That's brilliant! Why, oh why, have I never thought of that? Mine never thaw in the fridge, either. Never. So I put it in the sink with water. For many, many hours. And then I can't use the sink. For many, many hours. But the tub? Heck, I've got two of those (and only one kitchen sink). Brilliant, I tell you, brilliant!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

If the ruling is constitutional, then it should apply to all the factory farms from where the tainted beef, pork, chicken, turkey, spinach, tomatoes, melons, etc, came from, too. I'm not aware of those farms (who are inspected by the FDA, much the same as at least one of the milk farms in question - the one whose milk was not the source of the illness) not being able to produce and consume their own food.

:) At least one of the plaintiffs in question are also OV suppliers. I'm concerned about whether or not they have any livelihood left at this point - I don't know if they will be dropped (or maybe already have been).

Not in stores in WI (at least in my city). I've looked because OV is the only brand I buy, and recently the regular pasteurized is no longer available here. ETA 10/9/11 - I take that back - I did find gallons of OV whole milk that were only pasteurized today!

It's not, though. Not now, anyway. They could before, but the ruling states that they do not have the right to produce and consume their own food. The fee to which you refer is basically independently selling stock in their farm. As stockholders, individuals can obtain the milk from the cows in which they hold the stock. It is the only loophole, to my knowledge, for WI residents to have access to local raw milk. Some farms charge a substantial amount, but some farms charge the smallest amount possible so the consumer doesn't have to go broke getting a gallon of milk.

Whoa. Did two threads just merge, or am I losing it? Didn't I reply to Wendy's...and now everyone is on EJCMom's (which I hadn't seen when I posted to Wendy's, sorry EJCMom!)?

Leftovers and Taco Dip. Some had leftover chicken and vegetable soup. Some others had leftover cod and rice pilaf. The rest of us had taco dip and tortillas :D.

No worries :). It's a touchy one for me, too. The FDA has some serious competency issues - I don't think that anyone would deny that. But when the state allows them to step in and start meddling with individual property rights, it's even more concerning. WI is a dairy state - much of our money comes from and is poured into the dairy industry. The organic dairy farmers (large and small scale) are kind of pain in the backside for the lobbyists. Even OV has recently had to go from "pasturized" milk products to "ultra pasturized" milk products - ever tried to make butter or cheese with ultra pasturized milk products? It is nearly impossible (to achieve something good, anyway), meaning we have to actually purchase those products now instead of having the ability to make our own. The hand is very far reaching in all of this.

Oh, no! Definitely a misunderstanding! I most certainly feel people should be able to drink the milk from their own cow. And that is exactly the problem with this ruling! ETA - Those farmers can legally make and consume their own beer, wine, dry their own tobacco and smoke it...but they can't drink the milk from their cows. How this is even remotely reasonable is absolutely beyond me.

Yes, he did. I'm not surprised. Very interesting, though, considering how stinky this whole thing is.

According to the ruling, the farmers can't drink the milk from their own cows, either. I'm not sure what the laws are surrounding that - were they never allowed to drink it in the first place if they own a dairy farm? I think I'll have to do some digging. But if there was never a stipulation like this for dairy farmers on the books, then it would seem as though no resident should be able to drink their own cow's milk, too.

Well, yes. And without food, we'd have no life. I don't want the gov't telling me what I can and cannot eat. That is what this whole thing is about. And, as other pps have said, it's more about industry and politics than it is about the safety of someone drinking the stupid milk. I live here - the climate of the milk wars is volatile. At least one of these particular farm sells organic milk commercially - their farm is inspected regularly and often or they wouldn't be able to sell the milk in the first place. But again, that's not the point. The point is that this judge used some pretty bold words in his ruling - words that make me very, very uncomfortable with what the big G can and cannot do with regards to food.

How so?

Okay, I was able to do it, then disconnect the account association. Weird. But now it says I'm "following" a bunch of people - how do you "unfollow" people (I have no idea who those people are).

I'm sure there is a thread here somewhere about it, but nothing specific really came up when I searched. If I wanted to sign up, I would need to do it via fb or twitter...and give them full access to that account?

Yes...and since raw milk sales are illegal in WI, some farmers allow people to purchase cows (or shares in their farm) and those people will then be able to have access to the milk the cow produces. They do it this way to avoid breaking the current laws. For instance, if my parents owned 20 cows (which they don't - just being hypothetical) and sold milk for commercial production, and I boarded one cow there myself, based on this ruling, I would not be able to drink that cow's milk. And based on the wording of the ruling, this judge is saying residents do not have the right to produce and consume - that, more than anything, stuns me.

I mean, based on such wording, we probably shouldn't be eating the harvest from our personal gardens, either. Oh, wait - I guess in some areas gardens are already outlawed depending on where they are placed (remember the lady in MI?). I'm so disgusted!

A WI judge has ruled that residents of WI "do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume foods of their choice." This ruling has to do with owning a cow and drinking the milk from said cow. From the ruling: What is going on here? I can't honestly think of another country in which the residents can't milk their own cow or goat, eat the eggs from their chickens, etc, and share it with others. How is this ruling even remotely constitutional?

Not really that much space in which to hang it. I don't have a line outside (but I am seriously thinking about stringing something up between the trees!). And you know what? I never, not once, thought of borrowing someone else's vacuum. :001_huh: How stupid is that?! I can't believe it didn't occur to me. Good grief I'm vacant sometimes. And I wish I would have read that before I went to Best Buy... I called the vacuum cleaner repair guy this morning because my part was supposed to be in yesterday. Now it's sometime next week. So, dh and I went to BB and bought a new washer and dryer (and it took about 2 hours to decide because ours vents through the floor and normal people vent theirs through the wall and naturally all dryers are made for the normal people), and by that time I was so frustrated, I grabbed some green vacuum in a box on a nearby shelf and added to my bill. Oh, and when I went into the laundry room this morning to figure out what to do with all the wet laundry, I found that *someone* forgot to take out the dry clothes before they added the wet load, so the thing was trying to dry 2 full loads (jeans, towels, sweaters - all the heavy stuff) at once. No wonder it didn't work! And about 50 shredded tissues were falling out the door, clogging the screen, covering all of the clothes... :glare::glare::glare: Not. Gonna. Talk. About. It. Anymore.

My vacuum cleaner head started on fire about a week ago, and since it's under warranty, I've been waiting 7 days to get it back. In the meanwhile, I've been using the broom to clean everything; we have two dogs and a cat and I'm about to die keeping up with all that hair holding just a lousy broom. My cat is having some issues with crystals in his urine, and when he's not closed into the laundry room waiting for his medication to finally work, we've been keeping a vigilant eye one him because apparently he's associating "pain" with his litter box. :glare::glare::glare: My dryer has bad bearings and has been sending out the most intense, ear piercing sounds imaginable (the kind that send the dogs into hiding) for weeks. Today, after over 2 hours of running non-stop, I checked on it - it was cold and all the laundry was still wet. I've got another in the washing machine waiting for the non-working dryer to dry it. Soon, very soon, the world will hear a primal scream, and you lot will know from whom it came. Grrr.

Everyone else had blueberry pancakes. I had leftover roasted potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic. Not a breakfast person, either. Usually I just have a piece of toast and coffee, but today I was hungrier for some reason.

I'm pretty classic, and purples were out of my comfort zone until I actually applied a dark one to my toes. Now I love it. Don't know if I'd want green nails, though, to be honest.

Oh Kathleen! You are a da*n good mom - you made the decisions you needed to make to help your son when he needed it. Please don't beat yourself up; all moms are faced with making big decisions for their children's well being - we do what needs to be done when it needs to be done to the very, absolute best of our abilities and knowledge. Always. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

I know I said it yesterday, but your blog really looks great, Nakia! Wow - so many interesting blogs! I had so many other things planned to do today, but now... Mine is in my signature.