bottom of the list:

Waters of the United States do not include prior converted cropland. Notwithstanding the determination of an area’s status as prior converted cropland by any other federal agency, for the purposes of the Clean Water Act, the final authority regarding Clean Water Act jurisdiction remains with EPA.

Under Russ Feingold’s bill, the WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES were defined as follows:

(25) WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES- The term `waters of the United States’ means all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.’.

Feingold was forced to defend his legislation against claims that croplands could be considered Waters of the United States. Feingold denied it – said his bill exempted all agricultural lands, but Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) was not convinced. Today, IBD quotes Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK):

House Agricultural Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., says the expanded EPA guidelines would let the government “regulate essentially any body of water, such as a farm pond or even a ditch.” A bipartisan group of 170 congressmen wrote a letter to the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers urging them not to issue the expanded guidelines.

The American Farm Bureau Federation said in a statement that the guidelines “take an overly broad view of ‘waters of the U.S.’ It would serve as a road map for EPA and the Corps to designate nearly all water bodies, and even some on dry land, as subject to federal regulations that dictate land-use decisions.”

Do you see how they are carrying this out now? Where does it stop? Now they own the real estate, the mineral rights, the water… Next stop, the air – and I am not kidding. Thought you were safe because Cass Sunstein leaving would save us? Think again… Someone worse awaits in the wings of the White House – Soviet born Boris Bershteyn. Sponsored and brought to you by Paul Soros – yes, that Soros. The older brother of George Soros. Sigh.

So, while Oregon is experiencing the new “prohibition” and becomes a “dry state,” the rest of the country is ceding the new gold, water, to the federal government and the EPA.

Do you recognize your country any more?

08/5/12

Our patriot Dave fighting to live

By: Andrea Shea King
The Radio Patriot

Deciding to undergo a bone marrow transplant is not an easy decision. My radio show producer Dave “ThirdWaveDave” Logan wrestled with it for months, weighing the options. Should he continue with the chemo regimen he was on, taking the very expensive and experimental drug Tasigna? A therapy to which his body likely would eventually develop an immunity? And if so, how long would it be before that happened? His oncologist told him to expect a year, at most. Dave desperately wanted to be here to vote on November 6th. For him, it was imperative that he cast his ballot against Obama.

And if he opted for a transplant? Dave’s odds were 30 to 50% he’d live through the election.

Dave was managing fairly well with Tasigna. But “fairly well” is a relative term. There were many days when he felt downright miserable, with fatigue, light headedness, nausea, aching joints, hot flashes, and worse. There were many days when he would look to me to provide him with a diversion from his travails. ”I’m fine” he’d curtly reply when I asked how he was feeling. That was my cue to move on to other topics. Not one to dwell on his woes, Dave never wanted to set the table for a pity party, and he wouldn’t let anyone else do it either.

There were days when he felt pretty good, well enough to head to the Clubhouse for morning coffee, the newspaper and a blueberry muffin, or hike into the hill behind his home to explore its beauty. He loved it. The centuries old oak trees, the birds, the wild turkeys that roamed free — all of it. When he felt really well, he’d bring along his camera and tripod to capture the beauty, and once even snapped a photo of himself, phone up to his ear, talking to me about the wood’s peaceful serenity. He remotely tripped the shutter, and produced the photo you see below. Patriot that he is, he brought along a flag, just because…

Dave was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia in late February 2007. It was Sunday, and I was at the radio station, prepping for my two-hour radio show. At that point, Dave and I had known each other for about a year. From the beginning, he was my most loyal radio show listener. He’d be in the “chatroom” before anyone else, without fail. If he was going to miss a show, he’d email to tell me why. His keen interest in my work eventually led us to work together, but on that Sunday, I still hadn’t heard from my show producer.

My concern grew as the day went on. Dave wasn’t answering my calls. With just three hours to go before air time, my phone finally rang. It was Dave, calling from a hospital. He had driven himself there at 3 a.m. the night before when an excruciating pain in his left side became intolerable. Turns out it was his spleen, enlarged nearly to the point of rupture. Had he waited any longer the doctors told him, he likely would have died. He was admitted inpatient, and after a battery of tests and immediate medical attention, the attending physician was pretty sure he knew what was ailing Dave. Leukemia.

Dave diagnosed with CML

The diagnosis was later confirmed with further tests: Chronic Myelogenous or Myeloid Leukemia (CML), a condition brought about when two of the body’s chromosomes swap off and translocate, causing one to trade and attach to another chromosome that isn’t its pair. In this case, the “Philadelphia chromosome” a piece of chromosome 9, attached itself to chromosome 22.

Without getting too technical, this simply means that the two parts — or mismatched chromosomes — now worked together to form a new genetic message. In this case, the message went to the bone marrow, and like the sorcerer’s apprentice with the spellbound water-making broom that wouldn’t stop making water, the chromosomes also wouldn’t stop producing white blood cells, literally flooding Dave’s marrow and bloodstream with myeloid or white blood cells that crowded out everything else — red blood cells, platelets, and other blood components that keep us healthy.

CML is often divided into three phases based on clinical characteristics and laboratory findings. In the absence of medical intervention, CML typically begins in the chronic phase, and over the course of several years progresses to an accelerated phase and ultimately to a blast crisis. Dave’s doctors told him that though his leukemia was still in the chronic phase, his condition was borderline acute. Dave had no way of knowing how long this genetic abnormality had been progressing. He had been feeling unusually tired and achy for a few months, and noticed black and blue bruises where he hadn’t bumped himself, but attributed it to other events taking place in his life. (You can find more information about the Philadelphia Chromosome here.)

How this translocation occurs in some people is still a mystery. Some researchers suspect it is an inherited genetic defect that may or may not affect a person born with it. What triggers the swap is not yet known. For several years Dave lived next to a grid of high-power electric lines. Some suspect that might have something to do with it, while others look upon that as junk science. Still, researchers have yet to isolate the factor that flips the chromosomal switch.

***

How Dave and I met was pure serendipity. The circumstances were related to the National Football League’s 2006 Superbowl halftime program.

Dave was irked that the NFL did not acknowledge our fighting military in Iraq with an appropriate recognition and tribute. He felt they deserved it, had earned it, and he intended to let the top levels of the NFL know just exactly how offended he was at their decision to ignore our fighting men and women during war-time:

“*Not one mention of our military personnel. Al Michaels did make a comment in passing when he welcomed our military viewing audience. But nothing was done on the field, no thanks, no appreciation, no tributes–nothing.

“I decided someone was going to explain this to me, and that “someone” was going to be the NFL.”

He made some calls to the NFL offices. And then he posted the outcome on his blog. The blogpost went viral when it was picked up by radio host Hugh Hewitt, who included it in his column at Townhall.

At the same time, I had very recently interviewed Hewitt on my radio show about his then newly published book “Blog”, a look at the blogging phenomenon and the impact bloggers were having on the nation’s political conversation. While reading Hewitt’s column, I noticed a linked item he had included about a blogger’s efforts to chastise the NFL’s snub of our fighting military in Iraq. Having done several shows about our military, I clicked to the site — ThirdWaveDave’s site — and after reading the post, I wrote Dave an email thanking him for his effort. He responded with a reply, and thus began a relationship that eventually grew into a long-distance friendship and working partnership.

***

Dave had every intention of chronicling his bone marrow – or stem cell – transplant experience for his readers and for others who might also be contemplating or preparing for the same procedure. He wrote on his blog last April:

Most of you know that my health problem back in ’07 was diagnosed as a rare form of leukemia (CML). Long story short–I was approved for a BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT not long ago and I will be chronicling it on this blog. This little procedure will have me in the University of California Davis Cancer Center for a month, maybe longer. Here’s my plan for the time I’m in the hospital:

They have WiFi. A plus for what I’m planning. I would like to track the process from beginning to end, using my words and video. Now I will be in bad shape during the procedure. Also, I will be in an isolation room. The first week starts off with liberal doses of a chemotherapy cocktail, which will bring my immune system down to nearly non-functioning. Then I get the bone marrow transplant, and that’s where the real fun begins. Well, I will be feeling rather poorly at this point. That is, if I even survive the process.

My intentions are to write about the process and to do a short video of me talking about it. A couple things here: One, this is good for me since I won’t be without something to do, a goal to keep me occupied. Two, others with similar conditions, or one of their loved ones, can get a peek into what this transplant process entails. Three, outside of my birth, this will be the single most important event in my life… or death. I want to keep a record of it with the hope that maybe someone else will benefit from my presentation. I hope I can grind it out on those days when I’m doing badly. I’ll just have to see what I’m made of, I suppose.

Dave opened a YouTube account and practiced videotaping and uploading to his new channel. He was ready. And so on May 4th, Dave left for the hospital with camera and tripod in his “go” bag, ready to document the experience.

But once there and undergoing the “liberal doses of a chemotherapy cocktail, which will bring my immune system down to nearly non-functioning”, Dave didn’t feel like doing much at all. He had his laptop with him, but barely eked out a post. He felt miserable. The transplant procedure on the 6th day was a piece of cake compared to having his immune system “scrubbed down to bare wood”, as he put it. And as the days passed, he gradually regained his strength and appetite, and on June 5th he returned home to a sterile environment made so by his roommate and caregiver Rhonda. A visiting nurse checked on him a couple of times a week, and things slowly seemed to be going in the right direction. Dave even managed to walk with Rhonda to the Clubhouse to vote in the California primary.

Two weeks later he was back at UC Davis Cancer Center for dehydration, a dangerous condition in Dave’s situation. They plumped him up with IVs and two days later he was able to return home.

By June 25th, Dave was in distress again. He phoned me one evening, confused, slurring, and generally in a daze. He had forgotten things we had discussed. The following day he was readmitted to the hospital, suffering from kidney failure.

That set in motion the “chamber of horrors” he dreaded. He’s been hospitalized since, with added complications that have placed him in the intensive care unit on a ventilator and other additional life support measures, including dialysis almost every day.

***

Fast forward to today, Sunday, August 5th. I’ve been checking in with his nurse every day to leave Dave messages of encouragement. He’s in and out of consciousness while his body continues its battle to live. A family member keeps me informed, but lately the report is the same every day: he’s in tough shape, very weak, has withdrawn, sleeps most of the time. No change. The nurses convey my messages to him, and I hope they provide him with some comfort and encouragement. But I don’t know…

Seventy-seven months have gone by since I wrote an email to a stranger with the curious name of “ThirdWaveDave”. Thousands of hours on the telephone spent talking about our country and the people who are out to destroy it; about the day-to-day political BS emanating out of Washington and the mouths of various politicians; the tea party movement; Obama’s hidden past and agenda to “transform” America; the corrupt lapdog media; the economy, conservatism and the Constitution… literally hundreds of things that are crucially important to us. We never ran out of topics to discuss. Instead, we ran out of time…

Seventy-seven months in which we have discovered and shared many common interests — a fascination with the JFK assassination and its cover-up; the corrupt world of gambling, casinos and card rooms; American and World history; our love of the military; movies; books; blog writing; technology; interesting people to interview and so much more.

Seventy-seven months of daily exchanges, speed dial calls to each other with “Did you hear what Rush just said?” or “I can’t believe Cavuto just said that!” Our shared disdain of newsroom characters, especially a certain bloviator who leads the cable news ratings, and … well, so much more.

Dave hasn’t been able to communicate for the past five weeks. I don’t know if we’ll ever talk to each other again. He was aware — and apprehensive — that the transplant could “go sideways” as he put it, putting him in a “chamber of horrors”.

His condition seems to be weakening with each day. As one nurse put it, “He takes a tiny step forward, and then slides two steps back.” We thought we were losing him a week ago Friday. The doctors didn’t think he would make it through the night. But he did. And he continues tonight to press on, despite all odds.

One day last week after he awoke from a coma, the ICU doc asked him if he wanted to continue to fight. Dave nodded yes. His medical team is doing all they can to save him.

We hope for a miracle.

I want to publicly thank Dave’s oncologist, Dr. Paul Kaesberg, of whom Dave has spoken highly and for whom he has tremendous respect.

And to Dr. Carol Richman, his transplant physician and Director of the Stem Cell Transplant Program at UC Davis. Dave told me several times of his complete confidence in his medical team led by the exceptional Dr. Richman.

And to the nurses and hospital staff at UC Davis Cancer/Medical Center — especially the ICU team — who have been such compassionate and attentive caregivers to Dave as he battles for life. They’ve been so kind and patient to those of us who have called in asking them to convey to Dave our messages of love and hope.

Dave’s roommate Rhonda has made a collage of cards and notes and photos that friends and family have sent TWD. It hangs with Dave’s American flag on a wall within his sight line. If you would like to add to that collage, send Dave a card or note to:

Wm. David Logan, Patient
Tower 7
MS-ICU
UC Davis Cancer Center
2315 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817

God bless you all. And most of all, God bless our friend and fellow patriot Third Wave Dave. May He hold him in His hand and heal him. Amen.