Sunday I spent the day with family at their farm in Stanley County, NC. 

I helped clear some brush and put up a fence (that's Penny the Pig in the background).

This farm produces the pigs for The Naked Pig Meat Company - which focuses on pork products without added antibiotics, hormones, and artificial enhancements. They have happy pigs raised outdoors - not in some massive factory.

Only Iowa produces more pork in the USA than the state of North Carolina, and most of the Tar Heel pork is raised down east by really large operations.

However, more and more people are taking an interest in knowing where their food comes from - and we are rejecting some of the methods and products used by the big operations. 

Just because I'll eat a pig doesn't mean I want that pig to live it's life unable to turn around in a tiny pen.  But that's just me. 

Well, actually, it's not just me.

There is a large and growing movement in the farming world to be more responsible, healthier, more local, and of higher quality.  Indeed, there is a political implication, as well, as the growing "food freedom" movement might even convert some big-government liberals into small-government libertarians:

[A] growing cultural trend of embracing high-quality foods from local sources to make our gobbling both more green and more gratifying has run into a lot of onerous food regulation that makes the delivering and selling of your neighborhood kale or goat cheese illegal. It has also run into entrenched food purveyors in the market who are more than happy to use government regulation to muscle out these small, new competitors.

Tasty pork chops shall unite us all!!

Some of the local old-timers who eat the Naked Pig's bacon say it tastes like bacon USED to taste.

Happy pigs, apparently, taste better. 

Come to think of it... now that my family let me hang around their operation I've learned a (very) little bit about farming.  So, if this whole radio career doesn't work out, maybe I'll swap out my mic for a pitchfork.

-May 6, 2013-

3:00 -- Whistleblowers are coming forward to testify about what happened during the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi last year.  A Congressional hearing is set for Wednesday.

4:00 -- The Benghazi update continues

5:00 -- The Asheville City Council meets tomorrow to decide whether to sue the State of North Carolina over the water system merger.

-May 7, 2013-

Hour 1
3:00 -- The US Senate passes a new tax on internet sales. Is this fair?

Hour 2
4:00 -- Pete takes more calls on the internet sales tax issue. Plus, Pete gives up during the trivia contest.

Hour 3
5:00 -- The NC House passes a new gun law. Plus, your brain can make you age faster!

-May 8, 2013-

Hour 1
3:00 -- Live coverage of the Benghazi hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Hour 2
4:00 -- The folks from Mountain Xpress drop by to chat about the latest edition on news stands today.  Plus, the water system lawsuit.

Hour 3
5:00 -- More on water and Benghazi.

-May 9, 2013-

Hour 1
3:00 -- NC Rep. Nathan Ramsey (R-Dist. 115) joins us to talk about the merger of the Asheville water system.

Hour 2
4:00 -- Kevin King, the Managing Editor of the Asheville & Hendersonville Tribunes, joins us to talk about the latest edition on news stands today.

Hour 3
5:00 -- Strawmen arguments and the water lawsuit.  Plus, TRIVIA!

-May 10, 2013-

Hour 1
3:00 -- Buncombe County School Board member Lisa Baldwin and local parent Robert Malt are in studio to discuss contamination concerns at the proposed S.T.E.M. high school.  Board Chairman Bob Rhinehart calls in, too.

Hour 2
4:00 -- Ground contamination discussion continues with School Board Member Amy Churchill.

Hour 3
5:00 -- Asheville City Council holds a "news conference" about the lawsuit being filed over the forced merger of the water system.  There was not a lot of news, nor was it really a conference.

Oh my.

This report from ABC News is pretty damaging.

State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland raised specific objections to this paragraph drafted by the CIA in its earlier versions of the talking points:

“The Agency has produced numerous pieces on the threat of extremists linked to al-Qa’ida in Benghazi and eastern Libya.  These noted that, since April, there have been at least five other attacks against foreign interests in Benghazi by unidentified assailants, including the June attack against the British Ambassador’s convoy. We cannot rule out the individuals has previously surveilled the U.S. facilities, also contributing to the efficacy of the attacks.”

In an email to officials at the White House and the intelligence agencies, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland took issue with including that information because it “could be abused by members [of Congress] to beat up the State Department for not paying attention to warnings, so why would we want to feed that either?  Concerned …”

The paragraph was entirely deleted.

That's what I'd call "politicizing" -- the decision to delete assessments of the threats based on the potential political ramifications. 

The former White House national security spokesman, Tommy Vietor, tweeted today: "The Benghazi [talking points] were written at the request of the House intel committee Rs so they could go on TV. Cong forced admin to do them now attack."

So, in other words, the GOP is to blame for the completely BS talking points because ... well ... the GOP asked for them.  This really is getting to be absurd. I rather doubt Congress asked for false talking points.

And while progressives, liberals, and Democrats in the national media seem to think the handling of Benghazi is irrelevant, Democratic leaders might be  uneasy ignoring the matter.

Back in October, before the Vice Presidential debate, Obama campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter was asked about the Benghazi affair.  She accused the GOP of politicizing the tragedy.