DownWithTyranny!

Outside one of the castle towers. A circular path passes under a window of the tower.

MÉLISANDE [at the window, while she combs her unbound hair]: My long hair descends all the way to the foot of the tower.
My hair waits for you all the length of the tower.
And all the length of the day,
And all the length of the day.
Saint Daniel and Saint Michel,
Saint Michel and Saint Raphaël,
I was born on a Sunday,
a Sunday at noon . . .

Senegalese police engaged in running battles with protesters firing tear gas and rubber bullets in central Dakar Friday to head off a planned protest against President Abdoulaye Wade's third-term bid.

Burning tyres, debris and rocks littered the streets around Independence Square, which police had sealed off to prevent the rally.

Riot police on trucks and foot chased protesters to prevent them from converging there, firing rubber bullets, water cannon and volleys of tear gas throughout the afternoon.

Cat-and-mouse battles continued into the night in the seaside capital, leaving several people including a western photographer and local journalist injured, AFP reporters witnessed.

A policeman was seen firing his gun during a scuffle at the Sandaga market, and an AFP journalist found a spent 9mm bullet casing in the street after protesters lobbed rocks at the police during the ongoing battles.

One police officer fell off a truck after being hit by a rock.

It was the fourth day the opposition had called for mass protests in the capital and a fresh rally has been called for Saturday.

The chaos at the market was sparked by the arrival of music superstar Youssou N'dour.

N'dour has been blocked from running in the election himself but has attended most protests and is fiercely critical of 85-year-old Wade.

Police fired tear gas at least twice at the car carrying N'dour as he was surrounded by fans and dozens of journalists.

When at one point he made as if to get out of his car a police officer in a nearby pick-up shouted at him "Get out of here" as his men launched tear gas.

Police briefly detained opposition presidential candidate Cheikh Bamba Dieye as he attempted to join the protest.

Normally bustling, central Dakar cleared out ahead of the protest Friday afternoon, with shopowners closing up and curious residents and office workers looking on from buildings lining the teargas-filled streets.

"Brad can try to mislead Democrats into thinking he's a progressive because his conservative ideas can't win. But whatever his poll says, the real number you need to know is 79.

"That's the percentage of voters who said in a recent Lake Research poll that Brad Schneider's history of funding far right-wing, anti-choice Republicans raised serious doubts about his candidacy.

"We've just launched an aggressive television and mail program, we've outraised Brad over the past two quarters, and with 12,000 individual donors, 500 volunteers, and a true progressive as our candidate, we've built a campaign to win that Brad can only dream of."

52,000 Voters

We’ve already reached an amazing 52,000 voters at their doors, on the phones, and in their living rooms-- through dozens of coffees, meet-and-greets, and community service days-- discussing the hopes, fears, aspirations and demands for your next member of Congress.

550 Volunteers

With 31 days before our March 20th primary, we have not only launched an aggressive mail and television voter contact strategy, but we’re hitting the ground with our 550-strong team of volunteers to talk to tens of thousands of voters and get them to the polls.

The Montana ruling seems squarely at odds with the court's 5 to 4 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allowed unlimited corporate spending. The U.S. Supreme Court majority had said such independent spending did not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.

In Friday's order, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer said the upheaval in the world of campaign finance since the Citizens United decision does not bear out the majority opinion.

"Montana's experience, and experience elsewhere since this court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, make it exceedingly difficult to maintain that independent expenditures by corporations 'do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption,' " Ginsburg wrote.

"A petition for certiorari [from those challenging the Montana court's decision] will give the court an opportunity to consider whether, in light of the huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates' allegiance, Citizens United should continue to hold sway."

The Montana court's action has given rise to the first challenge of the Citizens United decision. By a 5 to 2 vote, the state court upheld Montana's 1912 Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits certain political spending by corporations.

The Montana court acknowledged the conflict with Citizens United, but Chief Justice Mike McGrath said the state was especially vulnerable to "continued efforts of corporate control to the detriment of democracy and the republican form of government."

The latest of the alleged threats were made through Babeu's personal attorney, who's also running the sheriff's campaign for Congress in District 4, the ex-lover says.

He says lawyer Chris DeRose demanded he sign an agreement that he would never breathe a word about the affair. But Jose (New Times is withholding his last name because Babeu and his attorney have challenged his legal status) refused.

The 34-year-old from central Mexico charges that the sheriff's lawyer warned against mentioning the affair with Babeu. DeRose said gossip about Babeu would focus attention on Jose, attention that could result in his deportation, Jose says.

Melissa Weiss-Riner, Jose's attorney, confirms her client's account.

She says she spoke directly to the sheriff's lawyer, DeRose, about the Babeu camp's threats that Jose could be deported if he "revealed the relationship." She says DeRose falsely claimed that Jose's visa had expired.

"Jose came to our firm because he felt he was being intimidated, and he was in fear for his life," Weiss-Riner says. "He wanted his legal rights protected."

Babeu didn't respond to requests for comment by publication time for this article, but his attorney, DeRose, says the dispute between Jose and the sheriff concerned Jose's work on Babeu's websites. He says Jose was a former volunteer who hacked into a campaign website.

DeRose didn't immediately address the other claims against him and the sheriff, except to say, "I never threatened to deport anybody" and that "[Babeu's] not threatening anybody."

... Jose says he met Babeu in October 2006 on gay.com, a dating website. What started with an online invitation from Babeu for the two to get together, he says, turned into not only a personal relationship but a professional one.

Jose says he created and maintained Babeu's campaign websites, his Facebook page, and his Twitter account. Babeu didn't pay him for his online services, he claims.

Jose says Babeu told him that he loved him and was with him exclusively. But Jose suspected Babeu was lying. The relationship soured, and Jose believes that Babeu sent DeRose after him. He says DeRose demanded the passwords to Babeu's websites and social-media accounts. Jose says he complied but that Babeu and his attorney also wanted Jose to sign a document that would bind him legally to keep silent about the relationship.

Jose admits that he lashed out on news websites featuring stories about Babeu. He says he commented anonymously that the sheriff was not who people thought he was. He says he once wrote a comment on Chino Valley eNews that Babeu had an account on adam4adam.com, where gay men arrange sexual liaisons.

Jose shared text messages between him and Babeu with New Times. A September 4, 2011, text from the sheriff reads: "You can never have business after this and you will harm me and many others in the process . . . including yourself & your family."

A couple of minutes later, Babeu followed with: "And you say you have loved me? Papi... this is no good."

The Keystone XL Pipeline Fails America

by Carol Shea-Porter

The TransCanada Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline fight has been very political. How many jobs will it create? Will this hurt the environment? Will this dirty tar sand oil stay in the United States and help to make us energy independent? Is anyone buying influence to create this pipeline to carry Canadian oil across six states to the Gulf Coast? Are the Koch Brothers and their group, Americans for Prosperity, trying to influence the outcome by donating to the Energy and Commerce Committee members?

While the economy is recovering, creating jobs is crucial, so those who support this pipeline have been touting it as a job creator, although they sure seem confused. The NH-01 Congressman wrote that the KXL project, “is expected to immediately create 20,000 American jobs, and an additional 179,000 jobs through at least 2035 once the pipeline is fully operational in 2013.†Speaker John Boehner, who just happens to have major investments in most of the oil companies that will profit from the KXL and has received money from them, says 100,000 jobs. The American Petroleum Institute claims “more than half a million new jobs†by 2035. The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Donohue, says up to 250,000 jobs over the life of the project.

There is always a party pooper, and in this case, it is the Cornell University Global Labor Institute. In September 2011, it reported, "A calculation of the direct jobs that might be created by KXL can begin with an examination of the jobs on-site to build and inspect the pipeline. The project will create no more than 2,500-4,650 temporary direct construction jobs for two years, according to TransCanada's own data supplied to the State Department." 

Will it hurt the environment, our farms and water? We can look to the past to make an intelligent prediction. The Keystone 1 project, which runs from Canada to Oklahoma, has leaked 12 times in just one year. Their spokesperson told the press that there was concern that since there were two leaks in just a month, opposing forces might use that to stop the new pipeline. In other words, their miserable record might be held against them.

But the United States does need energy, and this will help make us energy independent, right? If we were going to keep the oil here, supporters could claim some benefit. However, the oil is not promised to us. Congressman Edward Markey, in his essay, “Drill Here, Sell There, Pay More†(The Hill, 2/9/12), wrote, “Last December, I asked the president of TransCanada point-blank if he would agree to keep fuels made from oil shipped through the Keystone XL pipeline in the United States. He replied, ‘No.’†But the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (which is very different from our local Chambers, which serve Main Street businesses) ignored that, and scolded President Obama in a press release: “Just as troubling, the President’s decision will make us more dependent on oil from foreign nations that don’t share our interests.â€

The Los Angeles Times, in their article, “Koch Brothers Now at Heart of GOP Power†(2/6/11) reported that their group, Americans for Prosperity, “began circulating a pledge asking politicians to denounce a Democratic-led effort to compel oil refineries and utilities to clean up emissions of greenhouse gases through a so-called cap-and-trade system… Americans for Prosperity began working to defeat House Democrats who voted for the bill, showing the power of its new activist base.†They ran ugly and false attack ads, defeated the Democrats, and now have many allies in Congress. The article also said, “Wichita-based Koch Industries and its employees formed the largest single oil and gas donor to members of the panel, ahead of giants like Exxon Mobil, contributing $279,500 to 22 of the committee's 31 Republicans, and $32,000 to five Democrats.†Did I mention that the Koch Brothers have a facility right there at the beginning of the pipeline and that their website says they are among the “largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters�

So we are not getting jobs, we are risking our environment, and we don’t get to keep the oil to reduce oil imports from our enemies. Why would the United States accept this pipeline from Canada to our Gulf Coast refineries?  If the American people don’t win on this “deal,†why are we considering it-- just to help the oil companies get a better price on the world market than they could get in Canada or the United States?  As the old line says, “Go figure.â€

Property-rights conservatives, water supply activists and landowners are banding together along the pipeline’s proposed route through Texas, challenging plans to claim land for the proposed pipeline that will run from Canada’s oil sands to Texas’ Gulf Coast.

“Crippling someone’s water supply knows no party line,†said Rita Beving, consultant to the bipartisan East Texas Sub-Regional Planning Commission. A Republican mayor and a Democratic city secretary lead the group’s fight against the pipeline.

...“I could stand on the street corner and jump up and down as loud as I can. But the environmental message would only go so far,†Ian Davis, a Texas-based Sierra Club activist, told Roll Call.

The environmental group that typically draws Democratic-leaning liberals and is often at odds with conservative causes is coordinating with unusual allies in the Keystone fight. They include Debra Medina, a tea partyer who challenged Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the 2010 Republican primary and won 19 percent of the vote.

“We’ve been doing the environmental bit for years here, and nothing’s caught fire. But what [Medina] is doing has created momentum,†Davis said.

Medina and her fellow tea partyers oppose TransCanada’s use of eminent domain to claim private land for pipeline use, and they say Texas laws don’t protect landowners and city councils in the event of a spill.

Two masked men smashed display cabinets and took more than 60 objects after overpowering a guard at the museum in Olympia, officials said.

The town's mayor said the items, mostly bronze and clay statuettes, were of "incalculable" value.

Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos has tendered his resignation, but it has so far not been accepted.

He has gone to the site which is on a forested hilltop in western Greece.

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says the robbery-- the second major museum theft this year-- raises fresh questions about museum security... Last autumn a senior member of staff at the museum wrote to the government warning that budget cuts had reduced staff there to a point where the museum's security could no longer be ensured.

...Greece's culture ministry, like most state departments, has seen its budget cut as part of austerity measures imposed by the government.

In January, a Picasso painting, given by the artist himself, was stolen from the Athens National Gallery, along with a Mondrian painting and a sketch by Italian artist Guglielmo Caccia.

A unionist with the culture minister said museums nationwide are short of some 1,500 guards, after two years of layoffs imposed by the government, according to AFP.

"All museums have suffered cuts, both in guards and archaeologists, the staff are no longer enough to operate at full shifts," said Ioanna Frangou, general secretary of the union of short-term culture ministry staff.

While Greece and Europe continue sinking ever deeper into the colonial quicksand of Pax Goldmania, Iceland, which blew up, pushed its banks into bankruptcy, and arrested its corrupt bankers, is well on its way to being the world's only normal country.

• ICELAND RATINGS RAISED TO INVESTMENT GRADE BY FITCH

• FITCH UPGRADES ICELAND TO 'BBB-'; STABLE OUTLOOK

• FITCH DOES NOT EXPECT ICELAND TO SLIP BACK INTO RECESSION

• FITCH SAYS ICELAND GOVERNMENT DEBT PEAKED AT 100% OF GDP IN '11

Too bad the Goldman colony of Greece (and soon everyone else - thank you first lien "bailout" debt) will not see headlines such as these written about it any time in the next century.

Fitch Ratings lifted its rating on Iceland to investment grade, citing the nation's progress in stabilizing its economy and pushing ahead with structural reforms.

The upgrade puts Iceland's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating at triple-B-minus, placing it on the first rung of investment-grade territory. The outlook is stable.

As one of the first countries to take a hit from the global financial crisis, the country is now showing a "promising" economic recovery, said Paul Rawkins, a senior director at the ratings firm.

He added that Iceland has successfully completed a program with the International Monetary Fund and gained renewed access to international capital markets.

Fitch believes that Iceland's gross general government debt may have peaked at around 100% of GDP in 2011, while net debt is significantly lower at around 65% of GDP.

Excluding the possibility for further shocks, the firm said Iceland should see a reduction in its public debt to GDP ratio, assuming its economic recovery continues to progress and fiscal targets are adhered to by the government.

Fellow ratings firm Standard & Poor's Ratings Services last year raised its outlook on Iceland to stable from negative, pointing to the country's improved economic fundamentals and growth expectations.

SPORTS OF THE TIMES
A Star With a Smile, Forever Kid

Gary Carter in the Mets' clubhouse at Shea Stadium in 1986. It was his second season in New York, and his most memorable.

By GEORGE VECSEY

The players called him Kid. Some fans and reporters called him Camera Carter.

The mask would come off, and the cameras would pick up his radiant smile.

When the Mets were on their run in the 1980s, Gary Carter was often seen hugging somebody. It was easy to joke about that. The best hug of all was with Jesse Orosco at the end of the 1986 World Series.

Up close, Carter was not nearly so ebullient. He was a gentleman, the eternal optimist, but there was also an element of sadness to him. He never brought it up, unless asked, but his mother died of leukemia when he was 12 years old.

According to an old Jim Murray column, Inge Charlotte Carter told him she was going into the hospital for tests; she didn't want him to worry. He found out while he was on the ball field that she had died, Carter once told Murray, the great columnist from The Los Angeles Times.

The grief remained tangible with Carter when he was the final addition for the championship run of the Mets, the way Dave DeBusschere had been for the 1969-70 Knicks. DeBusschere died of a heart attack in 2003 at 62, and on Thursday the other great New York building block died of brain cancer at 57.

At a distance, Kid Carter looked like a cheerleader who could hit home runs and throw out runners at second base. He was more complicated than that.

For a man who had nothing bad to say or do toward anybody, he was strangely alone in the Mets' clubhouse. In Montreal he had been the core of the Expos, but General Manager Frank Cashen and his Mets staff had accumulated so many strong personalities on the Mets that Carter was muted.

When a pitcher needed a lecture, it usually came from Keith Hernandez, making a fist from first base: Settle down or I'll kill you. When a fight was needed, Ray Knight would oblige, willingly. Straw and Doc, Nails and Wally, Roger and Bobby O.

In New York, Kid Carter was pure vanilla for a city with stronger tastes.

But Carter and Mookie Wilson were the nicest people. That needs to be said. Carter played with the enthusiasm of the 12-year-old he had been when his mother died. He and his brother had helped their father run the house. He was used to responsibility. He did not need to assert himself.

Gary Carter was also a Christian who lived his faith, but did not openly profess it. If people asked, he shared, but he did not threaten that highly secular clubhouse. If somebody whispered, "Geez, I love Kid, but why can't he hit the ball to the right side?" Carter turned the other cheek, always seeing the best in people, and in his team.

Some religious guys in sports give the impression: I've got something you don't have. Carter was as sweet a person as you could meet in that highly competitive world. He made the Mets better the day he arrived.

Carter must have known how some of the most talented people in that clubhouse were dissipating their skills. He never let on. He was a true believer, even when doctors told him he had inoperable brain cancer.

Now he gets to see his mom, and she tells him how proud she is.

It is heartbreaking, of course, as it would be for anyone fighting for his life at age 57. It also makes me wish I had known Carter better. By all accounts, he is gracious and kind, an antidote to the gruff, hard-living Mets of his era. He is also religious, and you have to believe that is helping to comfort him now.

Carter's faith stands out from my only real memory of meeting him. It was in the early 1990s, and I was writing a story about the famous sixth game against the Red Sox in that 1986 World Series. Carter, as Mets fans surely remember, came up with two outs and the bases empty, down two runs to Boston in the bottom of the 10th inning. One more out, and the Red Sox would be champions. I asked Carter to relive the moment.

"The biggest thing that was going through my mind is that I reflected back upon my days in the alleyway dreaming about this," Carter said. "You always think World Series, bottom of the ninth, two outs, that kind of stuff.

"And then, I felt an extreme presence and I knew that our good Lord was with us. I felt like when I went up to the plate, I was not going to make the last out. I prayed from the time I left the on-deck circle to the time I got in the box."

Carter lashed a single off Calvin Schiraldi, scored on a single by Ray Knight, and celebrated – in shin guards and chest protector -- when the Mets capped their comeback.

The next game, Carter squeezed the final strike when Jesse Orosco fanned Marty Barrett to clinch Game 7. Carter thrust his arms in the air, raced to the mound and leaped on Orosco to start the most raucous dogpile baseball had ever seen. It is how Mets fans will remember him, a champion on top of the pile.

Nobody knows what God had to do with it. But Carter believed, and that seems important now.

The rule changes adopted at Wednesday's open meeting would make it more difficult for telemarketers to disturb consumers, by requiring consent before they can place automated robocalls to a home phone line. A previous exemption to the rule for established business relationships was also eliminated.

The rules also require telemarketers to provide consumers with an automated opt-out mechanism so they can stop receiving the calls, and limit the total number of dropped or "dead air" calls a firm can make within each calling campaign.

"Too many telemarketers, aided by autodialers and prerecorded messages, have continued to call consumers who don’t want to hear from them," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. 

"Consumers by the thousands have complained to us, letting us know that they remain unhappy with having their privacy invaded and their time wasted by these unwanted calls."

The maker of the widely used Avastin cancer drug said Tuesday that it is warning doctors, hospitals and patient groups that a counterfeit version of the medicine has been found in the U.S.

Tests of counterfeit vials of Avastin showed that they didn't contain the active ingredient in Roche Holding AG's intravenous drug, according to the Swiss company's Genentech unit.

It isn't clear how much of the counterfeit product was distributed in the U.S. or whether it has caused any harm. A Genentech spokeswoman said the company doesn't know if any patients were given the fake drug.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating, and has sent letters to 19 medical practices in the U.S. that the agency says buy unapproved cancer medicines and might have bought the counterfeit Avastin.

An FDA spokeswoman said it hasn't received any reports of patient side effects that appear to be linked to the counterfeit product.

Most Americans don't question the integrity of the drugs they rely on. They view drug counterfeiting, if they are aware of it at all, as a problem for developing countries. But the latest incident, which follows the appearance of other fake drugs in the U.S.-- including counterfeits of the weight-loss treatment Alli and the influenza treatment Tamiflu-- suggests it is a growing risk, especially as more medicines and drug ingredients sold in the U.S. are made overseas.

In addition to the specter of fake medicines, U.S. drug makers are confronting their own shortcomings. Companies including Johnson & Johnson have had to shut down manufacturing plants due to quality problems. Earlier this month, Pfizer Inc. said it recalled about a million packs of birth-control pills because improper packaging could raise the risk of unplanned pregnancies.

...Experts say counterfeits are a relatively small but still serious problem for the nation's drug supply. In the U.S., most prescription medicines are distributed by authorized suppliers, who buy them from their manufacturers and assure their integrity. Pharmacies, too, put pressure on the distributors to ensure quality.

Still counterfeits can enter the drug supply through unauthorized distributors and Internet pharmacies that try to turn a quick profit selling the inauthentic products. Doctors and patients might not know they are using a counterfeit if it doesn't cause harm but simply fails to work.

Twelve years later, Mr. Grimm was back in business in New York, where he formed a company called Granny Sayz, L.L.C., which operated Healthalicious, a restaurant on Second Avenue near 83rd Street in Manhattan. The company was affiliated with a company now connected to Mr. Biton, the Grimm fund-raiser who is under investigation.

The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board last month ordered Healthalicious to pay $88,000 for not carrying workers’ compensation insurance. And in 2011, two former deliverymen retained a lawyer, Dan Knauth, asserting that the restaurant had paid them less than minimum wage, did not pay for work beyond 40 hours per week and paid cash to evade scrutiny.

Mr. Knauth said he contacted Mr. Grimm’s office about the complaints. Shortly afterward, Mr. Grimm filed papers with the state to dissolve his company, Granny Sayz.

On Dec. 1, the deliverymen sued the restaurant, Mr. Grimm and others.

The defendants have not responded in court. But the restaurant has engaged in maneuvers that make it more difficult to sue.

The restaurant’s legal name originally contained the word Healthalicious, with a C. Then in 2010, it was changed to Healthalitious NYC (with a T).

Finally, right after the lawsuit was filed, the restaurant changed its legal name again, to Healthalicious Upper East Side-- with a C.

Hundreds of citizens, (even including NYC chefs in their white chef hats) joined Occupy the Food System groups, ie Food Democracy Now, gathered outside the Federal Courts in Manhattan on  January 31st, to support organic family farmers in their landmark lawsuit against Big Agribusiness giant Monsanto. (Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association v. Monsanto) Oral arguments were heard that day concerning the lawsuit by 83 plaintiffs representing over 300,000 organic farmers, organic seed growers, and organic seed businesses.

The lawsuit addresses the bizarre and shocking issue of Monsanto harassing and threatening organic farmers with lawsuits of “patent infringement†if any organic farmer ends up with any trace amount of GM seeds on their organic farmland.

Judge Naomi Buckwald heard the oral arguments on Monsanto’s Motion to Dismiss, and the legal team from Public Patent Foundation represented the rights of American organic farmers against Monsanto, maker of GM seeds, [and additionally, Agent Orange, dioxin, etc.]

After hearing the arguments, Judge Buckwald stated that on March 31st she will hand down her decision on whether the lawsuit will move forward to trial.

Not only does this lawsuit debate the issue of Monsanto potentially ruining the organic farmers’ pure seeds and crops with the introduction of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) seeds anywhere near the organic farms, but additionally any nearby GM fields can withstand Monsanto’s Roundup herbicides, thus possibly further contaminating the organic farms nearby if Roundup is used.


Of course, the organic farmers don’t want anything to do with that ole contaminated GM seed in the first place. In fact, that is why they are certified organic farmers.  Hello?  But now they have to worry about getting sued by the very monster they abhor,  and even have to spend extra money and land (for buffers which only sometimes deter the contaminated seed from being swept by the wind into their crop land). At this point, they are even having to resort to not growing at all the following organic plants: soybeans, corn, cotton, sugar beets, and canola, …just to protect themselves from having any (unwanted) plant that Monsanto could possibly sue them over.

The farmers are suffering the threat of possible loss of Right Livelihood. They are creating good jobs for Americans, and supplying our purest foods. These organic farmers are bringing Americans healthy food so we can be a healthy Nation, instead of the undernourished and obese kids and adults that President Obama worries so much about us becoming.

So what was President Obama doing when he appointed Michael Taylor, a former VP of Monsanto, as Sr. Advisor to the Commissioner at the FDA? The FDA is responsible for “label requirements†and recently ruled under Michael Taylor’s time as FDA Food Czar that GMO products did not need to be labeled as such, even though national consumer groups loudly professed the public’s right to know what is genetically modified in the food system. Sadly to remember: President Obama promised in campaign speeches that he would “let folks know what foods are genetically modified.â€Â These are the conflict of interests that lead to the 99% movement standing up for the family farmers.

...Jim Gerritsen, President of the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association, has pointed out that there are 5th and 6th generation family farmers being pushed off their farms today, and because of a “climate of fear†(from possible lawsuits from Monsanto), they can’t grow some of the food they want to grow.

These farmers are the ones who have been able to survive the changes over the past twenty years by choosing to go into the budding niche of organic farming.  Now look at what they have to deal with while trying to grow successful businesses: Monsanto’s threats.

Even organic dairy farmers have had to suffer lawsuits ( from Monsanto) when they labeled their organic milk “non-BGH†referring to Monsanto’s bovine growth hormone used by conventional dairies.

Consumers want organic food, and they want America’s pure food source to stay protected in America.  Made in America, organically, is the way of the future, and family farmers and seed businesses should be free to maintain their high standards for organic foods.  They deserve protection from Big Agribusiness’ dangerous seeds trespassing on their croplands, not to mention the use of pesticides and herbicides on GM crops.  The organic industry has an “organic seal†which is also important to the success of family businesses, and even that stamp of quality is threatened by the spread of Monsanto’s GM seed contaminating their pure seed banks.

...It was so inspiring years ago when Michelle Obama planted an organic garden at the White House. It was a great precedent for the future, but what happened? It was ruined when they discovered sewer sludge from previous Administrations had contaminated their beautiful soil where the organic vegetables were planted. Just one small upset but it was remedied for future plantings. What about our whole country’s organic food supply being contaminated by previous Adminstrations’ bad choices? Why did they ever allow Monsanto to introduce genetically engineered seeds into our pure, organic, and heirloom stockpiles across America in the first place?

Recently, the Obama Administration, in an effort to boost food exports, signed joint agreements with agricultural biotechnology industry giants, including Monsanto, to remove the last barriers for the spread of more genetically modified crops.

But in this recent lawsuit filed by the Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association, it was argued that a previous contamination of a “genetically engineered variety of rice,†named Liberty Link 601, in 2006, before it was approved for human consumption, “extensively contaminated the commercial rice supply, resulting in multiple countries banning the import of U.S. rice.â€Â The worldwide economic loss was “upward to $1.285 billion dollars†due to the presence of GMOs…

What are everyday Americans going to do to turn it around, to get rid of Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds and its dangerous threat to America’s heirloom and organic seed caches?

There is high rate of cancer in America, and eating healthier, especially organic foods, has been shown to have great benefits in beating cancer and other diseases.  When we have Agribusiness threatening independent family farmers, which leads to the farmers feeling so scared that they don’t even plant their organic crops that Americans need, then perhaps we can all see what the 99% Occupy Movement is trying to say about their conflict of interest and seemingly abuse of powers.

Willie Nelson just released a new poem on You Tube: “We stand with Humanity, against the Insanity, We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for… We’re the Seeds and we’re the Core,  We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for; We’re the ones with the 99%.â€

Monsanto’s practices are a clear example of the wrong direction that the 99% want our country to go in. How about shining some light on Monsanto, and before it is too late, realize the dangers of genetically modified seeds which are contaminating the world’s food supply.

“Crazy, crazy for feeling so…  99%.

Recently, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has drawn criticism for acting as lobbyists for corporate legislation while being exempted from registering as a lobbying group with the Government Accountability Board. Many ALEC bills became law this session, including several of Governor Walker’s special session bills that made it harder for victims to sue corporations for wrongdoing.

“Last August, I infiltrated the ALEC convention and got a first-hand look at what they are up to,†said Pocan. “ALEC is like a speed dating service for lonely legislators and corporate executives. The corporations write bills and legislators sign their names to the bills. In the end, we’re stuck with bad laws and nobody knows where they came from.â€

During one of Governor Walker’s special sessions, which were supposed to focus on job creation, ALEC saw several of their bills become law in Wisconsin. One such bill diminishes a victim’s right to sue corporations if they are harmed by irresponsible business practices.

“If they look like a lobbyist, talk like a lobbyist and walk like a lobbyist, they should be regulated like a lobbyist,†said Larson. “Wisconsin’s lobbying laws are intended to instill as much integrity and transparency in our government as possible. ALEC shouldn’t get a free pass to anonymously do their lobbying.â€

Pocan has crashed ALEC’s conventions twice, becoming a member in an effort to learn more about the secretive lobbying group. In doing so, he exposed a giant loophole in Wisconsin’s lobbying law in which corporations do not have to report their efforts to persuade legislators to sponsor their personally crafted model legislation.

The ALEC Accountability Act would apply existing lobbying laws to any organization or person who advocates for the introduction of model legislation. The bill would also regulate the reporting of any “scholarships†organizations dole out to legislators, including a list of corporate sponsors. Additionally, the bill would prohibit state taxpayer funds from being used to pay for these lobbyist conventions.