I suppose by now that you are hoping I will leave off the rants for a while … and in a while I intend to do so.
What kind of gardener would I be if I was afraid to stir up a little dirt when the time comes?
If you did not know already: IE does not display this site correctly. This is because Microsoft has chosen not to follow internationally accepted web standards. Most importantly, IE is susceptible to viruses, and spyware; the monthly patch of Internet Explorer on a set monthly schedule allows 'blackhats' to release their evil-ware on the day after the patch, thus granting them 30 days to access your computer without challenge from Microsoft. Once their viruses and spyware are installed on your computer, you no longer control it. It may be used for illegal activity without your permission or even awareness. Such illegal activity has resulted in criminal prosecution. Even if acquitted, the defense itself may incur a significant financial burden. For these, and other, reasons I highly recommend a safer, more standards compliant browser such as Mozilla Firefox.
February 4, 2010
January 29, 2010
Just this month the front cover of Forbes called Monsanto “Seed Heroes”.
(hack, cough, cough) Balderdash.
I may buy a copy just so I can frame that cover as evidence that Forbes has abandoned even the pretext of journalistic integrity and cannot be trusted to be truthful in any matter whatsoever.
The linked video, about the effects of chemical farming in India, is instructive. I know that your time is valuable. I’m asking for 30 minutes of it with the promise that I will not waste even a single minute. Start by viewing the video for the first 26 minutes.
November 4, 2009
This is going to be interesting … if the flames can get fanned just a little.
If you’ve been following the sea change from chemical to organic production of our foodstuffs, you are probably already familiar with how horrible the early drafts of the “organic” laws were in the US.
Just about anything was fair game.
In a display of politics as usual, the highly esteemed Obama-ramalamadingdong is set to appoint one of the chief architects of that loathsome first draft to a key negotiating position for US agriculture around the world.
Let me put it this way: this guy is to sustainable agriculture what the Nazis were to civil rights.
Those of you who voted for ‘change’ are getting it. If you want to shape that change, you need to get moving.
What I find somewhat ‘odd’ about this whole thing is this: 1) BHO was briefed on this guy and recommended him anyways and 2) normally I would expect the mainstream media to ignore a story like this … but someone on their staff is paying attention to the progressive poisoning of our food supply and, at the editorial level, has stuck their neck out. This is my effort to support that rare instance of editorial guts.
My understanding of the Bible forbids involvement in politics. It does not, however, forbid discussing facts with others who might choose to respond with a letter to their congress critters.
September 25, 2009
It would be chilling enough if any other type of company were able to prevent independent researchers from testing its wares and reporting what they find—imagine car companies trying to quash head-to-head model comparisons done by Consumer Reports, for example. But when scientists are prevented from examining the raw ingredients in our nation’s food supply or from testing the plant material that covers a large portion of the country’s agricultural land, the restrictions on free inquiry become dangerous. Scientific American, August 2009
Ah … but that is only part of the point. Imagine if parking a Buick next to an already-parked Ford meant that you could no longer drive the Ford without infringing the patents of the Buick.
That’s what happens when the patented genes from the pollen of a GM crop pollutes the field of another grower (organic or not).
