Hello sir/Ma,
I will like to Know if you still have ur ships for sale and if so Let me have the Final Price..Get back to me asap.
Andy
andyluv008@gmail.com

This guy is a scammer.

Harry and Louise have returned to promote a new multi-million dollar ad campaign that will air on national television throughout the Democratic and Republican conventions. In light of ever increasing health care costs and increasing numbers of people without health insurance coverage, Harry and Louise will urge the next President and Congress to put health care at the top of the domestic agenda.

HarryandLouiseReturn.com

Yesterday Evelyn and I spent the afternoon helping celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of a great couple we know.

We met them years ago when their and our kids were small. The kids arn't small any more. They all have kids of their own.

Time seems to just fly by when your busy living!

COOL webcast to outline impact of mandatory labeling

Ames, Iowa, 8/7/08 – In light of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) taking effect Sept. 30, 2008, Iowa
State livestock experts are coming together to help producers understand how they will be affected.
“There’s no need for producers to panic, but we should pay attention and be prepared,” John Lawrence, Iowa Beef
Center director, said. “Sellers are likely to ask for an affidavit stating the origin of the animal, but buyers’ normal
records should be sufficient to back up the affidavit.”
Lawrence, along with several other Iowa State livestock experts, will be speaking at a COOL webcast held Aug. 25,
2008, at 7 p.m. Host sites will be available so individuals can attend a nearby location to watch the speakers broadcast
throughout the state. For an up-to-date list of host sites, visit the IBC Web site (www.iowabeefcenter.org).
Along with hearing details about COOL’s impact on beef producers from Lawrence, and its impact on pork producers
from Iowa Pork Industry Center Director John Mabry, attendees will also hear updates on cattle, hog and corn
market outlook.
“In addition to COOL, there are other market uncertainties that producers should be prepared for,” Lawrence said.
To learn more about the COOL webcast, including information about local host sites, contact Taylor Gerling, IBC
communications specialist, at 515-708-4133 or tgerling@iastate.edu. Further details are also available on the IBC
Web site, along with the IBC COOL resource section at www.iowabeefcenter.org/content/COOL.htm.

Two years ago, Nouriel Roubini predicted the current economic crisis. Now he sees things becoming far worse.

Here is an interesting article in the NY Tmes on the US economy.

Click here to read the article

Today some fellow is responding to a bunch of ads on BullShop.com, RualAds.com and GoatAds.com.

He has sent out so many that I know he is running a scam.

Here is one of his.

Hi There,
Do you still have this horse for sale? Please get back to me asap.

I await your swift response.
Thanks
giosona@yahoo.com

He changes it to cattle or goats when needed.

Reliable Mature Couple - we don't drink and we don't smoke - no kids at home. 35 years experience cowboying. Associates Degree from Sheridan College in Ranch Management. Alumnus of Stan Parson's Ranching for Profit School. Call (530) 253-2125 or (530) 927-8155 for more information, resume, references."

Click here to see their ad on BullShop.com

Flora site may have been short-listed over higher ranked areas
Larry Margasak, The Associated Press
Clarion Ledger
August 11, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department swept aside evaluations of government experts and named Mississippi - home to powerful U.S. lawmakers with sway over the agency - as a top location for a new $451 million, national laboratory to study some of the world's most virulent biological threats, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Mississippi's lawmakers include the Democratic chairman of the department's oversight committee in the House and the senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is expected to approve money to build the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility at one of five sites being considered. The two lawmakers said they were unaware of the Homeland Security evaluation system that scored the Mississippi site so low.

The disclosure is the latest example of what critics assert is the Bush administration's politicizing of government decisions, such as efforts to steer science over global warming at the Environmental Protection Agency and hiring and firing practices at the Justice Department.

"It is very suspicious," said Irwin Goldman of the University of
Wisconsin, a leader of the unsuccessful effort to build the lab in
Madison. His community's offer was among nine sites rejected even though the government scored it more highly than Mississippi's. "We wondered how everybody else did. It's interesting to know that we came out ahead of one that was short-listed."

The states where locations were eliminated despite earning scores higher than Mississippi include California, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin.


Click no this link for whole story

The Energy Wars...Is Paris Hilton Right?
By Steve Kopperud Brownfield Network

It's scary when Paris Hilton, acknowledged as famous for being infamous thanks to a pretty good gene pool, an outrageous lifestyle and because she's named after a hotel chain, has a more sensible energy policy than either presidential candidate. Her policy? Take the best part of both Obama and McCain and move on.

In DC this week, it's all about House GOPers hanging out in the dark on the House floor, telling tourists who get dragged to the gallery on tours that the Democrats are denying the country a solution to high energy prices. It's all about EPA deciding Texas Gov. Rick Perry's state is not hurting badly enough to qualify for an emergency waiver from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandate. And it's all about the shootout at the OK Corral that's coming in September when dueling monster energy bills finally get debated on the floor of both chambers.

The House GOP talkathon is really just good theater, if you like theater of the absurd. The only reason the media paid attention after the first couple of days is because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) was meanspirited enough to deny her colleagues lights and C-SPAN access. If you think about it, if she'd left the light on and gave C-SPAN the OK to broadcast, no one in the general media would give a hoot.

The EPA denial of the Texas waiver was to be expected. While the law allows EPA to grant emergency waivers, this was the first test of that authority. The bureaucrat is by nature less than brave and this Administration has been less than progressive when it comes to confronting the reality of food versus fuel. And given that ag is split right down the middle on the issue and because the energy community is equally divided, there's really no down side to saying "no" to the good governor. Expecting EPA to render an "independent" decision that favored Texas but set a national precedent just wasn't in the cards.

The September legislative battle will consume the last week's of the 110th Congress. With congressional control up for grabs -- or perhaps more accurately, the notion of holding on to the status quo -- the number of outrageous and downright ridiculous proposals will abound.

The GOP will prevail on domestic energy exploration -- but in a limited way, and because every poll in America says voters favor domestic energy development. No Arctic National Wildlife Reserve drilling, but likely the green light for off-shore drilling. Let's hope the Senate proposal doesn't prevail because that says "yes" to the notion of off-shore drilling, but says the state legislatures will ultimately decide. Attention will be paid to nuclear and to coal -- and it's about time - and we may even see the biofuel tax extenders bill get enacted while they're at it. Folks who buy hybrid automobiles will get a tax break, and billions will be thrown at the folks in white lab coats to do research and development. Immediate relief? Not so likely. Steps in the right direction to an evolving national energy policy? Hopefully.

We just changed the names of two of our six websites.

www.GoatBreeders.biz has been Changed to www.GoatAds.com

www.SheepBreeders.biz has been changed to www.SheepAds.com

We hope the new names will be easier for you to remember when you come on the internet.

WASHINGTON, August 1, 2008 - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced that producers in counties approved for emergency haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land because of drought will have rental payments cut by 10 percent instead of the standard 25 percent. To date, that includes counties in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.

CRP is a voluntary program that offers annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term resource-conserving cover on eligible land. To be approved for emergency haying or grazing, a county must be listed as a level "D3 Drought -Extreme" or greater, or have suffered at least a 40 percent loss of normal moisture and forage for the preceding four-month qualifying period. State FSA committees are reminded they may authorize emergency haying or grazing of CRP in counties currently listed as level D3 drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

To participate, livestock producers in counties approved for emergency haying or grazing assistance must certify they are an eligible livestock producer in an eligible county approved for emergency haying and grazing and that they are requesting emergency haying and grazing of eligible CRP acreage from another eligible CRP participant who is willing to provide hay or grazing.
The primary nesting and brood rearing season of the State where the land to be hayed or grazed is located will be respected.
CRP participants who do not own or lease livestock may rent or lease the grazing privilege to an eligible livestock farmer located in an approved county.

For all land enrolled in CRP that has been approved for emergency haying and grazing due to drought only, the Farm Service Agency will reduce the payment reduction from 25 percent, which was announced earlier, to 10 percent. This 10-percent payment reduction will be assessed based on the number of acres actually hayed or grazed times the CRP annual rental rate times 10 percent.

U.S. Won’t Release Land in Conservation Program
By ANDREW MARTIN New York Times

WASHINGTON — Amid improving harvest expectations for this year, the United States agriculture secretary, Ed Schafer, said Tuesday that he would not lift penalties for farmers who plant crops on land set aside for conservation.

Skip to next paragraph Bakers and livestock owners had mounted an intense lobbying effort to erase the penalties in order to increase the harvest and lower high crop prices. The pressure intensified in June after floods washed away farm fields in the Midwest, leading to fears of a poor harvest.

But Mr. Schafer said recent forecasts indicated a larger crop than had seemed likely in the days and weeks after the flooding. In addition, he said that corn prices had plummeted 25 percent from record highs earlier this year, while soybean prices were down 14 percent.

“We don’t feel that the corn and soybean crops will be as bad as we originally feared,” he said.

The ruling was a major victory for conservationists and hunting groups, who had argued that lifting the penalties would have gutted the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers not to cultivate marginal land. Currently, 34.7 million acres are enrolled in the program, much of it in the Great Plains.

Under the terms of the program, farmers sign contracts for up to a decade or more. Farmers who terminate the contract must reimburse the government, with interest and a 25 percent penalty on the total rent payments they received.

“The Conservation Reserve Program is the holy grail of conservation, and we are pleased that the U.S.D.A. will maintain the program and the benefits that it has had,” said Barton James, director of agriculture conservation policy for Ducks Unlimited, an advocacy group.

But Robb MacKie, president and chief executive of the American Bakers Association, said that maintaining the penalty would hurt business owners and consumers who are struggling to pay higher prices for commodities and food.

“It is outrageous that the government is going to pay these folks not to grow when they want to grow on these acres,” he said.

The National Pork Producers said the decision would hurt hog farmers who are struggling to pay for feed. Since the start of the year, farmers have lost $20 a hog on average because of soaring feed costs, the group calculates.

“We are cutting back our swine herd and production by as much as 10 percent over the next several months, and even then we will need more acres and more corn in 2009 to meet the demands of ethanol producers and other users to feed this smaller herd,” Bryan Black, the group’s president, said in a statement.

In May, responding to demands by livestock producers, Mr. Schafer had announced the unprecedented step of allowing more than half of the acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program to be used for hay and grazing, after the bird-nesting season was completed.

But in explaining Tuesday why he would not go further and lift penalties to allow farmers to plant on conservation land, the secretary explained that economic forces were already shrinking the program. In the last 19 months, farmers have paid their way out of the program to allow 288,726 acres back into production.

In addition, farmers whose contracts expire in coming years may opt out of the conservation program, particularly if commodity prices remain high.

The secretary said contracts covering 1.1 million acres will expire in September, 3.8 million acres the following year, and 4.4 million acres in September 2010.

Mr. Schafer said he could reconsider his decision depending on crop conditions, saying that “we realize we’re in a situation that can change rapidly and quickly.”

Janie Gabbett of Meating Place

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has issued a five-page document summarizing the technical requirements and cost estimates of its interim final rules on mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL), which go into effect Sept. 30.

The rules cover meat products including muscle cuts of beef, veal, lamb, chicken, goat and pork, as well as ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, ground chicken and ground goat. They also cover fish, shellfish, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, ginseng and macadamia nuts.

Technical requirement highlights

The rule does not apply to covered commodities produced and packaged before Sept. 30.

Animals present in the United States on or before July 15 that remain continuously in the United States will be considered of U.S. origin.

Foodservice establishments are exempted by the statute.

Processed food items (including those that are cooked, cured, smoked or restructured) are exempted from labeling by the statute. Examples include meatloaf, meatballs, fabricated steak, breaded veal cutlets, corned beef, sausage, breaded chicken tenders, teriyaki-flavored pork loin.

Labeling rules regarding ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, ground goat and ground chicken require listing all countries of origin that may be reasonably contained. In determining what is reasonable, when a raw material from a specific origin is not in a processor's inventory for more than 60 days, that country shall no longer be included as a possible country of origin.

Records must be maintained for one year and available within five days if requested by a USDA representative.

Slaughter facilities must possess or have legal access to records that substantiate their origin claims. A producer affidavit will be considered acceptable evidence, provided it is made by someone having firsthand knowledge of the animals' origin and identifies the animals unique to the transaction.

If slaughtered animals are part of the National Animal Identification System, an official ear tag or the presence of any accompanying animal markings can be used as the basis of origin claims.
Costs

USDA estimates the total first-year implementation costs for all directly affected firms at $2.5 billion. Costs per firm are estimated at $376 for producers, $53,948 for intermediaries and $235,551 for retailers.

It put the estimated cost to the U.S. economy in higher food prices and reduced food production in the tenth year after implementation of the rule at $211.9 million.

To view the AMS summary document click here.

To view the AMS summary document click here

Click on this link for info about the plan

Big ag weighs in on food vs. fuel debate
By Tom Johnston Meating Place

Leading agricultural leaders on Thursday announced they have partnered to form the Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy, giving them a unified voice in promoting agriculture's ability to meet global demands for food and renewable forms of energy.

Founding members of the Alliance include the Archer Daniels Midland Company, DuPont, John Deere, Monsanto and the Renewable Fuels Association.

"The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy will underscore the role that agriculture can play in supporting our food and energy needs," Mark Kornblau, executive director of Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy, said in a statement. "With growing global demand for grain, it's critically important that policy leaders start thinking about how we can grow our way to a solution. Innovation is part of the American DNA - through greater support for agricultural innovation, we can produce enough crops to supply both our food and energy needs worldwide."

The alliance said framing the food-vs.-fuel debate as an "either/or" decision is a false choice that "ignores both the capabilities of agriculture and our nation's history of using innovation to solve our problems. The Alliance realizes both are possible - and can be accomplished using less land and fewer resources than generally understood."

click to visit www.foodandenergy.org