http://www.wildlifemanagementpro.com/2008/07/09/water-rights-and-rain/
Wildlife News on Jul 9, 2008

All she wants is the rain water that lands on her roof. She lives with her husband and two children in a solar-powered home in rural San Miguel County. Committed to promoting sustainability, Kris Holstrom grows organic produce year-round, most of which is sold to local restaurants and farmers markets. On a mesa at 9,000 feet elevation, however, water other than precipitation is hard to come by.

So Kris did what thousands of farmers before her have done: She applied for a water right. Except instead of seeking to divert water from a stream, she sought to collect rain that fell upon the roof of her house and greenhouse. To her surprise, the state engineer opposed her application, arguing that other water users already had locked up the right to use the rain. The Colorado Water Court agreed, and Kris was denied the right to store a few barrels of rainwater. If she persisted w... Read more »

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/6427055.html

By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press
May 16, 2009, 11:30AM

WASHINGTON — It’s not all doom and gloom in the U.S. economy. Some products are bucking the recession and flying off store shelves.
Sales of chocolate and running shoes are up. Wine drinkers haven’t stopped sipping; they just seem to be choosing cheaper vintages.
Gold coins are selling like hot cakes. So are gardening seeds. Tanning products are piling up in shopping carts; maybe more people are finding color in a bottle than from sun-worshipping on a faraway beach.
Strong sales of Spam, Dinty Moore stew and chili helped Hormel Foods Corp. post a 6 percent increase in first quarter sales in its grocery products unit.
Consumers have trimmed household budgets and postponed buying cars, major appliances and other big-ticket items. Yet they still are willing to shell out for small indulgences and goods that make life more comfortable a... Read more »

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/20/house.guns/index.html?section=cnn_latest

updated 9:54 p.m. EDT, Wed May 20, 2009

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Gun rights advocates found an unlikely ally in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday as lawmakers passed a measure allowing concealed, loaded firearms to be carried in national parks.

The House approved a measure Wednesday to allow concealed firearms in national parks.

The proposal passed 279-147, winning overwhelming Republican support and that of a significant number of more conservative rural and western Democrats.

The Senate voted 67-29 on Tuesday to attach an identical measure to a bill cracking down on credit card fees. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, was among 27 Democrats backing the measure.

Under the measure, any person with a state permit to carry a concealed weapon would be able to bring that weapon into parks and wildlife refuges unless a state law specifies otherwise.

... Read more »

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new influenza strain circulating around most of the United States is putting a worrying number of young adults and children into the hospital and hitting more schools than usual, U.S. health officials said on Monday.

The H1N1 swine flu virus killed a vice principal at a New York City school over the weekend and has spread to 48 states. While it appears to be mild, it is affecting a disproportionate number of children, teenagers and young adults.

This includes people needing hospitalization -- now up to 200, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"That's very unusual, to have so many people under 20 to require hospitalization, and some of them in (intensive care units)," Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing.

"We are now experiencing levels of influenza-like illness that are higher than usual for this time of year," Schuchat added. "We are also seeing... Read more »

Some call them “recession gardens.” Others label them revivals of the Victory Gardens, an early 1940s campaign that helped people put more food on the table during hard economic times.

Whatever the label, one fact is known — people are growing more of their own vegetables this year.

Seed specialists like Burpee report vegetable seed sales are up 25 to 30 percent, and local garden centers support that claim.

Seeds can be an economic way to begin a garden but National Gardening Association experts advise gardeners to be realistic about their expectations. A $70 investment in a garden yields about $600 in produce for the year — not thousands like some seed companies claim.

Even so, vegetable gardening is good in many respects. It gets you outdoors, moving muscles and soaking up a little Vitamin D from the sun. It’s also fun to pick a cherry tomato straight from the vine and pop it into your mouth while you harvest some for dinnertime salads.

Renee Shepherd of Renee’s G... Read more »

WELCOME!!! I set up this site to be a forum... for the exchange of information. THIS IS NOT A PLACE TO DISCUSS THE NEW WORLD ORDER, FEMA CAMPS, THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES, OR ANY OTHER CONSPIRACY THEORIES. If you are concerned about the future, as I am, This IS the place to help each other figure out what to do about it. Will the economy recover, or will the "Green shoots of recovery" wither and die? Will things get worse, and how bad will they get. What can you do about it? By using a forum like this we can exchange info. about preparing for such a future. Information about gardening, alternative energy, keeping animals for food production, security in the event of a "Crash" etc. etc.. Please bookmark this page, come back often, and share your experiences, as you prepare for the future!!! How bad will it get? What's your opinion? I've started a thread in the general discussion area of the f... Read more »