Muse in the Morning

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 24 April 2012 06:00:00 AM. © Docudharma - Front Page

Muse in the MorningCounterspin 1 I know you have talent. What sometimes is forgotten is that being practical is a talent. I have a paucity for that sort of talent in many situations, though it turns out that I'm a pretty darn good cook. :-)Let your[...]

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Can't Escape Monsanto's Poison

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 24 April 2012 06:00:00 AM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

By @KYYellowDog

Wonder what happened to all the butterflies? They've been Roundup-ed.

Mike Barrett at Truthout:

Monsanto's Roundup, containing the active ingredient glyphosate, has been tied to more health and environmental problems than you could imagine. Similar to how pesticides have been contributing to the bee decline, Monsanto's Roundup has been tied to the decrease in the population of monarch butterflies by killing the very plants that the butterflies rely on for habitat and food. What's been shown to be an even greater threat to the population, though, is Monsanto's Roundup Ready corn and soybeans.
A 2011 study published in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity found that increasing acreage of genetically modified Roundup Ready corn and soybeans is heavily contributing to the decline in monarch butterfly populations within North America. Milkweed, a plant butterflies rely on for habitat and food, is being destroyed by the heavy use of glyphosate-based pesticides and Roundup Ready crops. Over the past 17 years, the monarch butterfly population in central Mexico has declined, reaching an all-time low in 2009-2010.
"This milkweed has disappeared from at least 100 million acres of these row crops," said Dr. Taylor, an insect ecologist at the University of Kansas and director of the research and conservation program Monarch Watch. "Your milkweed is virtually gone...this [glyphosate use on RR crops] is the one main factor that has happened...you look at parts of the Midwest where there is a tremendous use of these crops and you see monarch populations dropping. It's hard to deny the conclusion."

According to the Department of Agriculture, in 2011 94 percent of soybeans and 72 percent of corn grown in the United States were herbicide-tolerant. Due to this increase, the amount of Roundup used on crops in 2007 was 5 times higher than in 1997, only one year after Roundup Ready crops were available.
Another study published int he journal Crop Protection and conducted by Robert G Hartzler, an agronomist at Iowa State, found that milkweed on farms in Iowa declined 90 percent from 1999 to 2009. Additionally, his study found milkweed only on 8 percent of corn and soybean fields surveyed in 2009, which is 51 percent lower than in 1999.
Although the butterfly population may be suffering, humans are taking heat from Monsanto's creations as well. Past research has shown that Monsanto's Roundup ready crops are leading to mental illness and obesity, primarily by destroying the amount of good bacteria found in the gut. The corporation's Roundup, containing glyphosate, has also been shown to cause infertility and birth defects.
Glyphosate is so present today that it has been found to be polluting the world's drinking water through the widespread contamination of aquifers, wells, and springs. What may be most shocking is that very high concentrations of glyphosate have been found in 100 percent of urine samples tested in a recent study.

Find options here.

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A Call to Arms: 2008 v 2012

post from DemConWatch on 24 April 2012 05:55:47 AM. © DemConWatch

Today is the Pennsylvania primary. Outside, it's 39 degrees with real feel of 27. And that's Fahrenheit. West of where I sit, it's actually snowing. What a change from 2008, when the day dawned warm and sunny. The day of the 2008 primary, I was so excited I couldn't sleep. By 4 a.m. I was out running in the park, my dog Olivia by my side. I was at the polls more than an hour before they opened, setting up, working the line which formed early. For a lot of people in Pennsylvania, that primary was the first time they'd seen the optical scan ballots, and I walked up and down with a copy, explaining the similarities to an SAT: only mark one choice, colour the little circles completely, no stray marks. I stopped home around 11 a.m. to change clothes as I was working for the county in the afternoon, and no politics allowed inside the polls. I took Olivia outside and there was some tall stranger, replete with a McCain hat and a clipboard coming down the street. Olivia growled and snarled: a true Democratic dog. I was able to look around the cul-de-sac and point out the 3 houses that belonged to him, the two where people would not be voting, and assuredly point out that the rest of the court belonged to me. Even in a primary, MY voters were turning out.

2008 had such promise. My then boss had a countdown clock to "the end of an error." The Republicans would be vanquished, normalcy would return. The wars would end. In April of 2008, the issues related to polling numbers and speeches, post-election plans. No one really understood that the economy had already tanked. Until Lehman imploded and the House voted down the first bailout, it was all an abstraction. We were going to get through the primary, go on to the convention, heal the party rifts and move forward. Heady times.

The world has changed. In certain ways, we won the battle, but are currently losing the war. It's time to say enough is enough.

I'm voting today, and taking people with me to the polls. I'm politicking daily, and registering voters. With help, I plan to launch voter drives right after Memorial Day, and use those drives to educate and inspire (as always). Will you join me? I'm spewing facts about what the Obama administration has accomplished. Such as:

Passed Health Care Reform
Passed the Stimulus
Ended the war in Iraq
Killed Osama Bin Laden
Repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Passed and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act
Expanded Pell Grants
Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards
Tightened Iran Sanctions
Killed the F-22 and saved $4 billion doing so
Expanded Hate Crime protections
Expanded SChip
Expanded Stem Cell Research

Those are just a few. There would have been more had more of us worked harder in 2010 to keep the teabaggers out of Congress and the statehouses. I can't speak for you, but this little blonde girl is going to work heart and soul to reverse that. I look at what the GOP is doing, and I am APPALLED. They want nothing short of returning America to the 1850's. Those 25 people who have each, individually, given over $1,000,000 to the Romney PACS: what do you think they want? A roll back of legislation that regulates their ability to pollute, kill, and destroy our country and its citizens. Why do you think they all are so anti-education, anti-voting and anti-women? Because they want a nation of uneducated people who lack the ability to stand up in the voting booths and change anything.

It's time to stand up and be counted by taking one action every day from now until the General Election in November. Register a voter. Politick a voter. Educate a non-voter and make them a voter. Make a donation to a candidate in whom you believe. Post to Facebook. Tweet. Phone bank. Door knock. Sign a petition. Get an ally. Raise $25 from 5 people. One thing a day, every day. A month from now, it will be as daily an occurrence to you as brushing your teeth every morning. (If you brush twice a day, do TWO political things a day!)

Stand with me. Get angry and then remember that while somebody should do something, YOU ARE SOMEBODY. If we start now, we will hold the White House, hold the Senate, recapture the House, win the recall elections and begin the march to returning our country towards moving forward and not back in time.

Stand with me. Work with me. Plant your feet today and say this is the line. Get up, get active, and bring everyone you know. Together, we can win.

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The Healer

post from Where's the Outrage? on 24 April 2012 05:06:59 AM. © Where's the Outrage?

I love the groove of this tune. It is classic John Lee Hooker and it is classic Carlos Santana. The[...]

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Just what everyone needs

post from Where's the Outrage? on 24 April 2012 04:59:03 AM. © Where's the Outrage?

I know that I have been pacing around my house because something in my life was missing. I really[...]

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OZ Surprisingly Soft CPI

post from Jutia Group on 24 April 2012 04:33:42 AM. © Jutia Group

Source: Advanced Currency Markets | G10 Advancers and Decliners vs USD JPY 0.34 EUR 0.12

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A campaign that is very full of Mitt

post from Firedoglake on 24 April 2012 04:30:58 AM. © Firedoglake

You may recall that pretty much the first half of April 2012 the main topic of the Presidential campaign was trying to tie Hilary Rosen, a long-time democratic strategist to the Obama campaign because she said something accurate, in a brusque manner,[...]

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Late Night Karaoke

[...]

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EUR Reverses Earlier Gains

Source: ForexYard EUR Reverses Earlier Gains

The euro gave up its recent gains against the US dollar and Japanese yen yesterday, following a combination of negative euro-zone news which led to an increase in risk aversion. Worse than expected indicators out of both Germany and France, along with political uncertainty following the first round of elections in France was … [visit site to read . . . → Read More: EUR Reverses Earlier Gains

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What Does It Mean

I was prepping this morning for the last dry-run for one of the new web shows we're debuting this month. And I was thinking through the 2012 presidential money chase for story ideas when it occurred to me that one of the most startling facts about this[...]

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