A major 60 Minutes profile of the NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake makes it clear that the man facing 35 years in jail for violating the Espionage Act is being hammered by the government for speaking truth to power. In trying to reveal mismanagement at NSA and waste of taxpayer funds, Drake never released a single classified document. Yet, the DOJ is trying to silence him on a trumped up charge of taking two meaningless classified documents to his home. In reality, Thomas Drake, and his courageous collaborators, acted with great courage to defend the Constitution and the public interest. I hope people will watch this captivating indictment of prosecutorial abuse and pass it along to others. This man should NOT go to jail.
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/05/nsa-whistleblower-tom-drake-talks-espionage-act-911-intelligence-with-60-minutes-thin-thread/
Politicians are overwhelming in the pocket of Industrial Agriculture factory farming interests that seek to control the entire US market. Protections designed to level the playing field for small farmers in the 2008 Farm Bill are opposed by a large contingent of Congress due to pervasive industry money and lobbying influence. The Food & Water Watch story contains a link to see if your representatives voted for or against the viability of small farmers.
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/blogs/shameful-kowtowing-to-the-meat-industry-147-congressmen-diss-family-farmers/
A study in Canada has found the presence of Bt toxin, widely used in GM crops, in human blood for the first time. Industry has claimed that the toxins would be broken down in the human gut but no studies have ever been performed by regulators to test the safety of GM food products in the US. The FDA and USDA are major promoters of biotech GM products and have failed to adequately protect the American people from a wide range of threats posed by GMOs. The mainstream press in the US is similarly aligned with the biotech industry and continually promotes GMOs to the public. Rest assured that there is Bt toxins in your gut too, if you eat the vast majority of non-organic foods sold in this country.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/toxin-from-gm-crops-found-in-human-blood/1/137728.html
A review of the conflicts legislators in America face immediately after election, the need to raise money for the next election, and how that impacts policy. The concept of 'state capture,' usually associated with Banana Republics, has been accomplished in the US through our election financing system resulting in overwhelming corporate influence in the political sphere. The corruption of our system extends to the Supreme Court where three justices routinely associate with conservative causes in clear violation of the Code of Conduct for United States judges.
http://www.alternet.org/news/150985/our_government_is_corrupt_through_and_through_--_where's_the_outrage/?page=1
GM FREEZE is a UK-based advocacy group reporting on food issues related to GM crops and cloned animals in Europe and around the world. This story provides details of a consumer-based action in Sweden that has led to a ban on GM-fed meat in part of the country after major retailers began a policy of refusing GM products due to consumer activism despite the government's pro-GM policy. Perhaps direct action in US supermarkets calling for GMO labeling is the way to go here...
http://www.gmfreeze.org/page.asp?id=490&iType=
