GM Crops Go to US High Court, Environmental Laws on the Line
Matthew Berger

WASHINGTON, 26 Apr (IPS) – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in its first-ever case involving genetically modified crops. The decision in this case may have a significant impact on both the future of genetically modified foods and government oversight of that and other environmental issues.

That decision found that the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not do a thorough enough study of the impacts the GM alfalfa would have on human health and the environment and ordered the agency to do another environmental impact statement (EIS) review.

Oh, let’s all take a guess how this will end up.

An American Phenomenon: The Widespread Psychiatric Drugging of Infants and Toddlers

The United States has become the psychiatric drugging capital of the world for kids with children being medicated at a younger and younger age. Medicaid records in some states show infants less than a year old on drugs for mental disorders.

“Antipsychotics, which are being widely and irresponsibly prescribed for American children–mostly as chemical restraints–are shown to be causing irreparable harm,” warned Vera Hassner Sharav, president of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, in a February 26, 2010 InfoMail.

This is crazy. The amount of harm this does a child is almost incalculable…until they grow up mutated by drugs and go batshit nuts. And what sort of parent allows themselves to be talked into treating an infant for bipolar disorder?

Bad parents, that’s who. And please, email in all you offended parents, and prove that your gurgling infant has mood swings severe enough for a chemical leash.

What Climate Change Means for Wine Industry

John Williams has been making wine in California’s Napa Valley for nearly 30 years, and he farms so ecologically that his peers call him Mr. Green. But if you ask him how climate change will affect Napa’s world famous wines, he gets irritated, almost insulted.

All crops need favorable climates, but few are as vulnerable to temperature and other extremes as wine grapes. “There is a 15-fold difference in the price of cabernet sauvignon grapes that are grown in Napa Valley and cabernet sauvignon grapes grown in Fresno” in California’s hot Central Valley, says Kim Cahill, a consultant to the Napa Valley Vintners’ Association. “Cab grapes grown in Napa sold [in 2006] for $4,100 a ton. In Fresno the price was $260 a ton. The difference in average temperature between Napa and Fresno was 5 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Wow.

And highlight the Fourth Amendment, since clearly they’ve been unable to find it thus far:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

So what did Arizona do, in their attempt to address their issue with illegal immigration? They passed a law that calls for, in part:

It requires police officers, “when practicable,” to detain people they reasonably suspect are in the country without authorization and to verify their status with federal officials, unless doing so would hinder an investigation or emergency medical treatment.

It also makes it a state crime — a misdemeanor — to not carry immigration papers. In addition, it allows people to sue local government or agencies if they believe federal or state immigration law is not being enforced.

So in at least one state in this “land of the free”, we are now emulating one of the hallmarks of totalitarian regimes everywhere, the beloved “Show us your papers“. In the stroke of a pen, Governor Brewer authorized warrant-less, unconstitutional searches of 25% of her population.

So instead of addressing the reason why people come over the border into Arizona illegally- to work and send back money to their families- by cracking down on those who hire illegals, they create a criminal class, with all the attendant police state financial goodies- increased police and judicial manpower, more prisons- you know, the same reasons they crafted the drug war, all those years ago. Now, Arizona has one of the worst deficits among the states, so where exactly they think they’ll get the money to roust a quarter of their population, no one knows (sure ain’t gonna come from the feds after this spit in the eye). And the illegals? Sure, they’ll avoid Arizona and keep on to California, where the state lives or dies on the backs of slave labor, which is what illegals provide- I’m sure the business community there will be glad to have the further depression of wages that a new crop of workers brings.

So, Arizona, even seeing as how I’m a newly deeded homeowner in your neighboring New Mexico, I’ll never set foot in your state again. This is a law that is impossible to enforce without racial profiling, and I sincerely hope that every citizen of Arizona with dark skin rounded up and illegally searched under this misguided hate act sues the shit out of Arizona. They can’t afford it- and as a nation, we can’t afford to go down the path of Nazi Germany.

Because today its little brown people, trying to support themselves, largely unable to do so in their own country due to its being crippled by drug gangsters- who only exist because of America’s insipid “War on Drugs”- but who tomorrow?

You?

Widely publicized 4/20 poll actually shows majority support for drug reforms

As with many instances in politics, actuality can often be obscured behind the wrong frame: ask a question just the right way and results can be wildly tilted, one way or another.

However, a more nuanced probing of the issue, carried out by the polling firm but almost entirely unmentioned in the media on April 20th, found that when stacked next to alcohol, often a more debilitating and addictive substance, statistical support for drug law reforms skyrocketed.

Stock deals are rigged for insiders. Big money runs Congress. And we’ve gone to war based on a series of calculated lies.

Had the phantom voters not materialized and had all the votes been counted, history would have changed. In addition, the Clinton and Obama margins would have been significantly higher than recorded, perhaps forcing the hoped for change. More important, the will of the people would have been accurately measured in what we were led to believe was a fair election process.

Going on my reading list, indeed.

Exactly how much is our campaign to roll out the new $100 bill costing us? And why the hell are we advertising MONEY?

This isn’t the first new design of a bill…folks should be rather acclimated to the concept of stupid colors and silly graphics on their money by now. And its not as if you have a choice of where you get a single bill worth 100 dollars, now is it? This is akin to the post office advertising and sponsoring sporting events…WHY?

One of the benefits of being a federally-controlled monopoly is…you don’t need to FUCKING ADVERTISE! You need to mail a letter? One carrier. You need a $100 bill? One place makes ‘em.

Or perhaps I’m grossly underestimating the level of stupid I’m surrounded by. Certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

Escalating the War on Freedom

A new anti-immigrant bill was recently approved by the Arizona state senate. The story is another example of how government laws create problems that governments will propose to solve with more infringements on freedom.

I would imagine that obstructing traffic was already a finable offense, so this is really just a blow against freedom to gather in public places. Again, profiling and creating a hostile environment are the likely consequences.

As long as the victim is powerless and brown, we have an ugly notion as a nation that we can do whatever the hell we want to look tough and fight a non-existent problem on their backs.

Rise up, youth.

Air Force to launch X-37 space plane: Precursor to war in orbit?

Clear, sunny skies are forecast for Cape Canaveral Wednesday, perfect weather for the launch of a new unmanned spacecraft and the dawn of an era. Just don’t expect the Air Force to tell you what that new era is.

Mr. Pike believes one of the inherent values of the X-37 could be as a maneuverable satellite which could be used to look over China’s shoulder one day, yet evade any attempts to shoot it down.

Iowa Family Policy Center received over $3 million in federal funds
HHS grants accounted for half the group’s revenue in 2007

Between 2004 and 2009 the politically influential Christian organization Iowa Family Policy Center (IFPC) received more than $3 million in federal grants through two subsidiaries of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The IFPC and its political action committee are a leading voice of opposition to same-sex marriage in Iowa. The group advocates for an amendment to the Iowa Constitution banning same-sex marriage through their LUV Iowa initiative. They also support the candidacy of Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bob Vander Plaats, who has promised to issue an executive order putting a stay on the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage until a constitutional ban is brought up for a vote.

So even after the end of the reign of the Faith-based faker in Chief, my taxes go to funding those who practice hate and discrimination under the guise of “god”?

Fuck that. Gimmie my money back.