FIRST AMENDMENT – Freedom of Speech, Religion, & Press

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

College Park, MD – Black American agricultural experiences are grounded in unique cultural, historical and ecological experiences. They range from the agronomic traditions brought from Africa and the experience of slavery to sharecropping, tenant farming and the story of migration to the industrial North, to contemporary concerns about food-systems issues. To understand these forces is to better understand the values, challenges and opportunities shared by America’s black farmers today.

Land and Power: Sustainable Agriculture and African Americans, a new collection of essays published by SARE, places the cultural traditions and historical circumstances of African American farmers squarely in the forefront of today’s sustainable agriculture movement. The works collected in Land and Power arise from a spirited 2007 conference at Tuskegee University, where more than 100 researchers, educators and activists gathered to share their insights and opinions on the black American agricultural experience.

Land and Power features a selection of the presentations, posters, discussions and performances that made up this extraordinary, joyous event. The papers in this volume are like eclectic, diversified family members. The authors covered a wide range of topics, including George Washington Carver’s environmental vision, African American women and urban conservation, and trends in the preservation of rural property. Taken together, these essays are a starting point for ongoing dialogue on some of the forces shaping American agriculture.

Download Land and Power: Sustainable Agriculture and African Americans for free at http://www.sare.org/publications/landandpower.htm. To order print copies ($10.00 plus $5.95 s/h) visit http://www.sare.org/WebStore, call 301/374-9696 or send check or money order to SARE Outreach, PO Box 753, Waldorf, Maryland 20604-0753. (Please specify title requested when ordering by mail.) Discounts are available on orders of 10 or more. Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. Call 301/374-9696 for more information on bulk, rush or international shipments.

Published by SARE Outreach for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and features work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA. SARE’s mission is to advance – to the whole of American agriculture – innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and education. SARE Outreach operates under cooperative agreements with the University of Maryland and the University of Vermont to develop and disseminate information about sustainable agriculture. For more information visit www.sare.org.

“While capitalism has a visible cost – profit – that does not exist under socialism, socialism has an invisible cost – inefficiency – that gets weeded out by losses and bankruptcy under capitalism” (Sowell, 2007, pp. 112).

Sowell, T. (2007). Basic Economics. New York: Perseus Books Group.

Here at The Good American Post, we are very PRO-FREEDOM and PRO-CAPITALISM.  When it comes to Health Care, there are a lot of unsustainable and unfortunate measure that are now in place.

Aside from the doom and gloom, though, we really like to promote the positive things that WE CAN DO to make a difference.  One of those, is staying healthy and building our local economies.

Contributor, Tamrah Jo Ortiz has written an excellent post on “The True Cost of Sick Care”.

We can save the world through capitalism, free-markets, and limited government.  These systems allow human beings to experience an enhanced quality of life.  These human beings make up the market – the market grows and prospers when the market is free to choose, free to learn, free to grow.  There is no greater wealth than to have liberty and to make choices in a free society.

It is impossible to know what really lies ahead for this great country.  There are days that I am optimistic, and others that I am not.  Knowing the position that we are in economically, as a country, with the value of the dollar and the incomprehendable amount of debt we face, has me thinking about alternative means to create values and create wealth – gold, silver, barter, and the black market – all which for thousands of years have held their use and value.  All of these currencies or markets hold their value without being propped up by an economic policy enforced by the heavy hand of government.  Those values and markets are what will work no matter what happens to the value of that dollar bill – and will work no matter what the government tries to enforce in the terms of price controls or artificially created “hopes” that hold no value, no meaning, and no incentives.

“It seems to me that at this time we need education in the obvious more than the investigation of the obscure.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Our country, no doubt, has a lot to go through.  We all have a lot to learn.  We all have a lot of responsibility to take and a lot of fear to leave behind us.  Still young, growing up, going to school, and acting as a military wife through the attack and war of 9/11 has built me into someone who refuses to be persuaded by fear.  Whether it is coming from a violent terrorist or the news that I watch on various main-stream networks – I stand in the name of liberty, for the kids that I someday hope to raise in this great country.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s remarks about the Tea-Parties disappearing are not hard to believe.  The reason is because people think that this is a one-time frustration with the system, and as most humans (and Americans) operate, that frustration soon goes away (or we become complacent).

However, it would be great to prove the people wrong who think that the Tea-Party movement will just “go away.”  The reason is that the movement is not about politics – it is about our RESPONSIBILITY as Americans, as constituents, and as consumers.  It is about EVERYTHING, and because WE THE PEOPLE are the foundation of this great Country, we cannot just “stop” when things look good.  We must continue to be vigilant, and never go back to the complacency that got us here in the first place.

How do you organize a Tea Party?  Well, we keep the grass-roots activism alive, you support grass-roots organizations, and you support local media outlets that are dedicated to the cause.  And, you don’t stop.  Ever.

By Tisha Casida

The Good American Post is dedicated to our troops – those men and women who give their life for our Country and our Freedom.  We want to feature soldiers here on our blog, as well as in our printed publications.  This can be anyone who is serving in the military, anyone who has retired from the military, and anyone who has paid the ultimate price with their service.

If you have a soldier that you would like to be featured, please email us at: info@goodamericanpost.com.

Unfortunately, we have a whole lot of politicking and very little representation. We like to remain optimistic, but it is easy to see that bad things happen when there are not checks and balances (hence our constitution and the separation of powers which are so important to protect).

Have you heard anything about the “Boss Tweed Era”? It is a classic example of politicking and bullying – something that we must be cognizant of at all levels of politics. We need representatives that protect liberty and protect our constitution – period.

There are many great events and organizations rising to the occasion, and we commend them! Be sure to check out these people and groups that are making strides to protect our liberties, and be wary of the politics in play (find many of them in our blogroll).

Let’s find people who represent WE THE PEOPLE versus worry about covering their own tails. See Get Out Of Our House (GOOOH) for more information.