Healthcare, FBI Raids, and More

Well, I'm late in posting this, but the healthcare bill passed. It will force people to buy private insurance under penalty of a fine, but does nothing to control prices. I bet the insurance companies are excited. On the bright side, several states are suing over it, and some portions of it look ripe for being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. I can't imagine the SCOTUS buying the argument that the interstate commerce clause gives the feds the ability to force people to buy private insurance. The majority opposed this and I look forward to November's election results. Several democrats have found themselves being targets for bricks thrown at windows, coffins placed on lawns, threatening phone calls, etc. Now I must say, this would be playing right into the leftist extremists' hands, giving them fuel for their war on anyone who disagrees with them. So do not be tempted to do so.

Members of a group known as "Hutaree" were raided by the FBI. The claim by the FBI is that they planned to kill a police officer, than use improvisd explosive devices to kill more at the victim's funeral. Here's what they're saying: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100329/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_fbi_raids

Members of the group called Hutaree are charged in the case, including their
leader, David Brian Stone, also known as "Captain Hutaree."Once other officers
gathered for a slain officer's funeral, the group planned to detonate homemade
bombs at the funeral, killing more, according to newly unsealed court papers.The
indictment includes charges of seditious conspiracy, possessing a firearm during
a crime of violence, teaching the use of explosives, and attempting to use a
weapon of mass destruction — homemade bombs.The indictment charges members of
the group conspired "to levy war against the United States, (and) to oppose by
force the authority of the government of the United States."The charges follow
FBI raids over the weekend on locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.According
to investigators, the Hutaree view local, state, and federal law enforcement
personnel as a "brotherhood" and an enemy, and planned to attack them as part of
an armed struggle against the U.S. government.

I'm very skeptical. Typically the ones in any militia group, protest group, etc., advocating violence or other illegal acts, are feds or police officers who infiltrate, try to stir up trouble to arrest people they dislike (anyone who doubts this should research COINTELPRO). And typically, the so-called pipe bombs, grenades, etc., consist of people having both common plumbing pipe in their home and some gunpowder. Items millions of Americans have. Now, the Hutaree group was a bit too doom and gloom and paranoid for my tastes, but it seems to me perhaps the FBI just figures they'd be easy targets.

Furthermore, this is just too convenient in some ways: the dems pass healthcare against the will of the people, they start claiming they're being threatened, so, what better way to discredit the opposition by trumping up some terrorism charges or such, and trying to lump the opposition in with them? The far-leftists all over are already trying to connect these people with the Tea Party Movement, etc., and the SPLC is trying to blame Glenn Beck and others with inciting violence: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/lou-dobbs-glenn-beck-sarah-palin-michele-bachmann/story?id=9989249

I wish a Rico suit would be done on the SPLC. They rouse up paranoia, smear any conservative or libertarian with the extremist/racist brush,and rake in millions in donations. They listed the Constitution party in Vermont as an "extremist" group and a militia leader in Indiana was accused of being racist by them, and so he sued successfully and forced them to remove their statements from their website. Just a couple of examples of their lies.

Now, on a lighter note, I've got plants started and some seeds ready for my garden. I'm getting more and more into heirloom varieties. I'm going to grow Armenian cucumbers this year (actually a melon that tastes like cucumbers, and grows 3 feet long). Scarlet runner beans are one of the oldest runner beans around (dating to at least the mid 1700's, and as a sidenote: never eat them raw, cook them well or they will make you sick). Tennis ball lettuce was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson and likely goes back to the 1600's. It;s a small butterhead type lettuce. I hope it grows well because it sounds interesting, especially with the Jefferson connection. I've got way too many tomato varieties: silvery fir tree, siberian, black plum, brandywine, German red strawberry, yellow pear, and cherokee purple. Yellow pear tomato is a very old variety, also grown by Jefferson. It's very mild flavored. The others also have interesting histories, such as the cherokee connection with cherokee purple. Siberian does well regardless of weather it seems and are decent enough if the better tomatoes don't produce well (or die from blight again).

I'm also growing "husk tomatoes" or "ground cherries." Related to the tomato but not a tomato. The variety I have was enjoyed by the Pilgrims in the 1600's. It's got a unique flavor I really can't describe. For peppers I'll be trying Hungarian hot wax, Anaheim chili, California wonder bell, and I plan to try jalopenos and possibly cayenne, to make some really hot, hot sauce. For beans (besides the runner beans) I'll be doing Kentucky wonder pole, blue lake pole and bush, early golden lumen wax beans. In addition to Armenian cucumbers, I'm growing early Russian cucumbers (a true cucumber, excellent for pickles or fresh eating). I'll be trying moon and stars as well as sugar baby watermelons, and I'm going to give cantaloupe a try. Now, they say to only start these about 4 weeks before transplanting, but it's simply not early enough here often. So, I;ve got some started now in large peat pots, and will also start more in May, and see which ones do best. Moon and stars is excellent, but very unreliable here. I hope it does well this year. It sucks watching the melon not grow until it's too late. All that rain and cold really hurt them. The sugar baby usually grows at least some melons before the cold hits, and are good, though not quite up to moon and stars standards.

Zucchini squash, black beauty variety likely, of course will be planted for something to have early on (though only a few plants, they just get out of control quickly, I love zucchini but can only eat so much at once), and peas, though I haven't decided on a variety. Early green broccoli, I haven't decided on what variety of cauliflower yet. And of course, onions and potatoes. Probably kennebec potatoes since I always have good luck with them, not even the blight last year got to them. Speaking of which, I truly hope we get a better summer this year. But if not, I have plans to ensure I get some good crops (involving lots of clear plastic and rope).

I may actually skip growing corn this year since I rarely have much luck with it (seriously, what's with all the earwigs? I never experienced this where I grew up, not this many, as I experienced every year I've lived on this end of town), it takes a heavy toll on the soil, and I have way too many other things to grow.

Sea Shepherd Terrorists and their Forums

Well, I some time ago discovered Sea Shepherd's internet forum: http://www.seashepherd.com.au/

Yesterday I had time finally to really spend some time there. To be truthful, debating with such people reminds me of debating with hard core fundamentalists (who once told me I'm going to hell because I'm Catholic). In other words, you can't have any real discussion with such people. They're too brainwashed by their foolish notions. How can you convince someone that it's wrong to throw bottles of acid at vessels and those onboard, foul the propellor in dangerous seas, ram ships, sink ships, illegally board and demand money, etc., when they are convinced, like their leader Watson, that animals are more valuable than people? Watson's own words, are that "earthworms are far more valuable than people" (said at an Animal Rights Conference, visit here for more disturbing quotes from this man: http://activistcash.com/biography_quotes.cfm/b/3370-paul-watson )

Anyways, after posting about the law, etc., on terrorism and piracy at sea (which they are utterly ignorant of, as they actually believe that what Watson is doing is perfectly legal, despite the fact that the IWC has condemned it as terrorism, several countries including the U.S., Canada, Norway, Iceland, etc., list them as terrorists, and as we speak, one of their members is in jail awaiting charges), they simply decided to silence me, claiming this blog is a "hate" and "abusive" website. That's mighty interesting, since I would never advocate hating a person. Their ideas yes, but not the person. They on the other hand advocate violence against people ideologically opposed to them, as I will show with some examples below of their words. This is the message I got yesterday from their administrator:

"Dear vermonter,You have received an infraction at Sea Shepherd Forum.Reason:
Signature Rule Violation-------Encouraging hate in signature by linking to a
abusive site.Your signature has been removed and it must not be placed
again.Your now on mod approval for a few days to ensure that.-------This
infraction is worth 1 point(s) and may result in restricted access until it
expires. Serious infractions will never expire.All the best,Sea Shepherd
Forum"

Of course I tried posting some more but they never approved any posts. In other words, a ban without listing ban by my username, so as to make it appear I just left.

In any case, their crimes will catch up to them. I find it ironic they claim to be non-violent while their members are suggesting to shoot people. For example, one poster, going by "Winpooh718" whose location is given as Staten Island, NY, posted this:

Too bad we can't get one of those old cannons used on ships, mount it to the
front, and shoot the bastards.

http://www.seashepherd.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=65251&postcount=8

Another poster by the name of "Mkay" (location California) posted this:

The entire Japanese whaling fleet needs to be taken to port or sunk ,period end
of story.

http://www.seashepherd.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=55166&postcount=26

Finally, I can't ignore Erik Brush, a moderator at their forum. He posted this, take careful note of the last lines, for he suggests those who oppose his ideology, should be exterminated:

Observations:Japanese Members of Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha and the ICR lower Chairman
make an attempt to give the Australian Official packaged and canned whale meat
insisting that it is a gift. They state the word gift in English knowing full
well that it is considered a cultural insult to refuse a gift in Japan. But also
knowing that Australian Anti-Whaling stance forbids any official from accepting
such an offering, and also understanding that the official cannot accept a gift
anyway in such circumstance as it would be seen as a violation ( legally ) of
his office as it can be construed as accepting a bribe from a special interest.
So knowing that he can and must refuse the gift, they try very hard to force the
offerings on him while the Chairman then spews racial prejudice and derogatory
slurs about the Official's insulting behavior in not taking the gifts which are
representative of their livelihood.It shows poor class and a lack of
intelligence, although the understanding of manipulating the political and legal
system were obviously there for anyone to see. The protest comes on the heals of
Japan's dying industry. The ICR and Kyodo Senpaku are on the verge of total
collapse and nothing will stop that. It is not a matter of "if" only "when" that
remains to be seen. The employees know this. Of course they are upset to be
loosing their livelihood. But the facts remain that there were Terrorists there
alright, but it was not in the pictures that they were holding. The terrorists
are these small groups of Bio-Criminals and WEECs. And just for the record,
WEECs are World Extinction Event Criminals and threaten ALL of humanity. They
should be educated first, and if they still attempt to destroy the planet and
humanity, then stronger measures should be pursued! WEECs are scum of the Earth,
and on the criminal rating system they are so disgusting and low, that they make
pedophiles look good! I would not waste the rocks to stone them to death, or
dirty a rope with their disgusting DNA. Bullets are the best solution for WEECs,
and even that is too good for them!

http://www.seashepherd.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=71812&postcount=26

That fellow has his own website in fact (just google it). He is rather scary in my opinion. He supports killing people who oppose him, he truly believes all humans will go extinct in a century, etc. He tries to act like an expert on everything yet he is not, as will be seen if one researches laws, etc., and compare them to his claims.

They also tried denying they were putting butyric acid in those bottles they throw, insisting on calling it rancid butter when rancid butter contains only trace amounts of it. However, I found this interesting post, one of them (going by the username "whalesrcool" with a stated location of Tasmania), suggested spraying a group of protesters (the area was quite dense with protesters, take note) in Japan against Sea Shepherd with butyric acid:

Spray the area with butyric acid. Will dissipate a crowd in 0.5 seconds. lol

http://www.seashepherd.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=75406&postcount=16

They try to claim rather often that if it's illegal what they're doing, why haven't they been arrested? Well, they have. Many of their members have been charged and convicted of crimes. Take this example from Canada, where the judge pointed out the two sea shepherd members had put lives in danger:

"The Defendants are repeat offenders, and there was a deliberate disregard
for regulatory requirements. The Defendants deliberately followed and interfered
with the sealing vessels. They deliberately disrupted those engaged in the lawful
activity of harvesting seals. TheDefendants deliberately, on numerous occasions,
ignored Coast Guard officials instructions to remain outside the one half
nautical mile limit and persisted in their reckless behaviour. The Defendants
endangered the lives of the fishers involved in harvesting seals that day, in
particular March 30th, and then the Defendants returned on April 11th and 12th
and engaged in the same reckless behaviour. Their behaviour was so egregious, it
caused seasoned veterans of the sea to fear for their lives.[ 20 ] No one is
saying that the Sea Shepherd Society and it’s members can not lawfully protest
the seal hunt. They have every right to do that. But they do not havethe right
to flagrantly ignore the laws of this sovereign nation, or endanger the lives of
it’s citizens who are lawfully engaged in earning a living.

http://www.courts.ns.ca/decisions_recent/documents/2009nspc60.pdf

Paul Watson himself has not stepped foot in Norwegian or Icelandic waters in years because he was thrown out of there (and was in fact convicted of crimes in connection with the sinking of ships).

So anyways, I cant wait until the entire terrorist organization known as Sea Shepherd is shut down. I wish some government would get on top of it. Their headquarters (in name only, based on my research, as they own a house there but nothing much seems to go on there), is based out of Washington State. The FBI has identified them as terrorists, I think they should be shut down.

Torture by Rutland Police: Officer Resigns

Well, looks like another of Rutland's finest is in some trouble. This time, it was what I think could rightly be called torture: shooting a crowd control device at a person in custody who was in shackles. Of course, the internal investigation was done by the resident pedophile of the Rutland Police Department and so charges are unlikely: http://rutlandherald.com/article/20100302/NEWS04/3020348