Category Archives: four-leggeds

Vision for the Blind

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NBC has this up on re-thinking vision.  (hat tip to val kilmer’s retweet .)

“We’re not going to hit you with our cane….

…well, not unless you deserve it…”

 

bwahahaha. Best line ever.  :p

In our “perfectionist” society, we are so judgmental and disappointed if things aren’t perfect.  This piece is so inspiring in that it highlights the need to back away from that thinking and enjoy and relish the not so perfect.

And once again it reinforces the idea that everyone has something to contribute to life on Earth….that we all have our hidden gifts to bring forth, if we could only recognize that the jocks and beauty queens and privileged are not the only worthy people…

…and that people are not the only worthy things on Earth…that everything–the plants, the animals, the birds–everything has a purpose and a gift to give.

 

The Powerful Seed

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The organic farmers group posted a link to this article.  The humble seed contains the beginnings of life.  You could even say that the seed rules the world….

Below this article was a link to Vandana Shiva’s “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in the Forest”.  Bless her for her dedication to sustainability.

From that article, I was intrigued about the link for Ecuador recognizing the rights of nature in its Constitution…Wow……somebody who “gets it”.  See, we humans want to think that we are so superior that we are more valuable than all other life forms.  Worse than that, we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we are independent…that we could actually survive without them.  We pollute the air, water, and soil without regard that it will harm nature.  We survive in a circle…truly, what goes around comes around…and the balance of life–when we take something, we must give something of equal value in return…this simple rule is ignored.

 

Monsanto Protection Act

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Organic Consumers has this up on urgent legislation:

Dear Organic Consumer,

The Senate will take up the farm bill this week, and we need you to contact your senators about several key amendments. There’s no time to waste. Please read through the list of important votes below, and contact your senators today! You can call the senate switchboard and ask to be connected: (202) 224-3121. Or you can look up the number for your senators here.

Repeal the Monsanto Protection Act

Now’s our chance! The Monsanto Protection Act, Sen. Roy Blunt’s (R-Mo.) love note to his state’s most notorious corporation (and one of his top contributors) could be repealed by the Senate this week!

Ask you’re your senators today: Please support Sen. Jeff Merkely’s (D-Ore.) amendment to the Senate version of the 2013 Farm Bill to repeal the infamous Monsanto Protection Act. The rider was slipped, without debate or a vote, into the emergency Continuing Resolution signed into law in March, to fund the U.S. government through Sept. 30.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) will offer an amendment to the Senate version of the 2013 Farm Bill to repeal the infamous Monsanto Protection Act, which gives Monsanto immunity from federal law. As long as it remains in force, even the federal courts can’t stop Monsanto from planting new genetically modified crops, even if they were illegally approved and could threaten human health or the environment.

The outrage that erupted in response to its passage made the Monsanto Protection Act national news. It was lampooned by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who sponsored the Continuing Resolution, offered a public apology. Now, there’s a campaign to force Sen. Blunt to resign and worldwide “March Against Monsanto” protests are scheduled for May 25.

The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the farm bill on Monday, so please take action today. Repeal the Monsanto Protection Act!

 Let Farmers Grow Industrial Hemp in the U.S. Again!

Farmers in Kentucky, Vermont, North Dakota and other states are seeking permission from the federal government to grow industrial hemp, a crop that the Obama administration treats like marijuana under the law. This doesn’t make sense. The products of industrial hemp are legal and widely used in organic food, clothing and plant-based materials like plastics and biofuels. Why should farmers in other countries get to grow the hemp we use in the United States?

Please call your senators and ask them to vote for Senator Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky) industrial hemp amendment to the Farm Bill.

Learn more.

Farm Bill Money for Hungry Kids Not Insurance Companies!

The Senate version of the farm bill proposes to cut $4.1 billion over 10 years from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest domestic food aid program. Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) has proposed an amendment to restore the $4.1 billion in cuts to foods stamps. The Gillibrand amendment takes the $4.1 billion from payments to crop insurance companies without reducing the insurance subsidies paid directly to farmers.

Please call your senators today and ask them to vote YES on Sen. Gillibrand’s amendment. Please tell your senators: Farm Bill money should be used to feed hungry kids, not pad the profits of insurance companies!

Learn more.

 Our Seeds Shouldn’t All Be Owned By Monsanto!

Farmers constantly face changing climate, insect, weed, and disease pressures that vary by region, and they lament reduced options in regionally appropriate seed cultivars held in the public domain. Crops must continuously be adapted to meet these changes, and the most productive approach is to have seeds adapted to the same environment as their intended use through classical plant breeding.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is introducing a Farm Bill amendment next week that aims to reinvigorate classical plant breeding and public cultivar development. Please call you’re your senators and urge them to support Sen. Tester’s amendment to reinvigorate classical plant breeding to ensure farmers have the seed they need to be successful. Developing regionally appropriate seed varieties held in the public domain is paramount to the success of U.S. agriculture.

Learn more.

The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the farm bill on Monday, May 18, although final votes might take place after Memorial Day. Please call your senators today at (202) 224-3121!

The House and Senate ag committees both approved their respective versions of the farm bill last week. The five-year bill could be brought to the House floor for a final vote in June, and possibly pass before the August recess.

Organic Consumers Association

6771 South Silver Hill Drive – Finland, MN 55603 – Phone: 218-226-4164 – Fax: 218-353-7652

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FDA drops the ball…so what else is new?

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(As I first started reading this, I thought of a pun with the title:  “Something’s fishy”  but PR Watch beat me to it in their write up. Heh.)

(So…I’ll have to settle for the boring title of FDA drops the ball…so what else is new?)

Note in the comments section the paid flack who attacks the article not based on facts, but wild accusations….um-hmmm…

There are a million souls who do not want frankenfish.  (and probably millions more would be protesting if they only knew what was going on) .

What does it take for American citizens to be heard?  And why is this garbage science of Genetically Modified organisms released without a) thorough testing by independent research labs with no financial/political gain;  b) without follow-up by independent research to investigate the damage that they have caused; and c) why isn’t the entire ecological system considered when making these decisions…?

 

 

 

Fighting efforts to save the bees

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PR Watch has this up on Bayer and Syngenta’s trying to stop efforts to save the bees :   HTTP://WWW.PRWATCH.ORG/NODE/12066

(for some reason, my “link” feature is not working on my blog.  Also–I clicked on one of my links yesterday, and now they have ads–I have nothing to do with them, and I’m certainly not being compensated for them advertising with my blog. FYI.)

From the article:

The response of Bayer and Syngenta was to unleash a barrage of letters to the food safety agency and the European Commission, followed later by threatened lawsuits.

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This is the heart of the matter—Too Big To Fails can quash efforts against them or their interests just by simply litigating their way out of it., a la Monsanto. They don’t even have to win, but keep their opponents fighting in courts to bankrupt them.  Empty what little they may have in their bank accounts, and voila! no more opposition….

More here from Purdue University confirming the neonicotinoids were causing bee deaths: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?263169-Purdue-university-study-confirms-neonicotinoids-on-maize-killing-honeybees

 

The sea turtle

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So, the calendar has changed to April (what happened to March?) and this month’s sea creature is the sea turtle. 

I was not aware that they couldn’t retract their outer limbs nor that it could take 50 years for some species to reproduce.

Here’s a story on a rescue-and-release of the turtles.  Again, their navigation is off and they end up in colder waters than they are accustomed to.

National Geographic has a nice photo gallery of the sea turtle.  More amazing facts–the Green Sea turtle is so ancient that it saw the dinosaur emerge and then watched them grow extinct.  Amazing.

On a visit with relatives, we were walking along a beach and saw the tracks made by turtles as they paddle in the sand.  My aunt explained what made the unusual design.  It was during this trip that I also saw whales in the distance spout water sky high.  Very cool.

Toxins and their effects on the sea turtles.  Not a surprise, but wish it was…

More from Sea Turtle Conservancy on pollution and its affects. Can we outlaw plastic bags, balloons, bottles, food wrappers, etc….? Nah…that would mean a little...inconvenience…to us…

A story here on a turtle being run over by an all terrain vehicle…this is a big problem with the North Carolina coast–environmentalists have been threatened by the off-roaders who for some reason feel the need to drive these vehicles on the beaches. And this on politicians with nothing better to do than interfere with efforts to stop it.  <sigh>

More here on beach roadkill from Ted Williams at Audobon–including birds.  Outer Banks Preservation Association.…pshaw.

Another fiasco by BP— their *cough* controlled burns probably burned turtles alive.

 

Monsanto, the Godfather…

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…of destruction to human beings and the environment…

And President Obama signs the Monsanto Protection Act.  WTH?

From the Union of Concerned Scientists link:

In 2008—the last year a federal Farm Bill was completed—the company reported a whopping $8.8 million in lobbying expenditures (see table below) intended to influence decisions in Congress, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other federal agencies.

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$8 million. Just for lobbying, folks….that’s not counting the money spent on persecuting farmers. It was common for farmers to keep seeds to plant crops with–nothing was wrong with that….until Monsanto made it illegal…and one has to ask why?  Why are they allowed to persecute farmers for saving seed?  In some cases, such as Percy Schmeiser, a farmer doesn’t even have to have purchased the poisonous seeds….

Don’t forget the Hoosier farmer fighting this Goliath in the Supreme Court.

One of the articles I passed over with my search made a statement that Monsanto’s seeds are popular with farmers…perhaps that is what the problem is…and where the solution lies…NOT purchasing seeds from Monsanto.  I think it is going to take a helluva boycott on the part of the farmers to bring this giant to its knees.  It’s obvious by now that the gov’t is not going to do the right thing and regulate this poisonous agriculture or the corporation responsible for it.  And Monsanto is doing its best to destroy the family farm.

What a fight on our hands….

Arkansas oil spill

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Gah, there is so much I miss…

I did not know that there had been an oil pipeline spill. 

(I’m sure that the push for the new pipeline has nothing to do with it)  /snark

Be sure to click on the links—the poor ducks….

…and I strongly suspect the reason that Exxon officials are discouraging people from handling the ducks are not concern for the person’s safety as they are at keeping people away from the scene to thwart pictures of the ducks circulating, a la BP thwarting efforts to document the deaths of the dolphins during the oil spill.  And the government is not helping, but also part of the see-no-evil plan…

Here’s an update to the gulf. Not good news…not that I  expected any. More here.

Here’s a photographic diary of the devastation.  Warning: the worst photo I have ever seen of a poisoned dolphin  is in this group, along with the pelicans, turtles, and other sea life covered in oil….it makes you just want to suck in air, doesn’t it?  Good God.

 

 

 

Frankenfish and other nightmares…

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From PR Watch:

Frankenfish salmon coming to your table, whether you like it or not.

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…because they couldn’t destroy voter access by destroying ACORN….

…note the “guilty until proven innocent” mindset that seems to be the way things have become in the U.S. instead of innocent until proven guilty.

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More on the dangerous food industry trying to keep you from knowing what the hell is in your food or how badly they treat the animals.

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Take action against Fix the Debt.

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Promoting  “activist” judges….conservative activist, that is….