Monsanto's At It Again

By: Renwick Miller

Frankenfoods and the Sequester Shuffle

So this latest round of fiscal prestidigitation...  Errr, "sequestration",  from Washington  is doing what it's done so well for so many years:  Scaring the shit out of us by waving a paper tiger with one hand, while opening the cage divider between us and a streak (group) of rabid, hungry, real Bengal tigers with the other.

One of the big cats in this show is none other than Monsanto (Surpriiise!), sneaking in on us through a  $700 million hole in the USDA's proposed fy 2013 budget  that effectively loosens regulation on GMO products from giants like Monsanto while simultaneously cutting subsides to small farms and farmers, arguably crippling, if not eliminating competition to, thereby increasing profits for, giant agribusiness.

For you clicktivists reading, there's a petition circulating courtesy of care2.com.  According to Care2.com contributor / author Kit B.:

"The Senate has included some very harmful amendments for our food and farmers in the budget they are considering for 2013. Specifically, these amendments would limit the oversight of controversial genetically engineered crops and prevent enforcement of contract fairness provisions for family farmers. 

The need to keep the government running is not an excuse to undermine consumer and farmer protections. "

As of this writing, I've seen no documented proof of the legislation's ties to any one company, but knowing that Monsanto's former V.P. for Public Policy, Michael R. Taylor is now the FDA's Deputy Commissioner for Foods kinda leads the mind in some directions, especially considering that part of the mission of this FDA post born in 2009 is to;

"Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty regulation!"

• develop and carry out a prevention-based strategy for food safety,
• plan for new food safety legislation.

No, I'm not shitting you, check the FDA website.  This sort of chutzpah has to happen organically (pardon the pun), I sure as hell couldn't make it up.

A Little History 

Personally, I'm chomping at the bit to see the web of Monsanto connections that leads to these sorts of fiascoes.  It seems a long and storied tradition, the  link between Big Ag and our regulatory bodies, with simple a Google search  for 'monsanto links to usda and fda' turning up a plethora of names, reporting and accusations going as far back as the Reagan administration FDA's approval of  the sugary-sweet neurotoxin Aspartame, with none other than Donald "Rummy" Rumsfeld (then chairman of G.D. Searle & Company) himself spearheading that effort.  See the complete article at Rense.com;  How Aspartame Became Legal - The Timeline.

A more recent article from the blog Dregs Of The Future cites a points of convergence infographic provided courtesy of the natural health website Mercola.com, which lists individual names and their titles as both Monsanto and FDA employees, respectively.

I think it no small coincidence that this looks like a butt.

Wow.

If you've got an idea as to courses of action, reasons for hope, or ideas on how the hell we're going to explain to our grand-kids our lack of fingers on the back of our necks:  "Is that an 'old people' thing, gram'ma?  When did you lose your neck-fingers?"  please post them below.  PLEASE.  Meanwhile, I'm going to finish stuffing my face with chili-cheese & whipped cream flavored corn chips.  Comfort food makes me feel safe.


Reprinted with permission of  fÜdGood! and Renwick Miller

What if Money Didn't Matter?

Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!

A great speech, and with a little imagination, it applies to a wide range of current circumstances. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775-

     No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve.
     This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
     Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
     I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort.
     I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging.
     And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? 

Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne!
In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!
     They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? 

Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.
     Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged!
     Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
     It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace, Peace" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! 

I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Night

Corruption of corporations.
Governments bent on annihilation.
Power was founded on the backs of the people, 
only people don't matter anymore, 
because now power is only built 
on the ability to declare war.
The dollar is nothing more than a theory or a dream, 
and every single bank is running a different scheme. 
The land of the free is full of prisons and laws. 
Rights are being banned for a "noble" cause. 
We are catalyzed, and ready for action. 
The world is poised for a global reaction. 
We all stand on the edge of the night 
waiting for the burn of daylight. 
Then the sky full of flame 
will shine a light on our new day. 
Who will win
who will lose? 
What ideas 
will you pick and choose? 
Can their be a winner in this fight at all? 
When we slaughter each other,
Doesn't humanity fall? 
With that fall, 
no matter how bright, 
will we ever really see the end 
of our self-imposed night?

LYNX, Grain of Sand

We are shifting as a single grain of sand. 

On this long forgotten desert land. 

And I think. 

If we just got, a single drop to drink 

then this whole place would turn over night.

 Would turn green. 

Do you have any idea what I mean. 

Purple flowers crack breaks through the pavement and grows 

Beams over the cannons tell me

What does the light show 

Desert plains transform 

By an unknown green thumb 

When did it begin and will it ever be done 

If you listen to the stories 

You know that natures always one 

Always one 

transfer information, 

Transformation 

There's absolutely no limitation 

It's on the brink it's gonna make you think 

It's out of control 

One thought comes from nothing but

To say that in fact came from everything 

In a way a lone tree 

A long dream an oasis 

and awake in the possibility of 

This place we call today 

We are shifting as a single grain of sand. 

On this long forgotten desert land. 

And I think. 

If we just got, a single drop to drink 

then this whole place would turn over night.

 Would turn green. 

Do you have any idea what I mean. 

LYNX, Grain of Sand