Stop Monsanto Protection Act..Again; Call Congress ACTION

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives decided to introduce the same language for the Continuing Resolution spending bill (H.J.RES.59) that contained the Monsanto Protection Act that Congress passed last spring.

This past March, Monsanto succeeded in sneaking the controversial rider into a must pass spending bill, which is set to expire onSeptember 30th. But now, with the new continuing resolution, the Monsanto Protection Act would be extended for 3 additional months!

The Monsanto Protection Act undermines the basic concept of judicial review and forces the USDA to allow the planting of untested GMO crops even if a federal court ruled that the USDA had not properly considered the environmental or economic risks these new crops pose to family farmers.

If allowed to pass again, this new provision would undermine agency oversight and this dangerous provision could eventually become permanent, allowing Monsanto to succeed in stripping judges of their constitutional mandate to protect consumer rights and the environment, while opening up the floodgates for the planting of new untested GMO crops.

Is Congress Trying to Kill GMO Labeling?

Even worse, right now Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI) is working behind the scenes to introduce a bill that would kill state GMO labeling efforts by preempting it with a bill that would place GMO labeling under federal authority, circumventing successful citizen led efforts in Maine and Connecticut and trying to invalidate the ballot initiative in Washington state before it even passes.

We need your voice today more than ever to stop Monsanto’s shenanigans in Congress!

Click here to make a call to Congress to tell them to vote no on the continuing resolution if it contains any protections for Monsanto or undermines state’s rights to label genetically engineered foods!

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/607?t=7&akid=971.312785.0kPDL9

Even now as we are close to winning, Monsanto, DuPont and the biotech seed and chemical giants are working desperately behind the scenes to thwart our efforts.

While the previous Continuing Resolution that was passed this March is set to expire onSeptember 30th, Roll Call reported this week that House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers, (R-KY) has introduced the short-term Continuing Resolution, with the exact same language as last time, which could be voted on as early as next week.

While members of the House are desperate to pitch this new continuing resolution as a “responsible” effort to pass a temporary budget to avoid a shutdown of the federal government, Monsanto and the biotech industry are using it as another opportunity to corrupt our basic democrat rights and protect their bottom line.

Last spring Food Democracy Now! members exposed the initial Monsanto Protection Act to the world when more than 300,000 of us stood up and demanded an end to the special interests handouts to Monsanto and the biotech seed and chemical giants.

Right now, we are once again calling on you and your friends and family to stand with us again to help expose this corruption of our basic democratic process once again!

Monsanto’s days are numbered and they know it! This year, you helped passed GMO labeling bills in Connecticut and Maine and right now we’re working hard with our allies to help win a citizen led ballot initiative in Washington state that would mandate labeling of genetically engineered foods.

Unfortunately, Monsanto, DuPont and the largest junk food companies in the world are determined to try to steal our basic democratic rights to protect their corrupt corporate profits. Just this week Monsanto dumped $4.5 million to defeat our efforts to win Yes on 522 and GMO labeling in Washington state while DuPont dropped $3.4 million. 

Right now is the critical window where we need to stand together to stop Monsanto and these corrupt corporations from trying to betray our basic democratic rights once again.

Please stand with us to help stop Monsanto, DuPont and the biotech seed and chemical companies from corrupting our laws and democratic process.

Remember, democracy is like a muscle, either you use it or you lose it!

Pope John XXIII - Pacem in Terris - Peace on Earth

Susan Brannon
13 July 2012

Pope John XXIII was born on 25 November 1881 until 3 June 1963.   In Easter week of 1963, less than two months before his death Pope John XXIII issued his encyclical letter, The Pacem in Terris meaning Peace on Earth.  Below is part of that text:

Peace on Earth, which men of every era have most eagerly yearned for, can be firmly established only if the order laid down by God be dutifully observed.
He created all things out of nothing, pouring into them the abundance of His wisdom and goodness.
God also created man in His own images and likeness, endowed him with intelligence and freedom,
and made him lord of creation.
How strongly does the turmoil of individual men and peoples contrast with the perfect order of the universe!
But the Creator of the world has imprinted in man's heart an order which his conscience reveals to him and enjoins him to obey.
The family...is...the first and essential cell of human society.

Human beings have the natural right to free initiative in the economic field, and the right to work.
Women have the right to working conditions in accordance with their requirements and their duties as wives and mothers.
Furthermore, there is the right to a working wage, a standard of living in keeping with the dignity of the human person...the right of assembly and association...to freedom of movement.

Every man has the right to life, to bodily integrity.
A human being also has the right to security in cases of sickness, inability to work, widowhood, old age, unemployment, or in any other case in which he is deprived of the means of subsistence through no fault of his own.

Every human being has the right...to freedom in searching for truth and in expressing and communicating his opinions, to share in the benefits of culture, and therefore the right to a basic education.

Every human being has the right to honor God according to the dictates of an upright conscience.

The right of every man to life is correlative with the duty to preserve it.
Men are meant to live with others and to work for one another's welfare.
When the relations of human society are expressed in terms of rights and duties, men become...deeply aware that they belong to this world of values.
To safeguard the inviolable rights of the human person, and to facilitate the fulfillment of its duties, should be the essential office of every public authority.
Truth...calls for...the elimination of every trace of racism.
Political communities have the right to existence, development, and to the means necessary for this.

It is with deep sorrow that we note the enormous stocks of armaments that have been and still are being made.
People live in constant fear

lest the storm that every moment threatens should break upon them with dreadful violence.
And with good reason, for the arms of war are ready at hand.

Justice, then, right reason and humanity urgently demand that the arms race should cease; that the stockpiles which exist in various countries should be reduced equally and simultaneously by the parties concerned;
that nuclear weapons should be banned; and that a general agreement should eventually be reached about progressive disarmament and an effective method of control.
The public authority of the world community...must have as its fundamental objective
the recognition, respect, safeguarding, and promotion of the rights of the human person.

There is an immense task incumbent on all men of good will, namely, the task of restoring the relations of the human family in truth,  in justice, in love, and in freedom.
Every believer in this world of ours must be a spark of light.
This is the peace which we implore of Him with the ardent yearning of Our prayer

ex-Senator takes the words out of my mouth

Gravel took the words out of my own mouth.  He is saddened about America, the state of our country and the money we spend on war instead of those who are going hungry in the U.S.  He wonders where are the morals of our leaders today.  With names are on lists, no trials, no reason for arrest is removing the governmental responsibility for their actions. Gravel says,  "Dropping bombs from the air, you don't see them die...but they are down there."  He also feels that, we have lost our sense in our morals and the "ability to govern ourselves.  The US has committed crimes against humanity and continues to this day.  The Bush war in Iraq, was a crime....Obama says, "Oh we don't look back."  Obama has been doing the exact same thing that the Bush administration." 

Did you know that America has ex pulsed over 500,000 people from the U.S. last year (2011).  Have you read this information in the news?  Why has not the media doing their "real" jobs.  This is what I say, the media is responsible to inform the citizens with facts and truths, not propaganda and lies as they have been doing so.  This is an insult to humanity and our intelligence.  The fact of the kicking people out of our country should be on the front page, they also were "Americans".  One day will they do the same thing to you or to me? 

Obama said, that "we are not going to take any money from special interests."  But, he has been, and has received over 1 billion dollars.  (More on that later) The Gravel says that, "Netanyahu is a liar, and Starkozy says this as well. Israel has weapons enough to start a third world war and we should be careful."

Gravel, feels that we need to leave the countries alone and they will take care of themselves.  "Leave them alone."  and get out of all the countries that we are terrorizing.  He adds, " We have lost our democracy, there are no democracies."

A few things that he mentioned in the video, "(World fears US as a war-hungry drunk')

"Corporations have no moral conscious and memory, they are designed to make money.  They should not be in command of society and our countries.  They are in command of society worldwide today. If this continues, then we will lead to the destruction of our planet. You see this today with the meltdown that is taking place.  They are all only to make a profit.  We need to control the corporations and take them out from controlling the countries.  "That is irresponsible corporate activity The people need a tool to control these things and that is the government.  The government is a tool, and if it is properly designed, and in the hands of the people, then the people will have a role of how things are run.  Marcus Sisrol said that, "People are free if they participate in power."  I know of know country in the world today that are really free."
Well said Gravel!

"

Baba Amr-Homs, Syria

Susan Brannon
24 February 2012
Life in Homs Syria

Danny Abdel describes life in Baba Amr is likened to a war zone.  "No one is safe here. They shoot at us everyday.  They come in armies in tanks, sometimes without us even knowing. I've lost 14 of my best friends, they all have been shot, bombed up or taken to prison and have come out dead...all of them."

Hundreds have been killed by rockets, snipers' bullets as the Syrian regime attempts to regain control of the country.  Homs is the third largest city in Syria and known as the capital of the Syrian revolution.There are 28,00 people in Baba Amr that are besieged and they cannot get out.  The regime will not let them out and are shelling the civilian areas.

 No one has been spared the violence that has reached high levels.  UN debated and failed to negotiate a resolution.  On February 6th a rocket blew into a local hospital.  It is said that the regime patrols the hospitals to arrest people who are injured.  They invade in the evening and go to the hospitals in the morning to find those who are revolutionaries.  The doctors in the hospitals are not allowed to treat anyone that has been injured in the violence.  This means any man, woman or child with their legs blown off, or bullets embedded in their bodies.

Many doctors are now treating people in homes without the proper medical equipment that is needed.  In a recent video journalist, Edith Bouvier pleads for her safe exit from the violent country after a shooting that destroyed both of her legs.  Her interview is from a room in someone's private home.

American war journalist Marie Colvin was located near Edith and was killed.  During Colvin's last interview from Homs, she said that, "It's absolutely sickening...shelling started at 6:30 in the morning...I counted 14 shells hitting this civilian area of Baba Amr within 30 seconds. There's a small clinic, you can't really call it a clinic.  It's an apartment that has been turned into a clinic.  You have plasma bags hanging from coathangers.  I watched a little baby die today.  Absolutely horrific.  A two-year old had been hit, they stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the left chest....This is happening over and over and over."

It is believed that the journalists were targeted because of the signals from using satellites for reporting. Colvin had reported that the regime is bombing any home and the home that she was in before was bombed the week before.

No one in Syria can understand how the international community allows this to happen and they continue to make pleas to the outside world to help them.  They are confused because when the revolution occurred in Libya, the International community stepped in. 

More than 7,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the uprising.  They will not stop because if they do, then they will go door to door and gather up all the revolutionaries for mass execution. A Syrian activists said that the regime films the revolutionaries and knows who they are if they give up then things will become much worse for the people of Syria.  The activists put their very lives at risk by posting videos on You Tube in the attempt to gather international attention.

Hilary Clinton said, "If this was easy, it would have already been done." On January 30, 2012 the UN attempted to an agreement but failed by 13 for to 2 against. Russia attempted to change the wording to clarify avoiding any calls for military action. Their concern is that any vague wordings could be used by NATO for another Libya-style regime change.  Syrian ambassador Bashar Ja'Afari, responded to the agreement by stating  "I think that the European and American countries are making the same mistakes.  Syria will not be Libya and Syria will not be Iraq"

The humanitarian situation is at a crisis point.  Medical supplies and food are not coming in and the resources are limited. Oil needed for heating, babies milk, cutting off the power to phones and electricity and lack of medicine.   Aid agencies or others are not allowed to bring or travel around with supplies.  If anyone is found with medical supplies or food they will be shot on the spot no questions asked.  There are reports of human rights concerns, child torture, raping of women and children, targeted civilian murder, and the use of human shields.

As a reaction to this President Obama says, "I will continue to put pressure and use every tool available to stop the slaughter in Syria. It is imperative for the international community to rally and send a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition, a time to move on and a time to stop killing their own citizens."
For Syria, lets hope that they can do this soon.

Government restrictions on protests-American Dream-09-05-2011

http://youtu.be/bkFyLEhIj9A
To forestall a planned protest, San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) turned off cell phone service, angering passengers and raising questions about First Amendment rights in an age of social media protests.

The decision by Bay Area Rapid Transit officials to cut off cell phone service Thursday evening to forestall a planned protest raises a fundamental question: Do Americans have a basic right to digital free speech or to digitally organized assembly?

The War You Don't See 2010

John Pilger tells it just like it is.  This video reflects the reasons that I refused to be "Embedded" at the risk of my professional journalism ability to be "hired on" with mainstream media.  My consciousness would not allow me to report falsely to the public, those things which I knew were not true.  Even though during the height of the Intifada and the invasion of Iraq, it was taboo for me to talk about the realities even to my family and friends.  The social pressure in America was astounding and disappointing to me and still is.  Even after the release of the truth of the lies for the invasion into Iraq, the American people did not stand up strong enough to put pressure on the American government to withdraw.  It is about time that the journalist that were a part of this "show" admit their crime in true journalism to the world and apologize that they also misled the global community the propaganda that destroyed an entire country and so many lives.

This is this reason, that I started the  "Crossing Borders Project" to distribute camera's to those who have no voice in the mainstream media in order to provide a tool of truth from the inside of a story told by those who are affected. 

What I do not understand, is why don't the American people want to know the truth?  Why do they sit and believe the propaganda and continues to this day?  Our banking system, our wars, our poverty, the reason for so many new homeless?   Is it not more intelligent to want to know what is really going on than to believe something that will not solve our problems?

This is why I chose to remain an independent journalist, starving for the truth that no one wants to hear and only the free press will publish without paying.
It is time that we change our systems and ways of doing things as journalists.  Those who reported falsely in the mainstream media should be ashamed of themselves.

Creating

I have not submitted my photo of the day for a few days. I was side tracked with emotionally created humm by my ex. (handling your divorce) Sad huh? I surely don’t understand why people just don’t let things be, why they feel that they need to be telling you what you should be doing with your life. Are they me? Are they you?

Isn’t one really free when they can live without the societal limits that are instilled upon our brains? In order to be “successful” (your brain has a bent - not a dent)must we really own our own home with the picket white fence and drive a Mercedes?

Freedom (emotional freedom) is creating the ability to live in a peaceful environment of encouragement in a circle of great friends, they are like diamonds.
Freedom is the ability to create in your own life what it is you do based on who you really are, not who they think that you should be.
Freedom is creating the ability to create. Leonardo De Vinci was a creator and in his creations he presented gifts and knowledge to the entire world that we still use today.
Freedom is creating the ability to create, that is: creating your own design (emotional design) of your own life, your breathe and your soul based on who you really are. (Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and community in a fragmented world)

Today is my birthday.

The Olive Tree

The olive tree has is a symbol of freedom and peace. Its roots go deep into the ground and its branches reach up towards the sky. You have to prune the tree every year for it to produce its fruit. You can take a branch, and grow a new tree and plant a mountain of olive trees.
The tree is life giving.
It produces oil for cooking, your skin, for fire, and for food.
The olive tree dates back to the Egyptian time period, they used it for everything.
People have been killed over olives.
Families have broken up over olives.
When the killing stops
and the families come back together
then the olive tree will represent the peace that is so desires.

Book link:  The Olive Tree of Civilization, by John Train:
The ancients knew these virtues and olive oil became a key to their religious and political ceremonies, from the temples of Ra in Egypt where lamps burned olive oil, to the temple of Soloman, where kings were anointed with oil based ointments. Christ was offered a sip of oil on the cross; Hanukah is, at its origin...