Friday, March 7, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Vladimir Putin defends Russia's military action in Ukraine after phone call with President Obama
CBS/Reuters March 7, 2014, 6:44 AM

MOSCOW/SIMFEROPOL -- President Vladimir Putin rebuffed a warning from President Obama over Moscow's military intervention in Crimea, saying on Friday that Russia could not ignore calls for help from Russian speakers in Ukraine.

After an hour-long telephone call, Putin said in a statement that Moscow and Washington were still far apart on the situation in the former Soviet republic, where he said the new authorities had taken "absolutely illegitimate decisions on the eastern, southeastern and Crimea regions.

"Russia cannot ignore calls for help and it acts accordingly, in full compliance with international law," Putin said.

The most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War -- resulting from the overthrow last month of President Viktor Yanukovich after violent protests in Kiev -- escalated on Thursday when Crimea's parliament, dominated by ethnic Russians, voted to join Russia. The region's government set a referendum for March 16 -- in just nine days' time.

European Union leaders and Mr. Obama denounced the referendum as illegitimate, saying it would violate Ukraine's constitution.

The head of Russia's upper house of parliament said after meeting visiting Crimean lawmakers on Friday that Crimea had a right to self-determination, and ruled out any risk of war between "the two brotherly nations".

Before calling Putin, Mr. Obama announced the first punitive actions against Russia since the start of the crisis. The White House slapped new visa restrictions on pro-Russian opponents of the new Ukraine government in Kiev and cleared the way for financial sanctions against Moscow for its occupation of Ukraine's Crimea region.
The new restrictions targeted an unspecified and unidentified number of people and entities that the Obama administration accused of threatening Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial borders. They were announced in Washington as Secretary of State John Kerry headed into a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Rome.
The anticipated financial sanctions will penalize "those who are most directly involved in destabilizing Ukraine, including the military intervention in Crimea, and does not preclude further steps should the situation deteriorate," the White House said in a statement.

Japan endorsed the Western position that the actions of Russia, whose forces have seized control of the Crimean peninsula, constitute "a threat to international peace and security", after Obama spoke to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

China, often a Russian ally in blocking Western moves in the U.N. Security Council, was more cautious, saying that economic sanctions were not the best way to solve the crisis and avoiding comment on the legality of a Crimean referendum on secession.
The EU, Russia's biggest economic partner and energy customer, adopted a three-stage plan to try to force a negotiated solution but stopped short of immediate sanctions.
Brussels and Washington also rushed to strengthen the new authorities in economically shattered Ukraine, announcing both political and financial assistance.

Promises of billions of dollars in Western aid for the Kiev government, and the perception that Russian troops are not likely to go beyond Crimea into other parts of Ukraine, have helped reverse a rout in the local hryvnia currency.

In the past two days it has traded above 9.0 to the dollar for the first time since the Crimea crisis began last week. Local dealers said emergency currency restrictions imposed last week were also supporting the hryvnia.

Important Differences
In their telephone call, Obama said he urged Putin to accept the terms of a potential diplomatic solution to the dispute over Crimea that would take account of Russia's legitimate interests in the region.

Putin was defiant on Ukraine, where he said the pro-Russian Yanukovich had been ousted in an "anti-constitutional coup". But he underlined what he called "the paramount important of Russian-American relations to ensure stability and security in the world", the Kremlin said.

"These relations should not be sacrificed for individual differences, albeit very important ones, over international problems," Putin said.

He maintained Moscow was not behind the seizure of Crimea, home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Russia says the troops without insignia that have surround Ukrainian bases are "local self-defence units". The West has ridiculed this argument.

The 28-nation EU welcomed Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk to an emergency summit, even though Kiev is neither a member nor a recognised candidate to join the bloc, and agreed to bring forward the signing of the political parts of an agreement on closer ties before Ukraine's May 25 elections.

Yatseniuk said after returning to Ukraine that no one in the civilised world would recognise the result of the "so-called referendum" in Crimea. He repeated Kiev's willingness to negotiate with Russia and said he had requested a telephone call with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The European Commission said Ukraine could receive up to $15 billion in the next couple of years provided it reaches agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which requires painful economic reforms like ending gas subsidies.


“But he underlined what he called "the paramount important [sic] of Russian-American relations to ensure stability and security in the world", the Kremlin said. So now Russia doesn't want a new cold war, or worse, a hot war. Meanwhile the EU is inviting Yatseniuk to join the emergency summit and make an agreement on closer relations. Many EU nations are reluctant to apply financial sanctions on Russia because it will affect their own economic situation negatively.

Finally, Crimea has petitioned to separate from Ukraine and join Russia. There are still 40% Ukrainians dwelling in Crimea. Will they need to move to Ukraine across the border to live in order to avoid repercussions from Russian speakers due to their ousting of Viktor Yanukovych? The US continues to hope for a unified Ukraine rather than for Crimea to separate and join Russia. It is still unclear that Russians in central, Eastern and Southern Ukraine will not uprise against the Ukrainian majority and cause further unrest.

On the West applying sanctions on Russia, a CNN article (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/07/business/why-western-sanctions-against-russia-will-inflame-ukraine-crisis/) argues against it, because Russia is in a position to apply the same kind of pressure on us in response. This article states that sanctions are more effective against smaller and less economically viable states and also work better when there is an invasion by US troops to back it up. The CNN article gives these suggestions instead. “The key to keeping Ukraine unified is to take away support for Russian annexation. This means solidifying support for the new government in Kiev among the Russian population in the East, especially in Crimea. Obama must encourage the new government in Ukraine to strengthen economic and political ties with the pro-Russian population. This means bringing in election monitors to encourage faith and participation in the new regime, and creating new economic programs to bolster well-being in the eastern part of the country. The U.S. should offer support to fund those efforts.”

About the Russian claim that the uniformed men gathered in the Crimea are local “self defense” forces, it would make the fact that those men are all wearing face masks presumably to protect their identity, make more sense. Maybe they don't want to be recognized by the Ukrainian people who live alongside the 60% Russian population, and therefore be targeted later for retaliation. That's the only thing I know that might lend credence to Putin's claim that the men aren't Russian troops. I think he did admit that there may be Russians guarding the military bases, though. He has said several conflicting things, though. Much as I want the US-Russian relations to remain cooperative and cordial, I no longer trust Putin. His actions speak louder than his words.





Calif. could be in for century-long megadrought – CBS
By Ben Tracy CBS News March 6, 2014

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Government forecasters predicted Thursday that the weather system known as El Nino could return this year. It could bring much-needed rain to the West. Ninety-five percent of California is in drought, and some scientists are now warning of a megadrought.

Scientist Lynn Ingram uses sediment cores inside tubes to study the history of drought in the West.

"We've taken this record back about 3,000 years," Ingram says.
That record shows California is in one of its driest periods since 1580.
While a three-to-five-year drought is often thought of as being a long drought, Ingram says history shows they can be much longer.

"If we go back several thousand years, we've seen that droughts can last over a decade, and in some cases, they can last over a century," she says.
The evidence of these so-called "megadroughts" is found in San Francisco Bay. Ingram and her team at the University of California Berkeley remove the sediment from the bay and nearby marshes.

"What you notice is that the vegetation shifts to more salt-tolerant type vegetation," she says.

That's because during drought, there is less fresh water runoff into the bay. Tree rings on ancient tree stumps tell the same story: narrow or non-existent rings during decades of drought.

"These patterns tend to repeat themselves," Ingram says. "I mean, we can expect that this will happen again."

Scientists say their research shows the 20th century was one of the wettest centuries in the past 1,300 years. During that time, we built massive dams and rerouted rivers. We used abundant water to build major cities and create a $45 billion agriculture industry in a place that used to be a desert.

Even after several inches of rain last week, the drought continues. Ingram believes California should be prepared for an eventual 100-year-long dry period.




We created a huge agriculture industry in what used to be a desert – that really doesn't look smart. However, we have made our bed and we must lie in it. A recent article was about several desalinization projects that have already been started in California, so I predict that there will be lots more of those. Unfortunately the rest of the west doesn't have access to a seacoast to do the same. There was also a recent news article on cloud seeding, though, which could be done on a frequent and regular basis now to boost the amount of rainfall. We need our famous “Yankee ingenuity” to improve our situation. I have some faith that those things will happen and will help alleviate the drought.





Drunk gambler: Casino "was just trying to take advantage" – CBS
CBS News March 7, 2014

A Las Vegas casino is facing a lawsuit from a California customer. The gambler wants $500,000 back. He claims the casino was responsible for a drunken blackout. His lawyer claims he was so intoxicated he couldn't read his playing cards.

The gambler, Mark Johnston, recently shared why he believes the casino should lose this hand. Johnston told CBS News' Bill Whitaker, "I mean, picture this: You're walking down the street - you're drunk, you're drunk - and somebody leans over and reaches in your pocket and steals your wallet. Do you think that's right?"
Whitaker asked, "That's what you think they did to you?"
"Yes," Johnston said.

Johnston said he was welcomed to the new Downtown Grand Casino in Las Vegas Super Bowl weekend.
Asked if he's a high roller, Johnston said he's "won this amount of money, and I've lost this kind of money."

But this time, he said, was different. "I'll be honest with you," he said. "I was in a complete blackout. I've never been in a blackout before."

He says the casino served him so many drinks - he estimates between 20 and 30 - he has no memory of playing table games all day. "I believed that they were just trying to take advantage of a player," Johnston said. "If you're intoxicated, you're not allowed to gamble. They're supposed to stop you."

But he said they didn't stop him, and he lost big. He's now suing the casino, citing Nevada's gaming regulations, which forbid "permitting persons who are visibly intoxicated to participate in gaming activity" and "complimentary service of intoxicating beverages in the casino area to persons who are visibly intoxicated."
CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman said, "He says that he shouldn't have to pay his losses because he was so drunk. Well, then my next thought is, well, what if he'd won? If the video surveillance shows someone who has been drinking, but just like everybody else has been drinking, this guy is going nowhere."

Johnston contends the surveillance video is being reviewed. The Gaming Commission would not confirm that, saying only they've opened an investigation. The casino wouldn't comment on a pending lawsuit.

Johnston said the casino was trying to make money. He said he takes "full responsibility" for getting intoxicated, adding, "now, to a blackout stage? Not really. I believe them just keep bringing me drinks, I blame that on them, and then continuously letting me gamble and letting me drink, I blame that on them."

Johnston said the casino has offered to settle for less, but he said, for now, he's proceeding with his lawsuit.




Some people can't resist the urge to gamble, getting caught up in the excitement and always expecting to win, but when they lose they regret it. I went to a casino in New Jersey with a friend to experience gambling. I bought nickels up to $20.00 and played the slot machines until I won a couple of times, but eventually used up the last of the $20.00 by losing. I used the winnings on supper at the Casino. That was fun, but not so exciting that I want to do it again and lose the last penny in my bank account. I stay away from gambling with money. I like to play blackjack or gin rummy with friends without gambling. I have heard that Chinese people here and in China are very fond of gambling, and gamble on a number of different games including mah jong. It's built into the human mind to test fate.

This Nevada law that makes the casino at fault if they keep serving drinks and allow the patron to continue to gamble looks pretty clear-cut to me. Hopefully the man will win his suit. The casinos make money hand over fist and shouldn't be pressing their luck in this way. If they have done it in this case, I'll bet it is a regular practice on their part. They surely knew they were at fault. They did, after all, offer to settle, but for a lesser amount. Maybe there'll be more news about this when the suit comes to the court.




Should America export natural gas to Europe? – CBS
By Bruce Kennedy Money Watch March 7, 2014

As the crisis in Ukraine plays itself out, there are concerns any sanctions leveled by the U.S. or the European Union against Russia might prompt retaliatory measures from Moscow -- which currently supplies Europe with a large percentage of its oil and natural gas.

The crisis is also adding new fuel to an ongoing debate about whether American's oil and natural gas should be sold internationally -- to both create new markets and perhaps break Moscow's current energy choke-hold on European economies.
Some experts say there's a strategic, geopolitical argument to be made in favor of the concept. Russian President Vladimir Putin "has no qualms about using energy as a weapon," according to retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Jones, a former NATO commander in Europe.

Jones also served as the Obama Administation's National Security Advisor. And in an interview Thursday on "CBS This Morning," he noted the EU is "dependent to the tune of about 30 percent on Russian gas and oil. And we have technology that is transforming our own economy in fracking for oil shale and oil gas."

And, not surprisingly, America's energy sector is echoing that same idea. The American Petroleum Institute, citing the unrest in Ukraine, is renewing calls for the Department of Energy (DOE) to approve exports of U.S. liquidfied natural gas (LNG).
"Our allies in Europe are eager for a reliable partner to enter the marketplace as a stable, secure source of natural gas, and American industry is ready to make that happen," Erik Milito, API Director of Upstream and Industry Operations, said in a press statement.

"Thanks to the U.S. energy revolution," he continued, "America is now the world's leading producer of natural gas, which means that our LNG exports could significantly strengthen the global energy market against crisis and manipulation. That's a win-win for our economy and for our friends."

Currently, under the Natural Gas Act of 1938, any person or company wanting to import or export natural gas in the U.S., including LNG, must first get authorization from the Energy Deparment. And as of last month, the DOE reportedly approved several dozen applications to export LNG to countries that have free trade agreements with the U.S.
But it's one thing to have natural gas reserves; it's another to export it without pipelines -- like the ones Russia has running through Ukraine and on to Europe. To create LNG, natural gas has to be super-cooled and then transported in specially-built, double-hulled ships. And the U.S. is not expected to have its first LNG export terminal up and running until mid-2015.

So even if large-scale LNG exports are approved, there's going to have to be some major infrastructure investments, says Ron Rizzuto, professor of finance at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business.

"Since you have a capital investment involved it will be slower," he added, "but we're definitely going to see more replacement over time."

Rizzuto, who studies energy and transportation issues, also expects natural gas demand will increase globally as the U.S. brings more supplies on-line, but he expects prices to remain steady.

"I don't believe that we're going to go to $200 a barrel," he said. "The demand will be there but the increased supply will make it still pretty cost-effective. When you start using natural gas, there's a lot of availability there that will keep natural gas prices not as low as they are now. But prices will not quadruple or anything like that."

For the moment, natural gas continues to flow from Russia to Ukraine and onwards to Europe. And Paolo Scaroni, CEO of the Italian oil and gas ENI corporation, tells the Platts energy information group that -- even if the current tensions over Ukraine were to prompt Russia to shut off its pipelines -- there are enough natural gas supplies on-hand to get the EU through the remaining weeks of winter.

ENI is also a partner in the so-called South Stream gas pipeline, which is expected to transport gas from Russia via an underwater, Black Sea link to Europe -- without transiting the Ukraine -- starting in 2016.

But Scaroni warns that all these scenarios might change, if the EU opts to "take hard decisions toward Russia and the exchange of energy with Russia."




The elephant in the room here, to me, is the environmentally suspect process called fracking, which has been known to pollute ground water near the well, causing people who depend on wells to have water coming out of their faucet which is not potable.

I'm afraid the need for American gas is high enough to make fracking popular in spite of risks. It would, of course, give the US more income as a result of the fracking, which should help our economy. There is clearly a market for our oil in Europe, unless it is more expensive than Russian oil, but our first LNG export terminal will not be active until 2015. The Russians are already set up to produce and transport the oil via the South Stream pipeline which is due to begin operations in 2016. It already has pipelines running through Ukraine and on to Europe, so it will be difficult to compete with them over gas. I'm sure there will be more news about this as the Ukraine's troubles continue.





Oscar Pistorius ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor portrays man with a temper, and a love for guns – CBS
CBS/AP March 7, 2014

PRETORIA, South Africa -- A former girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius testified Friday at the double-amputee runner's murder trial that he always carried a firearm, sometimes shouted angrily at her and her friends, once shot his gun out the sunroof of a car, and that their relationship ended when he cheated on her with Reeva Steenkamp, the woman he fatally shot last year.

Samantha Taylor also described some of Pistorius' habits while they were dating, including what side of the bed he always slept on at home and where he kept his gun during the night. Taylor's observations of what Pistorius did when they were together show different habits from what the Olympic athlete says he did on a later night when he shot Steenkamp.

Pistorius, 27, is charged with premeditated murder for killing Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model. Prosecutors said he did it during an argument but he insists it was a mistake, and that he shot four times through a locked toilet door believing an intruder was behind it.

The testimony Friday by Taylor paints the picture of a man who had a temper and was fond of guns.

CBS News' Debora Patta reported that Taylor -- whose face was not allowed to be shown in court -- was often tearful during her testimony. She told the court Pistorius carried a gun with him "all the time" and would sleep with it next to his bed every night.

On one occasion, she recounted, he fired it out of a car's sunroof soon after a policeman stopped the car they were in for speeding.

Taylor, who started dating Pistorius in 2011 after meeting him the previous year, described another incident in which she and Pistorius were followed by a car as he drove home.

"When we arrived at his estate, he jumped out of the car with his gun and held it to someone's window and then they drove away," Taylor said.

The court adjourned briefly after Taylor broke down in tears while describing how Pistorius cheated on her with another woman, before he began his relationship with Steenkamp. It adjourned again when she wept while describing problems in her relationship with Pistorius, the first amputee to run in the Olympics.
Earlier, Taylor said: "He cheated on me with Reeva Steenkamp."

Defense lawyer Barry Roux said he would produce emails between Taylor and Pistorius to show that was untrue, and he also sought to highlight apparent gaps in Taylor's memory of the shooting incident on a road in September 2012.

Darren Fresco, a friend of Pistorius, was driving the car that was stopped by police who then asked the two men to get out of the car, said Taylor, who was in the car at the time. The police officer then saw Pistorius' gun on the seat of the car, she said.
"He said to Oscar that the gun could not just be left on the seat there," Taylor said, adding that bullets fell out of the gun "and then Oscar got very angry and eventually they gathered the bullets."

An angry Pistorius shouted at the officer and later, after leaving the scene, he fired the gun out of the sunroof, she said. He and Fresco were laughing at the time, according to Taylor. Roux said Pistorius had denied the incident.

Pistorius says he killed Steenkamp in his home in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013 by mistake, thinking she was an intruder. Prosecutors say he intentionally killed her after an argument.

After prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked permission from the judge to uncover possible new evidence at the end of the former girlfriend's testimony, Taylor described previous incidents when Pistorius thought there was an intruder trying to get into his home, and he reacted by waking her up, she said.

"There was one occasion when something hit the bathroom window and Oscar woke me up and asked me if I heard it," Taylor said. "He got up with his gun."
But he woke you up, Nel asked. "Yes. There was probably one or two occasions when he woke me up to ask me if I heard something," Taylor replied.
Pistorius did not attempt to wake or locate Steenkamp before he shot the 29-year-old model by mistake, according to his own version of events.

Taylor said Pistorius always kept his gun on a table by the bed at home, and always slept on the right side of the bed. Pistorius says his 9 mm pistol was under the bed on the night he shot Steenkamp and he says he was sleeping on the other side of the bed because of a sports injury.

Roux has contended that other witnesses who testified to hearing a woman's screams on the night of the killing were mistaken, and that they were actually hearing the high-pitched woman-like screams of Pistorius, mainly after realizing he had shot Steenkamp. The athlete has pleaded not guilty to murder and several firearms charges.
Taylor, however, said she had heard Pistorius shouting at her and other people and that he did not sound like a woman. "He sounds like a man," she said.




It will be interesting to see if Pistorius is going to be convicted of the murder. His story sounds flimsy to me, though his former girlfriend says he often woke up during the night thinking there was an intruder, and one other report said he was sometimes paranoid. He always had a gun with him and loved guns. There are some people, especially the NRA members, who are very fond of guns and shooting, and it doesn't really surprise me when a person of that type kills someone. I personally don't want a gun around, and don't feel that I need one. I am content to limit my excursions to the daytime hours, and my neighborhood is quite safe enough during the daytime.




­ U.S. Knew Of 'Imminent' Move In Crimea, Top Official Says – NPR
by Scott Neuman
March 07, 2014
­
Senior U.S. officials were warned of imminent Russian military action in Crimea about a week before the troop movements that have sparked a major international crisis over Ukraine, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency tells NPR.

"I think for easily seven to 10 days leading up to the Russian troops as we see them now in the Crimea, we were providing very solid reporting ... where we move from one level of a condition of warning, which I would just describe ... as sort of moderate to one where we believe things are imminent," Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn tells Morning Edition in an interview airing Friday.

Barely a week after the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Russia president, Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine accused Russia of sending troops into Crimea, a predominately Russian-speaking autonomous enclave that is home to the Kremlin's Black Sea Fleet. The action, which Moscow has yet to officially acknowledge, has pushed relations between Russia and the West to their lowest level in years.

Flynn, responding to criticism that the U.S. intelligence community was caught off guard by the Kremlin move, tells NPR's David Greene that U.S. intelligence is watching "some of the naval activities up around the key bases."

"We saw what has been referred to as an exercise inside of Russia, and we're paying very close attention to any additional activities of some of their key military forces," Flynn says.

Flynn also discusses Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked classified information and is now living in Moscow to avoid treason charges in the U.S. He says there's an ongoing debate in the intelligence community that asks: "What kinds of information did he touch, did he take — what do we know?"

The U.S. Army lieutenant general says he's most concerned that Snowden might have stolen sensitive information about intelligence and operational capabilities, technology, weapons systems and war plans.

"Does that knowledge get into the hands of our adversaries — in this case, of course, Russia?" Flynn says.

"We have to assume the worst case and then begin to make recommendations to our leadership about how do we mitigate some of the risks for what has been compromised," he says. "We are going to be dealing with this for many, many years, everything from changing how we operate, changing some of the procedures, techniques and tactics that we use."




There isn't much chance that Snowden will be let into the US again, except as a prisoner. He couldn't have known that this problem with Ukraine's status was coming up unless he was, as one article suggested, paid specifically by Russia to steal the data. I don't think he was, though. I think he was operating under what was to him a moral commitment to uncover unjustified snooping on the US public. He doesn't strike me as being a cynical and hardened spy, attempting to weaken the US.

Our intelligence networks were aware of the Russian troops moving alongside Ukraine, according to Flynn, but no moves were made to oppose them. Personally I think Obama is in favor of diplomatic means only to counter the Russians, though two more fighter planes were put into patrol under the aegis of NATO overflying the Baltics two days ago, which is a clear threat of further involvement on our part. That was reported on this website, which says: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/05/us-ukraine-crisis-pentagon-idUSBREA242D320140305. According to this article, “(Reuters) - The Pentagon will more than double the number of U.S. fighter jets on a NATO air patrol mission in the Baltics and do more training with Poland's air force as it strives to reassure allies alarmed by the crisis in Ukraine, officials said on Wednesday. I think this measured response to Russia's actions is appropriate and timely.




­States Fight California's Chicken Cage Law. But It's Really About Bacon – NPR
by Frank Morris
March 07, 2014

­By most measures, David Kesten's hens are living the good life. "They can act like chickens, they can run around," says Kesten, who's raising hens in an old wooden shed in the open countryside near Concordia, Mo. "They can go out and catch bugs, they can dig in the ground."

But most U.S. hens live crammed into very close quarters, according to Joe Maxwell, with the Humane Society of the U.S. And he says that's just wrong.
"There are some things we should not do to animals," says Maxwell.

California voters felt the same way, and six years ago they passed Proposition 2, requiring California producers to provide cages that are almost twice as large as most chickens have now. The Legislature followed that with a law requiring that all eggs sold in California be raised under those conditions.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and five other attorneys general have joined a lawsuit against California.

"We can't have our farmers and ranchers at the whim of California's voters, and that's why we filed the lawsuit," says Bruning.

Their chief complaint is that their egg producers must either spend millions to comply with California restrictions, or face being shut out of that enormous market.
Don Nikodim with the Missouri Pork Association calls it "a clear violation of the U.S. Commerce Clause."

Now, why would pig farmers care about henhouse restrictions?
Because when a huge state like California slaps restrictions on food it imports, farmers all over the country become alarmed. And Nikodim says this won't likely stop with eggs.

"Logically, the next step is, we should extend our authority on how you produce pork to other states as well," he says. "Then is it dairy, is it beef, is it corn — go down the list."

Nikodim is worried that restrictions on cramped pig stalls, called gestation crates, may come next. Blake Hurst, with the Missouri Farm Bureau, says if this kind of thing goes unchecked, farmers could soon face a mishmash of state laws.

"It's important because of the precedent set," says Hurst. "It's not important because of how chickens are housed."

The egg lawsuit isn't the first effort to try to blunt state-specific livestock restrictions. Last year, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, tried to amend the Farm Bill to nullify restrictions like California's Proposition 2.

"We just simply cannot let California dictate to the rest of the country how we house hens or hogs or cattle," says King.

But a coalition of animal welfare organizations and environmentalists killed the King amendment, according to Maxwell.

"They couldn't win legislatively, so they're going to try a judiciary track to pre-empt state's rights to regulate health and safety and animal welfare: King amendment round two," says Maxwell.

Meanwhile, in California, egg producers are gearing up to comply with the new law when it kicks in Jan. 1. Jill Benson, whose great-grandfather started JS West, an egg producer with hundreds of thousands of birds, says many of them now enjoy nearly double the space they had before.

"And you see perches, nest boxes, scratch areas, emery boards and a number of accoutrements where the bird is able to display more of her natural behaviors," says Benson.

As you'd expect, comparatively spacious chicken accommodations are more expensive to build, but over years the cost turns out to be about a penny an egg. Well, that's what the egg industry was saying last year in a video that was part of a campaign by the United Egg Producers to mandate cages compliant with California law nationwide.

Jo Manhart, with the Missouri Egg Council, says egg producers had agreed to a uniform national standard with their old adversary the Humane Society. The resulting Egg Bill drew lots of support but ran into a wall of opposition from the meat industry.
"They did not want this deal to go through because they felt it would affect them later on, and I think it would," Manhart says. "So, that's dead."

The death of the Egg Bill, and the King amendment, set up the current lawsuit in a U.S. District Court. And the ruling will almost certainly be appealed.
After all, there's a lot at stake in a battle pitting state against state, and big ag against powerful animal welfare groups. The money involved could be in the billions. And that ain't chicken feed.



How did farming get so far away from the natural way of doing things as gestation cages and egg laying cages? Animals need to move around and must suffer mentally and physically in such confined circumstances. It's just exactly like being in jail, only those chickens and pigs didn't do anything wrong. The following is from this website – http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/.

“Today, the majority of American farmland is dominated by industrial agriculture—the system of chemically intensive food production developed in the decades after World War II, featuring enormous single-crop farms and animal production facilities.
Back then, industrial agriculture was hailed as a technological triumph that would enable a skyrocketing world population to feed itself. Today, a growing chorus of agricultural experts—including farmers as well as scientists and policy makers—sees industrial agriculture as a dead end, a mistaken application to living systems of approaches better suited for making jet fighters and refrigerators.

The impacts of industrial agriculture on the environment, public health, and rural communities make it an unsustainable way to grow our food over the long term. And better, science-based methods are available.”

Industrial Agriculture Practices: Meat Production
“In the industrial system of meat production, meat animals are "finished"—prepared for slaughter—at large-scale facilities called CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations), where their mobility is restricted and they are fed a high-calorie, grain-based diet, often supplemented with antibiotics and hormones, to maximize their weight gain. Their waste is concentrated and becomes an environmental problem, not the convenient source of fertilizer that manure can be for more diverse, less massively scaled farms.”