farmersCommon Dreams – by Abby Zimmet

After the farmer-themed Dodge Ram ad for the Super Bowl made such a splash, the folks atFunny or Die decided to make a more realistic version of the state of American agriculture, from Monsanto to Gushers. Nailed it. Continue reading “So God Made A Factory Farmer…And Pesticides. And Subsidies. And Corn Syrup. And Mexicans.”

marijuanaSafe Access Now

Bipartisan group of Congressional members seek to reclassify marijuana for medical use, allow for ‘fair’ trials.

Washington, D.C. — More than a dozen Members of Congress co-introduced legislation today that would reclassify marijuana for medical use and provide federal defendants the right to use state law compliance as evidence in medical marijuana trials, a right they’re currently denied.
Continue reading “Federal Medical Marijuana Bills Introduced Today in Anticipation of Patient-Led Congressional Lobbying Effort”

PrisonTake Part – by Matthew Fleischer

The Department of Justice finally addresses an epidemic of sexual abuse.

Jan Lastocy only had a few months of hard time left on her sentence before she was home free. An inmate at Camp Branch women’s work camp in Coldwater, Michigan, Lastocy was serving an 18-month to 10-year prison sentence for attempted embezzlement. Prior to her sentencing, she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She and her husband of 18 years were hoping her time in prison would give her the break she needed for her meds to kick in and pull her life back together. Continue reading “The Good News About Prison Rape”

Common Dreams – by Bruce Friedrich

If you’re one of the 91 percent of Americans who opposes genetically engineered (GE) meat, you may have limited time to act: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed approval of the first-ever GE animal, called “AquAdvantage Salmon.” If this first approval proceeds, the process is likely to become top secret in the future: we won’t find out about new GE animals until after they’re approved for human consumption, and they won’t be labeled. Welcome to the new world of genetically engineered meat — unless we act now. Continue reading “Genetically Engineered Meat, Coming Soon to a Supermarket Near You”

xvi-pope-benedict.nRT News

Pope Benedict XVI is to resign for reasons relating to his health, according to a Vatican spokesperson. He’s the first head of the Catholic Church to quit the highest post since the Middle Ages.

The 85-year-old is due to step down on February 28. The Pope said he is “fully aware of the gravity of this gesture” but that he lacks the strength to govern Church due to age, according to Vatican’s spokesperson Federico Lombardi. Continue reading “Pope Benedict XVI to resign, first pontiff to quit since Middle Ages”

brooksYahoo News – by MARTIN GRIFFITH | Associated Press

Troubled Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks was arrested early Sunday in Las Vegas on suspicion of physically attacking a family member, then grabbing for an officer’s weapon.

The arrest came only days after the North Las Vegas Democrat embarked on a three-week leave following a string of bizarre events that began with his Jan. 19 arrest for allegedly threateningAssembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick. Continue reading “Nev. lawmaker accused of grabbing for cop’s weapon”

Common Dreams – by Bernie Sanders

When the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street drove this country into the deepest recession since the 1930s, the largest financial institutions in the United States took every advantage of being American. They just loved their country – and the willingness of the American people to provide them with the largest bailout in world history. In 2008, Congress approved a $700 billion gift to Wall Street. Another $16 trillion in virtually zero interest Speaking at a Thursday news conference on a new bill to shut down overseas tax havens, Sen. Bernie Sanders gestures toward a photo of a Cayman Islands building used by more than 18,000 companies to avoid paying taxes.loans and other financial assistance came from the Federal Reserve. America. What a great country. Continue reading “A Choice For Corporate America: Are You With America Or The Cayman Islands”

no gmosCommon Dreams – by Lauren McCauley

The fight to label genetically modified (gmo) foods is now on in Hawaii and Connecticut signaling that, despite big agriculture’s defeat of California’s Proposition 37 in November, proponents of seed and food sovereignty refuse to back down.

On Thursday, the group GMO Free CT held a press conference at the state’s legislative office to launch a new anti-GMO initiative calling on the Connecticut Legislature to support and pass a bill to label genetically engineered food in the state, the New Haven Register reports. Continue reading “States Take On GMOs in Battle Over Labeling”

sanctionsPress TV

A political analyst says the United States government’s call for talks with Tehran is completely unhelpful because Washington has adopted a dual policy towards Iran,Press TV reports.

“Americans have this very odd concept of, as they call it, carrot and stick approach, meaning they offer you something at the same time they hit you over the head with the stick and that is exactly what they are offering, I guess, right now,” Denis Halliday said in an interview with Press TV on Thursday. Continue reading “US dual policy towards Iran doomed to fail: Analyst”

Common Dreams – by Jim Hightower

Four years ago, Michelle Obama picked up a shovel and made a powerful symbolic statement about America’s food and farm future: She turned a patch of White House lawn into a working organic garden.

That was a great move, earning kudos from just about everyone this side of Monsanto and the pesticide lobby. But now, as she begins another four years in the people’s mansion, the first lady is probably asking herself: “How can I top that? What can I do this time around to plant a crop of common sense in our country’s political soil that will link America’s farmers, consumers, environment and grassroots economy into one big harvest of common good?” Continue reading “High Time for Hemp – A Common Sense Crop for America’s Common Good”

pot moneyCommon Dreams – by Morgan Fox

WASHINGTON – February 5 – Members of Congress introduced bills Tuesday to end marijuana prohibition and start regulating and taxing marijuana like alcohol at the federal level.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013, which would remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated similarly to alcohol at the federal level. It would also remove marijuana from the jurisdiction of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and place it in the jurisdiction of a renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana, Firearms, and Explosives. Continue reading “Members of Congress Introduce Historic Bills to Regulate and Tax Marijuana Like Alcohol at the Federal Level”

prisonUncommon Dreams – by Carley L. Biron

The research wing of the U.S. Congress is warning that three decades of “historically unprecedented” build-up in the number of prisoners incarcerated in the United States have led to a level of overcrowding that is now “taking a toll on the infrastructure” of the federal prison system.

Over the past 30 years, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the federal prison population has jumped from 25,000 to 219,000 inmates, an increase of nearly 790 percent. Swollen by such figures, for years the United States has incarcerated far more people than any other country, today imprisoning some 716 people out of every 100,000. (Although CRS reports are not made public, a copy can be found here.) Continue reading “US Prison Population Seeing ‘Unprecedented Increase’”

mcafeePropaganda Alert! Quick! Pass Cybersecurity NOW!

CNN – by David Goldman

During a four-month long cyberattack by Chinese hackers on the New York Times, the company’s antivirus software missed 44 of the 45 pieces of malware installed by attackers on the network.

That’s a stunning wake-up call to people and businesses who think they are fully protected by their antivirus software. Continue reading “Your antivirus software probably won’t prevent a cyberattack”

corporate flagTruth Dig – by Chris Hedges

Chris Hedges gave this talk Saturday night in Brooklyn at the People’s Recovery Summit.

The corporate state has made it clear there will be no more Occupy encampments. The corporate state is seeking through the persistent harassment of activists and the passage of draconian laws such as Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act—and we will be in court next Wednesday to fight the Obama administration’s appeal of the Southern District Court of New York’s ruling declaring Section 1021 unconstitutional—to shut down all legitimate dissent. The corporate state is counting, most importantly, on its system of debt peonage to keep citizens—especially the 30 million people who make up the working poor—from joining our revolt. Continue reading “Breaking the Chains of Debt Peonage”

bloombergCommon Dreams – by Ted Rall

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made headlines over the weekend with his announcement that he has donated $345 million to Johns Hopkins University. Added to his previous donations, the media baron has given his alma mater over $1 billion – the largest charitable contribution to an educational institution in US history.New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has given over $1 billion to his alma mater.

Bloomberg received plaudits for his generosity by the usual media sycophants. Along with death and taxes, another thing you can count on is being told to be grateful when masters of the universe give away some of their loot (even if none of it goes to you.) As pundits fawned, thousands of New Yorkers – residents of Queens whose homes got damaged by superstorm Sandy – were shivering under blankets in heatless homes in 15° weather because restoring electricity and housing storm victims isn’t one of the mayor’s top priorities. Continue reading “As Hurricane Victims Freeze, Billionaire Mayor Gives Away $1 Billion to Wealthy Med School”