- Turkish-American Relations At Crossroads
Authored by M.K.Bhadrakumar via The Strategic Culture Foundation,
When President Donald Trump received President Recep Erdogan on Tuesday at the White House, his legendary deal-making prowess was be on trial.
Trump has not been in a tearing hurry to receive Erdogan. During the first 100 days of his presidency, Trump received the leaders of Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan (twice), Iraq and Palestine. Yet, none of them belongs to a Nato member country and or is a crucial “swing” state in Trump’s messianic war against ISIS, as Turkey is.
Could it be Erdogan’s dalliance with ISIS in the past that put a dampened Trump’s enthusiasm for this “strongman”? But then, Saudi Arabia too was promoting al-Qaeda groups in Syria.Or, was it Erdogan’s growing friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin that discouraged Trump? But then, Trump greeted Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the White House as an old ally.
Clearly, the only good reason could be that Trump deliberately decided that there is a time for everything – even for meeting Erdogan. Trump thoughtfully let the Turkish referendum on constitutional reform run its course first. Trump now has the answer.
Erdogan extracted a “yes” vote in the referendum alright, and is set to concentrate executive power in his hands, but, paradoxically, he is a wounded man, having lost the referendum vote in all major cities, especially Istanbul, which has been his citadel. Erdogan barely scraped through.
On the other hand, an invigorated German-French axis following the resounding election victory of Emmanuel Macron means that a consolidated EU pressure is building on Erdogan to curb his authoritarian drift. Erdogan knows that a rupture of Turkey’s ties to the West would have grave economic and political consequences.
Meanwhile, if Erdogan had calculated that he could play off the US and Russia, that is also not to be. Trump simply outflanked him by opening a line to Putin regarding Syria before he met Erdogan.
Erdogan has been naïve. The Kremlin won’t risk annoying Trump. Détente with the US is an overriding concern for Russia.
All things taken into account, therefore, Trump did the right thing to meet Erdogan in the fullness of time. Trump’s decision to sign the executive order allowing the Pentagon to transfer heavy weapons to the Kurdish militia on the eve of Erdogan’s visit underscores it.
Trump is looking for a quick victory in Raqqa. The liberation of Raqqa will be prime time news in America. Who’d pay attention anymore to “a showboat” such as James Comey when the pictures are beamed from Raqqa into the living rooms of America?
The Pentagon commanders estimate that the Kurdish militia with US air support will liberate Raqqa successfully and swiftly. Indeed, latest reports suggest that the Kurdish militia has reached within two kilometers of Raqqa city limits.
Simply put, Erdogan who was hoping to dissuade Trump from aligning with the Kurds will now have to discuss concerns over post-liberation Raqqa. The ground beneath Erdogan’s feet has dramatically shifted.
He still can resort to strategic defiance by resorting to air strikes against the Kurdish militia, similar to the attacks staged by the Turkish air force on April 25 on the town of Sinjar (Iraqi Kurdistan) and on targets in the Karachok Mountains (northeastern Syria).
However, the US and Russian deployments to the Kurdish cantons in northern Syrian show that both Washington and Moscow have factored in such a possibility and have a tacit understanding that only their physical presence might act as a deterrent against Erdogan’s adventurism.
This opens up a tantalizing prospect – US and Russia having an unwritten division of labor to “tame” Erdogan. The Russian diplomacy has shown masterly skill in shepherding Turkish policies away from covert backing for extremist groups toward new directions that help to end the fighting in Syria. The Russia-US cooperation in Syria drastically curbs Erdogan’s elbow room.
What are Erdogan’s options? Trump has put him out of business since the US is no longer using Turkish proxies to push the “regime change” agenda in Syria. American retrenchment affects Saudi and Qatari policies, too.
Besides, Erdogan will be wary of provoking Trump. Apart from the discord over the extradition of Islamist preacher Fetullah Gulen, the US is keeping under detention the top executive of Halkbank Mehmet Hakan Attila whom it implicates in the sensational criminal case (which is also linked to Erdogan’s immediate family members) regarding abuse of the US financial system to conduct fraudulent transactions on behalf of Iranian entities.
Will Erdogan retaliate by shutting down Incirlik air base? Such a possibility exists, but remains unlikely. At any rate, Washington is focused on the liberation of Raqqa, and access to Incirlik is a secondary issue at the moment.
The bottom line is that Erdogan is running out of options and may be coming under pressure, finally, to (re)open his own channels to the Kurdish groups. Indeed, Turkey got along well with the leadership of Iraqi Kurdistan and a similar deal can be worked out with Syrian Kurds.
Being the consummate pragmatist that he is, Erdogan may well decide to pick up the threads of the peace process with the Kurds from where he summarily left them in 2015 due to compulsions over forthcoming electoral battles culminating in the March referendum to transform Turkey into a presidential system.
Significantly, Erdogan has reacted with extraordinary restraint to the Pentagon move to arm Kurds in Syria. He is mulling over his options. Trump can encourage him to seek a deal with Kurds. It may not be the mother of all deals, but a historic deal nonetheless, which will go a long way to stabilizing Syria and the wider Middle East.
- Retired Green Beret Warns A Successful Derailment Of Trump's Efforts Is Well Under Way; War Is Inevitable
In previous articles, I mentioned the importance of the midterm elections, and how (to run the country effectively and to be reelected) the President needs success within his first six months in office. Although he is more than willing to make changes and has demonstrated his good intentions, the battle with the ensconced Marxists labeling themselves as either “progressives” or “centrists” is being lost. Why is it being lost? It is because these prior Obama appointees in the Circuit courts and the Supreme Court, along with the innumerable holdovers within the administration’s machinery effectively amount to a “fifth column,” bent on sabotaging the President’s efforts.
The successful derailment is well under way. As I wrote in other articles, all that is needed for the Democrats to take the Senate and the House of Representatives in the upcoming Midterm elections is for the President to not make visible and productive changes within the first six months of his term. The stultified public will perceive it as a failure, and with the RINO (Republicans In Name Only) Republican party to help with a “shove” here and there, the President will fall right into the pool.
The planned border fence will not be built, the repeal of Obamacare will not take place, the flood of illegals will neither be stopped or reversed, and financial measures to stimulate the domestic economy are being implemented at glacial speed. All the President’s executive orders are being struck down by the Obama-appointed judges in the courts. There is not much time remaining before the Midterm congressional elections. We are a year out, and even before the campaigning has begun, it appears it will be up for grabs.
Obamacare is the best example of what has been outlined. Aetna recently bowed out and pulled out of the machinery as far as private insurance companies run. They stated that the arena was “untenable” and that the firm could no longer underwrite with the budgetary shortfalls and the nebulosity that lacked a demarcation of where government responsibility was to pick up what the company did not underwrite. From an economic perspective, everyone with a brain knew that Obamacare would not function properly and would be a financial and administrative disaster.
That is why Obamacare is a success: it was meant to collapse the system and the insurance companies, forcing into existence a single-payer system and a government “exchange” that intruded on the lives of every citizen…pure “Cloward and Piven” at its finest.
The Republican Party is responsible for the continuance of Obamacare. Nobody is focusing upon this fact. Right now, everyone is focused upon Comey and a potential tie-in with Flynn and any connection to Russia regarding pre-election campaign communiques between then-candidate Donald Trump and the Russian leadership. Obamacare is all but forgotten.
With the Republicans in control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, at this point, the bill to repeal Obamacare should have already passed both houses of Congress and been on the President’s desk to sign: this was not done, and the Republican Party is to blame.
If the President is unable to make a change while he has both houses of Congress under Republican control, what will happen after the Midterm election changes the complexion of Congress and makes it Democrat? How will he be reelected, and if so, to what end? He waited too long to fire Comey…a name that will torment us in the news even more than that of Natalie Holloway…and now it is turning around to bite him. What is the solution?
War. War is the means an administration uses to sway public opinion and garner the Congress and the other nabobs into lockstep under the guise/choice of “you’re either patriotic or unpatriotic,” forced upon all of them in the court of public opinion and on the media’s stage. War is supported by the Congress, who is bought by the MIC (Military Industrial Complex) and the oligarchy and their army of lobbyists.
The administration is not accomplishing anything effectively, but a war can “rescue” it from its difficulties and divert the public’s attention. There are several theaters that can easily metastasize into a full-blown conflict and then draw in other nations for an all-out war. To catalyze such actions would be a simple feat for any administration with the resources of the United States backing it. The question remains to be answered whether the administration will take such a step to save itself.
History proves out a high probability that an administration will do such:
Carter with Desert One (the failed Iranian hostage rescue attempt),
Reagan with Grenada,
Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain with the Falkland Islands,
Bush Sr. with Iraq (I),
Clinton with the bombing of Serbia and the war in Bosnia,
and Bush Jr. with Iraq (II).
Will this administration take similar measures in any of the “powder keg” theaters of Ukraine, North Korea, or Syria? The question remains to be answered, and the probability is high that the answer will be “yes.”
- Professor Cohen Says Assault on Trump Presidency is Our Greatest National Security Threat: Is There A 4th Branch of Government?
Steven Cohen, Professor of Russian studies at Princeton and NYU (an obvious Russian spy) was besides himself tonight, in sheer disbelief over the with hunt of gigantic nothing-burgers that are being used to assault the Presidency of Donald Trump.
He declared, “today, I would say (the greatest threat to national security) is this assault on President Trump. Let’s be clear what he’s being accused of is treason. This has never happened in America, that we had a Russian agent in the White House. Cohen believes Flynn did nothing wrong by talking to the Russian ambassador, describing it as ‘his job’ to do so.
He then illuminated the indelible fact that there is a 4th branch of government, the intelligence community, who have been meddling in American foreign affairs, obstructing the other 3 branches of government.
“In 2016, President Obama worked out a deal with Russian President Putin for military cooperation in Syria. He said he was gonna share intelligence with Russia, just like Trump and the Russians were supposed to do the other day. Our department of defense said it wouldn’t share intelligence. And a few days later, they killed Syrian soldiers, violating the agreement, and that was the end of that. So, we can ask, who is making our foreign policy in Washington today?”
Professor Cohen added, “you and I have to ask a subversive question, are there really three branches of government, or is there a 4th branch of government? These intel services. What we know, as a fact, is that Obama tried, not very hard but he tried for a military alliance with Putin, in Syria, against terrorism and it was sabotaged by the department of defense and its allies in the intelligence services.”
Watch.
Content originally published at iBankCoin.com
- Why Was Comey Fired?
Last week, President Trump justified his decision to fire James Comey by citing a letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein accusing Comey of serious mistakes in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. However, as Statista’s Niall McCarthy details, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, however, Americans largely disagree with that rationale.
You will find more statistics at Statista
Only 15 percent of the U.S. public think Trump fired Comey due to his unhappiness with the email server investigation compared to 34 percent who think he acted due to Comey’s investigation into his administration’s ties with Russia.
The largest share of Americans, 36 percent, blame the Comey firing on a combination of reasons.
- America's Reign Of Terror: A Nation Reaps What It Sows
Authored by John Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,
“The means of defense against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home.” ? James Madison
Who designed the malware worm that is now wreaking havoc on tens of thousands of computers internationally by hackers demanding a king’s ransom? The U.S. government.
Who is the biggest black market buyer and stockpiler of cyberweapons (weaponized malware that can be used to hack into computer systems, spy on citizens, and destabilize vast computer networks)? The U.S. government.
What country has one the deadliest arsenals of weapons of mass destruction? The U.S. government.
Who is the largest weapons manufacturer and exporter in the world, such that they are literally arming the world? The U.S. government.
Which is the only country to ever use a nuclear weapon in wartime? The United States.
How did Saddam Hussein build Iraq’s massive arsenal of tanks, planes, missiles, and chemical weapons during the 1980s? With help from the U.S. government.
Who gave Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida “access to a fortune in covert funding and top-level combat weaponry”? The U.S. government.
What country has a pattern and practice of entrapment that involves targeting vulnerable individuals, feeding them with the propaganda, know-how and weapons intended to turn them into terrorists, and then arresting them as part of an elaborately orchestrated counterterrorism sting? The U.S. government.
Where did ISIS get many of their deadliest weapons, including assault rifles and tanks to anti-missile defenses? The U.S. government.
Which country has a history of secretly testing out dangerous weapons and technologies on its own citizens? The U.S. government.
Are you getting the picture yet?
The U.S. government isn’t protecting us from terrorism.
The U.S. government is creating the terror. It is, in fact, the source of the terror.
Just think about it for a minute: almost every tyranny being perpetrated against the citizenry—purportedly to keep us safe and the nation secure—has come about as a result of some threat manufactured in one way or another by our own government.
Cyberwarfare. Terrorism.
Bio-chemical attacks. The nuclear arms race.
Surveillance. The drug wars.
In almost every instance, the U.S. government has in its typical Machiavellian fashion sown the seeds of terror domestically and internationally in order to expand its own totalitarian powers.
It’s time to wake up and stop being deceived by government propaganda.
We’re not dealing with a government that exists to serve its people, protect their liberties and ensure their happiness. Rather, these are the diabolical machinations of a make-works program carried out on an epic scale whose only purpose is to keep the powers-that-be permanently (and profitably) employed.
Case in point: For years now, the U.S. government has been creating what one intelligence insider referred to as a cyber-army capable of offensive attacks.
As Reuters reported back in 2013:
Even as the U.S. government confronts rival powers over widespread Internet espionage, it has become the biggest buyer in a burgeoning gray market where hackers and security firms sell tools for breaking into computers. The strategy is spurring concern in the technology industry and intelligence community that Washington is in effect encouraging hacking and failing to disclose to software companies and customers the vulnerabilities exploited by the purchased hacks. That's because U.S. intelligence and military agencies aren't buying the tools primarily to fend off attacks. Rather, they are using the tools to infiltrate computer networks overseas, leaving behind spy programs and cyber-weapons that can disrupt data or damage systems.
As part of this cyberweapons programs, government agencies such as the NSA have been stockpiling all kinds of nasty malware, viruses and hacking tools that can “steal financial account passwords, turn an iPhone into a listening device, or, in the case of Stuxnet, sabotage a nuclear facility.”
And now we learn that the NSA is responsible for the latest threat posed by the “WannaCry” or “Wanna Decryptor” malware worm which—as a result of hackers accessing the government’s arsenal—has hijacked more than 57,000 computers and crippled health care, communications infrastructure, logistics, and government entities in more than 70 countries already.
All the while the government was repeatedly warned about the dangers of using criminal tactics to wage its own cyberwars.
It was warned about the consequences of blowback should its cyberweapons get into the wrong hands.
The government chose to ignore the warnings.
That’s exactly how the 9/11 attacks unfolded.
First, the government helped to create the menace that was al-Qaida and then, when bin Laden had left the nation reeling in shock (despite countless warnings that fell on tone-deaf ears), it demanded—and was given—immense new powers in the form of the USA Patriot Act in order to fight the very danger it had created.
This has become the shadow government’s modus operandi regardless of which party controls the White House: the government creates a menace—knowing full well the ramifications such a danger might pose to the public—then without ever owning up to the part it played in unleashing that particular menace on an unsuspecting populace, it demands additional powers in order to protect “we the people” from the threat.
Yet the powers-that-be don’t really want us to feel safe.
They want us cowering and afraid and willing to relinquish every last one of our freedoms in exchange for their phantom promises of security.
As a result, it’s the American people who pay the price for the government’s insatiable greed and quest for power.
We’re the ones to suffer the blowback.
Blowback: a term originating from within the American Intelligence community, denoting the unintended consequences, unwanted side-effects, or suffered repercussions of a covert operation that fall back on those responsible for the aforementioned operations.
As historian Chalmers Johnson explains, “blowback is another way of saying that a nation reaps what it sows.”
Unfortunately, “we the people” are the ones who keep reaping what the government sows.
We’re the ones who suffer every time, directly and indirectly, from the blowback.
We’re made to pay trillions of dollars in blood money to a military industrial complex that kills without conscience. We’ve been saddled with a crumbling infrastructure, impoverished cities and a faltering economy while our tax dollars are squandered on lavish military installations and used to prop up foreign economies. We’ve been stripped of our freedoms. We’re treated like suspects and enemy combatants. We’re spied on by government agents: our communications read, our movements tracked, our faces mapped, our biometrics entered into a government database. We’re terrorized by militarized police who roam our communities and SWAT teams that break into our homes. We’re subjected to invasive patdowns in airports, roadside strip searches and cavity probes, forced blood draws.
This is how tyranny rises and freedom falls.
We can persuade ourselves that life is still good, that America is still beautiful, and that “we the people” are still free.
However, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the moment you tune out the carefully constructed distractions—the year-round sports entertainment, the political theatrics, the military’s war cries, the president’s chest-thumping, and the techno-gadgets and social media that keep us oblivious to what’s really going on in the world around us—you quickly find that the only credible threat to our safety and national security is in fact the government itself.
As science fiction writer Philip K. Dick warned, “Don’t believe what you see; it’s an enthralling—[and] destructive, evil snare. Under it is a totally different world, even placed differently along the linear axis.”
In other words, all is not as it seems.
The powers-that-be are not acting in our best interests.
“We the people” are not free.
The government is not our friend.
And America will never be safe or secure as long as our government continues to pillage and plunder and bomb and bulldoze and kill and create instability and fund insurgencies and police the globe.
So what can we do to stop the blowback, liberate the country from the iron-clad grip of the military industrial complex, and get back to a point where freedom actually means something?
For starters, get your priorities in order. As long as Americans are more inclined to be offended over the fate of a Confederate statue rather than the government’s blatant disregard for the Constitution and human rights, then the status quo will remain.
Stop playing politics with your principles. As long as Americans persist in thinking like Republicans and Democrats—refusing to recognize that every administration in recent years has embraced and advanced the government’s authoritarian tactics—then the status quo will remain.
Value all human life as worthy of protection. As long as Americans, including those who claim to value the sanctity of human life, not only turn a blind eye to the government’s indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians but champion them, then the status quo will remain.
Recognize that in the eyes of the government, we’re all expendable. As long as we allow the government to play this dangerous game in which “we the people” are little more than pawns to be used, abused, easily manipulated and just as easily discarded—whether it’s under the guise of national security, the war on terror, the war on drugs, or any other manufactured bogeyman it can dream up—then the status quo will remain.
Demand that the government stop creating, stockpiling and deploying weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, chemical, biological, cyber, etc. As long as the government continues to use our tax dollars to create, stockpile and deploy weapons of mass destruction—whether those weapons are meant to kill, maim or disable (as in the case of the WannaCry computer virus)—we will be vulnerable to anyone who attempts to use those weapons against us and the status quo will remain.
Finally, stop supporting the war machine and, as Chalmers Johnson suggests, “bring our rampant militarism under control”:
From George Washington’s “farewell address” to Dwight Eisenhower’s invention of the phrase “military-industrial complex,” American leaders have warned about the dangers of a bloated, permanent, expensive military establishment that has lost its relationship to the country because service in it is no longer an obligation of citizenship. Our military operates the biggest arms sales operation on earth; it rapes girls, women and schoolchildren in Okinawa; it cuts ski-lift cables in Italy, killing twenty vacationers, and dismisses what its insubordinate pilots have done as a “training accident”; it allows its nuclear attack submarines to be used for joy rides for wealthy civilian supporters and then covers up the negligence that caused the sinking of a Japanese high school training ship; it propagandizes the nation with Hollywood films glorifying military service (Pearl Harbor); and it manipulates the political process to get more carrier task forces, antimissile missiles, nuclear weapons, stealth bombers and other expensive gadgets for which we have no conceivable use. Two of the most influential federal institutions are not in Washington but on the south side of the Potomac River–the Defense Department and the Central Intelligence Agency. Given their influence today, one must conclude that the government outlined in the Constitution of 1787 no longer bears much relationship to the government that actually rules from Washington. Until that is corrected, we should probably stop talking about “democracy” and “human rights.”
- 48% Of Americans Want To Impeach Trump
Update: We can only imagine what the poll says after tonight's debacle from The New York Times.
* * *
According to a new survey by the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling (PPP), 48% of Americans want Trump impeached. Of course, while it makes for a provocative headline, the poll does little more than prove that (i) pollsters are still using generous Democrat "oversamples" and (ii) Trump's favorability is heavily dependent on ones party affiliation with 81% of Hillary voters supporting impeachment and 83% of Trump voters opposing it.
And while 81% of Hillary voters can't wait for impeachment proceedings, we can't help but wonder whether any of them could point to a single "fact", as opposed to an anonymously sourced fake news story from the New York Times and/or Washington Post, that would merit such a punishment.
As far as we know, the only thing that Democrats have managed to "prove" so far is that a couple of Russian-based media outlets ran some negative articles about Hillary during the 2016 election cycle…which pales in comparison to the amount of negative press that Republicans get from the combination of CNN, NYT, Wapo and the rest during every single election cycle…does this mean that CNN has tried to hack every election for the past 35 years?
And, just as a matter of housekeeping because it's pretty much taken as a given at this point, here is proof of PPP's 9-point Democrat oversample.
That said, all of Trump's latest controversies, starting with Comey's firing last week and culminating with Wapo's latest 'bombshell' that he shared "highly classified intelligence" with the Russian ambassador in the Oval Office, seem to be taking a toll on his overall public perception and increasing the market odds of his impeachment.
And further still since The New York Times reported the Comey Memo..
In other news, the PPP poll found that ~90% of Hillary voters 'disapprove' of Trump…shocking, we know.
Moreover, nearly 90% of Hillary voters do not think the Russian story is 'fake news'.
Anyone else noticing a trend here? We're almost certain that Trump could announce that he'd found a cure for cancer and 90% of Hillary voters would be opposed to using it.
Finally, the only issue where Hillary voters seemed to be somewhat confused was whether or not they support former FBI director James Comey…on Comey's favorability Hillary voters were roughly equally split between 'favorable', 'unfavorable' and 'we have no freaking clue how to respond because we're not sure which answer means that we hate Trump more.'
But, while Hillary voters have no idea how they should feel about Comey, once again ~90% are certain that Trump shouldn't have fired him….Hillary maybe…but definitely not Trump.
- Oregon Officials Threaten To Seize 2,000 Acre Organic Farm, Spray It With Roundup
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
Sherman County Oregon believes the 2,000 acre Azure Farms is not doing enough to control Canada Thistle, a noxious weed. In this case, not doing enough means not spraying weeds with herbicides.
To remedy the alleged problem, the county proposes seizing the farm and spraying everything with Roundup and other herbicides. Azure Farms is certified organic. Of course, organic farms cannot by definition use herbicides, so the farm would be forced out of business by the county government.
Adding insult to injury, the county would place a lien on the property forcing it to pay for the herbicides.
Details of the proposed takeover can be found at Keep Azure Farm Organic
An Organic Farm Under Threat
Azure Farms is a working, Certified Organic farm located in Moro, Central Oregon, in Sherman County. It has been Certified Organic for about 18 years. The farm produces almost all the organic wheat, field peas, barley, Einkorn, and beef for Azure Standard.
Sherman County is changing the interpretation of its statutory code from controlling noxious weeds to eradicating noxious weeds. These weeds include Morning Glory, Canada Thistle, and Whitetop, all of which have been on the farm for many years, but that only toxic chemicals will eradicate.
Organic farming methods – at least as far as we know today – can only control noxious weeds—it is very difficult to eradicate them.
What’s Happening?
Sherman County may be issuing a Court Order on May 22, 2017, to quarantine Azure Farms and possibly to spray the whole farm with poisonous herbicides, contaminating them with Milestone, Escort and Roundup herbicides.
This will destroy all the efforts Azure Farms has made for years to produce the very cleanest and healthiest food humanly possible. About 2,000 organic acres would be impacted; that is about 2.8 times the size of the City of London, England, and 1.5 times the size of the city center of Philadelphia that could be sprayed with noxious, toxic, polluting herbicides.
The county would then put a lien on the farm to pay for the expense of the labor and chemicals used.
Take Action Now
If you are concerned about where your food comes from, enjoy Organic and non-GMO food grown in the United States, and support organic farmers, contact Sherman County Court before May 22, 2017 (and preferably before May 17 when the next court discussion will be held).
Contact info:
- Via email at lhernandez@co.sherman.or.us or…
- Call Lauren at 541-565-3416.
Raise your voice and speak up for you and your families and communities.
This proposed action is completely unreasonable and would destroy an organic farm and pollute a massive area. If enough voices that benefit from organic produce speak up, the county will understand that there are people that care about their food NOT containing toxic chemicals. And if the supporters of healthy food can have a louder voice than the supporters of toxic chemicals, every politician will listen. PLEASE take action today and share this message. Overwhelm the Sherman County representatives with your voice.
Sincerely,
Nathan Stelzer
Azure Farm ManagerAgricultural Scientist Responds
Alos consider Will There be Mandatory Herbicide Spraying on Organic Farms in Sherman County, Oregon? by Charles Benbrook, PhD.
He sent a letter to Lauren Hernandez (email above).
Dear Ms. Hernandez et al:
I live in Wallowa County. I learned today of the recent, dramatic change in the Sherman County noxious weed control program and the plan to forcibly spray a 2,000-acre organic farm in the county.
Over a long career, I have studied herbicide use and efficacy, public and private weed control efforts, the linkages between herbicide use and the emergence and spread of resistant weeds, and the public health and environmental impacts of herbicide use and other weed management strategies.
I served for six years, along with fellow Oregonian Barry Bushue, past-president of the Oregon Farm Bureau, on the USDA’s AC 21 Agricultural Biotechnology Advisory Committee. Issues arising from herbicide use were a frequent topic of discussion during our Committee’s deliberations.
I have published multiple scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals on glyphosate, its human health risks, and the impact of genetically engineered crops on overall herbicide use and the spread of resistant weeds. In a separate email, I will forward you copies of my published research relevant to the use of herbicides, and glyphosate in particular.
The notion that Sherman County can eradicate noxious weeds by blanket herbicide spraying is deeply misguided. I cannot imagine a single, reputable university weed scientist in the State supporting the idea that an herbicide-based noxious weed eradication program would work (i.e., eradicate the target weeds) in Oregon, or any other state.
There is near-universal agreement in the weed science community nationwide, and surely as well in the PNW, that over-reliance on glyphosate (Roundup) over the last two decades has created multiple, new noxious weeds posing serious economic, environmental, and public health threats.
In fact, over 120 million acres of cultivated cropland in the U.S. is now infested with one or more glyphosate-resistant weed (for details, see http://cehn-healthykids.org/herbicide-use/resistant-weeds/).
The majority of glyphosate-resistant weeds are in the Southeast and Midwest, where routine, year-after-year planting of Roundup Ready crops has led to heavy and continuous selection pressure on weed populations, pressure that over three-to-six years typically leads to the evolution of genetically resistant weed phenotypes, that can then take off, spreading across tens of millions of acres in just a few years.
Ask any farmer in Georgia, or Iowa, or Arkansas whether they would call “noxious” the glyphosate-resistant kochia, Palmer amaranth, Johnson grass, marestail, or any of a dozen other glyphosate-resistant weeds in their fields.
It is virtually certain that an herbicide-based attempt to eradicate noxious weeds in Sherman County would fail. It would also be extremely costly, and would pose hard-to-predict collateral damage on non-target plants from drift, and on human health and the environment. But even worse, it would also, almost certainly, accelerate the emergence and spread of a host of weeds resistant to the herbicides used in the program. …
if Sherman County is serious about weed eradication, it will have to mandate widespread spraying countywide, and not just on organic farms, and not just for one year. The public reaction will be swift, strong, and build in ferocity. It will likely lead to civil actions of the sort that can trigger substantial, unforeseen costs and consequences. I am surely not the only citizen of the State that recalls the tragic events last year in Malheur County.
Plus, I guarantee you that the County, the herbicide applicators, and the manufacturers of the herbicides applied, under force of law on organic or other farms, will face a torrent of litigation seeking compensatory damages for loss of reputation, health risks, and the loss of premium markets and prices.
I have followed litigation of this sort for decades, and have served as an expert witness in several herbicide-related cases. While it is obviously premature to start contemplating the precise legal theories and statutes that will form the crux of future litigation, the County should develop a realistic estimate of the legal costs likely to arise in the wake of this strategy, if acted upon, so that the County Commissioners can alert the public upfront regarding how they will raise the funds needed to deal with the costs of near-inevitable litigation.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me.
Sincerely,
Charles Benbrook, PhD
Troy, Oregon
Canada Thistles in Sherman County
Ther above image from Eddmaps.
Even if someone thought this action would eradicate the weeds, it would have to be applied to the entire county if not the entire state. Then what? The nation?
Farmer vs Farmer
I always want to know the other side of the story.
In this case, the story is farmer vs farmer. Neighboring wheat growers say weeds spreading from Azure Farms threaten their crops.
Capital Press reports County May Press for Quarantine of an Organic Farm.
Local wheat farmers say weeds spreading from Azure Farms, on the outskirts of Moro in north central Oregon, cost them money in the form of additional herbicide control. Most critically, growers of certified wheat seed say their crops will be worthless if contaminated by Rush Skeleton Weed, Canada Thistle, Morning Glory and White Top spreading from the farm.
Spraying the weeds with Milestone or other herbicides, however, would cause the farm to lose organic certification for three years. Azure Standard, which operates Azure Farms, is a major distributor of organic products.
Sherman County gave the farm until May 22 to respond with a weed management plan. If not, the county will ask the Oregon Department of Agriculture to quarantine the farm.
The issue has blown up on social media.
The manager of Azure Farms, Nathan Stelzer, urged supporters to “Overwhelm the Sherman County representatives with your voice.” A video posted on the farm website called for people to express their outrage reportedly has resulted in hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails to county officials.
The issue may come to a head Wednesday when the county’s Board of Commissioners takes up the issue. The county is expecting such a crowd that it moved the session from the courthouse to the Sherman County School gym, 65912 High School Loop, Moro, at 4 p.m.
“The school gym is the only site in Sherman County big enough to hold the expected crowd and we received permission to use the gym only if we delayed our meeting until after the students are dismissed,” Commissioner Tom McCoy said in an email.
Wheat farmer Bryan Cranston, who grows certified seed next to Azure Farms, said its weed problems have gotten progressively worse over the years. Cranston said he spoke to Selzer and told him, “I don’t drift chemicals on you, I’d appreciate it if weeds don’t drift on me.”
Cranston said he told Selzer, “I grow seed wheat to garner more out of the market, you grow organic to garner more out of the market — we have a lot in common here.”
But he added, “You’re messing me up.”
The county warned that it would spray if the farm didn’t, and the cost for multiple surveys throughout the growing season would be billed to the farm as a lien on its property taxes.
Asher said the county could help identify weed, recommend control methods and herbicide products, and had a spray crew for hire if necessary.
David Stelzer said Azure is attempting to improve its ground through crop rotation and “companion planting” of various crops.
“Bio-diversity, a few weeds in the field, does not make a bad farmer,” he said.
Responding to comments he said have been made about the farm, he said it is not affiliated with a religion although they are a “family a faith.” He said Azure properly pays its taxes and provides a $6 million payroll. He said the farm’s wheat yields nearly meet the county average and is of high quality. Eventually, organic farming methods will be “dominant,” he said.
Both Sides
That’s both sides of the farming story.
But there is a medical issue as well. Some patients claim Roundup gave us cancer as EPA official helped the company.
Questions
- Are the increased used of herbicides on neighboring farms caused by Roundup resistant plants or seeds from the organic farm?
- Is Azure Farms responsible for blown seeds?
- Realistically, how far do these seeds blow? Miles? Thousands of acres?
- Is the remedy a lawsuit against Azure Farms by other farmers or action by the County?
- Is it possible to create a buffer zone of some sort?
- Is Roundup a carcinogen?
Whether or not you buy and eat organic foods, the proposed action (property seizure) is extremely controversial, and it likely will not do much about the weeds either.
Widespread overuse of herbicides (I admit I use them on my lawn and garden), has created Roundup resistant weeds that are near impossible to get rid of.
Thistle is one weed I have a very difficult time with myself. Some plants turn brown in a day or two, but thistles stay green for quite a long time even if they wilt and look sick.
I sprayed thistles four times over the course of a week this year hoping to get rid of them.
Action
If you care to voice an opinion, you can do it here: lhernandez@co.sherman.or.us
I recommend being polite.
My opinion: Spraying will not work. More importantly, the proposed county action of property seizure steps well over the bounds of reasonableness.
- New Theory Behind Stalled Economy: Retirees Are Hoarding Too Much Cash
For years we’ve written about the fact that Americans, young to old, are lousy savers (see “Retirement Crisis Looms As Average U.S. Household Has Saved $2,500 For Retirement“). Of course, they have to be because how else can a mature economy continue to grow unless every single person levers every asset they own to the maximum extent possible and then spends all of that money? Anything less would mean that all of Janet Yellen’s efforts have been a colossal waste. Meanwhile, this inherent inability to save is awful news for a nation that faces a massive wave of baby boomer retirements over the next 20 years.
All that said, we were somewhat shocked to come across a report from money manager United Income which effectively argues that American retirees are saving too much money rather than too little. To summarize the thesis, United Income argues that retirees become more conservative as they grow older which causes them to save more and allocate less to equities…which is, of course, a somewhat self-serving conclusion but never mind that.
Innovations in medicine and technology have extended human life by over 30 years since 1900. This has helped to double the amount of time the average adult now spends in retirement compared to several decades ago. But, the benefits of longer lives and retirement may be limited if older households curb their consumption or investment in preventive health measures because they are overly pessimistic about their future financial health. Overly negative viewpoints toward the future may also create self-fulfilling economic problems if it leads to an overly aggressive fixed-income portfolio. To assess these possibilities, we analyze consumer sentiment and spending data from the University of Michigan that was commissioned by the Social Security Administration and U.S. Commerce Department, among other federal agencies.
The only problem with the theory is that, intentional or otherwise, it’s based on a complete misinterpretation of data. Per the chart below, United Income referenced the growth in “Mean Net Wealth” as evidence that retirees are hoarding too much cash.
Unfortunately, when combined with the fact that “Median Net Wealth” is actually shrinking, it’s easy to deduce that while the majority of American retirees are actually spending their retirement income (and then some), there is a group of super wealthy old folks who simply can’t spend enough money to offset annual investment income growth….which speaks more to the growing wealth gap than to some economic fear that is causing retirees to hoard cash.
In this context, it’s not too difficult to understand why aggregate YoY spending trends collapse as old folks get older. The most wealthy retirees can only find so many ways to burn their massive nest eggs which means that, at least for these folks, YoY spending doesn’t grow but retirement balances do…
…while the overwhelming majority of people simply run out of cash and have to cut every corner possible to survive….
But we’re sure the report from United Income, as misleading as it may be, will undoubtedly convince more retirees to allocate more money to equities…all of which will inflate this ETF-induced equity bubble even more, all while adding to United’s fee income…It’s one of those ‘win-win’ deals.
- Chaffetz Demands FBI Hand Over All Comey's Notes, Memos, & Recordings Related To Trump
Update: Jason Chaffetz office just released the letter sent to the FBI’s Andrew McCabe demanding all Comey-Trump related memos…
Today, the New York Times reported former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey memorialized the content of phone calls and meetings with the President in a series of internal memoranda. At least one such memorandum reportedly describes a conversation in which the President referenced the FBI investigation of former National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and said to Comey, “I hope you can let this go.”
According to the report, “Mr. Comey created similar memos — including some that are classified — about every phone call and meeting he had with the president.” If true, these memoranda raise questions as to whether the President attempted to influence or impede the FBI’s investigation as it relates to Lt. Gen. Flynn. So the Committee can consider that question, and others, provide, no later than May 24, 2017, all memoranda, notes, summaries, and recordings referring or relating to any communications between Comey and the President.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives and may at “any time” investigate “any matter” as set forth in House Rule X. An attachment to this letter provides additional information about responding to the Committee’s request. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Original…
Trump and/or Comey are getting increasingly boxed in here – one or other is going to be proved a liar soon enough.
* * *
As we detailed earlier, following the New York Times latest Trump bombshell (see “Comey’s Revenge: Leaks Memo To NYT Saying Trump Asked Him To End Flynn Investigation“), the impeachment word seems to be getting tossed around a little more loosely this evening. And, given the serious accusations levied by former FBI Director James Comey, the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Jason Chaffetz, has just promised that he will “get the Comey memo, if it exists,” which was backed up by the not so thinly veiled threat: “I have my subpoena pen ready.”
.@GOPoversight is going to get the Comey memo, if it exists. I need to see it sooner rather than later. I have my subpoena pen ready.
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) May 16, 2017
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Meanwhile, in the following Q&A with NBC, Chaffetz says his committee has already started “drafting the necessary paperwork” to get Comey’s memo to the extent it is not handed over voluntarily.
“If the memo exists, I need to see it and I need to see it right away. We are drafting the necessary paperwork to get the mom so we will find out in a hurry if its out there.”
“I want to read the memo first but on the surface that seems like an extraordinary use of influence to try to shutdown an investigation being done by the FBI. I don’t know if it’s true yet but I want to find out if that’s actually out there.”
????Chaffetz to NBC:”If the memo exists, I need to see it and I need to see it right away. We are drafting the necessary paperwork to get [it]” pic.twitter.com/rF2g8qWm7v
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) May 16, 2017
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