One argument used to resist genetically modified organism/genetically engineered (GMO/GE) labeling sounds an awful lot like nanny-state thinking: “We must not allow labeling of GMOs because, given a choice, people would make the wrong choice.”

Poor silly foolish misguided consumers!

How lucky we are to have giant corporations and the government making the right choices for us, since we are incapable of deciding for ourselves.

Sorry, but I just don't have that much faith in corporations or the government.

I would rather make my own choices. So would 87 percent of Americans polled.

On Feb. 15 the New York Times published a column calling for GMO labeling, citing the above poll.

A week later, Forbes published a column insisting that we must not have GMO labeling. Why? Because then people would avoid such products.

Take a moment to absorb that interesting proposition, from a magazine which is supposed to be about business and economics. Not merely economics, but free market economics.

Can there be a “free market” when consumers are denied the right to make their own choices?

Can there be a “free market” when taxpayer subsidies are used to shore up a product which consumers don't want to buy?

GMO crops would have no place in an agriculture economy based on sound, free-market principles. As in, cost of production should not exceed market-value of end-product.

Fact: GMO crops cost more to grow than they are worth in the market.

American taxpayers make up the difference, through farm subsidies, most of which are issued to recipients beloved by corporate ag. (Only a tiny percentage of subsidies are paid to organic farmers, one reason why organic costs more.)

Currently, the commodity-crop system is rigged to push the more expensive (more profitable) GMO seeds. And since many GMO crops are designed to encourage increased use of herbicide, GMOs also generate more profit for herbicide sellers (often the same company that sells the seeds).

And that, ladies and gents, is the reason GMOs are being pushed down our unwilling throats.

Everything else (“feeding the world,” “higher yields,” etc) is just smoke and mirrors, created via bazillion-dollar PR campaigns that harken back to the days when Big Tobacco spent umpteen millions to poo-poo the possibility of any link between smoking and cancer.

The rigged commodity-crop system has existed for generations, originally created to channel agriculture profits away from farmers and into the pockets of middle-men and Wall Street.

Today, with the system pushing GMOs, biotech and petrochemical industries are the big winners. Farmers, consumers and the whole concept of free enterprise continue to be the losers.

It's not just here in America that GMO crops cost more to grow than they are worth.

In much of the developed-world, they are worth nothing. Many developed nations bar growing or import of GMO crops. (Farmers in California's Imperial Valley are so afraid of losing their overseas market that they have begged Monsanto to keep GE alfalfa out of their region.)

So, how-what-when-where-why would anyone grow GMO crops, if they really cost more to produce than they are worth?

Remember: Taxpayers make up the difference.

In short, GMO crops are welfare crops.

In a true free market, we'd be growing crops that have higher value, higher consumer demand. That means non-GMO and organic. Don't take my word for it. Search the internet on keywords non-GMO premiums and see for yourself.

High premiums (10 to 20 percent above Chicago Board of Trade) are paid for non-GMOs (even when they are non-organic). And prices paid for organic soy and corn are often twice (or more) what is paid for GMO soy and corn. Why? Because these are products that consumers value the most.

If corporate agriculture were not rigged to be so anti-free-market, no one would plant GMOs.

Eighty-seven percent of consumers polled reject the Nanny-State approach.

Eighty-seven percent want GMOs to be labeled.

Eighty-seven percent want the right to choose.

If that leads to the collapse of the artificially-shored-up, taxpayer-subsidy-reliant GMO industry, so be it.

The free market will have spoken.

Deb Baumann is a health care industry professional who grows GMO-free fruits, nuts and vegetables and raises heritage livestock near Upper Lake, Calif. She is a contributor to Lake County’s community-driven Rural Values Web site, www.ruralvalues.org. Anyone wishing links and citations verifying the information she writes about is welcome to send email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Life should be getting back to normal for the Joseph and Mary household – as normal as life could possibly be with a new baby.

So here is the holy family, sleeping peacefully one night – and I want you to join me in imagining this scene: Joseph has just woken up having had another dream. An angel of the Lord has informed him that he’s got to get the mother and child out of Bethlehem, or Jesus is going to end up dead.

Can you play this out in your mind’s eye? Joseph wakes up Mary, who’s probably not too happy about being disturbed in the middle of the night (you get pretty tired when you’re a new mom – sleep is one thing you can never get enough of), and says something like “We’ve got to get out of here. Jesus’ life is in danger!”

Now, in the fog of new-mama sleep fatigue, these could hardly have been the most welcome words to hear. Especially since this little family is not just supposed to move to a new house or a neighboring village – they need to make a 200-mile trek through the desert, down into the foreign land that once enslaved their ancestors, with a baby – and they’ve got to leave now. Not tomorrow, not next week, not after they pack their stuff, make arrangements, and let everybody know about the dangers that are coming, but now.

I’ll bet both Mary and Joseph could have easily been tempted to snuggle back under the covers, chalking the whole thing up to Joseph’s imagination. I mean, after all – didn’t some very glamorous priests just bring Jesus a few incredibly amazing gifts? Why would something so wonderful be followed by something so terrible?

Life is pretty good for the family right now. This midnight journey just seems so illogical. It would have been (for the time-being) a lot easier and more comfortable for Joseph and Mary to just stay put, ignore the dream and go back to sleep. But thank God they responded to God’s message faithfully. The salvation of the world was at stake.

This would be no vacation, for sure. Think about what they were leaving behind: Matthew’s Gospel tells us they lived in a house in Bethlehem – what will happen to this house? No time to sell it or rent it out. Joseph is a tekton (sometimes mistranslated as carpenter – but in Greek this means he was a stoneworker; the type who probably built a lot of those ancient buildings that the archaeologists love to dig up out of the ground), and that’s a job he’ll be leaving for an uncertain future.

The social support for Mary as she struggles with new motherhood? Gone. Family, friends, synagogue, temple, culture, language – all of this is going to be given up or radically changed when they are forced to journey to Egypt.

And do they have a high-ranking family member there to greet them like their ancestors did some 1,600 years before when they had to run for their lives too? Is Joseph (the dreamer with the multicolored coat) going to be welcoming them, feeding them, arranging for them to have some land on which to live?

Hardly. Those days are long-gone. This is Egypt, the land whose people once chased their Israelite ancestors through the Red Sea, attempting to stop them from fleeing slavery.

This is the place where multitudes of pagan gods are idolized and worshipped. The place is foreign, it’s enemy territory. If I had been Mary or Joseph, it would have been the last place I would have wanted to journey to in a desperate nighttime dash to save my son’s life. But journey they did – and the Light of the World was not extinguished because of their faithfulness.

Matthew’s Gospel does not tell us much about their life in Egypt; just that they stayed there until King Herod finally died and it was safe to return – which was probably a good six to 10 years.

There was no issue with the family crossing the border into Egypt, no one blocked their entry, Joseph did not have to get passports or visas arranged.

They were provided refuge as long as they needed it and they probably settled into normal life as best as they could; Joseph and Mary looking for a place to live, finding new work, raising Jesus, trying to make ends meet until it was safe enough to cross back to their own country. They had followed God’s directions, trusting that this uncomfortable and unwelcome journey was imperative.

Speaking of imperative: I will also be heeding God’s call to journey to a foreign land and cross over into a place that is unfamiliar and in many ways uncomfortable.

I will be traveling to the US/Mexico Tijuana Border with a group of students from my seminary for the express purpose of being the eyes and ears of Jesus Christ; the One whose very life was once saved by the hospitality provided by a foreign nation. The One who said that whatsoever you did to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you did to me; and whatsoever you did not do to the least of these, you did not do to me.

My colleagues and I will not be crossing the border to fix the problems we encounter. We will be visiting with God’s people there who live in the cardboard box cities. We will be meeting those who live amongst the rivers of chemicals that pour from factories and out into the ocean that we all share. We will be visiting with God’s people who work in those factories 14 hours a day to make $20 so that Americans can buy cheap towels.

We will survey the damage done to habitat that’s been impacted by a wall that stops wildlife from migrating but not the migrants from climbing over. I will bring what I see and what I hear home to Lake County so that we can begin a dialogue about how best we can answer God’s call to save Jesus in this region of the world.

When God calls us to save Jesus in 2011 we may be ready or we may not be ready to respond. There may be a million reasons we can think of for not taking a journey that God wants us to take. Reasons like: It can’t be that important, this urgency must be exaggerated, I’m doing fine, it’ll go away if I just ignore it, it will work itself out, I don’t need to get involved, it’s not a good time for this, it’s uncomfortable or unpleasant, or “what will people say?”

Thank goodness Mary and Joseph did not respond with any of those excuses when God called for them to get out of their comfort zone and hit the road.

Is God calling us to do the same thing today? Is God calling us to get up and out of our comfortable little lives somehow in order to make a journey that will further his salvation plan? If you happen to be Christian, called to see Christ in every person, to love every person, to be the hands and feet of Christ to every person – especially the “other” over there – the answer is yes.

But how can we really do this if we don’t know what life is like for that “other” person? How can we really powerfully feel that Christ lives in us and our fellow human being if we are not willing to cross over and stand in his shoes for a while?

My wish for all of us in this New Year is that we would each find some way to journey to the other side of something that is uncomfortable, unfamiliar or unwelcome.

Maybe for you that means actually going somewhere you’d never go or deliberately getting to know someone you’d otherwise never even give a second glance or that you’d be more likely to criticize than celebrate.

Maybe it means considering the opposite side of an argument, a philosophy, a theology, a culture, a religion. How can we find ways to cross to the other side?

One thing is certain: God intends there to come a day when there won’t even be a side to cross over to. He intends that there will come a day when no one will have to run and hide, no one will fear persecution, no one will be denied food, shelter, or healing; a day when not one of us will be separated from another by walls, either physical or psychological.

We can help that day come by being willing to cross over to the other side now.

Crossing does not mean we have to agree with that side, fix it, or become it. It just means we experience it and let God’s spirit work its magic in our hearts and theirs so that the Light can get brighter for all of us.

Waiting for the rest of the world to get it right before we’re willing to get out of our comfort zones, just won’t cut it if we are followers of The Way.

May we, like Joseph and Mary two thousand years ago, answer the call that keeps the Light alive, make the journey even when we don’t want to, and help bring about a day when the concept of “foreign” is, itself, foreign.

Gale Tompkins-Bischel is working on her master's of divinity degree at Pacific School of Religion in order to become an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This commentary was a sermon on Matthew 2:13-23 she gave at United Christian Parish in Lakeport, Calif.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington doesn't think Pacific Gas & Electric's plan for SmartMeters is all that smart. Courtesy photo.

On Tuesday, March 8, at 11 a.m. the Lake County Board of Supervisors will consider the possibility of taking legal action against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to stop the installation of SmartMeters.

Recently, PG&E representatives came before our board to present the positive aspects of SmartMeters. PG&E representatives stated that with SmartMeters our state will move toward a “Smart Grid,” and that with SmartMeters residents “may” realize a 12- to 20-percent savings in their monthly bill.

The word “may” peaked my attention (pun intended).

PG&E told our board that they have installed over seven million SmartMeters.

During PG&E’s presentation, I asked PG&E to provide my office statistical data that substantiated their claim of a 12- to 20-percent monthly savings.

So far, I have not received any information. In fact, I have had conversations with elected officials in other counties and I have received feedback from residents who have had a SmartMeter installed, and the overwhelming consensus is that their monthly bill has actually increased!

With SmartMeters, PG&E is able to use wireless technology that sends real-time information on a daily basis. With SmartMeters, PG&E is able to bill each customer or peak day usage versus total monthly usage with standard meters. This means an exponential increase in rates to our local residents, businesses and farmers.

On July 26, 2006, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved SmartMeters for the customers of PG&E, and authorized PG&E to spend $1.7 billion to deploy SmartMeters.

On Feb. 25, 2010, the CPUC adopted the new rate structures for residential, commercial and agricultural customers that will allow PG&E to bill its customers a higher rate for use during the peak hours. The SmartMeter is necessary to implement this new billing structure.

CPUC members are appointed, and not elected. They are removed from local residents and, in my opinion, beholden to utility companies and special interest groups.

As decision makers, the CPUC can take only one of two sides: either the members stand “for people,” or they stand “for profit.” Unfortunately, time and time again, the CPUC continues to stand “for profit.”

When this discussion came before our board, a number of local residents voiced their concerns about SmartMeters. At that time, I did not understand what all the fuss was about.

Many citizens voiced concerns about rate increases; health risks associated with SmartMeters due to the exposure of electromagnetic field (EMF) emissions; concerns about the loss of privacy due to the sharing and storage of real time information and data; and they voiced concerns about the firing of meter readers throughout the state.

In my research, I have found it true that there are positive aspects of SmartMeters, and the development of a Smart Grid.

With SmartMeters and a Smart Grid users will have to be more frugal with their use of electricity which will result in a decrease in the use of energy, which means a decrease in greenhouse gases.

In addition, people with Internet access will be able to go online and monitor their bill. While this may be a strong selling point, I do not believe that this is PG&E’s motive.

I have also found the concerns about health risks and exposure to EMFs to be a valid concern.

Even though the CPUC looked at studies and concluded that the emissions from an individual SmartMeter “should” not pose a health risk, there are no studies that have looked at the “cumulative” health risks where SmartMeters are installed in dense neighborhoods.

Yes, it may be true that with SmartMeters customers will be able to go online and monitor their usage and attempt to decrease their demand in order to reduce their bills.

Unfortunately, a lot of my constituents do not have Internet access and they are not in a position to decrease their demand.

My constituents are business owners who need power to run their businesses; my constituents are farmers who need power during all hours to water, harvest and package their crops; and my constituents are seniors, and disabled people that have to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Unlike the CPUC, the choice for me is simple. I will continue to stand “for people.”

Email me your input at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Anthony Farrington represents District 4 on the Lake County Board of Supervisors. He lives in Lakeport, Calif.

I felt the same jubilation as the people of Egypt when President Mubarak resigned from office. This is a “moment” of perfection for democratically governed nations; and a testament to the organizing grass roots power of the internet.

The United States government and the international media must closely monitor what takes place in the next weeks and months, as the Egyptian Military Council takes over the country. As President Obama stated, “The transition must be an orderly, peaceful and meaningful change toward a true democracy. And it must start now.”

So who gets the credit for millions of people in Egypt peacefully demonstrating for democracy?

First, honors go the people of Egypt who stood up to a dictator.

Second, honors go to American ingenuity for developing the Internet, which become the medium to allow this pro-democracy movement to communicate, expand and succeed.

Third, the international media who reported on this moment in history, have made it possible for us to witness.

Fourth, honors must go to a long-term United States diplomatic policy, initiated over 30 years ago.

This policy established that the U.S. military would train the Egyptian military, thereby keeping close ties, with not only their government, but their military.

Originally, this policy was created to ensure, in the event of an Islamic fundamentalist takeover, a U.S influenced military would be present at the highest level and ready to impact a new Egyptian government.

So who knew … the change would be from young, educated, Internet-influenced youth, who took the time to study a democratic form of government; and thereby be inspired to peacefully overthrow a dictator.

Who was the military advisor or State Department official who crafted this long-term diplomatic policy? Right now, the American public does not know. And we may never know. But I believe we must honor every U.S. President from Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama who had the intelligence and wisdom to “maintain” this policy over a 30-year period.

I am proud of all the American presidents who preserved this U.S.-Egyptian military connection. It is a testament to the value of looking beyond the short-term and having faith in the power of long-term policies. And a re-affirmation that the people of this world, after all the hardship they endure under dictatorships, will gradually move to democracy as a form of government. People want representative government. They want to elect their officials.

In conclusion, I want our elected government leaders to learn from the Egyptian pro-democracy movement. I want the American people to appreciate and understand the visionary form of government so wisely created by the framers of our Constitution.

I want elected officials (whether Republican, Democrat, Independent or Tea Party members) to start loving their country, more than their party. I want them to work together to make an America other countries continue to emulate.

I want our state and local government officials to speak to the public in a respectful tone of voice, and I want the public to give our elected officials that same courtesy and respect.

America is “the global role model” for democracy. As such, we owe it to the world to act like mature individuals who can more respectfully entertain a difference of opinion and negotiate compromises for the benefit of all Americans. As a leader, we owe this to the world.

Anna Rose Ravenwoode lives in Kelseyville, Calif.

Where were you?

Not a single educator, school administrator or guidance counselor from any Lake County school.

No members of the clergy – not a Rabbi, priest, minister, monk, brother or nun.

Nary a doctor, nurse, psychiatrist, therapist, social worker or surgeon. No one from Sutter.

Where were the librarians, soccer coaches, 4-H leaders, scouts and day care providers?

I heard nothing from Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis or the Women’s Protective Society.

Most important, where were the parents?

Where were the parents of Lake County youth who will have to navigate marijuana in ways that we cannot possibly visualize?

The Board of Supervisors recently discussed a potential new zoning ordinance regarding medical marijuana dispensaries. Our leadership faces complicated options on integrating it into our community.

They needed your input. The business community was there, but your voices were silent.

I attended because I live in Upper Lake where daily I feel its impact on my family.

Crowds congregate at two dispensaries and a doctor’s office on Main Street. On any given day, up to 40 people wait to get a medical marijuana card.

Often they block sidewalks so residents are uncomfortable walking downtown. I have seen the doctor’s employees direct crowds using a bull horn.

Patrons frequently have dogs and neighboring businesses clean up after them. They leave trash, drop inappropriate language in front of children, and create an inhospitable atmosphere in what used to be a charming area.

Oakland officials estimate that its three dispensaries generated $35 million to $38 million last year. The New York Times reported that San Jose has 98 dispensaries, four times its number of 7-Elevens in that city.

Lake County already has 12 dispensaries, and an organized, well-informed contingent wants to recreate Lake County as a cannabis tourism mecca. Marijuana Inc. intends to develop resorts in Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma and Trinity counties, including cannabis gardens, accommodations, restaurants, tours and other attractions.

I brought photos to the Board of Supervisors meeting that showed crowds on the sidewalks and street corners of Upper Lake. Another photo showed people who camped in my drive while they waited for pot-related businesses to open.

Supervisor Denise Rushing commented that by distributing these photos, I was passing judgment on the way people look. I was offended by her remark. Comments like hers set back civil debate because when citizens are disrespected, as I was, many will be reluctant to come forward.

I want a family friendly environment in the town where I live. Can we start here as common ground?

I was surprised also that Supervisor Rob Brown expressed reservations about loitering laws. Communities all over the nation use loitering ordinances to give law enforcement a tool to mitigate nuisance behavior. As it stands, the crowds here in Upper Lake are not doing anything unlawful.

Brown also has concerns about limiting the number of dispensaries. His positions make me question the direction of Kelseyville, whose downtown is currently dispensary-free.

The crowds in Upper Lake would be troublesome regardless of their reason for being here. As it happens, they are here for marijuana. But even if they were here for coffee and donuts, their behavior would be outrageous.

Several dispensary owners appear to be respectful community members. One owner in particular described using creative ways to donate to schools since his business can’t make an outright contribution.

These owners might benefit from banding together to promote codes of conduct among their peers.

For example, they might encourage pot businesses to move off Main Streets voluntarily and away from churches and schools.

They might encourage others to stop letting crowds congregate on sidewalks and outside of store fronts, making life unpleasant for everyone else.

And they might ban displaying toys in windows, like the teddy bears which were displayed next to drug paraphernalia in Upper Lake.

When people feel that any business puts children at risk, there will be fear and anger. The pro-pot contingencies need to work together to address reasonable concerns.

I hope my commentary stimulates discussion among PTOs, churches congregations, and even dispensary owners and patrons. But the need for input is immediate.

Ordinary citizens need to act. If you don’t want your child exposed to pot in the course of ordinary daily activities, contact your supervisor. Now.

Nancy Brier lives in Upper Lake, Calif.