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.
300,000 Organic Farmers Sue Monsanto in Federal Court: Decision on March 31st to Go to Trial | NationofChange
13 FebOccupy Wall Street and a New Politics for a Disorderly World | The Nation
10 FebAn experience diplomat, who knows top-downism from the inside, says Occupy is the best thing going.
A new politics is needed, and in the early weeks of Occupy Wall Street, I saw signs of its emergence. Some would see the Occupy protests as yet more evidence of disorder, not its solution. But to my jaded eye, the beacons pointing to a better method were bright indeed. At the UN Security Council and other diplomatic forums, I had taken part in high-stakes negotiations on everything from Iraqi WMDs to Palestine to the future of the Balkans. But the experience of hundreds of people listening to the voice of one—anyone!—through the “people’s mic” moved me more than any of those worldly negotiations. This was a politics of the many, included at last, at least in the small square of Zuccotti Park, if not in our distant capitals. Here I saw true respect, not the pretend respect of diplomacy. Here I saw involving and passionate debate, not the childish antagonism of Internet debate or the partisan rancor of Washington. The crowd was gripped by an unfamiliar emotion, a shared sentiment that others were listening and that their decisions truly mattered.
This is the start of a new politics, but obviously mere meetings and protest marches are not enough. There is nothing certain about the future, save that it is our actions that will create it and that others are already exploiting our inaction. It is no longer sufficient to appeal to government to put things right; a corrupted system will not reform itself. We must create new systems, new modes of decision-making and interaction, and new forms of economic behavior to replace the old.
via Occupy Wall Street and a New Politics for a Disorderly World | The Nation.
10 States Given Waivers From No Child Left Behind Law – NYTimes.com
9 Feb“After waiting far too long for Congress to reform No Child Left Behind, my administration is giving states the opportunity to set higher, more honest standards in exchange for more flexibility,” President Obama said in the statement. “Today, we’re giving 10 states the green light to continue making reforms that are best for them. Because if we’re serious about helping our children reach their potential, the best ideas aren’t going to come from Washington alone. Our job is to harness those ideas, and to hold states and schools accountable for making them work.”
via 10 States Given Waivers From No Child Left Behind Law – NYTimes.com.
Innovations in Light – NYTimes.com
3 FebSome fascinating stuff here about getting lighting without the overhead of the grid:
If you look at the market for solar lighting in Africa, you’ll be excused for thinking that you’re looking at the mobile phone market some 15 years ago. Both are leapfrog technologies — neither land lines nor the electrical grid is going to reach much of the continent, so let’s just skip that generation of technology and move to the next one. Like cellphones, solar lamps are getting cheaper, smaller, better. Both are life-changing, indispensable. And the market is enormous. Today, about 1.5 million people in Africa use solar lamps. That’s a huge number — but it’s less than 1 percent of the potential market. A fifth of the world’s population lives without electricity. Another large group of people do have access to electricity, but need an alternative because it is too expensive and power outages are daily events.
The problem isn’t finding the technology, it’s coming up with a business model that people can afford. Three examples are discussed.
Environmentalism and the Black Church – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com
3 FebThose in the African-American church have a long history of environmental justice that goes back to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nascent role. He was a central figure during the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, in which working-class people were striving to improve their conditions — a precursor to some of today’s environmental struggles….
I am not aware of any national faith-based organization leading the charge around issues that face African-Americans concerning the environment. I do know that we have a local model at St. Andrew A.M.E. in Memphis. The church and the surrounding community are actively responding to the plight of local African-Americans concerning poor nutrition and environmental inequity.
via Environmentalism and the Black Church – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com.
Apple makes good products but flawed arguments | Prestowitz
3 FebConcerning the recent NYTimes article that argued that Apple has no choice by to manufacture in China, Clyde Prestowitz calls foul!. In this article he sketches three decades worth of American and Asian policies that allowed this to happen. His conclusion:
One only has to look at the fact that Germany and Japan, both high wage high cost societies, have trade surpluses with China and Asia to understand that the Apple arguments are weak and superficial.
It wouldn’ t be difficult to make a lot more of the iPhone in America and to make it competitively if either Apple or the U.S. government really wanted that to happen.
via Apple makes good products but flawed arguments | Prestowitz.
The protectionism boogeyman | Prestowitz
3 FebA second, more fundamental question, is why anyone thinks that free trade and globalization are always win-win. In the first place, free trade and globalization are not the same thing. Globalization involves capital flows, direct foreign investment, and technology transfers that are not usually involved in plain old trade transactions. Economic theory holds that free trade is win-win, but only under certain restrictive assumptions such as that all markets are perfectly competitive, that exchange rates are fixed, that there is full utilization of resources, that there are no economies of scale, and that there are no cross border flows of capital, technology, or labor. Obviously, those assumptions hold only in very few instances in modern trade.
Turning to globalization, there is even less of a theoretical basis for arguing that it is always a win-win proposition, and that argument is usually made without making a full accounting of the costs of globalization such as those affecting the environment, dislocation of workers, capital investment losses, and skills learning. The truth is that globalization may or may not be a win-win proposition depending on a wide variety of circumstances.
From Ron Paul, to the Reform Party, to Occupy, to a New America
2 FebWith your support, I secured a strong top-tier finish in Iowa and an historic 2nd place in New Hampshire. In Iowa, we more than doubled our vote total from 2008. We more than tripled our 2008 total in New Hampshire, and we quadrupled it in South Carolina.
—Ron Paul
People are catching on to Ron Paul’s honest, consistent, principled. and carefully planned program for combating fascism, racism, militarism and imperialism by returning to Constitutionally required and economically necessary LIMITED GOVERNMENT.
But Republicans are not catching on fast enough.
I registered as a Republican just recently, to be able to say I voted for Ron Paul in the Connecticut primary in April, but I can’t find, so far, any House or Senate candidates in this state who want to rein in the Fed and bring all the troops home, support the key Ron Paul fiscal & foreign policy proposals. Too many “military industrial complex” submarines and helicopters made in this state, I guess.
To mobilize that huge majority of Americans, mostly Independents and the 100 million alienated on the sidelines, who want honest politicians and real solutions, we’ll need to revive the Reform Party, test the Americans Elect processes, bring the genuine tax refusers from the ‘tea party’ over to the Occupy Mainstreet movement, and green the grass of the grassroots relentlessly before November 2012.
Let’s get it done this American spring, so we can hear the volume of the loud majority in the streets this summer.
Charlie Keil
In the GPS Case, Issues of Privacy and Technology – NYTimes.com
29 JanTricky question. Read the whole thing.
Focusing on public expectations of privacy means that our rights change when technology does. As Justice Alito blithely said: “New technology may provide increased convenience or security at the expense of privacy, and many people may find the tradeoff worthwhile.”
But aren’t constitutional rights intended to protect our liberty even when the public accepts “increased convenience or security at the expense of privacy”? Fundamental rights remain fundamental in the face of time and new inventions.
via In the GPS Case, Issues of Privacy and Technology – NYTimes.com.
C Steele on the Issues (2012) | We The People Reform Coalition
26 JanRobert Steele is running for nomination as the Reform Party’s presidential candidate in 2012. Here’s bullet points on his views in two out of 20+ policy areas. It’s a very promising list and should be read thoughtfully.
Robert Steele on Abortion
* This is a matter best left to the states
* Birth control medications should be available by prescription across the land
* In cases of rape and incest, woman’s right to avoid biological enslavement
Robert Steele on Budget & Economy
* Our biggest problem is a corrupt Congress and the corrupt two-party bi-opoly
* Holding banks accountable for speculation and fraud is essential
* Moratorium on all foreclosures and evictions – insure America from the bottom up
* Full year of paid training for every unemployed person, instead of bailing out banks
* FULL EMPLOYMENT is our primary objective, INFLATION our primary enemy
via C Steele on the Issues (2012) | We The People Reform Coalition.
Truth and Traditions 