A Perfect Marriage

What is the Monsanto Protection Act? Is it evil???

What Is the So-Called ‘Monsanto Protection Act’? Is It Eeeeeevil?

 Max Rivlin-Nadler

If your Facebook feed wasn't busy being filled with some rant or another on either side of the gay marriage argument this week, your liberal friends might have been steaming about the so-called "Monsanto Protection Act," more precisely known as Section 735 of HR 933, a spending bill signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday.

Section 735 effectively shields large biotech companies, like Monsanto, from the federal courts in case something is found to be harmful in their genetically-modified seeds. Because of Section 735, federal courts would be powerless to stop Monsanto from selling their product (not that the courts are the ones that necessarily will make them stop, but it's a pretty huge concession to the biotech giant).

Wait a second, you say. This was a massive spending bill — surely this provision would have gone before the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees, right? No way! Section 735 was an anonymous rider attached to the spending bill (the one everyone wanted signed really, really quickly) and received almost no consideration or attention before being signed into law. Whoops! (or, Yay!, if you're a large biotech company).

Some watchdogs like the Center for Food Safety have now pressured Democratic Senators into paying better attention about sneaky riders like this one, with the office of Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski releasing this statement:

As Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Mikulski's first responsibility was to prevent a government shutdown. That meant she had to compromise on many of her own priorities to get a bill through the Senate that the House would pass. She will continue to fight for a regular and timely Appropriations process and other valuable priorities, including food safety.

Essentially: Shit guys, come on, we wanted this done real fast and attaching this rider made it possible.

So is this so-called "Monsanto Protection Act" evil? Pretty much! If you can't be protected from a consumer product by the federal courts, you're essentially playing with fire (fire being a corporate entity with no checks on it). However, by sticking this into a spending bill and not actually passing it as legitimate legislation, the "Monsanto Protection Act" will expire in six months —- and then this whole crazy process starts again.

http://gawker.com/5993042/what-is-the-so+called-monsanto-protection-act-is-it-eeeeeevil

"Head Above Water"

For everyone who is battling the thing called life...

All Natural Rum Aftershave and Astringent

This all natural tonic is a braising astringent or aftershave to tighten and firm pores.

Bay leaves   (fresh if possible, dried is not as intense)

Allspice  (ground or grated) 

Whole cloves

Ginger   (grated or ground, grated is preferable)

Rum

1-Pack a wide mouthed jar with Bay leaves, leaving some room at the top.

Add the desired amount of allspice, cloves, and ginger to give it a bit of spicey aroma.

Fill the jar with enough rum that is rises to an inch or two of the herbs.

Cover tightly and let it sit for 3-4 weeks.

2-drain the herbs (cheese cloth works great for this)

Rebottle the liquid.

After you may wish to add a drop or two of essential oil of bay to strngthen the scent (especially with dried bay leaves

(recipe found in "Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health" Gladstar)

Allspice for Success and Luck

Allspice for Success and Luck-

Allspice is widely considered to be lucky and is used by many people for the purpose of bringing good fortune in business, money matters, and games of chance.

This aromatic spice is especially effective when cooked in water in a double boiler to fill a room with its scent. Doing so opens the brain centers to greater achievement and creates a happy, efficient work environment.

Other ways to use it include the following: 

Add Allspice to any success formula to increase chances of beating out the competition.Carry the whole berries in your pocket to improve your chances on interview or winning clients and making sales.Sprinkle the powder across a place of business or dust the hands when you want to succeed.

For winnings in games of chance (cards, slots, keno, dice, the racetrack, the lottery, and bingo) carry Allspice berries in a small green flannel bag. To enhance your chances of winning, add one or more of the following lucky money herbs: Nutmeg, Chamomile, Bayberry, Cinnamon, Alfalfa, Irish Moss, John the Conqueror. Before handling your cash (ticket, cards, etc), recite the 23rd Psalm while concentrating on your desires.

If you have access to a living Allspice tree, crush a leaf between your fingers and rub a little behind your ears when preparing to go on a date or interview. It's guaranteed to make you more appealing.

"I'm a Daddy and I Know It!"

This is a FABULOUS parody of the song "I'm Sexy and I Know it" from a father of two + triplets!  Crazy amount of kids!  Great dad!!!

Terrific!

Another crazy debate!

Facts Got Twisted Again In Last Debate

MARK MEMMOTT, SCOTT MONTGOMERY and MARK STENCEL
October 23, 201212:05 AM


Fact checkers got a shout out Monday night from President Obama when he declared that Republican challenger Mitt Romney had repeated "the biggest whopper that's been told during the course of this campaign."

"Every fact checker and every reporter who's looked at it, governor, has said this is not true," the president pointed out — correctly — during Monday's debate after Romney charged that Obama went on an "apology tour" during his first year in office.

Indeed, PolitiFact called the "apology tour" such a baseless claim that it earned that fact-checking website's worst ruling: "pants on fire."

But while Romney may have gotten the harshest review of the night for repeating that allegation, the fact checkers from news outlets and independent organizations had some negative things to say about the president as well.

During a discussion about the bailout of the U.S. auto industry, Romney drew Obama into overstating his case in much the same way that Obama had done to his rival over Libya in the last debate.

Obama insisted over Romney's objections that Romney's recipe for a managed bankruptcy of Detroit automakers didn't include any role for the federal government.

But, as several truth sleuths tweeted in the midst of the debate, Romney's now-famous New York Times column on the subject did include in its final sentences the statement that "the federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing ..."

Like Romney on Libya, Obama may have had a point in that some economists have said the plan Romney outlined for Detroit wouldn't have worked in the midst of the financial crises that froze private credit markets. But did Romney propose federal loan guarantees? Yes.

Some of the other claims and counterclaims that got checked:

— Romney repeated a line he has used before that the U.S. Navy has the smallest fleet it's had since 1916. The Washington Post checked this before and called it a "nonsense fact" because the Navy of today is nothing like the Navy of a century ago.

— Obama said that "we've cut our oil imports to the lowest level in two decades." Butthe Times pointed out that although that is technically true, the trend predates Obama's term in office.

— Romney had the facts and the context on his side in an exchange over troop withdrawals from Iraq. Obama tried to argue that Romney has waffled on his position about having troops remain there. More important, The Washington Post fact checker said Obama has glossed over the fact that he tried to arrange a deal with the Iraqi government to keep more troops in the country.

— Obama claimed that exports to China have doubled since he came into office, but National Journal found that to be an optimistic assessment. Exports have grown — from $69.5 billion in 2009 to $103.9 billion in 2011 — but not as much as Obama said.

— As PolitiFact previously noted, Romney was correct that Obama has not visited Israel during his time as president. However, PolitiFact also pointed out that Obama visited Israel twice before his election — trips the president described in his reply to Romney Monday night.

And, the Post's Fact-Checker noted that seven of the 11 presidents who served since Israel's creation never visited the country during their time in office: Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

— In the "gaffe" category, meanwhile:

Romney said at one point in the debate that Syria is Iran's "route to the sea." That country, of course, has an extensive coastline along both the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.

Moderator Bob Schieffer made a slip many have made in recent years when he said that "Pakistan has arrested the doctor who helped us catch Obama's — bin Laden."

— And in the "only in a Twitter world would this happen" category:

President Obama's zinger in response to Romney's claim about a smaller Navy immediately lit up the micro-blogging website and had amateur fact checkers out in force. The president quipped that "we also have fewer horses and bayonets." Some conservatives, claiming Obama had said the military no longer uses any bayonets, started tweeting that Marines still use them in training. But as the transcript shows, the president didn't say bayonets had been eliminated.

As for horses, we expect we'll hear from their fact checkers in coming days.



http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/10/22/163442153/facts-got-bent-again-in-last-debate