The War against U.N. Agenda 21 Just Got Hotter

Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh

 The war against U.N. Agenda 21 just got hotter in Virginia. Thinking Americans understand now what U.N. Agenda 21 is and are not backing down from fighting the anti-American, anti-prosperity, wealth redistribution scheme of the United Nations against our way of life.

The U.N. has deemed commercial agriculture unsustainable and has used taxpayer dollars and local supervisors to re-zone, re-shape, and prohibit land use for local agriculture or building that is not approved by their bio-diversity plan of limiting human habitation – all in the name of saving the planet.

Our planet does not need saving, Mother Earth is doing fine. The problem lies with progressive humans in positions of power who want to control everything we do while they line their pockets with our hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

Unfair regulatory actions against Martha Boneta, a farmer in Fauquier County, Virginia, “violate fundamental rights and unfairly restrict her property rights.” Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Woodbridge/31st district) plans to strengthen Virginia’s Right to Farm Act and to “protect farmers against future encroachments by local government.”

Delegate Lingamfelter, who represents four of the Fauquier County’s 20 voting precincts, is planning a press conference to discuss his proposed legislation on January 8, 2013 in Richmond, Virginia. Two prominent property rights advocates will be in attendance, Joel Salatin and Mark Fitzgibbons.

“Martha Boneta’s rights have been wrongly challenged. I am bringing legislation in the 2013 session of the General Assembly to improve the Right to Farm Act here in Virginia, so small farmers like Martha will enjoy fully their property rights. It’s not about demonizing anyone in this controversy. It’s about standing by property rights and our Founder’s vision.”

Local Governments for Sustainability, formerly known as ICLEI, the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives has been quite successful since 1992, when U.N. Agenda 21 was adopted, in infiltrating and recruiting local governments to do their bidding. When Americans exposed their nefarious plans, they have changed their name. Their main goal is to control zoning and land use.

Martha Boneta’s plight and subsequent lawsuit stemmed from a planned birthday party for eight ten-year olds on her farm. County officials notified her that she should have obtained a prior permit for hosting this party and thus would be fined $5,000 for failing to abide by the local ordinance. She was charged with two additional violations of up to $5,000 each, one for advertising a pumpkin carving and another for operating a small shop on her property from which Martha sold her fresh produce and homemade crafts. The county made these allegations without ever setting foot on her farm. The Fauquier county board of zoning appeals upheld the zoning administrator’s decision that Boneta held “temporary and/or special events without the required county approvals.”

I have written about Martha’s plight in my book, “U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy.” Martha purchased a ruined and abandoned farm under an agricultural conservation easement. Nothing in the bill of sale was mentioned that she could not farm. A lot of hard work, sweat, and tears went into breathing life into this property. She never dreamed that stumbling blocks would be placed in front of her along the way by the very Americans who are supposed to protect our freedoms.

She got a business license. She built an apiary, harvested hay, grew herbs, and rescued 165 animals, sold chicken, duck, turkey, emu eggs, candles made from beeswax, birdhouses, and fiber from llamas and alpacas.

First, she was told she could not cut grass on her property. Then she had to fence in 20 acres for two years because it was considered “hallowed ground,” although nobody died there during the Civil War, it was just an encampment area. By this rule, the whole state of Virginia should be cordoned off to any kind of use due to its many battlefields and movements of troops across the state. After two years, a “clerical error” was declared and Martha could use her land; no reimbursement for loss of property or revenue.

A trench was dug to prevent parking on her property because it might obscure the view shed. Then came the infamous pumpkin carving party that actually never took place, it was cancelled. Yet the harassment from the county and the moneyed environmentalists never stopped.  These people prefer and define farming as penny-loafer farming, running a few horses on lush endless green grass fields, nothing to grow that people would need.

The battle did not stop with Martha. Thirteen vintners filed lawsuits against the same county for not being allowed to serve wine on their premises after 6 p.m., another Fauquier County restriction passed to please one vintner who chose to close early. Why leave things alone? Force everyone to do the same, control what everyone else does.

Americans are waking up when they run into legal battles at the state and local levels involving zoning issues driven by one ultimate goal, global governance. The U.N. Agenda 21 “soft law” document is not legally binding per se but morally obligatory. Unfortunately, so many of its 40 chapters of rules have already been written into law within other laws passed by Congress and they provide specific rules and regulations about local organizations and their practices, limiting everyone’s behavior and freedom, individuals and organizations alike. Add zoning ordinances passed by local and state governments and you have a recipe for disaster, total control of what you do with your own property.

Listen to Dr. Paugh on Butler on Business (WAFS 1190), every Wednesday at 10:49 AM EST
Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh, ( Romanian Conservative) ( Romanian Conservative) is a freelance writer (Canada Free Press, Romanian Conservative, usactionnews.com), author, radio commentator (Silvio Canto Jr. Blogtalk Radio, Butler on Business WAFS 1190, and Republic Broadcasting Network), and speaker. Her book, “Echoes of Communism, is available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle. Short essays describe health care, education, poverty, religion, social engineering, and confiscation of property. A second book, “Liberty on Life Support,” is also available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle. Her commentaries reflect American Exceptionalism, the economy, immigration, and education.Visit her website, ileanajohnson.com.

Canada Free Press

No Leadership from Obama Admin in EU Airline Carbon Tax Resistance

by Capitol Confidential

 
 With time running out for a deal on the European Union's carbon scheme, now is not the time for America to keep a pace of action lagging far behind that of other nations.  The Europeans’ controversial emissions trading scheme (ETS), which opens the doors to heightened and unjustified fees, was followed through in January after their apparent inability to reach a deal with the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO).

As it stands now, “all airlines flying into and out of Europe have to submit permits for their carbon emissions made since January 2012.” And if prior, freely-issued permits “don’t cover their emissions then they have to buy more permits on the open market.”

Thing is, the permit requirements apply to the length of the entire journey, not time simply spent in EU airspace. So, the obvious problem lies in the fact that this allows the EU to “effectively collect a tax for activities in the airspace of other sovereign states and territories.”

With its blanket application to non-EU carriers, the move has been rightly ridiculed as a heavy infringement on national sovereignty. February of this year saw the United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and India issue a jointly-written statement voicing opposition to the scheme. 

That’s not all, either.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia issued a full-throated order to its “national airline not to comply” with the costly rules. Mohammed al-Sabban, a representative of the country when the decision was made, stated that the order was designed to “send them a message that the case will not end easily.”

The Saudis are not alone in their resistance to the ETS rules. While 1,200 airlines complied with data submissions earlier this year, 10--all from China and India, flatly refused. 

Yet until last week, the United States has largely sat on the sidelines while the Europeans have enforced the measure all year. Last Saturday, the Senate came off its laurels and passed a bill granting the “Secretary of Transportation the power to prohibit U.S. airlines from complying.”

For a clear example of the absurdity surrounding the EU having the ability to collect fees for flight times in American airspace, look no further to the fact that it passed the Senate unanimously. Not only that, it was co-sponsored by South Dakota Republican John Thune and embattled Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill. 

Last year, the House passed a bill adopting a similar posture, so reconciliation is “all but assured.”

The ball now lies in the Obama administration’s court for enforcing the prohibition on compliance. It’s been documented that both the “State and Transportation Departments have criticized the EU’s policy.” Not to mention potential political fallout of backing a rarely unified Senate. 

However, as has been the case far too often with President Obama, there is little clarity on whether or not such common-sense will be enforced. Currently, that knowledge “remains an open question.”

Now is the time for America to take a strong posture against a carbon tax that clearly violates national sovereignty for the likely cause of backdoor payments on Europe’s astronomical debt. 

Direct opposition from America could likely serve as a turning point in convincing the EU to halt enforcement of the ETS provisions. For that reason, it is an imperative that the Obama White House takes a clear stance against the EU’s schemes before the bill even reaches the Oval Office. Other nations have already drawn the line; now is the time for America to do the same.

Big Government

Martha’s Plight and Liberty Farm Under UN Agenda 21

By Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh

Fauquier County’s Board of Supervisors in Virginia, presumably Republican controlled, passed an ordinance to force wineries to close at 6 p.m. and to prohibit the sale of food unless the wineries obtain special permits from the zoning administrator.  They fined Liberty Farm for having a pumpkin carving that never took place and for having a birthday party for eight little girls without proper permit.

Do we now need government permission to have private parties on our own property? Apparently so, according to these supervisors, it is considered marketing. “The Fauquier ordinance clearly violates Virginia’s Right to Farm Act, which guarantees agriculture activities of growing and selling.” (Mark J. Fitzgibbons, The Washington Examiner, August 12, 2012)

I heard Martha speak to a gathering of 25 friends, farmers, and vintners from Fauquier County. She brought a basket laden with tomatoes and peppers grown on her Liberty Farm, vegetables that she is no longer allowed to sell. She can give them away to food banks. Through passionate tears, she outlined her childhood dream of owning a farm, finding the perfect land in 2006, and the six year nightmare that followed.

Martha’s 70 acre farm is located in Fauquier County, a rural, agricultural community 15 minutes from Washington, D.C. if the traffic cooperates. The rich soil in the area is perfect for growing grapes and producing wine. Many of the rich farm landowners understand farming as running beautiful horses and leaving the land unspoiled – actual farming is a nuisance and an inconvenience. They are the “penny loafer farmers,” as someone had named them. They are offended by Martha’s farm that actually produces food that people need and enjoy.

Martha bought her farm with an agricultural conservation easement. Since there was no mention of any activities that she could not engage in on her farm, she proceeded to repair the historical barn. She built an apiary, harvested hay, grew herbs, and rescued 165 animals, sold chicken, duck, turkey, emu eggs, candles made from beeswax, birdhouses, and fiber from lamas and alpacas. She had a business license. A lot of hard work went into breathing life into the previously abandoned piece of property. The grass was five feet high and the barn was leaning when she bought the property.

What happened to property rights and economic freedom in our country?

She was told through letters and unauthorized inspections on her property that she could not even cut grass on her property. She had to fence off 20 acres for 2 years because it was considered “hallowed ground” although nobody has ever died there during the Civil War; it had been just an encampment area. Animals and children could not seek shelter from heat or play under a beautiful oak grove. The family was never reimbursed for the fencing or the loss of use of their property for two years – it was a “clerical error.”

A trench was dug to prevent parking on her property because it obscured the view shed. Although holding a business permit and special permit to operate a farm store, her business permit has recently not been renewed by the county. Liberty Farm is the only farm in focus for this environmental harassment. What happened to property rights and economic freedom in our country?

Some Americans are waking up to the insidious UN Agenda 21 across the country. Their legal battles come in many forms at the local and state levels, all involving zoning issues, driven by one ultimate goal, global governance.

UN Agenda 21 “soft law” document has been in place and ratified in Rio, Brazil by 178 countries since 1992. The recommendations that are not legally binding but morally obligatory provide specific rules about local organizations and their practices, limiting everyone’s behavior and freedom.

The idea of global governance, a.k.a. UN Agenda 21, was seeded a hundred years ago.  Americans and their private property are under such a concerted and well-orchestrated attack, that it has become a full assault on private property and redistribution of wealth in the last stages of full implementation.

Would ordinary Americans succeed in deflecting and destroying the evil UN Agenda 21, the multi-headed Hydra? It is a hard question to answer since a good majority of Americans are blissfully unaware of what is going on under their noses nor do they seem to care.

The privileged elites are so convinced they are best suited to rule the world, that they are willing to dedicate their vast fortunes to achieve global governance. Cecil Rhodes, for example, of the Rhodes scholarship, believed that the whole world should be dominated by the British Empire. His vision is no longer a possibility since the once mighty British Empire is now overrun by hostile Muslims thanks to its failed and misguided multi-culturalism.

The modern granddaddy of globalism is Maurice Strong. “Since Cecil Rhoades, …there has been a group of people who actually believe that society is best served when it is managed by a benevolent government populated by the enlightened intelligentsia.” Many Congressmen on both sides of the aisle support globalism, thus Agenda 21. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report in April 2010, detailing the creation of a global currency as the path to global economic stability. (Henry Lamb, Founding Director of Freedom21, Inc.)

The main stream media does not discuss Agenda 21

The main stream media does not discuss Agenda 21 and has labeled those that do tin foil hat conspiracy theorists. Americans believe what they are told by the MSM until they have problems keeping their farms, use their land, build a fence, plant a tree, a bush, use rainwater on their property, build a barn, plant a garden, or use trees for shade to animals. Once property owners run afoul of the many permits they are required to get, they become believers.

There is no end to the asinine rules that various Boards of Supervisors write and implement. These boards are populated by individuals who pretend to be Republicans in order to get elected but are Democrats who enjoy controlling the sheeple minions in their counties.

Liberals love to micro-manage other people’s lives. If you are unlucky and belong to a Home Owner’s Association, you will witness first-hand the self-appointed tyrannical behavior of little people with power to turn your existence upside down on your own land.

Obama’s War on Suburbs

The control does not stop there.  On August 21, 2012, Dick Morris TV discussed “Obama’s War on Suburbs” - how “Obama wants suburban taxes to fund inner city projects and he applies UN agenda 21 to force people to move to the cities. …Barack Obama opposes suburbs. He wants to force everyone into the cities from whence our ancestors fled. He wants the suburban revenue to subsidize the inner cities.

…Because of carbon emissions and global warming, we have to reduce the dependence on the automobile, increase people walking and biking and we have to reshape the way we live with that in mind.” 

The environmentalist concern over carbon emissions and Obama’s funneling resources to the inner cities from the suburbs combine into Obama’s program called regionalism. He has already given regionalism planning grants in Ohio, Virginia, and Florida. Regionalism means getting rid of counties, cities, suburban government and put everything under the regional authority.  The regional entity governs and makes all decisions for a large metropolitan area such as transportation, zoning, land use, education, wetlands, funding, open space regulations, and environmental regulations, all designed to force people from the suburbs into the cities.

Unnecessary traffic jams and congestion on suburban roads, taking access roads out of circulation, blocking zones and roads to traffic, narrowing roads, high and frequent speed bumps, arcane and expensive regulations, expensive gas, road fines, drones hovering over our homes, expensive tolls for roads, are designed to force people to move back into the cities. President Obama wants to fundamentally change the way we live.

Global governance restricts individual freedom

Global governance restricts individual freedom by setting up rigid environmental rules and regulations that set limits on individual behavior, on organizations, and on businesses, covering every facet of human life.

Non-elected bureaucrats and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) set policy and decide what is good for a community through “visioning” committees and grants.

“Visioning” grants come from the EPA and other federal agencies to local communities slated to undergo the visioning or zoning change and to the American Planning Association that would help states develop model legislation favoring their re-zoning plans and re-distribution of property and wealth.

Local planning agencies, an NGO, or ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) start the process of sustainable development, sustainable community, or green growth and request a federal grant.

Who is going to oppose the “greening” of their area and protecting the environment for their children’s future? It is land use control plain and simple by the local, state, or federal government bureaucrats.

Control of land use denies “farmers the right to sell their land to city dwellers because of an urban boundary zone, or greenbelt, or conservation area, or because of the ‘unjust compensation tax.’” Worse yet, farmers themselves are not allowed to use their own land and are fenced in, forbidden to use it or develop it at all.

Water can be denied or cut off to an entire village or town. The installation of septic tanks is forbidden in Maryland, discouraging farmers to build on their own property. The conduits of such restrictions of the behavior of land owners and farmers are the Board of Supervisors through re-zoning and permit.

Martha’s plight is one example of thousands across the country who are fighting their local zoning czars for economic freedom, the use of their land, property rights, free of intrusive, photographed, unauthorized, and illegal, often in the middle of the night land and home inspections, and the freedom to engage in encumbered agricultural activities from environmental groups funded by wealthy globalists who would rather see humans disappeared or moved into government approved urban ghettoes where they can be better controlled and herded.

Canada Free Press