Hey y'all, a little help...

[Amanda_931]

California irrigates a lot of farmland.  Maybe some of it shouldn't be farmland.

[glenn-k]

True Amanda, irrigation greatly adds to the fog - salts build up - salts are leached out and sent down to other areas - they're working on stopping that-

Unfortunately many areas that should be farmland are now becoming parts of gigantic cities-- as long as the developers keep payig those fees and adding to the tax base they can continue spreading unchecked to the outskirts while the inner cities become slums and no mans lands inhabited by scores of gang members and people with nothing to do except tear up other peoples stuff.

Try parking a nice car with a good stereo on the street there.  See if I'm exagerating  ---but the cops all have new radar guns.   :-/

[Sassy]

Along the same line... (don't know how much help we're givin ya, Big Willie...   )  But I guess if we can't own private property all our talk about building our own home is null & void  :'(

Here's an article that has links to many of the international treaties/sustainable development programs such as Agenda 21, the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural & National Heritage (our National Parks); UNESCO's Man & the Biosphere Project; Endangered Species Act etc etc.  NAFTA & WTO has now made it possible for foreign countries to come into the United States & buy our public utitlies (electric companies, water districts & other commodities that are necessary to a village or a community).   Foreign countries can get Small Business  Administration loans - comes under the heading of GATTS-2000 which allows a foreign firm to purchase retail services normally owned by municipalities... GATTS even allows federal, state & local regulations to be challenged as barriers to trade.  

I would encourage everyone to familiarize themselves wiith these international treaties/laws/acts.  The titles are often deceptive & you have to wade through a lot of bureaucratic double-speak to really understand what they are saying...  Read Agenda 21 & see what "sustainability" really means to the internationalists...

INTERNATIONAL DOMINATION OF U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND PRIVATE PROPERTY
http://www.newswithviews.com/Coffman/mike3.htm
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/agenda21.htm

[jonseyhay]

Hi Sassy,
You will find that most of that stuff is not peculiar to the US. Multinational corporations through the WTO drive most of these agreements.
Water is high on the list of resources for control. Big water corporations lobby in the WTO negotiations through such groups as the Global Water Partnership, the World Water Council, and the World Commission on Water.
The push for liberalization is backed heavily by some of the leading companies that provide water services, including two French firms, Vivendi Universal--now Veolia--and Suez, which provide over 70 percent of private water services globally.
Suez made a profit of EUR 1.8 billion in 2004 from water, and Veolia made EUR 125 million. The U.S. construction giant Bechtel is also an up-and-coming player in the water services industry.
Here is an example in Bolivia.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/071500-101.htm

Most of these changes are forced through as part of trade deals. In a recent trade deal with the US Australia was forced to open its Pharmaceutical benefit scheme to the free market (we have a subsidised medical system over here)
Another example in Guatemala
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views05/0319-24.htm
The list goes on and on,
Timber interests in the Amazon, Philippines and Indonesia
Cattle and agriculture in Australia, Argentina. Monsanto and other chemical giants have interests here.

Here is a link to a letter penned to redneck in NZ, who got on my wick about refugees. It gives a good idea of the level of foreign ownership of New Zealand. (It's a word doc).
http://users.tpg.com.au/jonsey/countryplans/foreigncontrolled.doc
Take care, I have probably used a choice word or two.
jonesy.

[glenn-k]

Hey - Big Willie-- any more questions???

We occasionally stretch a subject a little and get off to the fringes of the original problem - right now were killing a few alligators but we're still here to help you drain the swamp.

Feel free to re-state anything you still have questions about -

[harry51]

Thanks for those links, Kathy. This has been around a while, is still active, and is very scary. Here's a link to the map of U.S. land use and ownership as envisioned by the Wildlands Project. More info is accessible from the links in your post.

http://www.discerningtoday.org/wildlands_map_of_us.htm

This should be of great interest to anyone who dreams about a rural lifestyle, as optimal population density under this "plan" is on the order of 100families per acre!! Yep, it seems far-fetched, but the wild-eyed proponents of this project are backed up by savvy manipulators who are taking advantage of the fact that treaties are the highest law of the land in the U.S., even superseding the Constitution!  Considerable land was "acquired" for this purpose during the Clinton years by a number of methods. The recent travesty wrought by the Supreme Court on the question of eminent domain will certainly facilitate such confiscations of private ground for "public purposes."

Here's what one observer says about Wildlands:

"The Wildlands Project exists within legal boundaries, however that should not prevent us from being concerned. At the very least, it advocates an extreme manifestation of environmental and public policy. Therefore, any claim the Wildlands Project makes toward public policy must be debated, and ultimately decided, in the public arena. Yet to date it has existed almost anonymously; beyond the knowledge of the wider public. It must be examined out from behind the cover of more general environmental concerns, held up for public scrutiny, and either accepted or rejected by a public fully aware of its implications. Failing to do so could have dire consequences, for as John Adams once wrote, "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge by the people.""

On a related subject Glenn mentioned, here's a picture of a U.N.-issued stamp (by the United Nations Postal Administration, no less) commemorating Yosemite becoming subject to U.N. World Heritage authority.  

http://www.un.org/Depts/UNPA/additional/usa/37clg.jpg

Clearly, this marks a loss of sovereignty. Does the U.S. need the U.N. to protect/administer/manage our national parks?  The sovereignty (authority) of the U.S. government flows from the sovereign citizens of the country, who delegate it, through their elected representatives, to accomplish the proper functions of a government by the people, of the people, for the people.  I for one  do not relish the thought of finding myself, my property, or my country under U.N. or any other international jurisdiction. Unfortunately, such jurisdiction seems to be oozing in through the crack under the Constitutional door......

[spinnm]

Hey, did y'all see the HGTV dream house yesterday or online?  Lumber covered walls.  Some horizontal, some vertical.  See Glenn?  Told ya it was cutting edge.

[glenn-k]

I didn't see it but it's nice to see a move back to solid wood.  Cost is not that much more as opposed to a lot of manufactured materials either.  Initial cost of sheetrock is lower but add taping, texturing and painting and you have to be getting close.  

[jonseyhay]

Have we decided yet if Bigwillie is allowed to build his log cabin, or not.
jonesy

[glenn-k]

Oops, I almost forgot about Big Willie-  --I think he can -- he hasn't posted anymore questions. :-/

[bigwillie22bulldog(Guest)]

Ive been swamped at work, and I havent gotten a chance to post.  I was pumped and ready 2 weeks ago about this.  Now i am somewhat hesitant and sorta scared.  It seems very overwhelming.  I ordered several books thinking that they would tell me exactly how many logs i needed and what size to cut them.  Nope!!  I still want to do it, but i want to do it right.  As i said, we have the logs, a mill, and the site...i also have an aunt that is a machine at finding other materials...she is also an architect...I just dont know what to do now.  I am a complete gumshoe, and frankly, it scares the hell out of me.  I guess i just thought that i would be able to find a plan or help that pointed out and planned out EXACTLY what i needed in tools and materials...i knew that it would be a ton of work, but i thought that it would be like a combination of putting together a puzzle and building other things...HELP!!!...im a wreck about this!!!

Stuffing my face with meat(atkins diet) and feeling very sorry for myself,
bigwillie

[bigwillie22bulldog(Guest)]

I am in Jones County.  Stone is just south a bit.  

The book that was referred, inside the not so big house, who is the writer...i found 2 that are similar, one being ken and the other is sarah...

[glenn-k]

Funny thing about building something from scratch, Big Willie.  Each one of those pieces of material has wants -needs and desires-- each one wants something from you--- each one wants to know what it is , what it is going to be, how long it is going to be, what angle it is going to be cut, where it is going to be and what is going to keep it there - it wants to know what is going to brace it and what is going to tie it down, cover it  and keep it secure.  Think of it as a new girlfriend, then deal with one problem at a time until it is complete. There -doesn't that make it sound easier?  :-/

That is the place where a set of John's plans comes in handy -- he has done the hard part - you just do material take offs, get materials, get approvals - make the pieces - follow the plan and build.

[bigwillie22bulldog(Guest)]

could be a dumb question, but where do i come across these plans???

i dont mean for yall to try to do everything for me, but i just cant seem to come across any GOOD info besides here...thanks a ton yall....

[spinnm]

Sarah's the one, bigwillie.  She's up to four or five now.  Her "small houses" are 2000-3500 sf and personally I don't care for any of them well enough to have one.  But, the concepts are great, little details are great and they make me think.

You're having a trees/forest moment.  Common.  You're overwhelmed by all the tasks that you see coming.  When I panic, himself always says, It's like eating an elephant Shelley....one bite at a time.

First, decide what to build.  Get the plans.  Get the permits.  First task is foundation.  Concentrate on that.  Don't worry about how you'll do the other parts just yet.  I think that Jimmy's still deciding how to build his second story and the first one is already framed.  Compartmentalize it somewhat.  You don't build it all at once.  You just have to stop the brain from thinking about all the details all the time.

It's a tremendous amount of work. All your free time for months/years on end.  Lots of people decide it's not for them.  You have a lot of things going for you.  You can do it if you choose to.

[Daddymem]

Sarah Susanka
John's Plans

[Jimmy_Cason]

 Think of it as a new girlfriend, then deal with one problem at a time until it is complete.

That is a great analogy Glenn. But, I think it would scare me away!

I think that Jimmy's still deciding how to build his second story and the first one is already framed.  Compartmentalize it somewhat.  You don't build it all at once.  You just have to stop the brain from thinking about all the details all the time.

At the start I only thought of the post and beam foundation.
As I got past that point and started installing the tongue and groove plywood I planned the framework for the first floor. .
At this time I am trying to work out the second floor framing and how the roof will attach.
I have worked in various types of fabrication long enough to know you must look several steps later in the process. I hate getting to a point and think, If this would have been built this way I wouldn't have to do this to make up for it.

[glenn-k]

Think of it as a new girlfriend, then deal with one problem at a time until it is complete.

That is a great analogy Glenn. But, I think it would scare me away!

Think nothing of it, Jimmy.  Sometimes I even scare myself. :-/