RePrint: One Cowboy's Final Stand for Freedom

Farmers and Ranchers have been at the forefront of the battle for liberty since the founding of our nation.  Many of the founding fathers themselves were farmers and ranchers, connected to this land just as farmers and ranchers are today. Perhaps it is that connection that embeds the call to liberty into our souls. Whatever the reason, America has a new martyr in the quest for liberty.

I share this blog post from Lavoy Finicum's family. This says it all.  Nothing to add. This mourning family deserves our support and respect.

Original article link -->   http://lavoyfinicumsfamilystandforfreedom.blogspot.com/2016/02/tree-of-liberty.html

Text of the post from the mourning family:

================================

We never imagined it would be the blood of our husband and father watering the 'Tree of Liberty' that Thomas Jefferson spoke of in years past.

  For those new to the LaVoy Finicum Assassination story, it began years ago as he practiced daily diligence in the things that develop mind, body and spirit. Such practices enabled him to be the powerful voice America knows him to be.

 The more he studied the more he began to recognize how tyranny's iron fist was intimately in the lives of the American people. This weighed heavily on his soul because he was a man of principle. As a God fearing man, he understood the responsibility and obligation he had to stand in his respective sphere for the cause of liberty. 

His sphere to stand for liberty was in ranching. The grass that fed his cattle on his ranch was a personal property right by prior appropriation. He purchased that grazing right from the prior owner. He did not purchase this grass property right from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This right existed before the BLM came to be.

 LaVoy asked himself why it was that an unelected bureaucrat had power to dictate and regulate, by force, how a rancher functioned on his or her ranch? This issue is not about cows and it's not about grass, it's about property rights. If you do not have property rights you do not have freedom. A society cannot long remain at peace when the right to control personal property is infringed upon. What the BLM is...

At gaining this understanding, through study, he no longer in good conscious, could endorse the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as the managers of his ranch, for it never was theirs to manage in the first place. This was how he could make a stand for liberty. He understood how important it was that he honor his property rights, for if he did not, they would be lost. He hoped and invited others to do the same in their respective spheres. He publically announced that he canceled all contracts with the Bureau of Land Management and did not need their assistance in maintaining his ranch. He communicated that he would pay a production tax to his county.

There has been much confusion among the public about this topic because there is a lack of understanding about how preemptive rights are created. Our forefathers call such rights natural rights or self evident. To explain that in depth will require another post.    

He continued forward managing his ranch while receiving threatening letters from the BLM. Every spare moment was spent to educate anyone willing to listen to Constitutional truth through radio, town meetings and late night discussions with ranching friends. All of his happenings were documented on his YouTube channel for the world to see. His YouTube channel

He followed the stories of other oppressed ranching families to know how to assist them in their effort to maintain their property rights. LaVoy was so overwhelmed at the injustice of the Hammond Family from Burns, Oregon. Hammond Family He decided to attend the peaceful protest on Saturday, January 2nd in Burns, Oregon to show support to the Hammond family who had been sentenced with double jeopardy for merely managing their ranch by burning 127 acres, which has been a common practice among ranchers for decades.

Upon his arrival, he and some other trusted ranchers decided to take a firm stand against the tyranny transpiring in Burns, Oregon. After all due process measures had been exhausted and ignored they had no other choice but to exercise their right to participate in civil disobedience by occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. This location was 30 minuets out of town and used as a work place to gather evidence and provide education to local ranchers who were also being oppressed in that county.  

The main stream media characterized these peaceful protestors as anti-government dangerous terrorists. These cowboys were PEACFULLY exercising their 1st amendment rights while exercising their 2nd amendment right in confronting a very corrupt power. They, in no way were what the media characterized them to be. Their days in Oregon were spent meeting with the people, befriending them, helping them and teaching them the principles that our leaders have abandoned. Many were grateful they had come because they were giving them hope that they too could regain what had been unlawfully stolen from them by the overreaching government.

Throughout history a few courageous people have stood alone and held uncommon views. Cicero, Joan of Arc, Sir Thomas More, and the Founders of the American Republic. They all had one thing in common: they were mocked, ridiculed and called extremists. Today’s defenders of the U.S. Constitution are now call “Domestic Terrorists.” But isn’t it interesting to note that yesterday’s extremists typically become tomorrow’s heroes? LaVoy and the other cowboys who sacrificed their time and talent to courageously stand for their God given rights against this tyrannical government are the true hero’s of today’s American history.

They tirelessly continued their selfless work and found much success in uncovering much corruption. Eye witnesses of unlawful conduct of key figures in that county started coming forward and giving their testimony, evidence for the case of the Hammond family seemed to flow unto them. People in Harney County and neighboring county’s began to discern the cowboy’s motives by witnessing the fruits they produced. They were documenting their progress on the web for the world to follow. People all across this country, and even in different countries, were being enlightened and changed by the cowboy's work at the refuge. Because of the public interest, legislatures and congressmen were forced to get off their own agenda and pay attention to the constitutional crisis going on in rural Burns, Oregon. Constitutional sheriffs began to collaborate with the peaceful protestors at the refuge to endorse them and use their elected authority to get things happening. For all these reasons, are why LaVoy was assassinated. It is a deep conspiracy that is so huge and beyond my father’s martyr.

The day our husband and father was assassinated, they were in transit to Grant County, a neighboring county to Harney County. The Grant County sheriff, Glenn Palmer, gathered a gymnasium full of his county citizens to hear the cowboys message of hope. LaVoy was killed in cold blood because he was successful at reaching into the hearts of those he spoke with and inspiring them to take courage to make an educated stand for liberty. The power, authority and humility he  possessed was a real threat to our corrupt leaders.

Whether or not you believe our husband and father did the right thing, I ask you: who are we as Americans? Who are we as human beings? Do we now believe that mere words justify the use of deadly force? Do we believe that peaceful actions justify the use of deadly force? Do we believe that two hands up in surrender justifies the use of deadly force? And do we believe that following the rule of law- the U.S. Constitution warrants the use of deadly force? If we do, then where is liberty?

I ask you now, what does your conscience tell you?

With courage and God given wisdom are you willing to appropriately use your agency to act rather than be acted upon?

Are you willing to be free?

FINALLY! - Chickens available now in the online store for immediate delivery

After long last.. our chicken operation is recovering from the fire that wiped out our entire flock 2 years ago. We have the first products available now from the new flock.

Roasting Chickens!

This is a new heritage breed that we chose to go forward on.. Buff Orpingtons.  These birds are a nice blend between meat birds and egg layers.

Buff Orpington Hen

Buff Orpington Rooster

The hens will start laying very soon and we will have eggs, but for now we have frozen whole chickens for sale. Not stewing hens, but chickens that can be used for most any chicken dish.

We will start filling subscriptions first, and offer individual frozen birds for sale in the online store as we build up a stock.

RePrint - The importance of what your food eats

This is a great article, we have reprinted here in entirety instead of just a link, becasue it is so good.  The link to the original article is :

http://www.cavemandoctor.com/2016/02/08/4938/

Alchemists and Animals – The Importance of What Your Food Eats

Caveman Doctor > Nutrition > Alchemists and Animals – The Importance of What Your Food Eats

cavemandoctor February 8, 2016 0 Comments

Nutrition

alchemist chicken, cage-free eggs, david perlmutter,free range eggs, healthy eggs, omega eggs, pastured chicken, pastured eggs

Alchemists and Animals – The Importance of What Your Food Eats

The Alchemist Chicken

During the Integrative Health Conference in New York City several years back, I participated in a debate regarding the optimal human diet – vegan, paleo, or Mediterranean. During this debate, Dr. David Perlmutter, author of Grain Brain,used the term the alchemist cow. He was referring to cows that are fed a poor diet, given antibiotics, and stuffed in a small space – yet we somehow believe that their milk and meat would still be as healthy as a cow that is raised appropriately. Click here for the entire debate.

Alchemy is the ancient practice of trying to transform metals into gold. Even the mega-genius Isaac Newton thought that he could perform alchemy. However, as he and others found out, it does not work.

We cannot make gold out of nothing. We cannot feed animals garbage and treat them poorly and expect them to magically be healthy.

When contextualizing to humans, the difference in health between a stressed out person, stuffed in a cubicle at work, never exercising, never sleeping well, and never eating versus a stress-free, healthy counterpart, the health differences become obvious.  Yet, why do we ignore this when it comes to animals?

Enter Tina and Cassandra…

Tina and Cassandra

Meet Tina. Tina lives in an empty 300 square foot apartment. Tina’s cubical at his work is so small that her elbows touch each wall and her head is a couple of feet from the ceiling. Tina is part of typical corporate America and her boss screams at her all day long causing her to be stressed. Tina’s constant level of stress causes the habitual release of a hormone called cortisol – often called the stress hormone – which causes her blood sugar to skyrocket many times throughout the day.¹ Tina’s body is frequently releasing many catecholamines (like adrenaline) that are linked to an increased risk of experiencing a heart attack, high blood pressure, and a stroke. The barrage of cortisol puts her at an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cognitive impairment, and a poorly functioning immune system.²

She sleeps terribly at night because of her stress level and is at an increased risk of cancer.³ To make matters worse, she is fed Boost and Ensure every day at work (link article), both foods that are quite foreign to her body.

All of these issues leave Tina sick quite often. She has to take antibiotics regularly, and sometimes even gets antibiotic-resistant infections. She has even been given hormones to help build some muscle on her paltry frame.

Man, Tina’s life stinks.

Meet Cassandra. Cassandra lives on a 15-acre plot of land. She sleeps well and wakes up with the sun. She actually works at home taking care of the land. She also finds food on the land around her home, which she freely roams. The majority of her day is spent running around this land. There is much vegetation around Cassandra’s home and she gets her daily vitamins and nutrients through her healthy diet and she even finds time to hunt. Sometimes she has to supplement it in the winter, but this is a last resort. The animals around her property provide her with the fat, protein, and nutrients she needs.

Cassandra gets stressed here and there, as we all do. However, overall she leads a very happy life. She exercises everyday by walking around freely. She rarely gets sick and has a strong immune system.

Man, Cassandra’s life is awesome.

Meet Tina and Cassandra

Tina and Cassandra are actually chickens. Tina is stuffed in a cage for her life, as she lives in a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO). She can barely move, eats unnatural foods, and is constantly stressed, secreting hormones like cortisol into her eggs and meat. Much like a stressed human mother, her offspring are unhealthy.

Tina spends all her life stuffed in her “cubicle.” Image courtesy of koko-tewan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Each and every day of Tina’s life is pretty terrible…

Cassandra, on the other hand, lives in a farm where she is raised on pasture. In other words, she runs around picking insects out of the ground and eating grass – her normal diet.

Cassandra spending a typical day running around and foraging. Image courtesy of suwatpo at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Cassandra’s life is pretty awesome. Cassandra health is pretty awesome. The eggs that Cassandra lays are pretty awesome too.

Whether It Is Chickens or People

Few people give thought to Tina and Cassandra when they are buying eggs at the grocery store. Tina’s eggs are obviously much cheaper, as we would expect. It is much cheaper to stuff Tina in a cage and feed her unnatural food than to let her run around eating worms and insects, some grass, and the occasional supplemental feed.

Along these lines, it is also much easier to push Tina and Cassandra to the back of your head, forget about them and Tina’s cruel and unhealthy upbringing, and pay $1.66 for a dozen of Tina’s less healthy eggs from her less healthy body.

Tina and Cassandra’s Eggs

Much like Tina and Cassandra’s health, their eggs are very different from each another. While this seems quite obvious after reading about their daily lifestyle, the differences can be remarkable.

Cassadra’s pastured eggs contain:

1. Double the amount of vitamin E than Tina’s eggs
2. Double the amount of healthy omega-3 fatty acids
3. 38% more vitamin A

Tina’s eggs, on the other hand, contain significantly more inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids.⁴

Much like Tina’s life, Tina’s eggs stink in comparison to Cassandra’s.

Tina’s eggs also contain a much higher ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. In other words, Cassandra’s eggs have much more anti-inflammatory omega-3s, while Tina’s have significantly more omega-6’s. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is closer to 4:1 or 1:1, which is what our ancestors consumed for thousands of years.⁵ A high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3s is associated with an increased risk of diseases like prostate cancer⁶ and significantly higher amounts of autoimmune disease, inflammation, and circulating inflammatory factors.^5,7

Cassandra’s eggs also look better with their deep golden-hued yolks. They taste better too. They are a great addition to healthy bone broth (LINK BONE BROTH) and a healthy part of the diet.

Much like Cassandra’s life, her eggs are healthy and fulfilling.

Tina’s Effect On Us

While it is obvious that the meat and eggs of our chickens strongly depend on the environment where they are raised, the resultant effect on our body is no different. And if the information above is not enough to get you to consider what you eat, then perhaps this information will change your mind.

Eating eggs from pastured chickens and those with high omega-3 fatty acid feeds result in:

1. 22.4% more vitamin E within blood values
2. 55% more carotenoids in the blood
3. Decreased serum C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation.⁸

CAFO eggs, on the other hand, increase oxidized LDL cholesterol (cholesterol bound with free radicals) which is a major risk of heart disease and cancer. One researcher has gone as far as stating that omega-3 eggs “provide protection against oxidative stress, inflammation, and acute effects of high glycemic load” with “a unique capacity to transform and concentrate protective nutrients.”⁹ In other words, healthy eggs are nutrient-dense foods that help fight inflammation and provide significant health benefit.

The (Non) Cost Differential

A common excuse to buy less healthy and less ethical eggs is the difference in cost. Right now eggs cost $1.66 per dozen in New York, while eggs from pastured hens cost anywhere from $4.99-6.99. The price is clearly higher and this is certainly a sensitive issue for those families with a limited budget. Eggs are still an incredibly healthy food, and I would not eliminate them based on the information above.

Yet, for those of us that eat 1-2 dozen per week the difference in price comes out to about $256 per year, or half the price of an iPhone, two months of cable television, or two expensive dinners. Many of us can certainly find this money from entertainment spending or other less essential costs throughout the week. Pastured eggs are also larger, more flavorful, and more nutrient-dense, so including nutrition-per-dollar likely leaves that $256 as significantly less.

For those of us with farmer’s markets around, pastured eggs are even cheaper. This may take a little more time and effort, but we can use the time saved from cancelling our cable (along with all the extra cash…). This also follows “voting with our wallets.” If we continue to buy ethical pastured eggs instead of the less healthy confined eggs, prices may begin to accommodate the consumer.

The Alchemist Animal

It is time to think about Tina and Cassandra when shopping at the grocery store or local farmer’s market for chicken or any animal products. The push for ethical and more natural foods may be more expensive, but it may be hard to put a price on the health benefits for us and ethical benefits for the animals.

As Tina knows, there are no alchemist chickens.

References:

1. Smyth J, Ockenfels MC, Porter L, Kirschbaum C, Hellhammer DH, Stone AA. Stressors and Mood Measured on a Momentary Basis are Associated With Salivary Cortisol Secretion. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1998;23(4):353-370. doi:10.1016/S0306-4530(98)00008-0.
2. Lundberg U. Stress hormones in health and illness: the roles of work and gender. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2005;30(10):1017-1021. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.03.014.
3. Blask DE. Melatonin, sleep disturbance and cancer risk. Sleep Med Rev. 2009;13(4):257-264. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1087079208000786?showall=true.
4. Karsten HD, Patterson PH, Stout R, Crews G. Vitamins A, E and fatty acid composition of the eggs of caged hens and pastured hens. Renew Agric Food Syst. 2010;25(01):45. doi:10.1017/S1742170509990214.
5. A.P S. The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids. Biomed & Pharmacother. 2002;56(8):365-379. doi:10.1016/s0753-3322(02)00253-6.
6. Williams CD, Whitley BM, Hoyo C, et al. A high ratio of dietary n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is associated with increased risk of prostate cancer. Nutr Res. 2011;31(1):1-8. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2011.01.002.
7. Simopoulos AP. Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002;21(6):495-505. http://www.jacn.org/content/21/6/495.abstract.
8. Burns-Whitmore B, Sapwarobol S, Haddad E, Sabate J, Rajaram S. N-3 Fatty Acid Enriched Egg Decreases C-Reactive Protein in Healthy Adults. FASEB J. 2007;21(6):A740 – b – . http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/21/6/A740-b. Accessed February 6, 2016.
9. Shapira N. Not all eggs are created equal: the effect on health depends on the composition. Can J Cardiol. 2011;27(2):264.e5; 264.e7-e8. doi:10.1016/j.cjca.2010.11.010.

New Products - Ancient Hierloom Grains and Flours

We are very excited to announce the arrival of a whole new line of products. Ancient Heirloom grains and flours!

And when we say ancient.. we mean ANCIENT! This goes way beyond heirloom, this is truly ancient, dating back to the time of the Egyptians! This grain is unlike anything produced elsewhere today, different in many ways.  

This grain is grown organically in northern Washington, by Blue Bird Grain Farms. 

We ran across Blue Bird a few years ago while looking for organic "tailings" or "cleanout" for hog feed.  We have recently reconnected with this wonderful family farm as our needs expanded, and decided to bring their line of people grade food to you as well.

You can learn more about their ancient grains here: http://www.bluebirdgrainfarms.com/our-farm/what-we-grow/

For now.. we are carrying their products as a test, on a special order basis. If it becomes popular enough we will keep them in stock. For now, any orders placed will be delivered on the following delivery cycle, as we will order AFTER orders are placed with us.  Sorry for the delay, and we hope this is a temporary situation as we expect these grains to become quite popular.

Head into the online store and look for the new "grain" department, you will find a sleection of BlueBird products there for ordering.

Considering bitcoin - feedback welcome

We are considering accepting bitcoin for payment in addition to check, cash, and PayPal. The advantage being that it us a secure online payment method with very low, virtually nonexistent charges.

Do you use bitcoin?

If you have any feedback pro or con, please share.

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