The differences between Missouris general and optional fence laws will be discussed at a program to be held in person and online via Zoom on February 23rd and March 8th.

Sessions will be held at the Harrison County Extension Center of Bethany, Adair County Extension Center of Kirksville, and North Central Missouri College Barton Farm Campus of Trenton the night of February 23rd from 6:30 to 9 oclock. Other sessions will be held at the Macon County Extension Center of Macon and Jonis Shed of Hamilton on the night of March 8th from 6:30 to 9 oclock.

Extension Agricultural Business Specialist Joe Koenen of Putnam County will present the fence law programs. He has given presentations on fence law for more than 25 years.

University of Missouri Extension County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment Jackie Spainhower explains that, in 1963, the Missouri legislature authorized counties to adopt a local option to the general fence law, which could be created by a majority vote of any countys registered voters. She notes there are 19 counties that have the optional law, and the majority are in North Central Missouri.

Space for in-person programs will be limited at some locations due to COVID-19 precautions.

The registration fee is $15. Visit extension.missouri.edu/events and search for fence law to register for the February 23rd or March 8th sessions. Spainhower can be contacted for more information or for help with registering for the session at Bethany by calling the Harrison County Extension Center at 660-425-6434 or Worth County Extension Center at 660-564-3363.

Post Views: 1,468

Related

Original post:
Audio: Missouri fence laws topic of in-person program on February 23 and March 8, 2021 - kttn

National Review

During his Super Bowl interview on CBS Evening News, President Joe Biden declared that all the economics of a $15 minimum-wage hike were good. What he meant to say was, all the politics of a $15 minimum wage are good. The economics are highly debatable. A minimum-wage hike quenches the populist appetite of many voters. After all, it seemingly costs them nothing to compel greedy big business CEOs to pay the proletariat fairer wages. The problem is that a minimum wage is a tax on goods and services, and its not the big businesses that suffer, but small ones who cant afford it. Nor are minimum-wage workers a static group of poor Americans. In fact, 58 percent of them are young workers. Minimum-wage policy marginally improves the lives of Americans working their way up the ladder, and in the meantime destroys millions of entry-level jobs. Even the CBO says that while a $15 minimum wage would lift 900,000 out of poverty, it would eliminate 1.4 million jobs. Or, as Thomas Sowell likes to remind us, the real minimum wage is zero. It should also be remembered that minimum-wage policy is not a federal concern. Treating the wages of those who live in NYC as you would those in Alabama is simply bad policy. Though Democrats, of course, want a national minimum wage to create a hard floor so they can keep spiking it locally. Theres very little real debate on the topic in major media. Bidens all the economics comment is reminiscent of Barack Obamas absurd claim that every economist believed in his stimulus plan. Such declarations are meant to create the veneer of scientific consensus and certitude, a myth that the media is almost always happy to advance. When the Cato Institute found 200 economists to counter Obamas claim, three of them Nobel laureates James Buchanan, Edward Prescott, and Vernon Smith they had to take out a full-page ad in the New York Times to be heard. It was not true then, and is not true now, that all the economics of the minimum wage, or much else, is settled. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman once noted, any Econ 101 student can tell you that higher wage reduces the quantity of labor demanded, and hence leads to unemployment. Indeed, for a long time, there was a strong consensus on the matter. Today, Krugman, who has seen the light, uses unconvincing argumentum ad populum to bolster his case for raising the minimum wage, as it is immensely popular; its supported by around 70 percent of voters, including a substantial majority of self-identified Republicans. Even those extremists, strewn across the wastelands of middle America, get it, I guess. And though Krugman doesnt mention his own expedient partisan conversion on the issue, he notes: Its true that once upon a time there was a near-consensus among economists that minimum wages substantially reduced employment. But that was long ago. These days only a minority of economists think raising the minimum to $15 would have large employment costs, and a strong plurality believe that a significant rise although maybe not all the way to $15 would be a good idea. Anyone who bothers clicking on the hyperlinks offered by Krugman will quickly find out they are being misled. The Initiative on Global Markets (IGM) at the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business link, for instance, does not show resounding majority support for a federal Biden-style minimum wage. Claims of a strong plurality also appear to be a stretch, while discounting the large cross-section of economists who are undecided. Krugman fails to mention that in the 2015 survey he hyperlinks, 26 percent of economists believe a flat $15 federal minimum wage would lower employment for low-wage workers, while 24 percent said otherwise, and 38 percent werent sure. As for whether doing so would substantially increase aggregate output in the economy, just 2 percent agreed. Krugman fails to mention that the 2013 survey he links to, for even a $9 federal minimum wage, shows 34 percent agreed that it would cost jobs, 24 percent were uncertain, and 32 percent disagreed. A plurality indicated that there could be net benefits to a $9 wage indexed to inflation, which, of course, isnt the Biden plan. In the 2021 survey, conducted just this month, a panel of over 80 economic experts were queried on the subject of the $15 minimum wage, and the results do not suggest any consensus. When IGM posed this statement, A federal minimum wage of $15 per hour would lower employment for low-wage workers in many states, 45 percent agreed, and 33 percent were unsure. Only 14 percent disagreed. When presented with the statement, A federal minimum wage that is pegged to state and/or local conditions such as the cost of living would be preferable to the current arrangements that give states a role in setting the policy, 42 percent either strongly agreed or agreed, another 42 percent were uncertain, and only 9 percent disagreed. Bidens plan is to federalize minimum-wage laws. Many economists like the idea in theory, but many are still unsure, and just as many see the downside for employment. But Krugman and Biden are merely trying to shut down debate. And they have plenty of help.

See original here:
There Are Ways To Protect The Capitol Without A Fence - Yahoo News

Theyre wise, Dinkel said. They said, You always have to start a conversation like that with empathy.

The class explored the idea of an empirical truth in science, and how to use that truth to educate other people. As the students designed their videos, Dinkel circulated around the lab space, reminding students of how empathy is crucial when trying to encourage people to see a different perspective.

Our goal is not to alienate or belittle, Dinkel said. Our goal is to recognize that people's concerns are really valid and they're rational. And so thats your mission as scientists, is to offer them in an accessible way, entertaining way, evidence that helps them consider a different point of view.

To start, the students researched some myths and misconceptions about COVID vaccines.

Then they studied, as this video shows, what the coronavirus is, how its spread, how it interacts with the lungs and the immune system response, how precisely the vaccine works, how messenger RNA gets into your cells to make antibodies to fight the virus later on.

The students say they can understand why there are so many myths and misconceptions about the vaccine. Its new science. Its the first time a vaccine has used messenger RNA as the molecular agent used to teach the body how to recognize and fight the virus. Hayden Wright said his group is tackling the spooky myth that mRNA will alter peoples DNA.

We have to explain that the mRNA doesn't actually affect the area of the DNA, it's the layer outside of it, he said.

Read more from the original source:
On The Fence About COVID Vaccines? These Teens Want To Talk To You - Colorado Public Radio

As a kid, I heard of oversalted soil on which nothing would grow anymore. In ancient times, sometimes, the winners of a battle would salt the earth of their defeated enemy in order to prevent future harvests; Roman general Scipio Aemilianus Africanus did this to Carthage after the third Punic War. You wouldnt believe, therefore, how that Bible verse, Matthew 5:13, bewildered me back then that being the salt of the earth was something desirable. Nor did it occur to myself how much influence on our western cultures salt has had. These days, having not many better things to do than pondering and writing, the topic of salt popped up in my mind. And its only partly as a culinary matter.

Of course, we all know that salt is a mineral. The chemistry fans amongst us know that the edible ones formula is NaCl as in Latin natrium chloride; English chemist Sir Humphry Davy used caustic soda when isolating the element, therefore, the English language uses the term sodium, not natrium. Quite interesting already, isnt it? We all know that all forms of life need a certain amount of salt as an electrolyte, but that in human nourishment an overly amount of salt can cause hypertension and heart diseases. We also know that there is rock salt and sea salt, and that kosher salt is coarse rock salt and has no additives like iodine. But did you know that the salt in itself is not produced under any kosher rules but used for dry-brining aka koshering meat?

As I walk the grocery aisles and grab another pack of salt, just as I would pluck a flower or an herb in my garden, it occurs to me that I will pay for it with money that comes from another salty term, a salary. Indeed, salt was so precious in former times that Roman soldiers got paid extra-money to buy salt, the salarium. Another word that dates back to the Romans is salad; they used to salt lettuce leaves. Food items like salsa, sauce, saucisson (the French term for sausage, which also seems to be of a salty linguistic heritage), and salami all derive from the Romanic word salis, salt.

Because salt was so rare and hard to extract out of rock or sea, it had to be imported sometimes from places as far as China. Salt routes developed, and to this day, you can still recognize through which places they went. Has it ever occurred to you that Salzburg, Austria, means salt fortress? And that the Salzach, which streams through it, was used for the transport of salt on floats, and its meaning is salt river? That the ancient German currency of Heller was coined off the term halhus, which was a building in which the rock salt was extracted from the rock, and that a Heller signified the value of a certain amount of salt? That a Hellweg in Germany simply means salt route? That Christopher Columbus travels were at least partly financed by Spanish salt taxes, and that one of the causes for the French Revolution was an excessive salt tax? Why? Consider that salt was used to preserve food preserving food was always also a thing of frugality; and now think of all the people who couldnt even afford as much salt as they needed. It would be as if our freezers and refrigerators were constantly without power! Salt taxes were one of the causes for the American Revolution (not just taxes on tea) as well as the cause for Ghandis Independence Movement in India.

Bread and salt are welcoming and housewarming gifts in numerous cultures to this day. Salt is supposed to bring good luck if you toss three pinches over your left shoulder; I prefer not to, as I am not superstitious and Id have to clean the mess But it means bad luck if you accidentally spill some. I have my doubts that the adage take it with a pinch of salt comes from the fact that salt makes something more palatable to swallow, as it means to interpret something more skeptically. I think it means that salt brings out some underlying flavors that otherwise you might not perceive. But that is just MY humble pondering.

So, after all these salty facts (and this concerns just the edible portion of it), the Bible verse is so much more logical. Salt of the earth is something incredibly precious, hard to be gained. Come to think of it, there is also a fairy tale that has a king ask his three daughters how much they love him. He rages and bans his youngest from the court when she answers that she loves him like salt; thereafter she secretly works in the kings kitchen and cooks all his meals without salt you may guess what this leads to. And, of course this tale comes from Southern Germany, a salt producing region. Of some Northern Germans legend has it that you need to eat a pound of salt with them before they befriend you figure how long it takes to eat a pound There are a lot more saucy tales and adages about the topic of salt. Dig around they are out there

Related

Read more here:
Across the Fence: Salt On Our Tongues - The Suburban Times

WILLMAR A New London woman was transported to the hospital after she drove through several yards Wednesday morning in Willmar, according to a news release from the Willmar Police Department.

According to the news release, Kathy Peterson, 65, of New London, exited Walts Car Wash on the 1200 block of First Street South and proceeded to travel northbound across Roise Avenue, driving through several yards on the 1100 block of Third Street Southwest.

Peterson drove through two fences, hit a shed and eventually came to a stop after her vehicle struck an unoccupied garage.

Peterson was transported to the Carris Health Rice Memorial Hospital emergency room by ambulance as a precaution. No other injuries were reported.

CentraCare Emergency Medical Services, the Kandiyohi County Rescue Squad and the Willmar Fire Department responded to the incident reported at 8:24 a.m. Wednesday.

Here is the original post:
New London woman drives through yards and fences, crashes into garage after leaving car wash in Willmar - West Central Tribune

"Good fences make good neighbors," says the neighbor in Robert Frost's famous poem "The Mending Wall."

Having heard Frost's words used to defend building fences and walls, I'm not sure that's what he writes in the poem, and it's certainly not what I believe makes good neighbors. I prefer bridges rather than walls. They connect rather than divide people.

In the poem, Frost questions his neighbor's adage that good fences make good neighbors.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offense,

Something there is that doesn't love a wall.

That wants it down.

Before a wall is built, I'd like to know who is walled out and also who is being walled in. After all, walls not only keep people out of somewhere but keep them in as well. And walls, of course, are not only physical structures but also mental. You can wall people in by promoting only one point of view and denying opposing points of view. Free, responsible speech is not only necessary for dialogue but democracies.

I think I prefer building bridges rather than walls between people. After all, you can't really keep ideas walled in. A great and good idea goes around, under, and through walls as President Ronald Reagan knew when he challenged then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall, which separated a country.

Of course, nations need boundaries to describe their territories. So, too, do individuals need boundaries to tell others what they consider fair and just limits to relationships. Without boundaries, people can lose all sense of their limits and sometimes sacrifice their integrities.

I've often thought Frost was arguing that "good fences make good neighbors," but reading the poem again I think he felt the opposite: "Something there is that doesn't like a wall."

Most poems begin from some experience in a poet's life. I can imagine Frost talking with a neighbor about the wall between their homes. My column and a poem arose as I await a fence being constructed around a portion of my backyard. But it's not being built to keep my neighbor off my property but my new dog in my yard, Being a beagle who follows the scents of the wild to lure her anywhere, she needs the fence to be safe.

I'd still rather build bridges than walls, especially when it comes to new ideas and people. I'd rather take the time to learn something new than simply repeat the old, time-worn saying that "good fences make good neighbors." Good bridges make good neighbors, or as 17th century English poet John Donne wrote: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main"

John C. Morgan is a writer and teacher. His columns appear here each Wednesday in this newspaper. A collection of his poetry, "Thin Places," is available on Amazon.

The rest is here:
Everyday Ethics: Fences and neighbors [Opinion] - Reading Eagle

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The city has approved changes to its policies on fences, hedges and walls for both residents and businesses after a proposal from the building official.

The existing ordinance regarding fence type, fence height and placement of shrubbery had led to several questions and issues regarding property lines, neighbors and distances according to a letter from Building Official Michael Gero to Mayor Greg Kurtz.

The proposed changes were suggested to provide clarity and specification for residents and business owners.

The (modified) ordinance requires the property owner who is seeking a permit to verify property lines, notify adjacent property owners and resolve any potential conflicts before requesting the variance, Gero said.

The original ordinance -- Chapter 1363, according to codelibrary.amlegal.com -- outlined the rules for fence construction, gave height limitations for fences and said the Board of Zoning Appeals may permit exceptions to the restrictions on fences and walls when necessary.

The proposed changes add more information to the ordinance.

Gero outlined the additions: It specifies permit application requirements, eliminates the survey requirement specifies location requirements, (and) clarifies language which requires that any fence be installed in a location that allows the property owner, or their agent, to perform maintenance without entering any adjoining property.

These changes clarify that it is the property owners responsibility to identify property lines and communicate about their planned fence, wall or hedge construction with the owners of adjacent properties.

Gero said during the January City Council meeting, We are adding statements where the city is not approving, we are not responsible; but our goal now is if someone applies for a fence permit, my vision would be to have somebody from the city meet with the property owner and the neighbor to make sure that they both agree, or at least understand what the intent is.

He said that if a neighbor challenges the fence construction or location, it is the responsibility of the property owner who is requesting the variance to resolve the issue.

During the City Council meeting, Councilperson Tom Narduzzi said: Its a very uncomfortable situation for Mike, the Building Department, the person putting the fence up and the neighbor when things dont work out the way they are supposed to. It gets a lot of people involved that really shouldnt be involved. So, I think the mayor is doing the right thing by changing this legislation.

A resident must now provide a scale drawing with the location, height and type of fence, as well as the distance from structures, easements and swales. The city will inspect the property to ensure that the fence is constructed the way it is laid out in the plan submitted as part of the process for obtaining a permit.

Temporary fences that protect vegetation are exempt from needing a permit and must not be higher than 6 feet nor closer than 10 feet from a property line.

The changes to the ordinance also dictate the actual construction of a fence, including not being located within 3 feet of an adjoining propertys driveway or parallel structure, and having a gate to provide access for safety forces.

Gero said this is not a retroactive ordinance, meaning that any existing fencing can remain installed as it is.

Kurtz signed the legislation for these changes to take effect on Jan. 12, following the City Council meeting.

Read more from the Parma Sun Post.

Read the original here:
Independence amends ordinance on fences, hedges and walls - cleveland.com

Acting chief Yogananda Pittman proposed permanent fencing in a statement provided to reporters Thursday, but DC Mayor Muriel Bowser quickly slammed the idea and said the city will not "accept extra troops or permanent fencing as a long-term fixture in DC."

The proposal for permanent fencing comes weeks after a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol, leaving five people dead and extensive damage to the property.

"In light of recent events, I can unequivocally say that vast improvements to the physical security infrastructure must be made to include permanent fencing, and the availability of ready, back-up forces in close proximity to the Capitol," Pittman said.

She continued: "I look forward to working with Congress on identifying the security improvements necessary to ensure the safety and security of the Congress and the U.S. Capitol."

Bowser acknowledged the need for extra security for upcoming events but made it clear she did not want those enhanced measures to be permanent.

"Based on conversations with federal partners, there are some potentially volatile events upcoming that will require extra security. Fencing and the presence of troops will be a part of that," Bowser tweeted. "But we will not accept extra troops or permanent fencing as a long-term fixture in DC. When the time is right, the fencing around the White House and U.S. Capitol, just like the plywood we've seen on our businesses for too long, will be taken down."

"More needs to be done to protect the Capitol complex, but the failure of Capitol security leaders to plan for the predictable terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, does not justify closing the complex from the public, to whom it belongs," she wrote.

Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Massachusetts freshman, tweeted that it would be a "mistake to turn the home of our democracy into a fortress. The Capitol needs to be safely open for constituents, press, and visitors."

Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, also spoke out against the idea on Twitter. "This is the People's House. I am adamantly opposed. There has been no threat briefing given to Members of Congress to justify this proposal," she tweeted.

The California Democrat met with retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honor, who is conducting a security review of the Capitol, on Thursday but provided few details.

"I was pleased to be briefed on the General's initial assessment which covered operational readiness, interagency cooperation, security infrastructure and the morale and readiness of institutional staff. As we consider the need for an emergency supplemental funding bill to meet institutional security needs, I want to thank the General for reviewing what is necessary for the Capitol Police to do their jobs," Pelosi said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

When asked if the fencing around the Capitol should stay up permanently, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters, "I would tend to defer to the experts as to what is the safest way to be. We'll see, I don't know."

The New York Democrat added: "There should be both safety and the right to access the building."

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN's Ali Zaslav and Nicky Robertson contributed to this report.

See the original post:
Proposal to build permanent fence around the Capitol meets resistance - CNN

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Holmes County Republican Rep. Bob Gibbs believes Democrats whove just taken over the apparatus of government in Washington are prioritizing the wrong fences by erecting a network of security barricades around the U.S. Capitol complex while halting construction of the wall on the border between the United States and Mexico that was championed by President Donald Trump.

Gibbs spent January 27-30 touring the border between the United States and Mexico with a group of Republican Congress members assembled by Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs. The group, whose members also included Miami County Republican Rep. Warren Davidson, visited border stations on Sasabe, Nogales, and Sierra Vista and met with Border Patrol agents, members of local law enforcement, customs officials, and the mother of a former City of Mesa police officer who was killed by an immigrant who was in the United States illegally.

In a Wednesday interview about the excursion, Gibbs said the Border Patrol agents he met and ranchers who own property along the border all agreed it was a mistake for President Joe Biden to stop the walls construction with a proclamation he issued the day he was inaugurated. Bidens proclamation called the wall a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security, and said that Trumps declaration of a national emergency on the southern border was unwarranted.

Gibbs said finishing the wall Trump envisioned will save money by allowing fewer agents to patrol more miles along the border. Fenced sections of the border require one agent to patrol two linear miles, while unfenced sections require three to five agents per mile. Gibbs says completing the border wall will also help crack down on the murderous cartels that smuggle drugs and humans across the border. He said a porous border is contributing to a humanitarian crisis where desperate people from impoverished countries who hope to enter the United States are victimized by criminals.

You hear so much from the other side that the borders not a problem, that the fence is worthless, that it doesnt do anything, and thats absolutely not true, said Gibbs, who said all the border agents he met fully support completing the wall.

Gibbs criticized Democrats who control the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for not removing a network of security fencing topped with barbed wire that was installed around the U.S. Capitol complex after a Jan. 6 riot by supporters of Trump, resulting in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer. He calls the fencing totally unnecessary.

Gibbs said theres no longer a threat of mayhem at the Capitol, and that security forces had advance warning that a mob was headed there on Jan. 6, but failed to act. Gibbs said he believes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has kept the fencing up as part of an agenda for power and control, starting to scare everybody.

A letter that Pelosi sent to colleagues on Tuesday said Congress and its members are face serious and ongoing security threats, and called for an emergency supplemental funding bill to meet institutional security needs, as well as establishment of a 9/11-type Commission to examine and report upon the facts, causes and security relating to the terrorist mob attack on January 6..

The irony here is, we build a fence around the symbol of a democratic republic, and we cannot have a secure border, said Gibbs, who represents a district that includes parts of Medina, Lorain, Huron, Richland Stark and Tuscarawas counties and all of Ashland, Coshocton, Holmes and Knox counties.

Read more:

Rocky River Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez gets flak for voting to impeach President Donald Trump but doesnt regret taking a stand

Sen. Rob Portman hopes for coronavirus compromise with Biden administration

Nina Turner takes big fundraising lead in congressional race to succeed Marcia Fudge; her donors include actress Susan Sarandon and entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Sherrod Brown hopes Senate can pass $15 hourly minimum wage and coronavirus aid for local governments with or without Republican support

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan wont run for U.S. Senate next year

Senators grill Ohios Rep. Marcia Fudge at her confirmation hearing to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Sen. Rob Portman backs measure to question constitutionality of impeaching former President Donald Trump

Rob Portman talks about his future plans and whats ahead for the Republican Party

Sen. Rob Portman announces he wont seek re-election

U.S. Capitol riot prompts Democrat Jeff Sites to seek Rep. Jim Jordans congressional seat

Ohio Congress members at President Joe Bidens inauguration hope for new era of cooperation

Several Ohio Congress members will skip Joe Bidens inauguration amid unprecedented security measures

Rep. Bob Gibbs and other Ohio Republican Congress members object to metal detectors to access House floor

Read more:
Rep. Bob Gibbs gives thumbs up to border fence, thumbs down to Capitol Hill security fence - cleveland.com

New Delhi:

Days after barbed wire fences, concrete barricades and makeshift barriers of buses were put in place at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border - to virtually imprison farmers protesting the agriculture laws - similar measures are being rolled out at Singhu on the Delhi-Haryana border.

Delhi Police are digging up vast stretches of NH-44 to build rows of barbed wires set in concrete, and are setting up strips of sharpened nails and iron rods in the middle of the road - those pieces that have not been dug up - to stop farmers and their tractors from entering the national capital.

The police have also placed massive shipping containers as temporary walls, have stopped all traffic for several kilometres in all direction, and deployed a huge force, including armed officers. They have also stopped media from entering and suspended internet services since last week.

"The protest sites are looking like international borders. It is as if we have come from Pakistan. On one hand, they (the government) want us to talk, and on the other hand they are doing everything to de-link us (from the city)," Kulwant Singh Sandhu, a farmer leadertold news agency PTI.

Over the past couple of days this has become the norm along the Delhi border, with barbed wire barriers, strips of iron rods, and concrete walls built to stop farmers from advancing into the city.

Stretches of NH-44 have been dug up to place barbed wire barriers and now resembles a war zone

The escalation in containment measures comes after last weeks' tractor rally descended into chaos; a group of protesters veered off the course farmers and police had agreed on, storming the Red Fort complex and clashing with cops at the ITO junction and Nangloi.

That violence - in which a farmer was killed and over 300 hundreds cops injured - was after protesters and tractors burst through police barricades, hours before they were to be allowed in.

Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava pointed to that when asked about the new measures.

"I am surprised that when tractors were used... police were attacked... barricades were broken on January 26, no questions were raised. What did we do now? We have just strengthened barricading so that it's not broken again," he said Tuesday.

Row upon row of police barriers, concrete walls and barbed wire fences have penned farmers in

The authorities have also suspended internet services in Haryana, where the farmers are gathered, although it is functional a few hundred metres away, where the police are amassed.

The farmers have also alleged that water tankers have been blocked off, but have reiterated that these "attacks" will not break their spirit. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha said "... trench-digging... fixing nails... barbed wire fencing... are all part of multiple attacks (by the government)".

These measures have drawn sharp criticism from those supporting the farmers and the opposition, for whom Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has led the charge.

On Tuesday Mr Gandhi lashed out at the government for "crushing" farmers and urged them to "build bridges, not walls". On Wednesday he warned the government that the farmers would not back down.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been dug in since late November - and more join them every day - in their battle to force the repeal of laws they say will endanger their livelihoods. The centre insists these laws will help farmers and has refused to scrap them. It has, however, offered a temporary stay.

Their protest caught the attention of global celebrities on Monday, when international pop star Rihanna tweeted: "Why aren't we talking about this?".

Rihanna's tweet triggered a wave of support and also a sharp response from the government, which dismissed it as "sensationalist".

With input from PTI

Waiting for response to load...

Read this article:
Watch: More Barbed Wire Fences, Spikes On Roads At Singhu Protest Site - NDTV