Vermont playing (organic, free-range) chicken with the grocery industry over GMOs.

They shall make a food desert, and call it Vermont: “Vermont residents might have to go hungry — or drive into New Hampshire, upstate New York, or even Boston, for food — because of their state’s new GMO (genetically modified organisms) labeling law that takes effect July 1, 2016.” The basic problem here is that Vermont’s new law will allegedly fine companies for non-labeled products that show up in Vermont stores, even if the manufacturer didn’t put them there*.  Admittedly, that’s what the Grocery Manufacturers Association is claiming; also admittedly, Vermont’s response is effectively ‘label your products nationally.’  That food retailers might instead decide that it makes more sense to stop selling processed food in Vermont has apparently not yet occurred to that state’s officials. And yes, you can make that call when a target market is less than 700,000 people.  And also, yes: you cannot force somebody to engage in commerce**.

Continue reading Vermont playing (organic, free-range) chicken with the grocery industry over GMOs.

Monsanto announces the creation of genemod marijuana. Or, as I like to call it: MONSANTO DEVIL-WEED.

HAHAHA:

Monsanto has announced it has patented the first genetically modified strain of marijuana. Global AgInvesting reports that the news has been welcomed by scientists and leaders of the agriculture business alike as a move forward towards the industrial use of marijuana and hemp products could bring a major shift towards marijuana policies in the U.S.A. and ultimately, to the world.

Continue reading Monsanto announces the creation of genemod marijuana. Or, as I like to call it: MONSANTO DEVIL-WEED.

Left-wing lunatic threw Molotov cocktail through a black Congressman’s office window on 9-11.

Of course you never heard about it. Left-wing, after all:

A Missouri man was arrested earlier this week and charged with throwing two Molotov cocktails into Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s (D-Mo.) district office.

Eric King, 28, was arrested while detectives were investigating a “series of anti-government vandalisms” near the congressman’s office.

…and if the folks writing for the Hill had their way, you’d not have heard about the left-wing part, either. Fortunately Hot Air did some of the heavy lifting, there: it turns out that Eric King is an anti-Monsanto fanatic. Not mentioned by the Hill, and it should have been: being against GMOs these days is a pretty reliable identifier.  Although I suppose that I should be grateful that at least the Hill bothered to quote how King was upset that the “Missouri congress has been a willing partner in the US governments capitalist war hungry agenda.*”  …or perhaps not, because they also forgot to mention that King wanted to go after the banks next.

The fascinating part of this story, to me at least, is that it almost feels like it’s a controlled experiment to test the hypothesis The media has a double standard when reporting on the Left versus the Right. Here’s the checklist:

  • Politically-motivated attack. YES.
  • PMA on a Congressman’s office. YES.
  • The attack was violent (note, nobody was injured, but firebombs are inherently violent). YES.
  • The Congressman was a minority. YES.
  • The event took place on a politically significant day (9/11). YES.
  • The attacker had a documented history of participating in various fringe political movements. YES.
  • The attacker had a documented history of, ah, vehement speech. YES.
  • The attacker is a young, white male. YES.

And here’s where they did the control:

  • The attacker is a right-wing conservative.  …NO.

And the result? Continue reading Left-wing lunatic threw Molotov cocktail through a black Congressman’s office window on 9-11.

Left’s War On Science Watch: Reason goes to see the anti-GMO crazypants.

You know that Reason.tv‘s got a good video when they can’t get past the intro without being (apparently) assaulted by one of Teh Crazy People.  In this particular case, it’s Teh Anti-GMO Crazy people.  You know: the ones that the Democrats don’t llike to talk about when the conversation turns to The War On Science.

Via Pejman Yousefzadeh, whose title says it all: “People Who Are Against Genetically Modified Foods Are Ill-Informed, and Willing to Let Millions Starve to Death.” With one caveat: it may be closer to tens of millions at this point. Not that the anti-GMO people really care.  Or are capable of doing basic math.  Or have even the most basic understanding of the history of technology*…

Continue reading Left’s War On Science Watch: Reason goes to see the anti-GMO crazypants.

War on Science Update: Greenies attack White House over farmers’ rights.

God save us all from Gaia-shouters.

Here’s the background: the continuing resolution that’s keeping the government (and that passed last week) included a rider that, as the Competitive Enterprise Institute put it, “codifies existing USDA practices and elements of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that lower courts should not automatically prohibit the planting of biotech crop varieties, or the harvest and sale of biotech crops already planted, when their commercial approval is revoked for procedural reasons.”  As CEI went on to note, this rider (called the Farmer Assurance Provision) is designed to stop nuisance lawsuits filed in order to keep genetically modified organisms out of the market; radical Greenies HATE GMOs, and don’t really concern themselves with the niceties and expectations of normal Western society when it comes to promoting their frankly religiously fanatical worldview.

Which is why the aforementioned religious fanatics are freaking out:

Continue reading War on Science Update: Greenies attack White House over farmers’ rights.

Anti-science religious fanatics attack President Obama, suggest conspiracy.

They’re especially mad because they worked so hard to elect Barack Obama last year, and this is what they ge… what’s that?  Oh, you thought that I was talking about Republicans?  Oh, don’t be silly: we’ve long since worked out that Barack Obama lies when it suits him.  Which is to say, pretty much all the time.  Anyway, heeeeeeeeeere’s the Luddites:

Nearly a dozen protesters gathered today in front of the White House to protest what they say is President Barack Obama’s lax stance on genetically modified food, which they believe poses serious health risks to consumers.

Video at the link.  Anyway, I forget: is this the patriotic kind of dissent, or the unpatriotic kind?  It’s so hard to keep track these days.

Via:

Moe Lane

Susan Rice’s Iranian oil connection? …And Canadian oil connection?

…And, well, there’s a lot, really.

Well, well, well. It turns out that UN Ambassador and prospective Secretary of State nominee Susan Rice (she’s a multimillionaire, by the way) has some rather interesting financial ties to numerous foreign energy companies that still do business with that oppressive, misogynistic, homophobic, and downright barking mad insane regime currently controlling Iran.  The most interesting one of those is Royal Dutch Shell, which has about a billion dollars’ worth of interest (literally) in getting Iran’s sanctions lifted; Rice has also invested in at least two other companies that are operating in Iran against the wishes of pretty much most of the West.

Hmm.  Let’s scroll through some of her other investments:

  • Transcanada ($300-600K).  Keystone Pipeline company.  Wonder whether the Greenies are comfortable about that? Spoiler warning: no.
  • Monsanto (10-50K). Agricultural conglomerate that works with genetically engineered food.  Wonder if the Greenies are comfortable about that?
  • Walmart ($50-100K). …If you haven’t figured out by now that Big Labor is gunning for Walmart, then… Big Labor is gunning for Walmart.
  • Ishares Silver Trust ($100-250K), Newmont Mining Corp ($100-250K).  Metal mining companies.  Hey, guess who has even more of a vested interest than usual in making sure that the government keeps the current capital gains and dividends tax rates?  Metal mining companies!

Continue reading Susan Rice’s Iranian oil connection? …And Canadian oil connection?

I see that the libertarians are starting to notice HR 875.

I hadn’t heard of the animal tagging angle.


(Via The Other McCain)

Anyway, for those coming in late… yeah, they’re planning to gut the organic food industry, not least of which is because of (of all things) raw milk. Personally, I’m not particularly concerned about either Monsanto or GMO foods – but as I noted last month, it’s no skin off of my nose if somebody wants to pay through his for an organic tomato; and keeping the Democrats from regulating yet another industry out of usefulness is always a mitzvah.

Moe Lane

PS: You can also link DeLauro to the White House via Rahm Emanuel quite easily.
You’re welcome.

Crossposted to RedState.

Democrats in Congress poised to wipe out organic food industry.

No, really.

That’s the thing about regulating everything. You end up regulating everything. From Natural News (and won’t their server logs be confusing them today):

(NaturalNews) The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund recently reported the unveiling of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875) on Feb. 4, 2009, by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), to both the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Agriculture. Cosponsored by 36 other Congressmen, all Democrats, H.R. 875 would essentially transfer all state control over food regulation to the Food Safety Administration (FSA), a newly-established federal bureaucracy to be created within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Its implications point to the elimination of all independent, family farms as well as all organic farming operations due to overbearing federal regulations subjectively determined by FSA in favor of corporate factory farms.

Via Protein Wisdom, and Is this blog on? (here and here). See also the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Rep. DeLauro – and her husband Stan Greenberg – are familiar to our readers; they’re the people that gave Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel free rent for several years. Turns out that one of Greenberg’s clients is biotech giant Monsanto… and elements of the Left have been sparring with that company over genetically altered foodstuffs for over a decade. Note that Greenberg’s materially involved in that dispute, thanks to some reports that he’s written on the topic. So there’s definitely a question here over whether this legislation regulating food production has been, ah, given a certain impetus. And in case you’re wondering what’s affected by this, well, here you go:

(14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.

As Darleen over at Protein Wisdom said, “No exclusions, no limitations. You grow it, you’re included.”

Continue reading Democrats in Congress poised to wipe out organic food industry.