Monday, June 27, 2011

Sock pics

These two pair I made for DH.  The pair on the right have aloe in them.  So soft to knit with.  He's already worn these pairs several times.

This is a pair I made for me.  I havent worn them yet but they are fairly thick and should be really warm this winter.

And this is the pair that I just finished for him.  He really likes wild colors and I think these are pretty wildly colored.  He hasnt worn them yet but its only a matter of time...

I started another pair for him and am working on another pair for me.  That will be all the socks I knit this summer, too much canning and other things to do like warping my loom for the first time.

And what would a post be without a gratuitous picture of the chickens huh?  Here it is.  The tarp is keeping them in the shade and as soon as I come out of the house they're looking for food...silly chickens it's not time yet for your watermelon or spinach.  They still have their old run attached to this one so they have plenty of room, enough room in fact to have the grass growing in the run and they seem happy enough.  When it rains I have to run out and take down that tarp and if it gets too windy it's not up since the sound of it flapping scares them.  Although you cant see it behind the coop is a fan to keep them cooler under the coop.  Like I said they are spoiled.

Canning pics

Here is a pic of the wheat that grew from our wheat grass.  DH went out and cut it and we are now drying it and maybe just maybe we might have enough to grind...maybe.
Here is a photo of the potatoes from our garden that I canned.  I just did pints...maybe I should have done quarts.
Here is a pic of the blueberries, boysenberries and raspberries that I picked.  The boysenberries are done but I wonder if they refruit in the fall.  The yellow raspberries keep fruiting throughout the summer and sure are yummy.  This year I might get enough to make some jam.  I did do some blueberry jam last night and some peach butter so that leaves me with one basket of peaches yet to do and 8 quarts and counting of blueberries.
This pic is of my lavender drying.  I just let it dry for a couple of weeks and then pull off all the buds and store in a jar.  I will be making some more lavender jelly and I did find a recipe for peach and lavender jam as well...mmmmm.

And finally pics of my hair, yes that's right I cut it off for the cancer patients.  The ponytails were almost 13 inches long.  I will be sending the hair out this week so they can make a wig out of it.  It was really bothering me, too hot for all the hot summer weather and hot flashes that I've been having.
I did even up the cut after I took this pic.

and it's really hard to take a decent picture of yourself by yourself...


Well gotta go back to work, hope your day is going well.

Denise

Friday, June 24, 2011

Everyday things

I know I dont post much but I think I do just very mundane things and dont want to bore you to death. But here goes:

On Tuesday we went and got two big baskets of locally grown peaches from Scott's Orchard. We got some lumber to build a grape harbor. Our grapes are so loaded this year that they are laying on the ground. We do have two small metal trellaces but they are now too small to hold all the branches. I harvested the rest of my small batch of beets. Now that I know that they will do well here I'll be planting more this fall. My popcorn didnt come up...darn. My sunflowers looked like they wouldnt come up either but with the rain everyday one finally poked its head up, well at least that's what I think it is. I will be very disappointed if it turns out that it's a weed instead...LOL. The rain has greened everything up and the garden is doing pretty good. I even got one small paste tomato today. It is from a volunteer that came up near the raspberries. I've been picking about 1/2 to 1 quart of blueberries every day. I'll be making some syrup, butter and jam out of it and I'll still have enough left over to make some blueberry pancakes.

The chickens are laying well, sometimes too well I must say. I will be making some more pickled eggs only this time with beet juice. The fence around the chicken coop needs shored up or something. We need to take a day and fix it but my DH has been so sick since Tuesday. Some intestinal bug. He even called off work two days. Poor thing.

Last night I canned some peach preserves and am planning on doing some more tonight. We went to get some oil and oil filters for the car and truck yesterday, ate at Mildred's Restaurant (buffet was really yummy) and after DH visited the bathroom stopped at the fruit market on the way home. Gotta keep those chicks in watermelon ;) In case you think this was my idea, think again, DH needed to get the oil before the sale ran out so even though he wasnt feeling well we went and got it. He had a coupon. We went to the wrong store. He noticed this when we were at the cash register and mentioned that we had come to the wrong store and he had a coupon for the other store. The manager honored the coupon! So we got $10 off our purchase. DH was happy about being able to use the coupon and we didnt have to stop anywhere else which was good considering.

I finished one pair of socks for him and started another for him. Havent been doing much crafting, been reading instead.

Talk to ya later!

Denise

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

New NIA email

Add billionaire "Bond King" founder of Pimco, Bill Gross, to the nearly 1 million people who have watched NIA's critically acclaimed documentary 'College Conspiracy'! In Gross' brand new July newsletter that he released today, he focused entirely on a college education in America being a waste and featured many of the facts, statistics, and viewpoints that NIA was the first to expose to the world in 'College Conspiracy'.



It is not a coincidence that before the release of 'College Conspiracy' 5 weeks ago, almost nobody in the U.S. was calling college education a scam. Since the release of 'College Conspiracy', in a period of just 5 weeks there have been literally hundreds of articles and stories in the mainstream media about how college is a scam and why American students are much better off avoiding college all together.



We would like to thank all NIA members who worked tirelessly to spread the word about 'College Conspiracy'. When we all work together to spread the facts and truth about the U.S. economy and inflation, our message is able to reach nearly every single American across the country!



We just posted Gross' July newsletter to our blog for you to see: http://inflation.us/blog/2011/06/bill-gross-appears-to-have-watched-college-conspiracy/

New NIA email

Bernanke to Invent New Term for Printing Money



When the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) reported their latest consumer price index (CPI) inflation data last week, everybody in the mainstream media worked tirelessly to spin the data in order to proclaim that U.S. price inflation is not a problem. Most articles in the media reported that inflation slowed in May due to falling gas prices. The truth is, gas prices rose last month and U.S. price inflation is spiraling out of control.



Price inflation based on the CPI on a year-over-year basis rose during the month of May to 3.57%, up from 3.16% in April, 2.68% in March, 2.11% in February, 1.63% in January, 1.5% in December, and 1.1% in November. The official rate of price inflation has more than tripled over the past 6 months. Yes, maybe the rate of year-over-year price inflation rose by slightly less in May over April, than it did in April over March, but this isn't good news at all. This U.S. dollar is still rapidly losing its purchasing power and the rate at which it is declining in purchasing power is accelerating.



On an unadjusted basis, gas prices rose 3.6% in the month of May. The media is reporting gas prices based on the BLS's seasonal adjustments. Only with the BLS's deceptive seasonal adjustments did gas prices decline by 2% in the month of May. The BLS's seasonal adjustments will actually reverse starting in the month of July and add to reported gasoline prices. NIA predicts that come August when the BLS releases its July CPI report, the media will begin focusing on unadjusted gasoline prices because the unadjusted gain will be less than the adjusted one. The media always reports the data that supports their agenda and ignores the data that works against it.



The media is obviously just saying what the U.S. government wants them to say. Larry Summers, a Keynesian economist who served for 5 years last decade as President of Harvard and was up until late-2010 director of President Obama's White House National Economic Council, just said last week that, "the underlying rate of inflation is still trending downwards". The media's favorite economist Paul Krugman, a Keynesian who has an op-ed column in the New York Times, said last week that, "There’s really nothing here to shake my view that deflation, not inflation, is the threat."



Krugman, who has been calling for massive price deflation the whole entire time that NIA has been predicting massive price inflation, is refusing to admit he has been wrong and is telling all Americans to ignore rapidly rising food and energy prices because he claims they are too volatile. He is telling the world to focus solely on the core CPI, which ignores food and energy, the two items that Americans need most to live and survive. Core CPI is weighed heavily by rents and America's Real Estate bubble still isn't done deflating. The only purpose of having a core CPI is for Keynesian economists like Krugman to use it to mislead Americans and deceive them into believing that inflation is not a problem.



Core CPI was an invention of the Nixon administration, which right there should tell you all you need to know about it. President Nixon's idea for creating core CPI, was to deceive Americans about price inflation by excluding the items that were rising the most, which he would justify by calling these items "too volatile". NIA has predicted from the very beginning that inflation will not effect all goods and services equally and that as inflation begins to spiral out of control, inflation would gravitate most towards the prices of the items that Americans need the most, and there is nothing that Americans need more than food and agricultural products, and to a lesser extent energy.



Whenever the mainstream media reports about global inflation and they show a map of the world, the map always shows massive inflation in Middle Eastern and Asian countries, with the U.S. having the least price inflation. The truth is, inflation in Middle Eastern and Asian countries isn't many times worse than the U.S., it is just that their governments are many times more honest and aren't as advanced in manipulating economic statistics as our government is. While all of the headlines from major American news organizations about U.S. inflation said last week that inflation is slowing and not a problem, those same news organizations wrote articles about Chinese inflation being at a new 34-month high of 5.5%. The fact is, official U.S. price inflation is also at its highest level in nearly three years and our real price inflation rate is actually higher than China's reported rate of price inflation.



Based on the BLS's CPI, year-over-year U.S. price inflation in the month of May of 3.57% was the highest year-over-year price inflation rate since October of 2008, right before the global financial crisis. If it wasn't for the global financial crisis of late-2008/early-2009 and the world's mistake of liquidating real assets and hoarding fiat U.S. dollars as a safe haven, it is likely that the official rate of U.S. price inflation would already be in the double-digits today. NIA estimates the real rate of U.S. price inflation, minus geometric weighting and hedonics, to currently be approximately 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. It is possible that the real U.S. price inflation rate will reach double digits in the second half of 2011. That will be devastating to the U.S. economy because at that point it will just about guarantee that the Federal Reserve will have to raise the federal funds rate to north of 10% by the middle of this decade.



The Federal Reserve's balance sheet just reached a brand new record of $2.832 trillion, up from $2.815 trillion in the prior week, as we approach the end of QE2 at the end of June. The stock market is already anticipating the end of QE2 with the Dow Jones currently down over 900 points from its high at the end of April. The declining stock market is pretty much sowing the seeds for a QE3. After all, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn't want to see the phony U.S. economic recovery blow up in smoke.



Bernanke will do everything possible to disguise QE3 and will never admit to there being a QE3. Remember, this is the same Federal Reserve Chairman who lied to every single American on '60 Minutes' when he said, "We're not printing money." That is exactly what QE2 is, printing money, but just like how Bernanke won't admit to printing money, Bernanke is now going to retire the term "quantitative easing" and come up with a new term for the Fed's latest destructive policy of creating massive monetary inflation.



It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Just couldnt resist this one!

Father's day how it started...

Father's Day, in the United States, is a holiday (third Sunday in June) to honour fathers. Credit for originating the holiday is generally given to Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, whose father, a Civil War veteran, raised her and her five siblings after their mother died in childbirth. She is said to have had the idea in 1909 while listening to a sermon on Mother's Day, which at the time was becoming established as a holiday. Local religious leaders supported the idea, and the first Father's Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, the month of the birthday of Dodd's father. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge gave his support to the observance, and in 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson officially proclaimed it a national holiday. Observance on the third Sunday of June was decreed by law in 1972.

Although it was originally largely a religious holiday, Father's Day has been commercialized with the sending of greeting cards and the giving of gifts. Some observe the custom of wearing a red rose to indicate that one's father is living or a white rose to indicate that he is deceased. Other males—for example, grandfathers or uncles who have assumed parenting roles—are often also honoured on the day. Some Roman Catholics have continued to observe the feast day of Saint Joseph, on March 19, as a tribute to fathers. - History Channel

For a lot more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father's_Day

The link above also has Father's Day list for other countries. Very interesting...didnt know everyone celebrated it and Mother's Day as well...

P.S. - You'll have to copy and paste the link, dont know what happened to it, sorry.

Denise

Melons now a Monsanto "invention"

US corporation awarded a European patent on conventionally bred melons.

Recent research conducted by the coalition No Patents on Seeds! shows that in May 2011, the US corporation Monsanto was awarded a European patent on conventionally bred melons (EP 1 962 578). Melons have a natural resistance to certain plant viruses. It is especially evident in melons grown in India. Using conventional breeding methods, this type of resistance was introduced to other melons and has now been patented as a Monsanto “invention”.

“This patent is an abuse of patent law because it is not a real invention. It contravenes European law excluding patents on conventional breeding. Further, it is a case of bio-piracy, since the original and most relevant plants come from India,” says Christoph Then, a spokesperson for No Patents on Seeds!. “Patents like this are blocking access to the genetic resources necessary for further breeding, and basic resources needed for daily life are subordinated to monopolisation and financial speculation.”

In a precedent decision, the European Patent Office (EPO) decided in December 2010, that conventional breeding could not be patented (G2/07 and G1/08). However, in the Monsanto patent case, the EPO just excluded the process for melon breeding. The plants and all parts of the plant, such as the seeds and the melon fruit, have been patented as an invention. Therefore, the patent was only changed cosmetically but not in substance.

The actual plant disease, Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV), has been spreading through North America, Europe and North Africa for several years. Monsanto can now block access to breeding material inheriting genetic conditions that confer resistance. DeRuiter, a well known seed company in the Netherlands, originally developed the melons. DeRuiter used plants designated PI 313970 – a non-sweet melon from India. Monsanto acquired the seed company in 2008, and now also owns the patent.

The coalition No Patents on Seeds! are calling for a revision of European Patent Law to exclude breeding material, plants and animals and food derived thereof from patentability. More than 160 organisations and about 15.000 individuals have already signed up to this call that was started in March 2011.


Wow, now they'll be getting into other veggies and fruits as well. Kinda scary isnt it? It's like the whole world is their laboratory. - Denise

Sunday, June 12, 2011

New NIA email

Here are the top 10 most important economic questions that NIA answered during the past week.



NIAnswers is currently offline as we program the final version of our software. Up until now, NIAnswers was in the beta phase. The final version should be online by the end of June. Until then, please email your economic questions to us.



1) I bought silver when NIA declared it the best investment for the next decade at $17 per ounce. Should I get out now while I am still up big? For my friends who don't own silver, should I tell them it is too late to invest? What is your outlook for silver in the second half of 2011?
It is dangerous not to own gold and silver. Although the U.S. dollar seems like a safe haven to most Americans because it has a number on it that always stays the same, the U.S. dollar is a fiat currency with no real value because it is no longer backed by gold. The only reason the U.S. dollar still has any purchasing power at all is due to the public's perception that it will always be accepted as money. Gold is the world's most stable asset and silver possesses all of the same monetary qualities as gold, but is a lot more volatile than gold.

We believe silver is a much better bargain than gold because the gold/silver ratio is currently 42 and during periods of high inflation it always declines to 16, which is where the Coinage Act of 1834 defined their values until silver was demonitized in 1873. Ever since silver was demonitized, America has been a fiat country gone insane with Americans being brainwashed into believing silver is only an industrial metal and paper dollars are money. Bernanke's devastating inflationary monetary policies will soon wake Americans up to the truth and we will see a decline in the ratio back to 16 or below permanently, which means we will see at least a 2.625 times increase in purchasing power for those who own silver vs. gold from their current levels. We are 100% confident the gold/silver ratio will at least decline to 16 this decade.

Because silver has been so undervalued for so long with a gold/silver ratio averaging north of 50 for the past century, most silver produced in recent decades has been consumed by industrial purposes and there are actually much larger inventories of gold available above ground today. Most likely we will probably see the gold/silver ratio overcorrect to the downside, possibly down to 10 or lower. Only 10 times more silver has been produced in world history than gold so a gold/silver ratio of 10 is actually a very realistic possibility. This means those who own silver will likely more than quadruple their purchasing power from current levels this decade, while Americans with savings in U.S. dollars lose all of their purchasing power.

COMEX registered physical silver inventories have declined 30% over the past six weeks down to 28.8 million ounces or just $1 billion worth of silver. A major shortage of physical silver is developing. A COMEX default is likely coming in the near-future as those holding futures contracts demand physical delivery and COMEX can't deliver. This could cause an explosion in silver prices, possibly to $100 per ounce overnight.

Silver prices rose too far too fast during the month of April. When we announced silver as the best investment for the next decade at $17 per ounce, we never thought silver would nearly reach $50 per ounce in early 2011. We were looking for silver to reach $50 per ounce in late 2011 with a decline in the gold/silver ratio this year to 38.

When silver reached a new all time nominal high of near $50 per ounce in April, the gold/silver ratio temporarily declined as low as 30.5, far below NIA's outlook for 2011 of 38. Silver prices were due for a natural pullback, but because COMEX raised margin requirements on multiple occasions right when silver began to dip, we saw a very rapid and steep pullback in silver prices due to forced liquidations, profit taking, and panic selling. The timing of COMEX's margin requirement increases can be described in no other way than manipulation.



COMEX has been manipulating down the price of silver in order to help their friends at JP Morgan, who have a huge silver naked short position. The manipulation has allowed JP Morgan to decrease its silver short position to just about its lowest level since it was acquired in 2008 from Bear Stearns with the backing of the Federal Reserve. Without this manipulation, it is possible that after a brief pullback, JP Morgan would be covering its silver short position today above $50 per ounce.

Although the pullback in silver was steep, this was not unexpected. It is something that NIA has warned about on countless occasions. We believe the pullback in silver is now over and most of the silver sold by speculators is now owned by stronger hands that are holding for the long-term. In our opinion, silver will make another move towards $50 per ounce and instead of pulling back, this time silver will break $50 per ounce and reach new all time nominal highs. We don't see much downsize risk for silver, because there are many investors who are waiting to buy as much silver as possible on any kind of dip from these levels.

2) What do you think about the new Utah money where people will be able to pay taxes and each other in gold and silver coins? Do you think this will pass the U.S. Senate and what will that do to silver?

Utah just legalized gold and silver as a currency, which is something that NIA strongly supports. Gold and silver will now be exempt from state capital gains tax in Utah. However, Utah doesn't have the power to exempt it from Federal capital gains tax. We support Ron Paul for President in the 2012 election because he will eliminate Federal taxes on gold and silver. After all, when gold prices go up you actually aren't making money. You are simply retaining your purchasing power as the U.S. dollar goes down. Ron Paul is the only candidate who understands this and understands that the U.S. constitution mandated only gold and silver to be used as legal tender. Fiat currencies are unconstitutional. Ben Bernanke is a criminal who is stealing the wealth of all Americans through inflation and NIA will not stop until all Americans understand the truth.

3) At the price of gold and silver now, is it safe to continue to purchase these metals? When do you plan to sell?

We are still buying gold and silver, and we will hold our gold and silver until the Dow Jones/gold ratio at least declines to 1, the median U.S. home/silver ratio at least declines to 1,000, and the gold/silver ratio at least declines to 16. Only when these ratios are met will it be a sign that it is time to diversify from precious metals. However, we will never sell precious metals in order to buy a fiat currency. We plan to use our precious metals to buy dirt cheap Real Estate in the U.S. once the market has completely bottomed, which is still many years away from happening.

4) What do you mean when you say, "No amount of tax increases and spending decreases will ever allow the U.S. to balance its budget."? Is there no way out of this hole? Is there no way to turn this bus around and prevent it from going over a cliff and into the abyss of hyperinflation?

If the government acted immediately and cut expenses across the board by 50% including entitlement programs, and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to at least 5% or 6%, we believe hyperinflation could be prevented. However, the government doesn't believe inflation is a problem because the Fed looks at the core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes food and energy, because the Fed says food and energy inflation is transitory. The core CPI is mainly comprised of rents, which is very misleading because rents aren't going to rise by much in the short-term being that we just had the largest Real Estate bubble in history that still isn't done deflating.

Even core CPI will begin rising dramatically eventually. When price inflation becomes so large that the government realizes something must be done and can no longer ignore it, it will be too late. Our budget deficit as a percentage of annual government expenditures is at a level that many other countries were at right before they experienced hyperinflation. What triggered hyperinflation in prior instances is when foreigners stopped lending and a country's own central bank needed to print the money to fund the bulk of a country's deficit spending. We believe our two largest foreign lenders China and Japan are about to pull the plug on the U.S. and the Federal Reserve will become the U.S. treasury buyer of last resort. The Fed already owns more U.S. treasuries than China and Japan, but soon the Fed will be the only treasury buyer left.

If we wait another year to make dramatic spending cuts, it will be too late because soon we will have to deal with rising interest payments on our national debt. The annual interest we pay on our national debt is currently only around $200 billion per year due to our artificially low interest rates. When rates start to rise, annual interest on our debt could easily exceed $1 trillion and cause our budget deficits to explode even higher. The first place the U.S. needs to cut is the military. We need to leave Afghanistan immediately now than Bin Laden is dead and we must stop attacking countries that are no threat to us like Libya.

5) One of the issues that has propped up the dollar for decades is the ability of the U.S. government to "enforce" the dollar because of its enormous and superior military. What are your thoughts about this?

We don't think we can threaten other countries by force and make them continue buying U.S. treasuries because if they stopped buying our debt, the dollar would collapse and we won't have the resources to fund our military. Some people believe the world is buying our treasuries because they like the U.S. military policing the world, but we strongly disagree. We believe the world resents the U.S. for maintaining its 700 military bases in 130 countries. In our opinion, we are gaining enemies this way. China and Japan would be much better off using the money they spend on U.S. treasuries to expand the size of their own militaries. When the dollar collapses due to hyperinflation, no longer will the U.S. be the world's superpower due to its military. China's military will eventually exceed the size of ours. Our current military empire where we spend just about the same on defense as the rest of the world combined is unsustainable and over the long-term this wasteful spending is making us a lot less safe as a result. Having a safe and stable currency is the most important fundamental building block of having a safe and stable country.

6) We have a nation full of incredibly financially smart folks who should be concentrating on the solution instead of the problem. Where are they and why isn't anyone stepping up to the plate to try to save our country? I heard that Donald Trump had a plan to get us out of debt but don't know what that plan is. Have you heard about this plan and is it credible?

Donald Trump isn't very credible when it comes to getting out of debt, because his casino company is one of the most indebted companies in the world and it has filed for bankruptcy on numerous occasions. But then again, the U.S. is for all intents and purposes bankrupt so if Donald Trump changed his mind and decided to run for President, he could campaign based on his experience with reorganizing under bankruptcy and keeping companies alive and operating despite them being bankrupt. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has screwed over his shareholders countless times who were left with nothing, so he would probably also screw over holders of U.S. dollars who would be left with worthless pieces of paper that have no purchasing power.

7) When do you expect inflation to crimp the margins of consumer discretionary stocks?

Inflation is already hurting the margins of many consumer discretionary stocks that have been reporting earnings in recent weeks, which is something NIA predicted would happen late last year. Retailers are passing some of their rising costs on to their customers, but are reluctant to pass all of them on. Many retailers are passing on 1/2 of their rising wholesale costs by raising retail prices and eating the other 1/2 through shrinking gross margins. This same thing is happening to the product manufacturers who are seeing large raw material input cost increases. They are eating some of their rising costs to stay competitive and passing the rest on to their customers. Many manufacturers and retailers are hoping that Bernanke is right and that commodity inflation is transitory. Although some commodities have run too far too fast and will dip in the short-term as the dollar makes a possible temporary bounce, we can assure you that inflation is not transitory and the dollar collapse has just begun.

8) NIA says there is no chance of the U.S. ever balancing its budget, without eliminating the so-called untouchable entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. How exactly would the disabled live if these entitlement programs were gone? It sounds like retirement would have to be eliminated. Would a person basically have to work to death?

Retirement will become a thing of the past for Americans relying on Social Security to retire as well as Americans with their savings in U.S. dollars. Seniors who are not relying on Social Security and have at least one third of the savings necessary to retire, and are smart enough to invest their savings now into silver, we believe will be able to retire and stay retired as they will increase their purchasing power while the rest of America goes broke. NIA expects to see a major trend in the upcoming years of retired Americans reentering the workforce as their Social Security checks continue to buy less and less. Seniors haven't seen any Social Security cost-of-living adjustment increases in years, despite there being massive price inflation, especially for food and energy. Adjusted for real price inflation, Americans receiving Social Security today should be receiving almost triple the amount that they are currently receiving.

9) When the U.S. dollar drops to zero value and it becomes necessary to use gold for daily needs, how will the exchange of goods for gold be accomplished? How do I use a 1 ounce gold coin, with present value of about $1,500, to purchase a loaf of bread and/or a quart of milk, for example? How will these 1 ounce coins be broken down?

It is possible to buy American Eagle and Canadian Maple Leaf gold coins that are as small as 1/10 of an ounce, but NIA strongly recommends against buying these coins because you will likely end up paying a 15% premium for them compared to just a 4% premium for the 1 ounce versions of these coins. We believe silver will be more commonly used for bartering purposes, as silver is currently around $36 per ounce and a few ounces of silver can easily buy a week's worth of groceries for a family. In fact, with the gold/silver ratio currently at 42 despite the fact that only 10 times more silver has been produced in world history than gold (with most of this silver being consumed for industrial purposes never to be seen again), NIA believes silver is undervalued compared to gold and will increase around 3 to 4 times in purchasing power compared to gold this decade. Therefore, it is possible that only 1 ounce of silver could be enough to buy a week's worth of groceries for a family during hyperinflation.

10) One of your stock suggestions from August of 2009 was Capital Gold at $2.48 per share and it was recently acquired by Gammon Gold for $6.56 per share. Do you have any opinions on Gammon?



A few weeks ago one of NIA's co-founders had a meeting with the co-founders of Gammon Gold (they left Gammon years ago and we didn't know them until after Gammon had already acquired Capital Gold). They told us that they have strong confidence in Gammon's current management team. We believe Gammon is a solid company for the long-term, but we also believe there are much bigger opportunities out there. We liked Capital Gold because it was one of the lowest market cap publicly traded gold producers that was profitable with a strong balance sheet. Gammon was very smart for acquiring Capital Gold because it was accretive to their EPS. However, it will be very difficult for Gammon to grow organically. Gammon's future revenue growth will likely come from both rising gold prices and possible further acquisitions. It will be hard for them to find another amazing acquisition opportunity like Capital Gold was. Gammon is changing its corporate name and starting next week will be known as AuRico Gold.



NIA is not an investment advisor. NIA's NIAnswers are meant for informational and educational purposes only. Never make investment decisions based on any information contained in any of NIA's NIAnswers. Just because many of NIA's previous economic predictions and forecasts were accurate, doesn't mean NIA's future economic predictions and forecasts will be accurate. All of NIA's predictions and forecasts could turn out to be completely wrong.



It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Just finished reading this book, It's very good!

Foodborne illnesses

It's amazing to me that people think that big business can actually get rid of the foodborne illnesses that they create by having more regulations, injecting more antibiotics and so on. Seems to me we didnt have these problems back in my Great-grandparents day when most of the food was raised by small farmers. Maybe the government will have it's duh moment soon. I had to add the regulation about the shell-egg cause I wasnt really sure what it was. Let's dip all those eggs in chlorine people and make sure all the natural coating put on them by the chickens is off. That's why you have to keep store eggs refrigerated by the way, no natural coating - eggs rot. Get rid of big business in foods and you will see a decline in e-coli and other foodborne illnesses and that's all I have to say about that :) - Denise

In U.S., Salmonella Is on the Rise While E. Coli Retreats

CDC says salmonella now causes majority of hospitalizations linked to foodborne illness.


By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay News


TUESDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) — As a deadly new strain of E. coli in Europe makes headlines, U.S. health officials announced Tuesday that salmonella, not E. coli, remains the biggest foodborne health threat to Americans.

In fact, while rates of several types of foodborne illness — including E. coli — have been falling over the past 15 years, there's been no progress against salmonella infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While infections from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157 (the strain of most concern in the United States) have dropped almost in half and the rates of six other foodborne infections have been cut 23 percent, salmonella infections have risen 10 percent, the agency said.

"There are about 50 million people each year who become sick from food in the U.S. That's about one in six Americans," CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said during a noon press conference Tuesday.

In addition, about 128,000 people are hospitalized and about 3,000 die from foodborne illnesses each year, he added.

"We need to do more, because foodborne illnesses are too common," Frieden said.

The CDC's report on foodborne illness is timely in light of the deadly E. coli outbreak in Germany, which has already sickened more than 2,200 and caused 22 deaths. The E. coli found in Germany is a cousin to E. coli O157 found in the United States. Both produce the Shiga toxin that can cause kidney failure and death.

This new report from the CDC includes data from the 2010 CDC's Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, called FoodNet, which collects data on laboratory confirmed cases of foodborne illness.

In 2010, there were 20,000 illnesses, 4,200 hospitalizations and 68 deaths from nine types of foodborne infections, reported via FoodNet.

Of those, salmonella accounted for 8,200 infections, including 2,300 hospitalizations and 29 deaths. That's 54 percent of all hospitalizations and 43 percent of the deaths reported through FoodNet, according to the CDC.

And that's likely just the tip of the iceberg, because for every laboratory-confirmed case of salmonella there are at least 29 unreported cases, the agency says.

Speaking at the press conference, Michael R. Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said that "by implementing the new Shell-Egg Safety Rule, we expect the rule to reduce the number of salmonella infections for eggs by nearly 60 percent."

However, at its best, that would still only translate to a reduction of about 10 percent of all salmonella cases, Frieden noted.

On the positive side, the rate of E. coli O157 cases, which can be a deadly infection have been cut in half over the past 15 years. This strain, affected two in every 100,000 people in 1997, had dropped to 0.9 cases per 100,000 by 2010, the CDC noted.

This reduction in infections from E. coli O157 is largely due to to better detection and investigation of outbreaks, cleaner slaughterhouse methods, better testing of ground beef for E. coli, improved inspections of ground beef processing plants, regulations prohibiting E. coli O157 in ground beef and increased awareness of the importance of properly cooking beef, the agency said.

Other foodborne illnesses that fell in incidence over the same time period include those caused by the campylobacter, listeria, vibrio and yersinia pathogens.

To reduce their risk of foodborne illness, people should assume that raw chicken and other meat have bacteria that can make you sick. In the kitchen, raw meats should not allow to contaminate counter tops or cutting boards and should be kept away from other foods, such as fruits and vegetables, the CDC advises.

In addition, while washing fruits and vegetables is important, meat and poultry should never be washed, Also, meat, poultry, eggs and shellfish should be cooked thoroughly. And, one should not drink unpasteurized milk and juice and not eat unpasteurized soft cheese, the CDC says.

Commenting on the CDC report, infectious disease expert Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at New York University in New York City, said that "although there has been some progress, foodborne illness is still a major problem."

These infections often spring from livestock, Siegel said, "and we create the problem by the way the animals are bred and fed," he said. "We generate the salmonella problem with the way we raise chickens."

"They are compressed in cages standing in their own poop," Siegel said. "They are raised in squalid conditions that breeds salmonella."

The only way to effectively decrease salmonella infection is to vaccinate chickens against the bacteria and pasteurize eggs, he said.

In addition, cattle are fed grain, which breeds bacteria such as E. coli, he added. On top of that, livestock are often given vast amounts of antibiotics, which can create antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, he said.

Siegel noted that bacterial contamination of produce usually comes from animal waste, which then contaminates water used to irrigate fruits and vegetables.

"It's easy to teach people how to barbecue properly, but how about getting the bugs out of the meat in the first place?" he said.

Until food production practices are improved there will be more outbreaks of foodborne illness, Siegel said. "Outbreaks are inevitable," he said.


FDA Improves Egg Safety



Content provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a regulation to help make eggs safer to eat.

The regulation will reduce the number of illnesses caused by eggs contaminated with the bacterium Salmonella enteritidis (SE).

The regulation, released to the public on July 7, 2009, requires the egg industry to take specific preventive measures to keep eggs safe during their production, storage and transport. Egg producers will also be required to register with FDA and to maintain a prevention plan and records to show they are following the regulation.

FDA took this action because SE is a major cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Eating raw or undercooked eggs is an important source of SE infections in people. FDA estimates that 142,000 illnesses each year are caused by consuming eggs contaminated with SE.

FDA first proposed the regulation on September 22, 2004. The agency has held three public meetings and opened two comment periods to ensure public participation in the rule-making process.

About Salmonella Enteritidis (SE)

SE infections can be very serious, even life-threatening, especially to the very young, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems. Infected people may experience
diarrhea
fever
abdominal cramps
headache
nausea
vomiting

Some infected people may suffer from severe illness, arthritis, or even death.

Eggs can become contaminated on the farm because a laying hen can become infected with SE and pass the bacteria into the egg before it is laid. If the egg is not refrigerated, the bacteria can grow inside the uncracked, whole egg.

FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture carried out a series of egg safety efforts during the 1990s. These efforts focused on refrigeration to limit the growth of bacteria that may be inside an egg. Although these efforts made it harder for the bacteria to grow, they did not prevent the eggs from becoming contaminated initially on the farm. Through the measures spelled out in the new regulation, which address controlling the bacteria on the farm, SE will be reduced in the poultry house and consequently in the eggs themselves.

How Consumers Are Affected

The regulation means that eggs will be safer for people to eat.

The regulation will reduce the risk that eggs from an estimated 3,300 farms that produce most of the U.S. egg supply will be contaminated with SE. As a result, an estimated 79,000 illnesses and 30 deaths will be avoided each year—that’s a reduction of nearly 60 percent in egg-related illnesses from SE.

In addition to the new safety measures being taken by industry, consumers can reduce their risk of foodborne illness by following a few simple steps:
Only buy eggs if they are sold from a refrigerator or refrigerated case.
Open the carton and make sure that the eggs are clean and the shells are not cracked.
Refrigerate the eggs promptly after purchase.
Cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Monday, June 6, 2011

NIA Releases U.S. Economic and Inflation Update

The official U.S. unemployment rate rose during the month of May to 9.1%, up from 9% in April, with only 54,000 non-farm jobs being created for the month. The real unemployment rate including short and long-term discouraged workers is now 22.3%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) used the birth/death model to produce a positive monthly bias during the month of May of 206,000 jobs, up from 175,000 in April, 117,000 in March, and 112,000 in February. Without the birth/death model, 152,000 jobs were lost during the month of May.



By utilizing the birth/death model, the BLS is assuming that during the month of May, the number of new jobs created by start-up businesses were 206,000 greater than the number of jobs lost from companies going out of business. NIA finds this assumption to be absurd and believes it is likely that jobs lost from companies going out of business were actually much higher than jobs created by new start-up firms. It is obvious to us that the BLS is using the birth/death model to manipulate unemployment figures to make the U.S. employment situation seem far less worse than it truly is. There is absolutely no legitimate reason for the birth/death model upward bias to have increased 84% over the past three months.



McDonald's recently had their own "National Hiring Day" in which they encouraged Americans to apply for new jobs at the company. All together, 1 million Americans applied for 62,000 jobs at McDonald's and over 900,000 Americans had to be turned down. To us, this is a sign that despite government economic statistics that are bottom bouncing from their lows due to the Federal Reserve printing trillions of dollars out of thin air, the U.S. economy is still in a severe downturn without the possibility of a real recovery. It is NIA's belief that the Fed needs to allow the U.S. economy to enter into a severe depression where all bad debts can be liquidated and the free market can rebalance the economy from the ground-floor with a solid foundation.



The fact that the BLS needs to resort to deceptive birth/death model manipulative practices to give the appearance of any job creation, proves that the Federal Reserve's destructive monetary policies of zero percent interest rates and endless money printing are not creating a sustainable reduction in the unemployment rate. Bernanke can claim all he wants that America's inflation is transitory, but the only thing transitory about our economy is the artificial decline in the official U-3 unemployment rate from its peak in October of 2009 of 10.1%. The real unemployment rate has increased since October of 2009 and NIA believes that the official unemployment rate will likely rise back into double-digit territory in 2012.



From October of 2009 until now, the number of employed Americans has increased by 1.09% while the U.S. population has increased by 1.12%. The only reason the official unemployment rate has declined from 10.1% down to 9.1% is a decline in the labor force participation rate from 65.1% down to 64.2%. Based on what the labor force would be today if the participation rate had stayed the same over the past 20 months and factoring in the increasing population, 2.1 million Americans have completely given up looking for work.



The 1.09% increase in employed Americans over the past 20 months comes at the expense of a $1.30 increase in the price of gas from $2.48 to $3.78 per gallon for a gain of 52% during this time period. Many agricultural commodities have increased over the past 20 months by an even greater percentage than gas. Although prices of all commodities are volatile and have many short-term ups and downs, NIA believes that gas prices are heading to $5 per gallon over the next 12 months and food inflation is going to rapidly accelerate in the months and years ahead.



Prices are now beginning to rapidly rise for U.S. goods outside of the food and energy sectors. 90% of sporting goods manufacturers have seen their input costs rise substantially this year and 41% of them have already announced major price increases for athletic apparel, footwear, and sports equipment. As the 8,000 toy manufacturers in China are forced to raise the wages they pay their employees, Toys R' Us is now beginning to see major wholesale price increases for their products, which they will have to pass on to U.S. consumers. Hasbo recently raised prices on all of their products by 6% to 7%. Mattel recently imposed an across the board high single digit price increase after reporting a 33% decline in quarterly profits (despite sales surging by 8%) due to skyrocketing raw material costs.



The U.S. is about to be cut off from its two largest foreign lenders China and Japan, which means the Federal Reserve will need to fund all of the U.S. government's deficit spending through outright money printing. Federal Reserve holdings of U.S. treasuries just reached a new record of $1.532 trillion. Meanwhile, China's U.S. treasury holdings have fallen five months in a row down to $1.145 trillion. Chinese central bankers are now calling for the country to reduce their foreign exchange reserves, which have increased by $200 billion this year up to over $3 trillion. Japan is currently the third largest holder of U.S. treasuries with treasury holdings of $907.9 billion. Unfortunately, Japan is in desperate need to raise $300 billion to fund their rebuilding efforts and this will likely come from them dumping some of their U.S. treasuries, during a time when the U.S. desperately needs Japan to buy more U.S. treasuries than ever before.



If we look back at previous occurrences of hyperinflation in countries like Bolivia and Brazil, hyperinflation broke out as soon as their central banks were forced to begin monetizing the bulk of their government's deficit spending, as foreigners stopped lending. China's inflation crisis is a direct result of the Fed's quantitative easing and the monetary inflation that we have exported to them in return for their sporting goods, toys, and other products they produce. If China stops buying U.S. treasuries and decides to instead use their foreign currency reserves to accumulate gold that can be used to back their own currency, the Fed will have no other choice but to become the U.S. treasury buyer of last resort. Not only will we see quantitative easing to infinity, but we will see the $1.5 trillion in excess reserves currently parked at the Fed enter into the money supply and increase the money supply by as much as $15 trillion.



Besides gold, one place where the Chinese are investing their money in order to diversify out of U.S. dollars is Real Estate. Housing prices in Beijing and Shanghai rose 28% and 26% last year respectively. With concerns that Chinese Real Estate is becoming a bubble, the Chinese are now buying Real Estate in North America. However, they are avoiding the U.S. Real Estate market because of the civil unrest that will take place in major U.S. cities during hyperinflation due to empty store shelves. The most popular destination for the Chinese in North America is Vancouver, where Real Estate prices are now more expensive than New York City. While New York City Real Estate prices still haven't finished deflating, Vancouver Real Estate prices are soaring to new record highs due to Chinese buyers, with the average Vancouver home price rising 14% last year. In the Westside section of Vancouver, housing prices are up 77% since 2005.



Canada's GDP grew by 3.9% in the first quarter of 2011 on an annualized basis, up from 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2010, 2.5% in the third quarter of 2010, and 2.3% in the second quarter of 2010. Canada's GDP growth has increased for four straight quarters. U.S. GDP growth in the first quarter of 2011 declined to 1.8% on an annualized basis, down from 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper just announced plans on Friday to attract more foreign capital and diversify trade in an attempt to protect Canada from a collapsing U.S. economy.

The U.S. still has a AAA credit rating even with its 2011 budget deficit projected to reach 43% of government expenditures, exactly the same as Brazil's budget deficit as a percentage of expenditures right before they experienced hyperinflation. There is a major charade taking place in Washington today where Republicans are calling for spending cuts to take place in order for them to approve an increase in the debt ceiling. NIA predicts that the debt ceiling will be raised no matter what, most likely at the very last minute. We have zero confidence that Washington will implement any kind of meaningful spending cuts. The U.S. government clearly chose inflation over austerity in its attempt to stimulate the economy. It doesn't make sense for them to reverse course now, because then they will look incompetent for not having chosen austerity to begin with.



The U.S. currently has a budget deficit from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other mandatory programs alone, without even paying the interest on our national debt. Major entitlement spending cuts are necessary if we are going to have even the slightest hope of balancing the budget and preventing hyperinflation. Unfortunately, most Americans have become dependent on entitlement programs and government transfer payments just to survive. These Americans fail to realize that the reason they are dependent on food stamps and other transfer payments to survive is because of the government's deficit spending and the Federal Reserve's massive monetary inflation. Only when the dollar completely collapses and Americans' unemployment and Social Security checks aren't worth enough to pay for the gas needed to drive to the bank to cash them, will they understand the need to elect a President like Ron Paul who will mandate a balanced budget and return the country to sound money, but by that time it will be too late. The only way America will survive as an industrialized nation is if we educate as many Americans as possible to the facts and truth about the U.S. economy that the mainstream media ignores, so that as many Americans as possible can prepare for hyperinflation and we have enough resources to rebuild afterwards.



It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us

It's Monday and you need a laugh!



http://youtu.be/aFjH4ZqwOB4

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Surprise!

Yep that's what I got when I went to step out of the door this morning.  I was on my way to gather berries (every morning thing).  And it was just right there on the cement...can you guess?  I didnt take pics, it was too gross.  My cat got me a baby bunny.  And it was half eaten.  Wonderful thing to almost step on in the morning let me tell you.  At first I thought it was a rat but then I noticed the tail and yep a baby bunny.  Dont know where he got it from but I'm sure if he got one he'll probably get some more.  It was a lovely present (gag).

Anyway when I went out this afternoon to give the girls their watermelon and fresh water, under the wooden box we have the waterer on there was a little mouse.  Now chickens will kill mice but apparently when my girls are eating watermelon they dont care about anything but the watermelon.  I think my girls are kind of spoiled...

Talk to ya later!

Denise

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Please excuse me...

I didnt mean to sound snippy on my last post.  We have been having a heat wave here with temps in the 90's and high humidity and that along with the fact that I've been having hot flashes just adds up to a bad mix let me tell you.  The hot flashes are a lot worse when I drink anything with caffeine.  I dont drink coffee but I do drink iced tea so this really sucks.  Cant go without my tea so I have hot flashes and it makes me cranky so I hope I didnt offend anyone with my last post.

Talk to ya later!

Denise

In answer to comment I received

Well Anonomous, I really hate when I get anonomous comments by the way.  Really there is no telling who you really are and what your motives are for commenting but here you go.  The list of Monsanto's holdings I got from this:

http://www.seedsavers.net/seed-blog/concentration-ownership-seeds

And according to this article below dated 2/27/09, Monsanto and Cargill have had at least 50/50 partnership since 1998.  If you should find anything to reflute this information please leave a comment on where this info is and I'll be glad to post my apology along with the new information.

Monsanto-Cargill promoting GM foods in Ghana?

by John Amponsah (plaice@excite.com)

Today I read an article on Ghanaweb talking about how Ghana is falling behind because we refuse to consider new kinds of technology. It relates to the article about Genetically Modified Foods (see below) that was published on Ghanaweb on February 27th 2009.

Implementation of GM foods in Ghana – Monsanto-Cargill Operation Exposed

The primary NGO responsible for promoting GM foods in Africa is called International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech applications (ISAAA). ISAAA is a subsidiary of another company called Cargill. In 1998 Cargill, a major player in the GM seed and hormone-fed animal industry was bought by Monsanto. They called it a merger, with Monsanto having the larger stake. So Monsanto effectively 'own' Cargill. If you've never heard of Monsanto you should definitely read up on them. It is the ISAAA that organized the briefing in Ghana to promote GM foods, carried out by Prof Walter Alhassan (see original GM article below) who works for a consultancy group. Ghana is a major African country so you can be sure that the move to introduce GM foods testing and implementation in Ghana as it is being encouraged by ISAAA was instituted at the highest levels of decision-making and Monsanto interests are directly responsible for the move. Hence it is rather likely that Monsanto is now knowingly operating in Ghana.

"Cargill specializes in the production of inexpensive engineered foodstuffs—from genetically modified corn to hormone-fed beef — because we care"

This statement is at best misleading. It could even be called a (lie). Monsanto-Cargill have been known to be very much profit driven. There has been tons of evidence pointing to the fact that GM foods contaminate the ecosystem by (infecting) non GM varieties. Monsanto-Cargill continuously disregard the mountains of evidence pointing to the adverse health effects of using hormone-fed meat or the failed GM programs they sometimes actively go out of their way to suppress, pursue and condemn the research findings of scientists or the articles of investigative journalists. Monsanto trains African scientists such as Kenyan Dr Florence Wanbugu to go about promoting the GM potato in Africa and around the world despite the program having turned out to be a big failure. Sometimes conscientious citizens should consider all sources of information on an issue like this one. If you think the Cargill motto is a little suspect, here is Monsanto's motto: “ Monsanto: no food shall be grown that we do not own!” Well, you can say that they are working hard towards this end since they patent their genetically modified seeds and prosecute farmers whose seeds get infected by their GM seeds and who do not want to pay Monsanto for....using Monsanto's patented seeds.

Monsanto-Cargill is big on the use of various hormone techniques to speed up the growth of an animal. The animal (product) is being treated like a machine, in effect to manipulate it for as much profit/gain as possible. Plant species are also genetically engineered to make them grow must faster than they usually do, the end result being greater profit. Obviously these genetic and hormone manipulations enter the ecosystem as well as human food. Growth hormones in particular have been shown to have adverse effects on the natural growth cycle of young children, ushering them into puberty at a much earlier age, sometimes young girls experience their menstrual cycle at five years of age in areas that have been heavily influenced by hormone-fed meat. This is not fiction, it actually happened in parts of Puerto Rico in 1982. It has also been registered in western countries like the UK and the US that young children are reaching puberty earlier than in previous decades. Monsanto in particular is well known for creating the genetically modified hormone Bovine Somatotropin (aka Bovine Growth Hormone).

Also a hormone called diethylsilbestrol was introduced between 1947 and 1959 primarily in America to artifically fatten cattle, chickens and turkeys. When it was found in the 1960's that this hormone being used in this way causes cancer it was removed from western countries. But here is the problem. Countries like China (where Monsanto operates) still use this harmful hormone despite decades of proof showing otherwise. This is why it is important to be aware of this information because African countries may have to deal with similar issues in the future if we embrace GM technology and the companies that promote this technology.

Conclusion Please read the articles (and if you have time, also watch the videos) posted in the sections below, especially the one about Monsanto's current battle in Germany. One person noted on a website that the Germans continue to prove to be among the smartest people in the world for choosing to fight against the incursion of genetically modified foods into their country. We all know that Germany is a technologically advanced nation. The message here is that not all scientific advancement is necessarily beneficial to a developing country like Ghana that has high hopes for climbing up the development ladder. Why not instead focus on organic farming which is proving to become a major market in the developed world?

John Amponsah

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Can you say monopoly?

Monsanto

the largest of all seed traders owns:
DeKalb (1995)
Sementes
Agroceres
Custom Farm Seed
DeKalb Ayala
Ayala
AgriPro Wheat
Hybri Tech Europe
Pau Euralis
Seminis
Cargill Intl. Seed Division
First Line
Jacob Hartz (1995)
Asgrow
Holdens
Renessen Cargill
Calgene
Cargill North America
Agracetus
PBIC
Unilever
Monsoy
FT Sementes
Delta Pine Land
Syngenta Global Cotton Division
Emergent Genetics
Paras
Mahendra
Daehnfeldt
ASI (American Seeds own all below and was taken over by Monsanto)
Channel Bio
Crows
Midwest Seed Genetics
Wilson Seeds
Gold Country
Heritage Seeds from Queensland, Australia
NC Plus Hybrids
SpecialtyHybrids
Fontanelle
Stewart Seeds
Trelay Seeds
Stone Seeds
Corn Belt
Advanta Canola
Hubner Seed
Lewis Hybrids
REA
Moweaqua Seeds
iCORN
Jung
BoCa
Interstate Canola
Sensako
Agroeste
CDM Mandiyu
Ciagro
Carnia
Diener
Sieben
Kruger
Trisler
Campbell Seed
Fielders Choice
Heartland Hybrids
Hawkeye
Nebraska Irrigated
Limagrain Canada
Poloni
ISG
Western
Peotec
Mahyco
Terrazawa
DeRuiter
Aly Participacoes
Marmot
Cotton States
Stoneville
Corn States Hybrid
Corn States Intl
Ecogen
CNDK
China Seed
EID Parry Rallis

Bayer

the German based pharmaceutical and chemical giant controls all these seed companies:
Gustafson 
Nunhems (1995)
Paragon 
Seed
Ex 
Aventis
AgrEvo 

Schering 

Proagro 

Sementes Ribeiral
Sementes Fartura
Mitla Pesquisa
Granja4Irmaos 

AgrEvo Cotton PGS 

PlanTec Biotech 

GeneXSorghum 

CottonSeedIntl
Sunseeds 

KWS 

Hoechst
Nunza (1986)

Rhone Poulenc

the french petro chemical giant has these under its belt

Leen De Mos

RioColorado
California Planting Cotton

Reliance Genetics 

Assoc Farmers Delinting
NideraSemillas 
Nidera


DuPont

Pioneer
Curry Seed
Shandong Denghai Pioneer
Denghai Dunhuang
Dunhuang Pioneer
DoisMarcos
Hybrinova
ProteinTech. Int.
Optimum Quality Grains

Syngenta:

SPS
GoldenHarvest
Goldsmith
Resource Seeds
Zeraim Gedera
Sanbei
Fischer
Advanta NA Corn Soybeans
Garst
Interstate Payco
AgriPro
PSAGenetics
Gutwein
DiaEngei
Novartis
CibaGeigy
Sandoz
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca
Mogen
ExSeed Thurston
Maisadour
Koipesol Agrosem Agra
Eridania Beghin Say
Sturdy Grow
Land
O'Lakes
Agritrading
NorthrupKing
Limagrain Advanta EU Vegetable
Westhove
HarrisMoran
Clause
Biogemma
RhoBio
Agreliant
Wensman
Producers Hybrids
Lochow Petkus (1967)
CPB Twyford
Hazera
Carl Sperling
Kyowa
Innoseeds
Bio Seeds
Vanden Berg
Germains Cotton
Holland Cottonseed
Brownfield Seed Delinting
Helena Cotton
Indusem
Agroceres
Barham
Petoseed (1995)
RoyalSluis (1995)
Choong Ang
Horticeres
Bruinsma (1994)
Genecorp(1994)
Hungnong
Green Leaf Genetics
Verdia
Avesthagen
Conrad Fafard
Long Reach AWB
BASF
Svalof Weibull
Swaghat
Cee Kay
Australian Grain Tech
Yuan Longping
Dow
Dairyland Seed
Mycogen
Bio Plant Research
RenzeHybrids
Agromen
MTI
Sudwestsaat
Brodbeck
DuoMaize
Triumph
Empresa Brasileira
Hytest ABI Alfalfa
Specialty Grains
Cooperative BusinessIntl
Agriliance
Cenex Harvest
Farmland Industries
Cenex
Harvest States
SOYGENETICS
FFRCoop
Verneuil Holding
Morgan
United Agriseeds
Hibridos Colorado
Biogenetica De Milho
Dinamilho Carol
Phytogen
JG Boswell
Illinois Foundation
Advanced Agri Traits

Monsanto Threats

Monsanto Threats.

FAMILY FARMERS AMPLIFY COMPLAINT AGAINST MONSANTO'S GMOs, REINFORCING THEIR ARGUMENTS WITH TWO DOZEN ADDITIONAL PLAINTIFFS: Monsanto's Failure to Provide Binding Legal Covenant to Protect Family Farmers Threatened by GMO Contamination Necessitates Amended Complaint.
NEW YORK - June 1, 2011 - New threats by Monsanto have led to the filing of an amended complaint by the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) in its suit on behalf of family farmers, seed businesses, and organic agricultural organizations challenging Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seed. Twenty-three new plaintiffs have joined with the original 60 in the amended complaint, bringing the total number represented in the case to 83. The plaintiffs in the suit, titled Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA), et al. v. Monsanto and pending in the Southern District of New York, now include 36 family farmer, food, agricultural research, food safety, and environmental organizations representing hundreds of thousands of members including several thousand certified organic, biodynamic, or otherwise non-transgenic family farmers.
“Our clients don’t want a fight with Monsanto, they just want to be protected from the threat they will be contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed and then be accused of patent infringement,” said PUBPAT Executive Director Daniel B. Ravicher. “We asked Monsanto to give our clients reassurance they wouldn’t do such a thing, and in response they chose instead to reiterate the same implicit threat to organic agriculture made in the past.”
Soon after the March filing of the lawsuit, Monsanto issued a statement saying they would not assert their patents against farmers who suffer “trace” amounts of transgenic contamination. In response, and in the hope the matter could be resolved out of court, PUBPAT attorneys wrote Monsanto’s attorneys asking the company to make its promise legally binding. Monsanto responded to PUBPAT’s request by hiring former solicitor general, Seth P. Waxman, a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of WilmerHale, who rejected PUBPAT’s request and instead confirmed Monsanto may indeed make claims of patent infringement against organic farmers who become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed. Copies of both letters are available as exhibits at the end of the amended complaint.
“Monsanto’s letter was an empty, indefensible, and self-evident evasion showing they are only interested in spinning propaganda without taking serious steps to resolve the problem created for organic and non-transgenic agriculture,” said one of the co-plaintiffs in the suit, Don Patterson of Virginia. “With the Monsanto letter signed by Waxman, the company rolled out their biggest legal cannon, but they fired off only fluffy wadding and smoke,” as he views it. “The letter shows Monsanto wanting to protect their freedom to threaten farmers with patent infringement suits,” he states; “Both the threats and the lawsuits are clearly important to their marketing strategy and business model.”
“The serious issues being engaged in this case require a constructive and socially-acceptable response from the defendant in the public interest,” adds Maine farmer Jim Gerritsen, President of OSGATA, the lead plaintiff in the suit. “In the absence of that, we reassert the essential importance of the arguments stated in March and reinforced now by the additional evidence of the Monsanto intransigence. Monsanto’s utter failure to act reasonably to address our concerns has only reaffirmed the need for our lawsuit.”
The amended Complaint elaborates a fear tangibly vexing many family farmers: “Monsanto continued in the statement to perversely characterize this suit as an ‘attack,’ when Plaintiffs seek no money from and no injunction against them. All Plaintiffs seek is peace of mind if they are ever contaminated by Monsanto’s transgenic seed, the company could never sue them for patent infringement. This is not an attack by the Plaintiffs and to characterize it that way only further evidences Monsanto’s aggressive and threatening attitude with respect to its patents. Thus, the statement made by Monsanto in response to this suit has only served to heighten Plaintiff’s fear that Monsanto will seek to enforce its patents against them should they ever be contaminated by Monsanto’s transgenic seed.”
In addition to supplementing the complaint with Monsanto’s most recent clarifying statement confirming its threat to the plaintiffs and GMO-free agriculture, the new group of 23 organizations, seed companies, farms and individual farmers includes fourteen organizations: Weston A. Price Foundation, Center for Food Safety, Beyond Pesticides, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Rhode Island, Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut, Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, Western Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, Manitoba Organic Alliance, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (Wisconsin), Midwest Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, Florida Organic Growers, Peace River Organic Producers Association (Alberta and British Columbia) and Union Paysanne (Quebec); two seed companies: Seed We Need (Montana), Wild Garden Seed (Oregon); and seven farms or individual farmers: Common Good Farm, LLC (Nebraska), American Buffalo Company (Nebraska), Full Moon Farm, Inc. (Vermont), Radiance Dairy (Iowa), Brian L. Wickert (Wisconsin), Bruce Drinkman (Wisconsin), and Murray Bast (Ontario).
These plaintiffs join the 60 plaintiffs from the original filing of the lawsuit in March including twenty-two organizations: Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association; Organic Crop Improvement Association International, Inc. (OCIA); OCIA Research and Education, Inc.; The Cornucopia Institute; Demeter Association, Inc.; Navdanya International; Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association; Northeast Organic Farming Association/Massachusetts Chapter, Inc.; Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont; Rural Vermont; Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association; Southeast Iowa Organic Association; Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society; Mendocino Organic Network (California); Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance; Canadian Organic Growers; Family Farmer Seed Cooperative; Sustainable Living Systems (Montana); Global Organic Alliance; Food Democracy Now!; Family Farm Defenders, Inc.; Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund; twelve seed companies: FEDCO Seeds, Inc. (Maine); Adaptive Seeds, LLC (Oregon); Sow True Seed (North Carolina); Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (Virginia); Mumm's Sprouting Seeds (Saskatchewan); Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., LLC (Missouri); Comstock, Ferre & Co. LLC (Connecticut); Seedkeepers, LLC (California); Siskiyou Seeds (Oregon); Countryside Organics (Virginia); Cuatro Puertas (New Mexico); Interlake Forage Seeds, Ltd. (Manitoba); and, twenty-six farms and farmers: Alba Ranch (Kansas); Wild Plum Farm (Montana); Gratitude Gardens (Washington); Richard Everett Farm, LLC (Nebraska); Philadelphia Community Farm, Inc. (Wisconsin); Genesis Farm (New Jersey); Chispas Farms, LLC (New Mexico); Kirschenmann Family Farms, Inc. (North Dakota); Midheaven Farms (Minnesota); Koskan Farms (South Dakota); California Cloverleaf Farms; North Outback Farm (North Dakota); Taylor Farms, Inc. (Utah); Jardin del Alma (New Mexico); Ron Gargasz Organic Farms (Pennsylvania); Abundant Acres (Missouri); T & D Willey Farms (California); Quinella Ranch (Saskatchewan); Nature's Way Farm, Ltd. (Alberta); Levke and Peter Eggers Farm (Alberta); Frey Vineyards, Ltd. (California); Bryce Stephens (Kansas); Chuck Noble (South Dakota); LaRhea Pepper (Texas); Paul Romero (New Mexico); and, Donald Wright Patterson, Jr. (Virginia).
“The issues raised in the lawsuit are critical, not just to organic farmers and others who do not want to grow genetically-modified (transgenic) crops,” Gerritsen says, but “also to the safety of food and everyone who eats—and that includes everyone concerned about environmental protection and public health.” As Gerritsen sees the lawsuit, “This is not just a minor dispute between a few family farmers and a powerful corporation accustomed to getting its own way; it is a debate over who offers the best and most responsible way to feed the people of the world over the decades and centuries ahead.” Monsanto offers an expedient short-cut with enormous long-term risks and consequences for public health and environmental degradation, he says; “This, we intend to prove in court.”
“The USDA, the White House, and the Congress have evaded responsibility to protect the public from the potential and unstudied dangers of transgenic food, not even requiring careful, long-term, independent testing nor the clear GMO labeling long-demanded by the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens,” states Bryce Stephens, a Kansas wheat farmer, who is OSGATA’s vice-president. “President Obama said he wanted to see mandatory GMO labeling during his 2008 presidential campaign, but he has not provided it,” Stephens reminds us. “We need someone to act in the public’s defense if our officials will not,” he says, and that is part of the motivation for Stephens’s decision to join the case as an individual plaintiff alongside his participation in plaintiff organizations.
“When GMO crops were first given the green light to enter the market in 1992 by the Bush-Quayle administration, they were declared ‘Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)’ based almost entirely on internal industry studies and industry-sponsored research done under controlling company contract,” Stephens states. “Given the serious potential long-term dangers and only minimally and briefly-studied risks, this was reprehensibly irresponsible, and the government has not shown any more prudence over the years since 1992,” Stephens charges. “With the long-term health consequences of GMO food yet to be understood and in the absence of objective studies, we have all been involuntarily co-opted into a giant biotech industry experiment,” he concludes; “Our citizens and the people of the world deserve better than that.”