The RAnts of RA

Just who in the world does Governor Schwarzenegger think he is? What right does that man have to tell me what I can or cannot eat?

I grew up across the street from a dairy farm. Where every few days, I walked across the street with my large mouth 2-gallon jug to purchase fresh milk with the creme on top. Back then we called it “milk.” Today we can’t call it milk because everyone would mistake it for the new and improved inedible dead substitute excuse for milk they sell from every “authorized” retailer in the state.

Does Arnold really think he has the authority to mandate that we drink dead milk, not fit for animal consumption? The gut wrenching affects should be your first clue. Before the close of the legislative session our illustrious leader saw fit to Veto SB 201 a bill written in order to combat standards that were quietly passed in AB 1735 last session.

The way things are going in California; soon we’ll all be forced to live in large communes on small tracks of land allocated to the family unit, where we will grow large gardens, spend the summer canning and raise our own livestock.

CREMA  (California Real Milk Association) is leading the fight again this highly discriminator act that one could almost call arrogance. They issued the following statement:

Read the Governor’s veto statement

Read Senator Florez’ statement to the press

SB 201 Vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger

Our fight for raw milk in CA continues…

Despite our hundreds of calls and letters and overwhelming bipartisan support of the Legislature, our bill was vetoed by the Governor. Politics were at play as the Governor ignored testimony from UC Davis and other scientific experts that HACCP  plans and increased pathogen testing are a better way to regulate raw milk than coliform  limits. Instead, the Governor succumbed to pressure from the CDFA and other parties who would like to regulate raw milk out of business.

What’s next?

Senator Florez  will continue this fight when the new legislative session begins in January. California’s two raw milk dairies will press forward with their joint lawsuit against the CDFA’s  current standard while trying their best to continue operations under difficult conditions. (One dairy has already seen a significant increase in harassment by inspectors in the last week.) They ask for your continued patience and support if there are disruptions in supply.

As consumers, we can continue this fight to save our milk in CA by doing the following:

1. Consider making a donation to the Farm-To-Consumer-Legal Defense Fund. This arm of the Weston A. Price Foundation is providing legal representation to the two California dairies and is crucial to fighting the current standards in AB 1735 so we can still find the milk on store shelves. For more info and to donate click here.
2. Call your lawmakers and tell them how you feel. They listened and responded to us by passing SB 201 out of the Legislature with only four no votes. We need them to be just as responsive when we take this up again in January.
3. Call the Governor’s office and tell him how you feel. Tell him the CDFA is wrong and to read the testimony from the hearings or watch it on our video.
4. Continue telling your store managers how important raw milk is to you. We had strong vocal support from major raw milk retailers at our hearings and behind the scenes. If you are a Whole Foods customer, let them know you want them to keep fighting for us. Their political clout will continue to be critical going forward.
5. Write letters to editors, post on blogs, and tell your friends about the significant health benefits of raw milk. More enthusiastic consumers means more voices in our lawmakers ears.

We Californians have made huge strides in leading the nationwide effort to assure raw milk safety and consumer choice! Let’s be proud of our progress as we press forward in this campaign for nature’s most perfect food!

137 N. Larchmont Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90004

If you haven’t discovered the benefits of drinking raw, natural milk, your family is really missing out. A google search will provide plenty of information both fact and fiction but don’t let that prevent you from exploring your options. Our family was amazed at what we discoved and we are reaping the health benefits from making the switch.

While I admit we aren’t big milk drinkers, we do like a little on our cereal occasionally and you can’t beat milk for dunking oreo cookies. Despite recent campaigns telling consumers otherwise, milk is not necessary to a healthy body but if you are going to drink it, it should be the real deal.

~Annette
Got Milk? REAL Milk?

While California citizens are focused on protecting marriage and busy working on the passage of Proposition 8, our state legislators have quietly passed more homosexual legislation.

This legislation is focused on indoctrinating our children. ‘This bill would require the Governor to proclaim May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day, and would designate that date as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions and would encourage those entities to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date.’ (text of AB 2567)

As the first openly gay City Supervisor of San Francisco, Harvey Milk encouraged gay right’s activism. He was killed in 1978.

AB 2567 is now sitting on Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk waiting for his signature. We need you to voice your opinion and tell the Governor not to sign this bill. It is important that you call today.

What you can do!

Call the Governor’s office to register your opposition to AB 2567

1. Dial 916-445-2841
2. Press 1 for English
3. Press 2 to voice your opinion on a bill
4. Press 1 to select AB 2567
5. Press 2 to register your opposition

It is that easy. Please take a minute to voice your opinion.

Schwarzenegger Sells California Out to Gambling Casinos

by Kathryn Bowen

Whoever coined the phrase “Ignorance is bliss” must have been talking about the 35 million Californians trusting that their governor and their elected officials are actually doing their job with respect to gambling casinos run by Indian tribes in our state.

“Bliss” is what Governor Schwarzenegger has been selling the public while he sells the State down the river by granting the largest expansion of gambling in history to 5 casino tribes.

In the wake of Californian’s support of Prop 1A, former Governor, Gray Davis, negotiated gambling compacts with Indian Tribes. Millions of voters succumbed to a brilliant marketing campaign that casino tribes invested nearly $100 Million into, equal to a presidential election, to persuade voters to change our State constitution and direct gambling monopolies to Indian tribes. I was one of those voters.

Here’s the bad news.

At this moment, your elected representatives in California are just about to vote on whether to grant 5 casino tribes, consisting of just 1,876 people, the ability to expand willy-nilly despite the impact on our communities, families, children and ultimately the financial future of California.

This is just the beginning; 67 additional tribes with gaming compacts are waiting in the wings and the Governor may not inform the public when renegotiations commence with these tribes.

The reality is the revenue promised for the state through gambling expansion will not materialize. The Governor and his advisors know this and should probably buy a new calculator because they know the expected income is neither measurable or enforceable!

Thousands of emails, letters, phone calls and exhaustive testimony attempting to alert our elected officials of endless issues regarding jurisdiction, regulation, accounting and disastrous social costs have fallen on deaf ears.

Hearing Loss

The reason for the hearing loss? Could it be the massive unregulated tribal contributions flowing into political campaigns of the majority of our elected officials in our State Capitol?

In fact, tribes poured $429,600 into the campaigns of just fifteen assembly members who held an “impartial” hearing on problematic regulatory issues with the compacts and will be key in deciding their fate. How impartial can they really be when taking money from the same tribes that will benefit from their vote? By any definition, this is a profound conflict of interest.

Making matters worse, the Minimum Internal Control Standards (MICS), the only federal regulatory leg left to oversee the integrity of the games and to collect the money, has been eliminated from the compacts.

What does this mean? These so-called compacts are really contracts that will cement a permanent partnership between the State of California and loosely regulated gambling casino tribes for the next 25-years, without the ability of the state to audit and collect the money or to ensure fair gaming for the patrons.

Casino tribes have kicked federal regulators off their land claiming sovereignty. What makes the state think its going to be any more successful especially given the fact there are simply not enough enforcement resources?

Moreover, Schwarzenegger privately brokered 25-year, multibillion dollar deals without so much as an economic study to show how expanded gambling will impact the people of California.

Given the fact that 80% percent of gambling revenue comes from households with incomes of less than $50,000 a year, don’t you think you need a study to show what this spread of gambling is going to do to the state?

What kind of representative government balances its budget on the backs of its poorest and most vulnerable citizens? Even Russia and other countries around the world who believed that gambling actually produced economic vitality have come to their senses and banned or closed most of their casinos due to the economic strain caused their economies.

Once again, our elected officials are going for the quick fix approach to fixing the state’s budget problems instead of assessing the long-term effects of really bad policy.

What does California get? We all get to sit by and watch our regional economy redirect billions in disposable income (taxable sales) into “sovereign tribal governments” who are not bound by the U.S. Constitution, remain outside regulatory laws and pay no taxes on their $23 Billion profits.

This massive federal scandal’s tentacles have found their way into every corner of our government through corrupt campaign finance loopholes. From the White House on down to local county governments who are faced with the dilemma of how to stand up to tribes who exploit their ancestral suffering to bully local governments into giving them what they want.

Wake up California! The gaming tribes’ plight no longer has anything to do with civil rights, justice or historical reparations, but rather with self-indulgent gambling expansion under the guise of self-determination.

About the author:

Kathryn Bowen is an expert and activist on government regarding gambling across the country.

Issues include: tribal expansion, tribal sovereignty, tribal sovereign immunity, political corruption due to unlimited funds from casino tribes both in local and state government, civil rights, equal protection issues communities struggle with due to representative government becoming too reliant on big gambling dollars. Member of the legal subcommittee team involving a lawsuit filed by Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO) and Preservation of Santa Ynez (POSY) against the federal government in 2005. This suit was filed as an appeal to the Bureau of Indian Affairs decision to accept privately purchased land by the Santa Ynez Band into federal trust status without proper representation of community interests. Writer/Producer of documentary “Big Gambling Dollars and Politics at Work”