The AGA is off and running!

I am delighted to share that the Alaska Goat Association is fully functioning :)

As of this morning, there are over 35 members. I am pretty sure that number is larger than any other functioning goat club in the state, by far. People are still coming on board, even if they don't quite "get it" as to its "organization".

I got a call about this just the other day, and so help clarify matters, here is a "no particular order" explanation of the Association.

There are no officers.

No formal voting, or balloting.

No "regularly scheduled meetings" at a physical location.

There is no board.

No one person is in charge of anything.

Now that seems pretty simple to me, but some people are having difficulty wrapping their minds around what this concept really means in practice. In most clubs and organizations, officer positions tend to garner people with time, energy, and a desire for power to some degree.

In reality, the positions saddle one person with specific duties for the term of their office, and many times they burn out or are unable to complete their terms. Just take a good look at what has happened in the other goat clubs in the state, and you will see that the same people tend to hold the same offices, year after year. Some of those offices are abused, and occasionally those offices are essentially abandoned with lost documents or accounting. In this Association, any one person can go forward with whatever project gets the collective, majority vote. No running the idea through committees, no waiting two or three months (or longer) to get things on an agenda, discussed, voted, and approved. Just bring your idea to the group Facebook page, pitch it, and see what people have to say. You can start a poll, ask questions through the Yahoo! group, or simply call people-whatever works. If you have an idea you think is of value to the goat community-it's yours to head up and make happen. Recruit whoever you think you need, and run with it. Now, that's pretty simple, isn't it?

There is no "application", so there is no "application process". You pay your membership fee, and you are a member. Period. You are not required to furnish anything other than some means to contact you. What you chose to share is up to you-as little or as much as fits your comfort level. No vetting, no discrimination, none of that. You pay, you are in and you have a voice-just like everyone else.

Any issue raised and discussed is a "meeting". Members meet every day on Facebook, through email, and the Yahoo! group. If members don't want to participate to that degree, that's just fine with the rest of us.When members have discussions on the Facebook group page, or converse via email or the Yahoo group, they are voting when they make their opinions known. As the Association grows, it will probably need to get a little more "formal" for these things, by using polls or other means to determine the majority opinion.

Since we are spread all over the state (and we have members in other states, too), conducting "formal meetings" where everyone can participate is impractical at best. Thus, the reliance on the tools of modern communications: Email, Facebook, the Yahoo! group, conference calls, and hopefully a new website soon. A bank was chosen that has offices in many locations, and PayPal is the vehicle for most transactions. It is imperative that people understand that this Association is open and accountable to ALL its members. This means, publishing banking activity, memberships, and any activity the members propose to undertake. Everyone has the opportunity to see what is happening with their Association at any time. No guessing what's in the bank account, no wondering when meetings might occur, no bickering behind the scenes masquerading as personality conflicts.

The call that prompted this entry, raised legitimate questions about the Association's relationship with the state. In truth, we chose the simplest one available-cited here as written:

Article 1: The name of the corporation is: Alaska Goat Association
Article 2: The duration is perpetual
Article 3: The purpose is "to promote goats and goat products in Alaska"
Article 4: Distribution of assets upon liquidation: Upon dissolution, the assets get distributed equally among members.

The above is satisfactory for the State of Alaska. They may ask for further information (i.e., formal ByLaws) but this can be easily addressed, if the need arises. The articles can be changed as well, with a simple letter informing the state of the changes.

Yes, indeed...the whole idea is simple, user friendly, open and transparent. I kind of like it, don't you?

The Alaska Goat Association

The Alaska Goat Association was created this week.

I suppose you could say it was due in part to the beyond shabby treatment that the Alaska Mini Goat Cache has given former members, the distrust and anguish it has fomented upon the goat community, and selective use of their offices and by-laws to alienate just about everyone. It seems evident that people here want a club, but they don't want anything to do with the MGC shenanigans, or Heather Fair and Rayna Fritcher as Treasurer and President, or both. But still people want to participate, to join together and enjoy and promote their interest in all things relating to goats.

The solution was brainstormed on Facebook, and arose immediately from discussions on several pages. In two days, the corporation was founded, a bank account established, the EIN (required by the IRS) procured, and a "structure" created. Today, the process will be furthered by application for formal non profit status.

Above all, this will be a transparent and open organization.

There are no officers.

Nope, no board, no formal positions of president, vice president, secretary or treasurer. No position for webmaster, newsletter, fundraising or any of that stuff. Instead, this is majority rule. No balloting, but everyone has a voice. Some people will see this as anarchy, chaos and/or mob rule. In practise, it is not. Civil discussion and consensus are amazingly easy to accomplish, if you are willing to let it happen. Every activity with the bank account is publicized, as is every member as they join.

There is already a slate of events started, with people stepping up to organize these individually. They include shows and clinics and seminars. Since this is a state wide effort, there will be events on the Kenai (an area sadly overlooked) and hopefully the Interior as well as it gains momentum. It is open to anyone who chooses to join-no discrimination at Alaska Goat Association! No "application process", no expulsions, none of that crap. You want to join, you pay your dues, you are in. How much you get out of it, is up to YOU. Memberships run the calendar year, but anyone joining this fall, is good for the next year too.

Here's how you can see what's going on, and join in making the Association what YOU want it to be:

On Facebook, find Alaska Goat Talk, and join. Ask there to be invited to Alaska Goat Association-there is already a discussion thread if you can find it. We won't add you to the group page unless you want to be included! Once you are there, the information about joining is available. Pay your dues, and add your name and number to the list.....and that's it! No showing up at irregularly scheduled meetings, no fumbling around trying to find information....just join, and you're in!

You can also join the Yahoo! Group "AlaskaGoatAssociation", established as an alternate to Facebook as some people are not comfortable with social media.

And, you can contact myself, or others, about how to join without having an online presence.

Electronic participation is being worked out, but already includes the Facebook page, the Yahoo! group, and PayPal.

I'd say that's a start, wouldn't you?

Victory is mine

On Saturday, I appeared in court for my case against the Alaska Mini Goat Cache. Upon arrival, we all sat through a another case, and then were sworn in and began. I was pretty nervous as I had never done that before, and bobbled my opening remarks to start. However, I was able to plainly state the sequence of events to the judge:

I joined and was expelled the same day.
The following day I got my money back through PayPal, and got an email from the President telling me I'd been expelled for cause.
I attended the membership meeting in January, resubmitted my fees and application.
They were accepted by the President (and yes, the Treasurer was present)
The Treasurer never attended any other meetings after that.
In June, the small claims case against the Treasurer was held, the results were:
That Heather Fair was the treasurer
That the election process they had started prior was valid
That the election results were valid with Heather Fair being Treasurer again
That the actions taken by the board in the expulsions were valid.

So, since I was expelled (and was not a member, and could not be a member, and could not reapply for two years) I asked for my money back. A total of five times, via email. I probably was not as polite as I could have been, but truthfully, I was disgusted with the entire club. I addressed all the emails to the President, Rayna Fritcher. She eventually came back with a "write a letter and we'll consider it" response. By that time, the club had held onto my money for nearly eight months, and done nothing to rectify the situation. Of note: The issue of returning money to expelled people are not addressed in their bylaws at all. Their language only applies to people already members. So, when Rayna quoted "members/membership applicants" she was not being accurate. And I'll just point out this, which is aggravating: Their own bylaws say that when you pay your dues, you are a member. Period. They do not say "after processing" which is what Heather Fair used as part of her defence.

They have had held no meetings since January. If they had held a meeting, I would have asked to be on the agenda, and then politely asked for my money back. I knew the club should work within the framework of their own bylaws (and they have, to some degree) and I felt that attending a meeting was the best course for resolution. Instead, their board voted back in April to not accept the minutes of the January meeting. I only found this tidbit in reading through the response to my suit, as it happens.

The judge did not want to get into the two factions of the club, since it did not apply to my case. This did not prevent Heather Fair and Rayna Fritcher from making inflammatory statements about the activities of the other faction, the trouble surrounding the club bank account, and my participation with the other faction. I very wisely did not take the bait because it was not germane to the suit.

The judge found my small claims suit valid, and the club is to return my funds.

I was not awarded expenses because I did not write that letter that Rayna demanded. I find this highly ironic because Heather Fair stated repeatedly that the corporation was unable to function due to not having a checking account. The reason they gave for not giving it back was not having a checking account. Their bylaws state that refunds and expenses must be done by check. A bald faced lie I did not correct. I know that the club has an account with $25 in it, at MVFCU. They also have the $290 in cash collected at the January meeting, as well as the $400 in the PayPal account. They could, at any time, deposit the $290 and transfer a portion of the PayPal account, if they chose to do so. Then it would be a simple matter to get counter checks and take care of business.

But no, instead they call into question the honesty of the bank (the bank itself, no less!), and have done nothing.

I presume this fits into their agenda, since if they "don't have a checking account" they can continue to claim that money has been "stolen". Which, by the way, they have done online already.

The other side of that is, of course, that the club has knowingly retained funds for nearly ten months.

That would be all the money collected at the January meeting, from over a dozen people who had submitted applications. Now, just who is "perpetrating a theft" here, eh?

Harvest about complete

It's been a jam packed few weeks around the farm. It seems like there is never enough hours or energy in the days, but somehow I'm managing to get quite a bit done. First, the greenhouse is stripped. What a chore! I always forget that it's nearly as much work to empty it, as it is to fill and plant all those pots! But I had a bounty of peppers, which we enjoyed very much on the grill. The melons were gobbled up by all, and I have vowed to start them earlier next spring. I had enough cucumbers hidden in the foliage to make one small batch of pickles, after all the fresh eating we enjoyed-a nice surprise. The sweet corn had a few slightly unripe ears but was heavenly grilled in the husk. Several batches of zucchini relish were processed and I have three glass gallon jars of sauerkrout going in a cool dark spot in the garage.

Yesterday, the meat birds were processed at last. They came in at between 5 to nearly 8 pounds, very large birds! They are brining right now and will surely be a tasty meal over the winter. I learned a couple little tricks about how to properly bleed them out, and what some of the interior parts are. Previously, I have only done the "dirty work" so this was a great learning experience. My sis's good friend, Maria, was happy to take organs, heads, neck and feet. In her culture, nothing is wasted and that works for me.

Also this month, the abundant celery was processed-this time, into jars for winter use. My wonderful sister in law has been very enthusiastic about helping, and in return, I teach her about proper preparation and processing. It's a win win for both of us, I like to think. And it's been really nice to have company as the canners are monitored too. When it came time to butcher the moose the family had been blessed with, we all dashed over and worked to "get 'er done". Oh my, it was a lot! A 53 inch bull and a spike fork. I have the neck sections and am in the process of making moose stew to can in the next day or so. This year, I can add celery, potatoes, carrots and onions from my own garden-I'm very proud of that.

We were able to secure a large load of logs for firewood, so that worry has been laid to rest. With that, and what is already split and stacked under the wood shed, we're in fairly good shape for firewood. I have been enjoying the wood stove for almost three weeks now, and loving it. As the leaves continue to fall, we are on the last bit of "clean up before winter" outside stuff, with some work remaining at the barn. I also managed to find two more Orpington pullets, and they have settled in very well. This brings my total back up to eight-which is what I had last winter. My old Yokohama rooster finally passed away a couple weeks back, but his replacement (A buff Orpington) is maturing and has already been successfully fertilizing eggs. Just this weekend I found my first ever "bullseye" plain as day, on the yolk. This means I could have chicks this coming spring, yippee!

Also in the bird department, my four turkey chicks are a hoot! So aware, so curious, and friendly too. They are gaining some color now, and I think I have two toms and two hens. They will not reach the size of the broad breasted whites I have in with the layers, but that works for me-those two are getting pretty danged big! So big, in fact, that I was worried about finding a pot big enough to scald them in, haha

So that's what is happening around the home place. I have the stew to process, and spuds, and that will be it for canning this year.....whew!

September already!

It's been a busy and productive couple of weeks here at the homestead. I say that with a sardonic tone, because we surely are not a homestead in the "pioneer" sense of the word, but then we sure aren't living on a city lot in Anchortown, either.



The garden was bountiful, considering the weather challenges this summer. A few things did not fare well and these are due to my own oversights-sweet corn and pumpkin. I have a great many green beans that await picking, plus many large onions (onions! Never been able to grow them before, yippee!) whose tops will end up dried, and a generous quantity of broccoli and cauliflower are already safely tucked into the freezer. A couple weeks ago I processed a fairly amount of berries from the freezer, in a lame attempt to make space. As it is, I still have plenty on the bushes that need to be harvested, not to mention jam and syrup jars tucked away. We are blessed with these berries so I won't complain about number, since some people were not so lucky this year. Several batches of zucchini relish are done, and I have the celery processed too-dried leaf for cooking, plus nearly a dozen pint jars in the pantry. Next up is finding the proper vessel to start a batch of sauerkraut....then, I have the beans, peas, brussel sprouts, spuds, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and my little melons to harvest. Yes, melons! They are not much large than fist sized but I have been trying to grow these for years-first year of success and I can't wait to try them!



Up at the barn, the meat birds are way beyond processing size. Lost one of them yesterday for unknown reasons, which does happen occasionally. So that leaves ten very hefty birds to deal with in the next week or so. No sure what they will dress out at, but I am thinking in the 6 to 7 pound range. In the pen with them, are my four baby turkey chicks. Gosh those buggers are cute! So attentive and responsive to my voice, so unlike chickens. They are starting to get their color now, so look rather speckled. I can't tell yet how many hens, or toms, that will have to wait until they are older. These are a heritage type that breed true, called Sweetgrass. A very pretty bird that are cold hardy, and do not mature as large as the broad breasted whites that are more common for holiday meals. I have two of those also-a hen and a tom as it turns out. He has matured enough to begin courting, and she is old enough to rebuff his advances. Makes for some fairly comical moments ;) Thanksgiving and Christmas are their names, naturally...and they are going to be very sizeable birds in another month or two. Naturally, it did not dawn on me that I do not own a pot large enough to scald them in until yesterday, haha! Not sure what I am going to do about that-dry pluck? Haul them some place else? The new rooster I got a few months back seems to have settled in, but one of the hens does not care for him, so he is pretty much a bachelor outcast at the moment. I have not heard any crowing from him either. Speaking of which, the older Yokohama roo has lost his voice, and is not doing well. The pair of them need to go to another pet home, or someone's stew pot. Very small birds, but likeable enough.



So we are rolling on into winter mode......animals good overall, halfway done with the garden, and quite a bit of firewood already stacked away for the colder months. I have some feed and hay to lay in over the next month or so, and then let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

As the milk turns...........

......and turns and churns and spins and on it goes, and where it stops-nobody knows.

You didn't really think it was over, did you?

I didn't, I know my adversary oh too well for that. And recent events have proven this truth-that All That is a dogged, likely deranged, despot who will do anything to have her way.

I last left it with the Alaska Mini Goat Cache, via email, that I wanted my money back. The new Prez (Rayna Fritcher) trotted out the party line as supplied by All That: Write a detailed statement as to why you deserve your money back and mail to blah blah blah,a nd then we might give it back blah blah blah. Their own bylaws and statements Pres. Fritcher made do not, of course, cover those people they expelled.

Nope, no sirree, if they refund my money they essentially admit I was a member, lol I can't be a "membership applicant" either because the judge said that the previous expulsions would stand-according to their "conditions", I have to wait two years to reapply. By squatting on my cash, they have effectively.....well, stolen it. I mean, they won't return it and they've tied themselves neatly in knots by their own admissions and statements to the court and the public.

So while all this percolated away in the background going no where, another matter arose regarding All That. It seems that her desire for vengeance continues unabated, and now includes the DHI program. This is taking matters to a new low, indeed. Naturally, the complaint was easily dealt with as it was bogus in the first place, and I may need to eventually describe in excruciating detail the single time I attempted to perform a milk test for All That. I am so thankful for a near photographic memory, really I am, because if necessary...I can go there too.

All That again showed her true nature just recently to the new president too-who continues to deny being manipulated and used. Oh dear, none so blind as those that refuse to see, yes? I can't share the details but I assure the readers that it does involve the club and does prove that All That is whacked indeed.

So whacked, in fact, that I filed a small claims suit to get my money back. Yes indeed, I did, on August 5th.....feel free to check CourtView for the activity so far if you choose. Trust that I was thorough in my complaint-it contained only the relevant documents that All That so kindly supplied to the court for the other case as emails between Rayna Fritcher and I regarding returning my cash. I am positive that I will prevail, and this misadventure will cost the club over $100....and likely set the precedent for others to follow. Keep in mind that there are nearly a dozen other people whose money they have taken, but not accepted as members, nor refunded. And there are three other people who they expelled and did not return their money.

Maybe I will just contact the Division of Corporations about their misbehavior to date, and the BBB and whoever else....like, you know-the Human Rights Commission-for their blatant in-your-face discrimination?

It depends on their response to the court ;)

Alaska's Food Security risks, cont'd

In addition to the earthquake and tsunami risk, there are a number of risks that can be identified rather easily. Some will seem to be of the "never going to happen", to "Yes, that's a possibility I didn't know before".

Starting outward and working in, I will first mention a not commonly known situation that is facing our solar system. Recently discovered by a NASA mission called IBEX, it is called "The Fluffy Ribbon" by laypersons. The entire solar system is moving into a dense cloud of magnetic energy, many thousands of light years across. Some suspect that this is what is responsible for the increasing temperatures on our neighboring planets. But what is most concerning to me, is the statement by the bestest and brightest that NASA has, that they basically had no idea this existed and that the information gleaned from these probes is going to rewrite a whole bunch of scientific laws. Yeah, that's comforting, isn't it?

Now, whether or not or how much this is going to affect conditions on good old Earth, I have no idea-but one thing IS certain...it will bring changes. Here is a link to a video presentation from NASA on the subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTnwjd8CF1c&feature=player_embedded

There is much more information available online about this subject, a simple search of "The Magnetic Fluffy Ribbon" should bring scads of results. I personally prefer going to SickScent's blog since he has gathered together much of the information there already. (Link here on this blog) There are several things to take away from this: First, that our best scientists have no idea what it all means. And secondly, that changes are occurring in our solar system because of it.

Moving further inward from the edge of the heliosphere, I'll just remind folks that there are a number of "near miss" comets and asteroids coming up. Some of them are within a couple hundred thousand miles of earth-a whisker away, really. Hopefully the resources devoted to NEO (Near Earth Objects) will be able to see, identify, and track orbits quickly-but of course there is nothing we can do to prevent a sizable impact. All the movies aside, we do not have the technology to avert catastrophe and certainly don't have the resolve to make concrete plans to do so either.

Of the threats of immediate concern to our planet, I believe that the Sun presents the largest risk. Since I cannot know just what the eventual effects of the Fluffy Ribbon might be over the coming centuries, or a "Deep Impact" (the movie) type of event, I can face the challenges of the sun's activity with some confidence.

The primary risk originates from sunspot activity. Instead of attempting to teach everyone about how the sun works and what energies it emits every second, I will focus on the main risk-CME from solar flare. CME stands for Coronal Mass Ejection. They are generally comprised of dense particles and hurled off the surface of the sun into space, and can (and have) caused major effects on our Mother Earth. Here is a link to a description of one such event in our past:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859 (I don't generally use Wiki as a source, but in this case, the information is reliable)

In 1989, a similar, although much smaller solar storm, caused a power outage in Quebec that lasted for nine hours and affected millions of people. The thing to take away from both of these reports is that sunspots can give birth to coronal mass ejections, and these CME can cause EMPs. EMP stands for Electro/Magnetic/Pulse. So much energy assaults our planet that it penetrates our own magnetic field, and "goes to ground", using any means necessary. In 1859, that was telegraph wires...in 1989, it was the grid itself. 20 years later and the world is a very connected place today.....a large enough storm would pretty much fry everything electrical.

Now just think about what would happen should an EMP wipe out the electrical grid. Not just our grid here in Alaska (where we are much closer to possible effects-aurora borealis is a visible signature of these storms) but across the US. In the blink of an eye (less, actually!) the main US grid is down. So are all forms of communication, because the satellites will be casualties also. Computers, vehicles, equipment of all kinds will cease to function-anything with a modern chip, in fact. And not just the chips, it would fry all those many millions of small transformers, not to mention the large ones.....well, the end result would be this:

Alaska would be stranded well and good, for months if not years.

Years. Very troubling thought, isn't it? How many pounds of seed do you think is inside the state borders right now? How much in the way of planting supplies? Means to preserve the foods grown from them? How could it be distributed without modern transportation? Not to mention started, planted, watered, fertilized and harvested? If the thought gives you the willies, it should. There is an excellent book out by a gentleman called William Forstchen, called "One Second After" Here is a link to the Amazon listing:

http://www.amazon.com/One-Second-After-William-Forstchen/dp/0765356864/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313174057&sr=1-1

A novel, but the author addresses many of the problems modern society might face in such an event. Naturally, there are many such works of fiction available today, in the genre...but it isn't just the gifted writer who considers this to be a huge threat-NASA does as well......

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/22jun_swef2011/


And with that I will close by saying-please let's discuss what these threats to our security (our survival here, actually) mean, and what we might do to mitigate those risks a little. Naturally, I have a few ideas about that :)