FDA: GMO Salmon.... WTF??????

When the FDA won’t act, Friends of the Earth works even harder.  Will you give $5 and help us shut down the market for GMO foods?

Dear Kimberly-Ann,

Here’s the good news – the work that we’ve all done to keep new, unlabeled GMO foods off store shelves just got a boost. The Washington Post¹ just ran a front page story highlighting the success of our GE-Free Seafood Campaign and the pressure people like you have put on stores not to sell genetically engineered seafood. It also called out Kroger -- one of the biggest holdouts -- by name.

But now the bad news: we’ve also learned that final FDA approval of GMO salmon could be right around the corner -- possibly in the next few weeks.

 

Just because the government won’t step up and stop this frankenfish doesn’t mean we’re giving up. Will you give $5 right now to help Friends of the Earth and our work to stop GMO seafood?

It’s clear that the majority of consumers don’t want unlabeled, untested, virtually unregulated GMOs on store shelves. So if the FDA won’t protect us from the risks of genetically engineered foods, then we will elevate consumers’ voices and ensure that companies listen.

We’re not stopping with GMO salmon. As early as 2014, GMO apples could be on the market, so we’re asking Gerber baby food company, one of the largest buyers of apples, to keep its baby food free of risky GMO apples.

And that’s not all; we're taking the lead to make sure that extreme genetic engineering stays out of your ice cream. The New York Times² just ran a piece highlighting our campaign calling on major ice cream companies not to use a new vanilla flavoring excreted by genetically engineered yeast. This synthetic biology vanilla may even be labeled “natural,” despite being produced by genetically engineered yeast cells created in a laboratory.

In all of these campaigns we’re up against food giants who have vast coffers to draw from. It’s going to take the support of people like you to generate enough pressure to ensure our food system is healthy, sustainable and honest.

 

Please give just $5 -- or more if you can afford to -- and help Friends of the Earth in our work to pick up the slack when government fails to protect us.

Standing with you,

Dana Perls,
Food and technology campaigner
Friends of the Earth

1. Dennis, Brady. (2013, Oct 18) “A new method against genetically modified salmon: Get retailers to refuse to sell it”. Washington Post.
2. POLLACK, ANDREW. (2013, Oct 20) “What’s That Smell? Exotic Scents Made From Re-engineered Yeast”.  New York Times.

Hellburton: Invented FRACKING

I had no idea that Halliburton (those greedy Mamzers who brought you Cheney/Bush Axis of Evil & Iraq takeover) invented F#@&* Fracking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton

So what the F#@&* is Fracking?  Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside.

One to six million gallons of water are needed to frack a typical gas well. Of that, up to two percent consists of chemicals to facilitate production, many of them toxic, and the fluid picks up even more pollutants down amid the shale, such as salt brines and naturally occurring radioactive materials.

http://www.milfordmirror.com/5073/the-precautionary-principle-side-effects-of-fracking/

Did you know that fracking:

• contaminates ground water

• injects dangerous levels of fracking fluid which leads to aquifer contamination

 

• during periods of low stream flow it may affect water supplies for municipalities and industries such as power generation, as well as recreation and aquatic life

• risks air quality

• instigates the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_hydraulic_fracturing


161 incidences from 2008-2012 where drinking water was contaminated from fracking. Other health concerns associated with fracking are eye irritation, headaches, asthma and even cancer. A major concern is the presence of endocrine disruptors in fracking emissions, which can lead to infertility and gynecological disorders.

http://times-news.com/local/x134979311/Side-effects-of-fracking-pose-environmental-concerns


                                   


Hydraulic Fracturing (also known as hydrofracking)
In each fracking, 2-9 million gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals are forced through the well into the formation at high pressure to fracture, or crack, the shale. Roughly half the fracking fluid remains in the ground. The rest of it (1,000,000 to 4,000,000 gallons) comes up out of the well and is considered industrial waste and must be disposed of. Each well may be fracked up to ten times during its productive life. (2)

Fracking Fluids
Most of the recent advances in fluid technology for shale gas recovery are owned by Halliburton. The gas industry describes fracking fluids as being “like soap and oil.” However, because Halliburton classifies the fracking fluids as proprietary, nobody knows for sure what is in them. Samples from well blowouts and fluids pits in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico found fluids to contain diesel fuel and more than 200 different kinds of chemicals, over 95% of which have adverse side effects including brain damage, birth defects and cancer. (4)


Fluids Disposal
The produced water from the Marcellus Shale is toxic waste. In addition to the added chemicals, the water picks up hydrocarbons, heavy metals like arsenic, and radioactivity from the shale. (5) Billions of gallons of waste water will be produced in our area alone and will need to be trucked to a final disposal site. The most common method of disposal will be Deep Well Injection Disposal, where the waste is forced underground at high pressure into dry gas wells. (6)


Air Pollution
Each well site emits air pollution. In addition to pollution from diesel generators, drill rigs, trucks and other equipment, condensate tanks and the flaring of wells are significant sources of VOC’s and nitrogen oxide, which react with sunlight to form ozone. Proposed Marcellus Shale drilling in New York will be high density. In high-density drilling areas in Colorado and Wyoming, rural communities that were once pristine now have ozone levels higher than Los Angeles. Ozone can cause a range of respiratory health problems and lung disease.(9)

http://shaleshock.org/drilling-101/

Oklahoma Earthquakes

 

Seismic activity in Oklahoma since 1973. Red dots show earthquakes between 1973 and 2008, while blue dots show earthquakes 2008-2011. The star indicates the 5.6 earthquake in Prague.

via OGS 

  Some geologists have argued that the largest earthquake in Oklahoma's recorded history, the 5.6 magnitude quake that hit Prague, Okla., in 2011, was the result of wastewater injection from oil and natural gas operations. in 2011, a USGS study determined several minor earthquakes in Oklahoma to be the likely result of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which uses pressurized fluid injection to create small underground fractures to release oil or gas.
The greater problem, though, isn't the fracking itself, but the wastewater it generates. According to Mother Jones, the oil and natural gas industry generates 878 billion gallons of wastewater every year, injecting about a third of it back into the earth. Injecting all this fluid into the ground can elevate the pressure near faults, causing them to slip, resulting in quakes. Deep mining can also cause moderate earthquakes, according to the USGS.

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/more-200-earthquakes-have-shaken-oklahoma-2009

PIPELINES: In Your Neighborhood

To Be or Not To Be............ Held

Here comes a "RANT":

You know... Fear fucks people up.... And it is so stupid because, we allow it to. We spin in "WHAT IF?" and the truth being, the more we give in to the "What Ifs" the more they cripple us and take over our life.

Personally I rarely ever live w/ Fear... I lived w/ it until I was 24 and moved out of my parents home.... It caught up w/ me a few times, but I shed it.... It occasionally tests me, but instead I get pissey and fight back!

In order to win & live a comfortable life, you have to STOP the F'ing mind Spin..... Change the channel on your thoughts. Change the channel on fear..... As Louise Hay says: "It is only a thought and a thought can be changed"

I say: FUCK "WHAT IF?"

So what? What if? Huh? You think you'll die? You should be so fortunate, that Creator will end your lesson right then & there...... (Yeshua, but I do sound like a Yenta)

So you're in a relationship.... and your what-ever-the-hell-they-are-to-you decides to be honest about One of Their Several Foibles and says: "You know I was thinking about why I don't like...... Blah, blah, blah.... and You know I have this 'thing'... and it's not about you..... It's my thing... and... Blah, blah, blah"

So this whom-ever-they-are is admitting They Have The Problem, and yes, you have a part in it, but it is NOT YOU... because THEY ARE OWNING IT Their Very Own Self!

So what the hell is there to be fearful of? It ISN'T About You Personally (except for the fact you happen to be in the relationship), and unless whom-ever-they-are says to you: "I Want Out", then what is there to worry about? Huh? WTF?
 

So Right Here/Right NOW I Am Owning My Shit and saying, that for some reason (which I am working on) I do not mind being hugged in a greeting by people I know & feel good about, but I have recently discovered that I no longer am comfortable being Held On To....

I Do Not Know Why (right now I do not care why), but to put it po-litely, I feel (NOT About YOU... Read "I" as in ME) restrained. I feel (Again ABOUT ME, Not You) as if I'm expected to magically do something soothing like a blankie or a Teddy! I don't mind holding & comforting someone in need, I do not particularly need/want to be held onto back.....

 

So This Is ME.... How I Feel. It Is NOT About YOU..... If I Can Not Be Honest, about my discomfort & foibles without hurting someone's feelings or being Bitched out about it when I share..... Then I'll just STHU and not talk about it any longer...

Feel Free To NOT RESPOND.... as this is not necessarily an invitation to converse.... It is my place to vent my frustrations over inadvertently hurting someone I love by talking about my OWN SHIT & Discomfort, while trying to work it out.......

Wicosi ni wioki ♥

Who Pays To Hide GMO Food Ingredients

GMO Inside

BREAKING: These brands don't want you to know if you're eating GMOS. A lawsuit brought by Attorney General Bob Ferguson forced the GMA to come clean.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/10/18/pepsi-coke-nestle-top-multi-million-dollar-campaign-against-i-522

 
 


“The people of Washington demand transparency in elections: I’m pleased that the GMA board recognized this responsibility to disclose the names of corporate contributors to oppose Initiative 522, and the amount of this contribution." Read more: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/10/18/pepsi-coke-nestle-top-multi-million-dollar-campaign-against-i-522 #GMOs #RightToKnow #LabelGMOs #YesOn522

NOT All Democrats Are "Good-Guys"

Call Them Out: The 7 Democrats Who Helped House Republicans Rig the Shutdown

posted by Salvatore Aversa October 16, 2013 Uncategorized

SPREAD THE WORD!11907231

As the shutdown ended sand the debt ceiling was raised, America managed to avoid a complete meltdown (at least for now).  That does not mean that the country came out of this scratch free.  For one, the shutdown cost the government an estimated $160 million a day.  If the shutdown ends by midnight on October 17, 2013, the total cost will be an estimated $2.4 billion.  That does not include how much money the economy lost due to 800,000+ federal workers and countless contractors not receiving a paycheck, thus losing virtually all of their purchasing power.  Also harmed will be the full faith and credit of the United States, as Fitch Ratings is considering another downgrade, and rightfully so.  With our political instability, it is hard to have faith in a system that may come to a complete halt at any given moment.
The political cost to the Republican and Democratic Parties are yet to be seen, however, if the poll numbers are an indication, the Republicans will be the clear losers in the shutdown.
To start with, the Republican Party is taking the blame for the shutdown from both sides of the aisle.  62% of those asked put blame squarely on the Republican Party.  In a recent ABC/Washington Post poll, among moderates, 80% disapproved of the GOP.  President Obama’s approval rating stayed nearly the same since taking office in 2008 at 42%.
In the coming weeks, the GOP approval rating can be expected to plummet even more.  It looks as if the Republican Party will get absolutely nothing from their temper tantrum.  They received no delay or removal of the Medical Device Tax.  They received no delay or defunding of ObamaCare.  They received no tax breaks.  It is unclear if the sequestration cuts will continue, however, early talk from Democrats indicated they may be off of the table.  If Majority Leader and Senate Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell came to an agreement, however, it is likely the cuts will continue.  Despite that, it was not anything that was not already on the table.
When all is said and done, the harm caused to the government and citizens will be for nothing.  Considering the plan that will be passed will be the same one that was on the table for weeks before the shutdown began, the public will cast judgement harshly.
What’s more, as the entire “reason” for the shutdown, ObamaCare, continues to roll out and sign up more people, the approval of the program will increase, as already has been seen.  Many who were afraid of the program, are coming to realize they were lied to, and they can actually save money compared to their current premium, or sign up because they can now afford healthcare.
The biggest story that went relatively unnoticed, was what Representative Eric Cantor did just a few hours before the shutdown was set to begin, thus removing any doubt who was responsible.
From an Op-Ed piece by Representative Chris Van Hollen published in The Guardian:

There are enough votes in the House to pass the Senate’s “clean” bill to fund government – and this already represents Democrats being willing to compromise to accept the GOP’s post-sequester funding levels for the short term. It would have easily passed the House with a bipartisan majority – had the House Republican leadership brought it to the floor for a simple up-or-down vote. But House Republicans – many of whom have long had the goal of shutting down the government – effectively wrote the shutdown into law with just hours left on the clock.
If that sounds unbelievable and outrageous, it’s because it is.
The chairman of the House rules committee conceded that, under normal procedure with clause 4 of rule 22, if the House amends a Senate bill and the Senate rejects the House’s amendment(s), any House member has the right to bring the original Senate bill up for an immediate up-or-down vote in the House. But just two hours before the government was poised to shut down, House Republicans quietly rigged the rules in their favor. They changed that rule to ensure that only Republican majority leader Eric Cantor could bring the Senate bill to reopen the government up for a vote – something they have refused to do.

Now, if that is not offensive enough, what is even more offensive is who signed on with Representative Cantor, and it was not just Republicans.
7 Democrats decided to become turncoats, and betray the Democratic Party by aligning with the Republican Party on a bill that would prevent the government from reopening by anybody but Eric Cantor.  They include the following:
Ron Barber (AZ-2)
John Barrow (GA-12)
Dan Maffei (NY-24)
Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18)
Jim Matheson (UT-4)
Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
Collin Peterson (MN-7)

SPREAD THEIR SHAME.
In a time when Democrats were by and large united against Republican efforts to destroy America, these 7 “Democrats” betrayed the people.  Now that they have been called out, they have been Tweeting trying to cover their tracks.
For example, Rep. Jim Matheson tweeted, “If up for a vote, I’d support a clean CR.  While current discussions are on a 6 wk proposal, I believe we need a long term solution.”
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney tweeted, “I joined my colleagues on the House Floor to demand a vote on the Senate-passed funding bill that would end…”
And Rep. Dan Maffei tweeted, “The gov’t shutdown is not a time for political games.  I support the Democratic discharge petition for a ‘clean’ CR.”
Strong words from people of weak character.  They are just as guilty as any Republican for the shutdown, and the resulting effects of it.  If you live in one of these Representative districts, you must start to primary them with somebody who will stand firm for the Democratic Party, and not run to the Republican Party the minute they see an opportunity.  It is because of politicians like these 7 that the Democratic Party was perceived as weak during the Bush years.  Our Party has grown leaps and bounds from that time, and there is no going back now.

Thank-You GOP

From Progress Report:

The GOP’s Default Caucus

Oct 17, 2013 | By CAP Action War Room

162 Republicans Vote for Default

Republicans’ first act in their latest manufactured crisis was shutting down the government in a failed and mean-spirited bid to deny affordable health insurance to millions.

We know that the shutdown resulted in some 800,000 federal employees being thrown out of work, hundreds of national parks and other federal lands closed, cancer treatments denied, food assistance cut off to low-income women and children, and countless other painful consequences for people across the country.

It also cost the economy at least $24 BILLION. Just to give you an idea, here are just a few examples of what else you could get for $24 BILLION:

• The net cost of to the government from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP): $24 billion
• The Department of Agriculture’s proposed budget: $22.6 billion
• NASA’s approved budget: $16.6 billion
• All air transportation programs, including the Federal Aviation Administration, security, research, and other costs: $21.9 billion
• The Child Tax Credit: $22.1 billion
• The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (formally known as welfare): $17.7 billion
• The cost of Head Start, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Women Infants and Children (WIC) program combined: $25.2 billion

The $24 BILLION sucked out of the economy thanks to the government shutdown comes on top of an estimated $700 BILLION cumulative hit to the economy thanks to the GOP’s years-long effort to govern by crisis.

Despite admitting that they got “nothing” as a result of the painful and damaging shutdown, Tea Party Republicans say it was somehow still “worth it” for them.

In fact, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) won’t rule out another shutdown, adding that he will still “do anything” to stop Obamacare. Another House Republican, Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), said, “we’re going to start this all over again.”

It gets worse.

After inflicting this painful and unnecessary shutdown on the country for 16 days, during which time they sometimes seemed to forget why they even shut the government down in the first place, Republicans voted en masse last night in favor of a catastrophic default and continued government shutdown.

The GOP’s Default Caucus — 18 Republican Senators and 144 House Republicans — apparently preferred a default that threatened to collapse the entire global economy to allowing millions to get affordable health insurance and re-opening the government at spending levels Republicans themselves proposed.

Supporting a government shutdown is bad enough, but supporting an economic shutdown by refusing to pay the nation’s bills is a stunningly extreme position. Unfortunately, it’s a position that a majority of Congressional Republicans apparently support. Even GOP budget guru Paul Ryan voted for a reckless economic shutdown on top of the government shutdown.

As National Journal noted today, “several of those who might be considered serious GOP 2016 contenders for the presidency also voted in favor of the first default in American history in order to stay in the tea party’s good graces.”

BOTTOM LINE: It’s time for the GOP’s brinksmanship and manufactured crises to end. Instead of shutting down the government, voting to default on our obligations, and proclaiming their pride in job-killing austerity spending cuts, Republicans should sit down with Democrats and agree to a budget that protects important programs and makes the investments we need to grow the economy and create jobs.

The Center for American Progress has a balanced budget plan that will replace the damaging sequester cuts for the next three years and make badly needed investments in job creation. You can check it out HERE.

Koch Brothers: Every Picture Tells a Story

 

This quote is from Charles Koch in Greg Palast's book "Billionaires & Ballot Bandits" (highly recommended!), but it's also in this piece he wrote for Truthout a couple of years ago: http://bit.ly/1bfvRAt mmc: 

"A Koch Industries executive (not knowing he was being taped) said he had asked Charles Koch, who already had a billion from an inheritance, why Koch was pocketing a few bucks a week from poor American Indians. Koch told him, 'I want my fair share, and that's all of it.'" 

**And yes, George Soros is evil too - for all of those who like to comment and ignore the greed and destruction of the Kochs just because the democratic party top contributor is a greedy stock market and hedgefund profiteer. Because of their media whores, FOX and MSNBC, they both get a free pass from their respective parties.

Enough of this bullshit. The politicians of both parties are E.V.I.L., with few exceptions. This meme was originally posted on a page against republicans, which encourages people to vote for the 'lesser evil'. They are BOTH evil and must be exposed for what they are. The lies and deception of both parties is a plan from long before any of us were born.

It Is About More Than "Obamacare"

Why We Need the Proposed 28th Amendment

This is very important, it's more than about Affordable Health Care (which Rmoney originally supported), it is about Your Retirement (if you pay into it), it is about Women's bodies, it is about Environmental Health & Big Corporations... It is about the Kook Koch brothers, Monsanto, BP, Halliburton, et. al. who just do not seem to have enough!

• It is about hatred & contempt for the people who elected them into office.

• It is about enslaving the people through forced poverty.

• It is about the fact that they are attempting to take away the money you & I earned (and temporarily LOANED them) for our retirement.  

• It is about the fact that they are doing their best to poison the environment.

• It is about the fact that they are doing their best to poison our food (Even Elizabeth Warren & Al Franken have bowed to Monsanto & are against mandatory labeling of GMO products).

• It is about the fact that they are attempting to control over women's bodies and force us into being involuntary breeders.

• It is about the fact that they are taking away our right to vote.
   
• It is about the fact that they indiscriminately use NSA as a weapon against thousands of people a wave the flag around the "Patriot Act" while abusing the 1st Amendment.

• It is about the fact, that they ignore the fact that they work for us!
  

Bill Moyers great take on the GOP government shutdown: "Before they will allow the government to reopen, they demand employers be enabled to deny birth control coverage to female employees; they demand Obama cave on the Keystone pipeline; they demand the watchdogs over corporate pollution be muzzled and the big bad regulators of Wall Street sent home: http://vimeo.com/76122572

The GOP Tea-baggers & all those in Congress/Senate who supported this shutdown need to be arrested, put in prison (not jail) tried, and publicly punished for the treasonous traitors that they are under the proposed & much needed 28th amendment!

http://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/prosecute-the-conspirators-who-plotted-the-government-shutdown-in-violation-of-18-usc-2384?source=facebook-share-button&time=1381510965