DO NO HARM

I respect any man or woman who works at a profession whether it be a carpenter, plumber or even a farmer. Anyone who studies and works at an honest job deserves respect. That covers most people. But in doing your job you have to have respect for others. You cannot do something that harms others. Doctors have their hippocratic oath that guides them. Paramount in that oath is the edict to "Do no harm". We should all live by those words. Do our jobs but do no harm. Farmers are important as is everybody else. Without farms we would be hard pressed to feed ourselves. I make teeth, I'm a dental technician, and without dental technicians you wouldn't be able to eat the food the farmers grow. The point is that no one of us is any more important that any other. No one should be given special treatment, nor should anyone be hurt. We have a problem in Preble and it is caused by farming. Nitrates in the drinking water come from farming. It is time for farmers to own up to their responsibility to the community and their neighbors and correct this problem. It's been over two years now and it's getting worse. They are doing harm. They know who is responsible, they know what to do to fix it. It's time they did it.

---

Sometime I have trouble getting to sleep. My mind wants to keep me awake by refusing to stop thinking about stuff. I try to fool it by trying to think of things that will be calming but events in Preble prevent me from doing it. I would like to think that if I knew I was doing something wrong that was hurting people I would stop. The farmers know what they are doing is hurting people. If they keep it up someone may die. How can they live with themselves knowing that? What do they tell their minds to think when they lay awake at night knowing they are causing harm? What do their families say to them? How can they face their kids or their grandkids when they know what they are doing is hurting them? I'm glad I'm not them, I could never do what they are doing. I just don't understand how you could knowingly hurt people and do nothing to stop it, indeed do everything to cover it up. Even those who are innocent of doing harm are guilty of covering it up. They all know what is going on. They all know who the guilty parties are. By saying nothing they are as guilty as those they cover for. What will they do if this gets so bad that a child dies from it? How will they live with themselves then?

Click here for the Cortland Standard article on Nitrates

Environmental groups intend to sue over dairy manure disposal 9/25/03:

"TAMPA, Fla. - Four environmental groups intend to make a federal case over cow manure that's finding its way into southwest Florida waterways and some drinking supplies."

"Manure from thousands of cattle is sprayed on fields and crops where it runs off into ditches, creeks and waterways, said Scott Randolph, an attorney with the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation"

Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation- Home Page

HIGH NITRATES, WHO IS TO BLAME?

There can be no dispute that high nitrates in our drinking water comes from ag. Denial yes, dispute no. Some might say, "Prove it!". I say, "Bullshit" it comes from ag and that's that! Which farm, what farmer, who is responsible?

(A little aside: I've always wondered how someone could spill a drink on their keyboard. I just reached for my decaf cup of tea and, well, let's just say, Now I know.)

Who is responsible was the question before I did the Boston tea party on my computer. I don't know is my answer. I know it comes from ag and I can make some assumptions based on facts and circumstances but I can't pinpoint the exact source. Here is what we know:

1: This problem came up two years ago.
2: The FARME CAFO started three years ago.
3: They leased a lot of land in Preble to dump liquid manure.
4: The local farmers who used to use that land for their manure had to find other land to use.

There are several assumptions we can make from these facts:

1: The increased amount of legal dumping is causing the high nitrates.
2: There is illegal dumping which is causing the high nitrates.
3: A combination of the two.

Last year I attended some meetings at the grange in Cortland along with a group of representatives from different departments in the county. The idea was to discuss the nitrate problem and work on solutions. At first this group, headed by Amanda Barber, who along with her husband runs a 50 cow farm, did not even want to acknowledge there was a problem or to warn the people about it. This website and I changed that. They decided to have an informational meeting and to mail out fliers about the nitrate problem. At that time that was all I was looking for. I assumed that they would work behind the scenes with the offending parties (the farmers) who were causing the problem. Seems like they decided to study the shit out of the problem instead. As long as they study it they don't have to do anything about it. So they tell you they don't know "for sure" what the source is but they are studying it and as soon as they find the source they will fix it. Some of them have admitted the source is ag because they can only lie so long and two years is a long time to keep up the ruse.

Sadly there isn't much that can be done. The people in Cortland who are supposed to protect our water are all farmers. Our town board is controlled by farmers. Even our legislator, Steger is a farmer. All of them know the source of the nitrates, all of them have a vested interest in protecting that source and they won't do anything to fix it. Knapp is almost guaranteed reelection. Pitman IS our current and next Supervisor. Albro and Morse were picked by the Steger Republicans and they will be on the board next year. So the choice comes down to you having to buy bottled water or them telling their buds to take a big money hit and stop dumping so much manure on the land. These are the same guys that were behind the cell tower and the Knapps getting a million bucks from the state. Who do you think they are going to shaft? It's you, fool!

The only chance you have is IF enough of you DON'T vote for Knapp and Morse in November. That will keep Knapp off the board but will put Albro, Edinger, Martin and Grant on. If Knapp is not on the board he will have less power to control things and with some of the new members, especially the last two, you have a chance of this problem being taken care of. Otherwise you have no chance at all. Buy bottled water and masks for your family to wear because this problem is getting worse, not better and will continue to get worse. One day it will be common for all of you to buy bottled water every week, just like you buy bread and milk now. You'll get used to the stink and along with the bottled water you'll buy scented candles and other crap to mask the smell. And Preble, once known for it's clean water, will be another stink hole with falling property values and only the poor living here. That is the future my friend and you have only yourself to blame. You supported these creeps, you voted for them and now it's payback time.

I'm tired of pandering to those who think I shouldn't say bad things about these creeps, those who think if I were nicer I would accomplish more. To those I will say this. Because of these creeps you are drinking cowshit. Because of these creeps your kids are drinking cowshit. AND IF it wasn't for this website and ME going down to that meeting last year you wouldn't even know you and your kids were drinking cowshit! I'm sure you didn't notice it before but I WAS being nicer and I wasn't saying the things I wanted to say. What's changed? Things have gotten worse! YOU knew there was a nitrate problem and you let the creeps stay in power. Are you going to blame ME for that because I wasn't NICE? That's BULLSHIT!!!!! I don't know who I detest more. Those creeps for doing this to you or you for letting them. But I'll tell you one thing. I'm not going to stop talking about these creeps. I'm going to make damn sure the whole world knows who and what they are. It's what I do and I do it well. I don't publicize the number of people who read this site and you wouldn't believe me if I did. There is something about what happens in Preble and the way I write about it that makes people come back for more. Sometimes it's because it's funny, sometimes it's because of the corruption. But they keep coming back. And there are a lot of them.

This is what I do, what are YOU going to do.

FARME Institute

"Professional Goals

FARME Institute's goal is to provide top quality, client-oriented, independent and confidential research and product development in ruminant nutrition."

This is the 850 cow CAFO we've been talking about. Right here in River City, a CAFO boys and girls. Hmmm Who would play the music man in this case???

MY PRINTER DIED

Yeah, like you care. The thing is I bought the damn thing a year and a half ago for 150 bucks and it died. I called Epson and they said it would cost more to fix it than buying a new one and they just came out with a new C84 to replace the C82 which replaced my C80. A year and a half is a long time in the computer market. I was going to wait a bit for the C84 to drop in price. It's $99 now with a $20 rebate making it only $79. Then I saw the OfficeMax flyer in Sundays paper dumping the C82 for $49.95. I wasn't going to get it until it dawned on me that the included cartridges cost about $65. To make this long boring story a bit shorter I bought the set of cartridges and got a free C82 printer. They had a few left and it is a great printer and at $50 you won't be too pissed when it dies 18 months from now.

FactoryFarm.org: "New USDA Study on Manure Spreading, Bill Weida's response to the USDA study on the costs of manure spreading under the new EPA requirements. He explains how it validates what critics have been saying about CAFOs shifting their costs to the surrounding area. (June 25, 2003)"

The Guide to Confronting a CAFO
A step-by-step manual for activists confronting a factory farm in their community.

And many more articles about this issue.

FAQs - Factory Farms: "What is a CAFO?

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation. Giant livestock operations are a growing public health threat all across the nation. These corporate-controlled units -- where tens of thousands of animals are 'produced' in factory-like settings -- are polluting America's water and air."

UPDATE: PREBLE WATER POLLUTED AGAIN, NITRATES HIGH AGAIN!

A few years ago when the big 800 cow CAFO was coming into Homer there was an article, perhaps in the Cortland Standard, I can't remember now exactly where it was. In any case this article talked about how the CAFO was signing contracts for land at higher prices than Preble and other local farmers were paying and they were upset. Apparently you need a certain number of acres per cow to dispose of the manure. With the CAFO taking up all the land the local farmers had no place to put their manure. I assumed that they had found someplace since then but now with this nitrate problem I wonder if that is the case. I suppose there is a government agency that oversees this but I don't know which one. Someone had to come up with that requirement of so many acres per cow and I suppose they could check to see if all the farmers were complying with it. The timing of the big CAFO, the article and the high nitrates is too much of a coincidence to ignore.

PREBLE WATER POLLUTED AGAIN, NITRATES HIGH AGAIN!

"Nitrates contaminate some Preble wells" the page 3 headline in the 9/22/2003 Cortland Standard blares!

Surprise, surprise the nitrates in our water are high again. Interesting that this was announced AFTER the caucuses isn't it? If I could draw cartons I would draw a picture of our officials standing knee deep in liquid manure with a caption that reads, "We're baffled, we just don't know where the nitrates are coming from." It is amazing to me that the officials are trying to hide this saying they aren't 'sure'. I'll make it simple for them. High nitrates in drinking water comes from manure and fertilizer. Trying to say otherwise or trying to say they don't know prompts another cartoon. Picture our officials as ostriches with their heads in the manure with a caption that reads, (muffled) "We don't know where the nitrates are coming from." Every expert in the whole damn world agrees that high nitrates in drinking water comes from manure and fertilizer. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise they are lying to you. They are covering up the real cause. And why, you ask would they do this? It's simple really, they can't fix it! They can't tell the farmers to get rid of their cows and they don't have any place else to put the manure. And even if they would admit it comes from ag they can't prove which farm it might be from. They can't admit that so they try to cover it up. We are just supposed to live with it. Perhaps this is why they put so much effort in holding on to power at the caucuses. Perhaps this is why farmer Knapp was cross endorsed. They know he will cover it up because he's a farmer just like them. They've been feeding you crap for all these years and you didn't complain so now they literally want you to drink it!

Get your water tested and if need be drink bottled water. This is especially important if you have toddlers under 6 months or are pregnant. I wish there was something else I could do. I tried as did so many others, but too many of you stayed home from the caucus and now we all have to live with this crap!

Oh, and sorry about the crappy language, all this just puts me in a shitty mood and I can't help myself.

Falsely bleak reports reduce our chances of success in Iraq: by "U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) of Macon, a Vietnam combat veteran, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee."

I AM POWERFUL, OBEY ME, FEAR ME...

I heard a funny story. Get this, some people said they did not go to the caucus because of the bad things I said about Peter Knapp here on the site. Let's examine that. They are saying that I can stop them from voting just by saying something? That my words alone are so powerful that they will prevent them from voting? Wow, I must be very powerful if my words alone can do that. Truth is they are just using that as an excuse for not going to the caucus. They never intended to go in the first place and they seized on my comments as an excuse. Come on people, I'm not powerful, my words alone cannot stop people from doing what they want to do. Hell, if I were that powerful then every voter in Preble would have been at the caucus. Were they? NO, of course not, those people were just using me as a cop out for staying home. Come on you people... THINK! Jeesh!

THE ONE-VOTE-LOSERS

Who are the One-Vote-Losers? The One-Vote-Losers are you and I and everyone else in Preble. Not the people who tried to run, they tried to make a difference, and they made the effort. We are all losers because our free choice at the election was taken from us by 21 people at the Democrat caucus and 46 people at the Republican caucus. If you didn't go to either of the caucuses then you too are a loser because your one vote could have made a difference this year. Usually when you have losers you have winners but not in this case because the people who stole your right to choose cannot be called winners by any stretch of the imagination. They might think that this fact will be forgotten over the next few years, they are wrong. Taking away peoples right to vote is serious stuff to me and it is a crusade I'll be on forever.

The candidates who lost weren't trying to take over the town, they were just trying to give people a choice in November and they are the real and only winners. The GOBs couldn't let that happen because they knew that if people had a choice their choice would not be them. The only way they can hold on to power is to cheat and steal. I wouldn't want to be them, or to be liked by them, or to associate with them. In point of fact they are the real losers, they have to live with what they have done, if they can.