Montana Jones, Michael Schmidt, Shropshire sheep napping case to be tried in the summer and fall of 2013

From Cecilia Nasmith, on Northumberland Today.com

Montana Jones with a few of her Shropshire sheep on her farm near Hastings. Photo Mark Hoult/Community Press/QMI Agency

“COBOURG – Justice Robert Graydon pledged that the four defendants in the April 2012 case involving missing Shropshire sheep will be tried with dispatch, even if it means he has to work on a Saturday.

Charges against the accused in this incident appeared in Cobourg Provincial Court March 27, collectively facing a list of 25 charges that included conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, obstructing a peace officer, obstructing justice and obstructing the Health of Animals Act. 

Chief Medical Officer of Health, Hazel Lynn, is the highest paid civil servant in Grey Bruce, earning $319,288

It must be a tough job dealing with the likes of raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt. From Denis Langlois at the Owen Sound Sun Times:

Grey Bruce Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hazel Lynn and medical student Katrina Piggott [who no doubt earns a lot less] at the health unit building. Photo via Owen Sound Sun Times.

“Dr. Hazel Lynn was Grey-Bruce’s highest-paid public servant in 2012 for the fourth straight year.

The local medical officer of health earned $319,288 last year, 5% more than she received in 2011, according to the latest sunshine list released by the province Thursday.

More than 225 people in Grey-Bruce are on the 2012 Public Sector Disclosure, which is made up of civil servants who received more than $100,000.
Seventy-six employees with the Bluewater District School Board made the list, along with 34 from Grey Bruce Health Services, 31 from the Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board, 15 from Grey County, 14 from the County of Bruce and four from the Grey Bruce Health Unit.

New GMO food can rewire your body?

From Jon Rappoport’s blog (via Elisa):

Brand new GMO food can rewire your body: more evil coming

by Jon Rappoport, March 26, 2013

www.nomorefakenews.com

It’s already bad. Very bad. For the past 25 years, the biotech Dr. Frankensteins have been inserting DNA into food crops.

The widespread dangers of this technique have been exposed. People all over the world, including many scientists and farmers, are up in arms about it.

Montana Jones and Michael Schmidt in Cobourg Court, March 27, 2013

Supporters and media are not being encouraged to show up at the courthouse in Cobourg for the proceedings this Wednesday March 27th. As Karen Selick states in the media release below, the actual trial of this case will be many months in the future. Legal counsel for the defense, however, will be seeking changes to travel restriction which are currently a part of bail conditions. 

Montana Jones, Michael Schmidt, sheep Image via Montana Jones

Belleville—The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) confirmed today that their clients Montana Jones and Michael Schmidt will appear in Provincial Court in Cobourg, Ontario on March 27, 2013 in connection with charges relating to the disappearance of 31 rare Shropshire sheep in April, 2012.

The sheep were scheduled for slaughter by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on suspicion of having a disease called “scrapie” but they disappeared from Montana Jones’ barn before the CFIA arrived to seize them.  A note saying that the sheep had been taken into “protective custody” was found in the barn, signed by a previously unknown group called the Famers Peace Corps.  The 31 sheep were ultimately found and tested negative for an illness called “scrapie.”

Criminal code exemptions for online gambling, so why not for raw milk?

From Enzio Di Matteo in NowToronto.com

Photo illustration via NowToronto

“All the noise around a Toronto casino has served to distract attention from OLG’s efforts to get into the arguably even more lucrative online gaming biz. A request for proposals was issued in February 2012.

Online gaming is technically illegal in Canada, but exemptions can be granted under the Criminal Code. BC, Quebec and provinces on the East Coast run their own sites. An estimated $1 billion is spent on online gaming in Canada, about half of that from Ontario. Potential revenues from the international market look like salvation for casino operators losing money hand over fist. Some, among them major players vying for a Toronto casino (here’s looking at you, Caesars), are betting heavily on the recent legalization of online gambling in New Jersey (yes, home of the money-losing Atlantic City casino strip) to save their bottom line.

Got proof? — why milk sales in decline

Monopolizing foods is an old game

When we look at the present-day machinations of big dairy and big food and their efforts at stamping out the upstart competition such as raw milk and heritage breeds of meat animals through their proxies in government, one is tempted to suppose that such behavior is new on the world scene. The story below, however, seems to indicate that these strategies have been around at least since the dawn of multinationals.

From Simon Worrall, reporting from Indonesia, on BBC News Magazine:

“The Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC, “United East India Company”) was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States -General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the second multinational corporation in the world (the British East India Company was founded two years earlier) and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the first mega corporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies.” Click image to go to source.

“The Netherlands United East India Company, or Voc, was the world’s first multinational corporation.

And just as corporations today seek to monopolise plant genes in the developing world, the Voc set about seizing total control of spice production.

Raw milk on Daytime TV in Ottawa

Thanks to the Canadian Raw Milk Consumer Advocacy Group for publishing this first. Here’s a bit about who they are, from their blog:

Vernon Herschberger goes to court over religious freedom defense for raw milk

Photos and captions by Rosanne Lindsay. Update from Vernon Herschberger via Liz Reitzig.

Pre-Trial Hearing on Right to Use Religous Freedom Defense — at Sauk County Courthouse.

Vernon Herschberger was in court Monday to address issues related to his ongoing case regarding supplying raw milk under private contract to informed individuals. The DACTP has issues with that, and so we get into lawyers and court cases. See David Gumpert’s article for a good analysis of these minutae.

The surest way to get raw milk regularly

What’s it like starting out from scratch to take care of a cow on your own?  From the Promised Land Farm blog:

Image from The Promised Land Farm blog.

“We welcomed our first family milk cow to our farm in 2010. We had never ever milked a cow before… by hand or machine!

Elsie, our first Jersey milk cow, was dropped off one evening and the next morning she calved… aaahhhh! What do we do now?! (Click HERE if you want to watch the birth).

I’ve documented our journey with our milk cow to help you get started milking your own family milk cow, goat or sheep!

Let me give you the secret to success with a family milk cow, goat or sheep… it’s DESIRE. We’re now in our fourth year milking a family cow, AND WE LOVE IT!