U.S. Government Lobbies Worldwide for Monsanto and Other GMO Firms
May 16th, 2013Via: Guardian:
If you have a feeling that genetically modified (GM) foods are being forced upon the population by a handful of business interests and vociferously defended by the scientists that work in the agriculture industry or at the research institutions it funds, you might be onto something.
The zeal with which GM proponents evangelize transgenic seeds (and now, transgenic food animals) is so extreme that they are even pouring vast sums of money to defeat popular efforts to simply label GE foods – like the nearly $50m spent to defeat the popular 2012 ballot measure to label GE foods in California, Proposition 37. What’s more, it’s not just happening in the United States. I am the head of Food & Water Watch, and we have spent months looking at the extent to which the US State Department is working on behalf of the GM seed industry to make sure that biotech crops are served up abroad whether the world wants them or not.
Our report analyzes over 900 State Department diplomatic cables from 2005 to 2009 and reveals how far the US government will go to help serve the seed industry’s agenda abroad, knowing that resistance to GMOs worldwide is high.
Here are some of the tidbits gleaned from our comprehensive look at the cables:
• Between 2007 and 2009, annual cables were distributed to “encourage the use of agricultural biotechnology”, directing US embassies to “pursue an active biotech agenda”.
• There was a comprehensive communications campaign aimed to “promote understanding and acceptance of the technology” and “develop support for US government trade and development policy positions on biotech” in light of the worldwide backlash against GM crops.
• Where backlash was high, some embassies downplayed efforts. In Uruguay, the embassy has been “extremely cautious to keep [its] fingerprints off conferences” promoting biotechnology. In Peru and Romania, the US government helped create new pro-biotech nongovernmental organizations.
• The State Department urged embassies to generate positive media coverage about GE crops. Diplomatic posts also bypassed the media and took the message directly to the public; for example, the Hong Kong consulate sent DVDs of a pro-biotech presentation to every high school.
• The State Department worked to diminish trade barriers to the benefit of seed companies, and encouraged the embassies to “publicize the benefits of agbiotech as a development tool”.
Monsanto was a great beneficiary of the State Department’s taxpayer-funded diplomacy, helping pave the way for the cultivation of its seeds abroad: the company appeared in 6.1% of the biotech cables analyzed between 2005 and 2009 from 21 countries. The embassy in South Africa even informed Monsanto and Pioneer about two recently vacated positions in the agency that provided biotech oversight, suggesting that the companies advance “qualified applicants” to fill the position. Some embassies even attempted to facilitate favorable outcomes for intellectual property law and patent issues that would benefit the company.
The Too Big to Fail Gravy Train
May 16th, 2013Via: Bloomberg:
These six banks — Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C), Goldman Sachs Group Inc., (GS) JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC). — have also benefited from tax breaks and Federal Reserve largesse since the end of 2008 in the form of additional income from the central bank’s mortgage-bond purchases and the interest it pays for bank deposits.
All told, the financial advantages for the six biggest banks since the start of 2009 amounted to at least $102 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“The big banks have the taxpayers standing behind them, so people who lend them money know they’ll be paid back,” says Cornelius Hurley, director of the Center for Finance Law & Policy at Boston University and former assistant general counsel at the Fed. “That too big to fail no longer exists is not credible.”
Australia: ISPs Must Block Sites Specified by Government
May 16th, 2013Via: Delimiter:
The Federal Government has confirmed its financial regulator has started requiring Australian Internet service providers to block websites suspected of providing fraudulent financial opportunities, in a move which appears to also open the door for other government agencies to unilaterally block sites they deem questionable in their own portfolios.
The news came tonight in a statement issued by the office of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, following a controversial event in April which saw some 1,200 websites wrongfully blocked by several of Australia’s major Internet service providers.
On April 12, Melbourne publication the Melbourne Times Weekly reported that more than 1,200 websites, including one belonging to independent learning organisation Melbourne Free University, might have been blocked by “the Australian Government”. At the time, Melbourne Free University was reportedly told by its ISP, Exetel, that the IP address hosting its website had been blocked by Australian authorities. The block lasted from April 4 until April 12.
Subsequently, the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a media release linking the issue to the Labor Federal Government’s various Internet filtering initiatives, especially the voluntary filtering scheme currently implemented by a number of major ISPs including Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.
TrackingPoint Weapon System
May 16th, 2013Make sure the firewall on your rifle is up to date.
Via: Guns:
TrackingPoint, operating out of Austin, Tex., developed the truly unique shooting system that fundamentally changes how a person operates a rifle. By using a smart scope and an electronic trigger system TrackingPoint’s “Precision Guided Rifles” can guarantee hits even with the most novice shooters.
It’s a very simple system to use. While you’re looking down the “Intelligent Digital Tracking Scope” you mark your target with the push of a button. When you’re ready to shoot, you pull the trigger, which will not cause the rifle to fire until you move the crosshairs to the point where the scope has corrected for windage and elevation. When you move the crosshairs to the corrected position, the gun will automatically fire.
Related: Aimbot
Stem Cells Produced from Cloning Technique for First Time
May 16th, 2013Via: Los Angeles Times:
For the first time, scientists have created human embryos that are genetic copies of living people and used them to make stem cells — a feat that paves the way for treating a range of diseases with personalized body tissues but also ignites fears of human cloning.
If replicated in other labs, the methods detailed Wednesday in the journal Cell would allow researchers to fashion human embryonic stem cells that are custom-made for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and other health problems.
Theoretically capable of reproducing themselves indefinitely, these stem cells could be used to grow replacements for a wide variety of diseased cells — those of the blood, skin, heart, brain, muscles, nerves and more — that would not risk rejection by the patient’s immune system.
The report also raises the specter that, with a high-quality donor egg, a bit of skin, some careful tending in a lab and the womb of a willing surrogate, humans have cracked the biological secret to reproducing themselves.
Very Good Sci-Fi: Moon
Baseworld
May 16th, 2013Via: Tom Dispatch:
Outside the United States, the Pentagon controls a collection of military bases unprecedented in history. With U.S. troops gone from Iraq and the withdrawal from Afghanistan underway, it’s easy to forget that we probably still have about 1,000 military bases in other peoples’ lands. This giant collection of bases receives remarkably little media attention, costs a fortune, and even when cost cutting is the subject du jour, it still seems to get a free ride.
With so much money pouring into the Pentagon’s base world, the question is: Who’s benefiting?
…
Beyond the sheer volume of dollars heading overseas, an analysis of Pentagon spending reveals a troubling pattern: the majority of benefits have gone to a relatively small group of private contractors. In total, almost a third of the $385 billion has flowed into the coffers of just 10 top contractors, including scandal-prone companies like KBR, the former subsidiary of Halliburton, and oil giant BP.
Research Credit: luky
Florida Tweaks Traffic Lights to Rob Citizens of Millions of Dollars
May 15th, 2013Via: WTSP:
A subtle, but significant tweak to Florida’s rules regarding traffic signals has allowed local cities and counties to shorten yellow light intervals, resulting in millions of dollars in additional red light camera fines.
The 10 News Investigators discovered the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) quietly changed the state’s policy on yellow intervals in 2011, reducing the minimum below federal recommendations. The rule change was followed by engineers, both from FDOT and local municipalities, collaborating to shorten the length of yellow lights at key intersections, specifically those with red light cameras (RLCs).
While yellow light times were reduced by mere fractions of a second, research indicates a half-second reduction in the interval can double the number of RLC citations — and the revenue they create.
Research Credit: conceptualdecay
Official Cover Espionage Bust in Russia
May 15th, 2013Update: Activity Possibly Linked to Boston Bombing
Via: USA Today:
The U.S. diplomat expelled for allegedly spying for the CIA was trying to recruit a senior Russian intelligence officer involved with fighting terrorism in the North Caucasus, the region linked to the suspects in the Boston bombing case, the Russian newspaper Kommersan reported, quoting Russian security service sources.
The Russian Foreign Ministry declared Ryan Fogle, a third secretary in the U.S. Embassy’s political section, persona non grata on Wednesday and ordered him to leave the country. He was detained by officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Monday night.
Kommersant, quoting “participants of the special operation,” said Fogle “was trying to recruit an FSB officer in charge of the fight against terrorism in the North Caucasus.”
—
All countries run intelligence operations out of their embassies. This is the nine-to-five grind of espionage work. If there’s anything noteworthy here, it’s the banality of the whole thing.
When I took an international security studies class in college long ago, this process was described in a massive, gray, subterranean, lecture hall, complete with droning professor, yawning students and an overhead projector. (Maybe that’s why I didn’t bother to post this story—memories of that sleep inducing lecture hall.)
There is a sort of kabuki theater that states run through when a bust goes down (see: persona non grata). For the defunct CIA case officer, it means, board plane back to ‘Merica, take desk job in the DI (Directorate of Intelligence). The end.
Non-official cover take downs are far more interesting, when we hear about them.
Via: CNN:
Wigs, dark glasses, a compass and a large bundle of foreign cash — it’s the stuff of any Cold War-era spy novel.
That’s the “spy arsenal” Russia’s counterintelligence agency says it found with a U.S. diplomat when he was caught allegedly trying to recruit a Russian special services staff member.
The diplomat in question, Ryan Fogle, third secretary of the Political Department of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, was declared “persona non grata” Tuesday.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has demanded his “early expulsion.”
Fogle was detained overnight Monday to Tuesday “during an attempt to recruit a representative of one of the Russian security services,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.
He was briefly held before being handed over to the embassy, following formal protocol, Russia’s counterintelligence agency, the FSB, said earlier.
‘Petrol Price Rigged for a Decade’
May 15th, 2013Via: Telegraph:
MPs and energy experts tonight raised fears motorists have been “taken for a very expensive ride”, after officials searched the offices of BP and Shell for evidence of price-rigging.
The companies are suspected of distorting the oil price since 2002, meaning drivers have potentially been ripped off for more than 10 years.
Over that time, petrol prices have risen dramatically by more than 80 per cent to around 135p per litre.
European investigators, who raided the London offices of BP and Shell, said the alleged price-rigging could have had a “huge impact” on the cost of oil, including the price of fuel for consumers.
The investigation into market-fixing already has echoes of the Libor scandal, which saw the banks falsely report key interest rates used to calculate mortgages. It cost several British banks hundreds of millions of pounds in fines.
Navy Launches X-47B from Carrier
May 14th, 2013Via: ABC:
The Navy for the first time Tuesday launched an unmanned aircraft the size of a fighter jet from a warship in the Atlantic Ocean, as it wades deeper into America’s drone program amid growing concerns over the legality of its escalating surveillance and lethal strikes.
Called the X-47B, the drone is considered particularly valuable because it’s the first that is designed specifically to take off and land on an aircraft carrier, allowing it to be used around the world without needing the permission of other countries to serve as a home base.
…
The X-47B took off successfully Tuesday morning and made two low approaches to the ship before heading back toward land. The test aircraft isn’t intended for operational use; instead, the military is using the information it gathers during these demonstrations to develop the drone program.
