Another reason to vote Obama even though he betrayed his campaign promises and kisses a** of the 1%

Schools to serve more-nutritious meals under new guidelines

By Dina ElBoghdady, Published: January 25 

School cafeterias will be serving more-nutritious meals with twice as many fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and less sodium and fat under new guidelines that will revamp the federally backed school meals program for the first time in 15 years.

The meals will continue to include pizza and french fries because Congress, after heavy lobbying from the food industry, derailed the Obama administration’s original plan to limit tomato paste and starchy vegetables such as potatoes.

First Lady Michelle Obama joined Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and celebrity chef Rachael Ray Wednesday at an elementary school in Alexandria, Virginia to launch a major nutritional overhaul of school lunch meals. (Jan. 25)

Even so, consumer groups hailed the changes as a major improvement over the current standards, echoing remarks by first lady Michelle Obama when she unveiled the new nutrition rules Wednesday at Parklawn Elementary School in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County.

“When we send our kids to school, we expect that they won’t be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we try to keep them from eating at home,” said Obama, who has championed efforts to combat childhood obesity.

Under the guidelines, which cover breakfast and lunch, schools that participate in the federal program must offer a mix of fruits and vegetables daily and offer double as much as currently required. In return, the schools get a federal subsidy on the cost of the food.
Schools also must offer only fat-free and low-fat milk, limit calories based on the age group served, gradually lower the amount of sodium in meals, and stop serving foods or ingredients that have trans fat.

As the Agriculture Department was crafting the final guidelines, opponents raised concerns about the program’s estimated $6.8 billion price tag over the next five years and the financial burdens it would place on school districts.

MORE HERE
Oh boo fricken Hoo; maybe the USDA should subsidize organic fruits and vegetables and small farmers instead of the meat and dairy (milk & cheese) of their rich factory farm lobbiest friends and then the schools would not have to worry about "increased costs" for teaching children what good nutrition looks like.

See Marion's blog at food politics for reasons why crumbs are better than nothing here....

"The new standards come pretty close to what the IOM recommended (see the earlier chart), with some now-famous exceptions. The IOM proposed limits on starchy vegetables. USDA then proposed to limit starchy vegetables to two servings a week. It also set a minimum for the amount of tomato sauce on pizza that could count toward vegetable servings.

Under pressure from potato growers and suppliers of school pizza, Congress weighed in and overruled the USDA on both counts.

The result: pizza now counts as a vegetable.

To give some idea of the extent of lobbying on all sides of this issue, USDA’s January proposal elicited 132,000 public comments (these are someplace at www.regulations.gov and are addressed in the Federal Register notice).

I asked in a previous post whether this kind of congressional micromanagement made sense (absolutely not, in my view). I also wrote previously about the intense lobbying efforts to make sure these standards would never be released.

Despite congressional and industry opposition, the standards are out.
Applause is very much in order for Mrs. Obama’s leadership on this issue.
Good work. Now let’s get busy on the next challenges:

• Set nutrition standards for competitive foods in schools—those sold outside of the lunch program as snacks and meal replacements.
• Teach kids where food comes from
• Teach kids to cook"

Thank You Vine Sanctuary for your faithful STEADFAST CARING

VINE IS IN STILLNESS OVER THE PASSING OF THEIR FRIEND SNOWBALL ..." In 2007, Snowball was rescued by a group of activists in the Midwest from a bad situation — not cruelty, but imminent murder — .

Four years earlier, her sons Norman and Bandit had been taken from her and sold. However, in 2008, in an amazing turn of events, the activists were able to track down and rescue them as well, thus reuniting Snowball with her two sons.

For anyone who knows anything about cows — how they are bought and sold under human dominion with no regard for ties of family or friendship — you will know just how rare a thing this was, and how incredibly wonderful.

Lest anyone question the point of this reunification, the fact is that as soon as Snowball caught sight of Norman and Bandit, picking them out of the crowd in which they were standing, she refused to take her eyes off of them, even for a minute.

They were inseparable until Bandit’s death from cancer in 2009, and Snowball was right by his side through his treatment and eventual death."...

............................the full story  here >

See also here...>>>

Tactics in the class war

It is critical the movements in this country stop looking to the failed Congress and Executive in Washington DC for solutions.  The solution to the corruption of the democratic system must come from grass root constitutional amendment  movements (CAM) within the separate states. 

KNOW THE ENEMY: The forces of reaction will try to sabotage this constitutional amendment movement (CAM) by adding restrictive amendments concerning the personal liberty of individuals to the CAM state's constitutional amendment slate (abortion, gay marriage) and this must be resisted by both the left and the right.  The slate of CAs must deal with the class war and only the class war.  That is, the class war on the poor and middle class by the oligarchy which seeks to usurp the democratic electoral process to protect corporate interests.

For instance, at the top, Bernie Sanders has proposed a constitutional amendment (CA) to redefine corporations as non persons.  And United Republic, a group designated by Dylan Ratigan to organize a corrective CAM, supports a Sanders type amendment and is using money donated to engage in this dead end waste of energy endeavor.  Thus are our efforts to make social change co-opted by the Congress of puppets.  This redefinition of corporations does nothing to change the root source of evil which lies in the corruption of Sander's brother and sister legislators who listen and act for only Big Money regardless of how the majority votes.  This one shot, top down CA will be quickly circumvented by Big Money as was the McCain/Feingold election reform act which led to the PACs satirized by Colbert.

This is the kind of CA slate that United Republic (a big money male left organization) ought to be organizing in the states.  The states through a process of Constitutional Conventions can initiate Constitutional Amendments.

Examples of a slate of CAs:

1.State and federal campaign financing reform, (no private money – period. Public air time – public funds)(Dylan Ratigan’s original petition and the one most of us signed.)

"No person, corporation or business entity of any type, domestic or foreign, shall be allowed to contribute money, directly or indirectly, to any candidate for Federal office or to contribute money on behalf of or opposed to any type of campaign for Federal office. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, campaign contributions to candidates for Federal office shall not constitute speech of any kind as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution or any amendment to the U. S. Constitution. Congress shall set forth a federal holiday for the purposes of voting for candidates for Federal office."

All PACs can be abolished and a series of free TV and media time given to all candidates for one year before the election.  No one but the candidate should be allowed to campaign on their behalf but they should have ample free access to media in order to explain their political plans to the electoric.

• 2.Blind trusts and stock and asset disclosure mandated for congress members and govt. employees,(re: Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison by Peter Schweizer)

• 3.Eliminating ALL congressional and regulatory contact with lobby money (including no revolving doors re: Capitol Punishment by Jack Abramoff ) except for information given at public hearings and in public documents released to the public.

• 4.Elimination of politicized gerrymandering,

• 5.No state or federal congress or executive exemptions from any law or regulation.

• 6. State ballot citizen initiatives rights so that the citizen public may petition, initiate, place on the ballot proposed legislation, vote and pass or reject legislation when their govt is unresponsive.

• 7. Politician's, staff's and govt. worker's benefits restricted to (use of) the public's “entitlements”.

• 8. No earmarked bills, that is, a bill shall be restricted to the matter under consideration and no member shall add unrelated amendments, earmarks or other matters unrelated to the original matter. Bills limited to 25 pages with related matter passed separately.

• 9. Executive shall have the right of the partial veto providing that entire sections are vetoed and the veto is not used to introduce provisions contrary to or not voted on by the members of congress.

• 10.  State public workers shall not collectively bargain with elected public officials but shall, where bargaining is permitted, negotiate with a board of residential property tax payers chosen by lots as juries are selected. This will prevent public unions from negotiating with those they organize to elect but rather they shall negotiate with those who actually are obligated financially by the bargaining process. Thus the balance of power will be restored as between government and taxpayers. Fed workers shall be restricted to entitlement benefits -  Medicare and Social Security.

11. No foreign entity shall be allowed to own any media in the US as a stockholder or otherwise, except that the media be clearly identified as a foreign corporation with foreign ownership.  At this time, FOX has Saudi princes as major shareholders and is owned by other foreign entities.  These interests are not now identified and under this amendment FOX would be registered as a foreign corporation and have on air declarations under their logo and verbally in their marketing. This amendment would apply to all media, print, radio, TV networks and internet.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are amendments proposed by William Brown
http://www.petition2congress.com/5713/employment-compensation-congressional-representatives/



No member of Congress shall reside on any federal or other publicly owned land or in any federal or other publicly owned structure not determined as a proper residential facility by the United States Housing and Urban Development agency. No member of Congress shall reside in publicly owned housing facility unless rents and/or leases are paid at fair market value.

Any and all personal debt incurred by any member of Congress, public and or private, shall be the sole responsibility of that member of Congress. No member of Congress shall accept loans, gifts, services, monies and/or other compensation held as campaign or political contributions for himself/herself or other Congressional Representatives.

No member of Congress shall be allowed to take the oath office if public and/or private liens are held against him or her except personal credit debt. All members must be current with alimony and/or child support as documented by his or her home state as personal circumstances require.

Personal gifts of cash and/or in-kind services or products received by persons or representatives of for-profit and/or not-for-profit organizations not eligible to vote in his or her district or state shall be considered as income and taxed at its fair market value to be assessed by the Congressional Budget Office or other Non-Government Organization not affiliated with any member of Congress and/or his/her immediate family.



One paid day per month shall be allowed for sick leave, not transferable to the next year. Two paid days of vacation per month shall be given, not transferable to the next year. Unused sick days or vacation days shall not be exchanged for compensation.

All personal investments and real property not considered as his or her primary place of residence shall be held in a non-interest bearing blind trust account. No member of Congress or his or her immediate family members shall participate in the sale, purchase or other trade of stocks, bonds, commodities or other traded market products during their term of service as a member of the House Representatives or Senate. Members of Congress shall recuse himself or herself from debates, speeches, votes or other legislative actions that may benefit any family members directly or give the appearance of conflict of interest.

OASDI Trust Fund as required of all federal employees.

Any and all campaign and political contributions, cash or in-kind, remaining at the end of any direct election in which a candidate is not elected and/or at the end of each term of service as defined by the United States Constitution shall be surrendered to the U.S. Treasury. Any and all debt held as result of campaigning or accrued during the occupation of the seat shall be the sole responsibility of that member of Congress or non-elected candidate; they shall be allowed to solicit public assistance in debt restitution, any and all funds remaining after all debt is cleared shall be surrendered to the U.S. Treasury.

No law shall be passed that will exclude any member of Congress from laws and/or regulations except as those exclusions shall be enjoyed by all Americans.

Hillary deplores insults to Taliban

They found a picture of soldiers urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban.  Probably after members of their unit had their arms and legs blown off by the Taliban's favorite weapon, exploding roads.  Or maybe those soldiers had seen young girls with their nose cut off or face with acid burns. Before we have even confirmed it is US soldiers,  Obama immediately expressed public disgust with our soldiers .

As did his girl, Hillary.  Hillary was outraged that these war shocked vets could do something "so barbaric" and she worried that it would hurt her negotiations with the Taliban.  Now she is negotiating with the Taliban in their new public office in Kuwait.  She wants them to become part of the Afghan government.  Talks are in the first stage of prisoner exchanges, although after torture, the Taliban kills its prisoners so the "exchange" will be mostly just the US freeing killers. 

But it will soon be how to slide those butchers into the Afghan congress and get the hell out of Afghanistan preferably before the presidential elections.  Too bad all those women are sitting in their congress. Maybe Hillary can shove them out into some segregated closed off room the way they do in Mosques.  But I bet that will not be enough. 

Oh well, the Taliban is very effective at getting rid of uppity women.

go vegan with ellen

Ellen DeGeneres has a new vegan blog with recipes from Bethany

She has great pictures of rescued animals.  But the recipes seem hard to make compared to how I eat.   See Fat free Vegan's recipes and  blog and the fab book "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" and the blog, Hell Yeah it's Vegan (temp down for reconstruction) but see this recipe.

WHITE RABBIT BY GILLIAN AND DAVID (my heart's delight)


                                                         

July 18, 2011

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' long-awaited collaboration The Harrow and the Harvest came out in June, marking an almost eight-year wait for fans of their 2003 album Soul Journey.
The 10 songs that make up the new album deal with some heavy subjects: identity, loss, unfulfilled expectations, death and desperation.

"We've kind of half-jokingly said that this record is 10 different kinds of sad," Welch tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "And there are 10 songs on it."

On today's Fresh Air, Welch and Rawlings perform an in-studio concert featuring several songs from The Harrow and the Harvest, and discuss many of the lyrics they've written over the years.
"There's a lot of stuff on this album dealing with unfulfilled expectations and when things don't exactly go as you had thought or wished they would — and the true adult nature of dealing with that," Welch says.

Welch and Rawlings met in their 20s at an audition for a country music group at Berklee College of Music. At the time, they had no plans to perform together.

"At some moment, we tried to work out a song — just the two of us — and we recognized that we liked that feeling of trying to create something that was a whole picture with just two instruments and two voices," Rawlings says. "And that came partially because of a love of a lot of duet music."

From the start, Welch and Rawlings were billed together as Gillian Welch. Their other albums include Hell Among the Yearlings (WITH THE GREAT RAPE REVENGE/JUSTICE SONG, " CALEB MEYER")and Revival.

---

The Fresh Air Interview

Interview Highlights

How David Rawlings Found Music

"I started playing guitar when I was about 16, but it probably wasn't until I was 17 or 18 that I had any idea that this could be my life. At first, it seemed like a distraction or a hobby that was going to be taking me away from the things that were presumably more important. And the thing that I find strange is, if you talk to Gillian's parents when she was very young, she certainly learned things with music in the house, but she was a private child who learned to play guitar in her room by herself. There was no thought from her family that she would be an entertainer."

Gillian Welch On Finding Her Voice
"The main thing was finding this ... voice that I had interest in, which I'll call the quiet-yet-stoic voice: the very quiet yet very strong voice that I developed, that people would want to hear and that was worth paying attention to. I've never been the kind of person who would get up and wave my arms and scream and shout and say, 'Hey, listen to this, listen to this.' "

Gillian Welch On Being Adopted
"I do think that the abiding mystery of my origins has definitely had a profound effect upon my writing. There is that thing in the back of my mind where I think I don't really know who I am. And it may make it a little easier to shift around in my narrative voice."

Gillian Welch On Their Writing Process

"At this point, I feel like we've written a song every way you can. I've started them, Dave has started them, I've started the music, he's started the music, he's come up with the title, I've come up with the title. It used to be that I generally started the words and music and then we worked on them together, and then Dave was more of the closer. Everyone should be so lucky to have an editor as good as Dave. He's just extraordinary. In the beginning, I chalked it up to his years and years playing in bar bands where, four hours a night, he was playing songs that people like. And you learn a lot about songs that way, so he had a great sense of what good songs did and what they didn't do. And it didn't come from school; it came from playing lots of great songs."







Their last album, Harrow and Harvest, is a real bummer with dirge like, sad music unrelieved by anything like White Rabbit or Caleb.  No excuse for such sappy music.  Real mountain/bluegrass/blues does not sound like this.  This is whine music and a waste of talent.  Get over yourself and give us some thing to care about.  Better yet, get a better producer/editor.  Sing other people's songs till you snap out of it. I feel ripped off for the price I paid for this drivel.

Really good book

Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right
by Thomas Frank

Review by Nick Cohen of the Gardian UK

Excerpt:
Why have US conservatives, and not the left, monopolised political fury since the banks went down? This timely polemic by one of the best leftwing commentators provides the answer

In October 2010, American liberals held their largest demonstration in Washington DC since the great crash of 2008. They did not raise their angry voices to denounce fantastic corporate greed and fraud. They were not furious that speculators had destroyed the hopes of millions of Americans. Instead, they staged the world's first protest against anger – a rage against rage.

Its organisers, comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, exhorted their followers at the "Rally to Restore Sanity" to wear "I'm With Reasonable" T-shirts – ironically, of course – and set aside political differences in the interests of getting on with their neighbours. Despite the subsequent Occupy Wall Street movement, the pattern Stewart and Colbert set has held. Genteel liberals have allowed American conservatives to all but monopolise political fury since the banks went down. Considering what conservatives allowed financial markets to do, the fact that the right could be furious with anyone but itself is an astonishing story and one that Thomas Frank was born to cover.

Frank's speciality is how conservatives have appropriated the language and passions of the left. In The Conquest of Cool (1997), he looked at how the counterculture became capitalist culture. One Market Under God (2000) was a more muscular demolition of the corporate populism that enabled billionaire CEOs to pose as the common people's firmest and truest friends. What's the Matter With America? (2004) took Frank back to his native Kansas, as he tried to explain why a state that was once a hotbed of leftish populism was now so Republican George W Bush did not need to waste time campaigning there. And yet, despite everything he knew, the Tea Party's success in returning the Republicans to power in the 2010 congressional elections and making them viable contenders for the presidency in 2012 floored even him.

"If you had brought the world's teenaged anarchists together in some great international congress and asked them to design an ideal crisis," he says, "they could not have discredited market-based civilisation more completely than did the crash of 2008." As evidence, he offers the reader pre-crash editions of Trader Monthly – the US Eequivalent of the FT's grotesque celebration of conspicuous consumption, the How to Spend Itcorrect magazine. It instructed Wall Street bankers and dealers to impress their friends with $20,000 bottles of Johnnie Walker, private jets and, my favourite, a $300,000 turntable that acted as a "huge middle finger to everyone who enters your home". After asking why speculators would want to greet their guests in such a manner, Frank draws the obvious conclusion. "If ever a financial order deserved a 30s-style repudiation, this one did. Its gods were false. Its taste was bad. Its heroes were oafs and brutes and thieves and bullies. And all of them failed, even on their own stunted terms."

But when they failed, and wiped around $16tn dollars off American household wealth,when they rubbed the taxpayers' noses in the dirt by appropriating their money to refresh their bonuses, the last thing ordinary Americans did was imitate their ancestors from the 30s. Afghan and Iraq war veterans did not march on Washington DC. Farmers did not block highways. The majority of the electorate did not demand that their politicians bring the arrogant boss class to heel. Contrary to the expectations of respected Washington commentators, the most potent force in the land became a radical movement for business deregulation.

With as much patience as he can muster, Frank writes: "Before this recession, people who had been cheated by bankers almost never took that occasion to demand that bankers be freed from 'red tape' and the scrutiny of the law. Before 2009, the man in the bread line did not ordinarily weep for the man lounging in his yacht."

There are two reasons, apart from his dazzling style, why Frank is one of the best leftwing writers America has produced. He comes from the midwest and there is a solidity behind his work that one associates with the sturdiness of the American heartlands. He regarded the culture wars as distractions from old-style, populist economic arguments against the power and pelf of the plutocracy. (And who can now deny that events have proved him right?) Second, although he wears his learning lightly, Frank always puts in the legwork. He has trudged round the Tea Party rallies and reports that what liberals like to think about the Republican right misses the point.

It is not a racist movement, reacting against the election of America's first black president. Leftish journalists may seize on the odd Ku Klux Klannish comment from "birthers", but the language of the Tea Party as a whole is politically correct. Indeed, it refuted the racism charge when it briefly decided that its favourite for the Republic presidential nomination was one Herman Cain, a grasping and, allegedly, groping executive from the pizza trade, who was far "blacker" than Obama. Nor do the obsessions with abortion and gay marriage of the old Christian conservatives move it.

The new Republicans are utopians, who reacted to a crisis of capitalism by arguing that the fault the calamity revealed was not that America was too capitalist but that it was not capitalist enough. The propaganda of Rand Paul, for instance, imagines a monster from Washington scooping up Wall Street. Far from the financial system corrupting a succession of Democrat and Republican administrations and ruining the state, the state was engaged in a brutal takeover of free institutions. Fox News claims that liberals secretly engineer recessions so they can extend socialism. Newt Gingrich compares Obama's Washington to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

MORE>>>>>>>

Why we will all vote for Obama

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George commented | 5 hours ago

The fuss about the defense spending bill is bogus. Here is the relevant text from the law directly from the Library of Congress website. The link is http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1540: Unfortunately their web system is stupidly screwy, so there's no way to deep link to the full text. You have to click on the web link for the 7th version of the bill, the link named "[H.R.1540.ENR]", then click on "Printer Friendly" to get the full text. The detention section everybody has been fussing about is Section 1022. MILITARY CUSTODY FOR FOREIGN AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS. (Search for 1022 or just scroll down.)

Here are Section 1022 Subsection B paragraphs 1 and 2 in their entirety: "(b) Applicability to United States Citizens and Lawful Resident Aliens- (1) UNITED STATES CITIZENS- The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States. (2) LAWFUL RESIDENT ALIENS- The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to a lawful resident alien of the United States on the basis of conduct taking place within the United States, except to the extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States."

(And I wish the Comedy Central comment system wasn't something out of the dark ages so I could use an HTML quote block for that, so you could f*cking read it.) As you can see, the applicability to US citizens went from specifically included by the Senate bill to specifically excluded in the final reconciled bill that passed both the House and the Senate.

The President's signing statement was reluctant about the possibility of reducing Executive power, not about the detainment provisions. So... our idiot national press got it wrong, as usual.

Are we still screwed? Oh yes. The assinine PATRIOT Act is still in effect, as is the Authorization for Use of Military Force Act of 2001, and the ******* sellouts in the Senate are still seriously talking about SOPA, so yes, we're screwed. But not by the NDAA2012 law.

It just spends $682 billion we don't have, on sh*t we mostly don't need.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Greenconsciousness notes: and do not forget the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA)

For those of you too disgusted to vote, I understand.  I feel the same way.  But I must say, voting is necessary only to gain time before they drive us into oblivion. To gain time for a series of actions that prepare mass consciousness for social change.  Voting is all we can do now that we  are without the power, wealth or energy to make change.

The thing that must be done is to change the constitution radically to equalize the balance of power between the oligarchy and the masses.  Right now, that is not happening.  The occupiers are ghost dancing.  Maybe beautiful to watch but irrelevant without the constitutional amendment goals  (scroll up from comments). 

 United Republic was supposed to do the campaign for constitutional amendments but their vision is limited and inadequate. SOS.  Not a slate of connected amendments but a pin your hopes on one top down possibility.  The left (United Republic) is coalescing behind their (Senator Bernie Sander's) corporation amendment which is a half measure that will exhaust the citizens and solve nothing.  (Funny how the supposedly "radical" left always ends up holding hands with the bread and circus elected Democrats). 

Can we be more disgusted with voting for these totally corrupted caricatures of humanity?  How can we stomach the voting booth and reassure them that their lies are still effective? Now the morally bankrupt Democrats are trying to throw Hillary to the masses as they frantically scramble to cover their failures.  After they used her to gut programs for women in the State Dept. and she did it.   After Obama directed Hillary Clinton to negotiate with Karzi to bring the Taliban into the government so Obama can get out of Afghanistan or promise to do so before the election - and she did it.    Hillary Clinton, that champion of women's rights, carrying water for her party and her man, negotiating with the Taliban for their return to power.  Western feminist pretending not to notice as Afghan women in terror fade into their burquas again?   Now finally, one or two programs for women at State, tiny programs, to show and tell at election time.  Look what we did.  How can we drag our self to the voting booth for these zombie politicians again?

And the right is truly fascist while they preach about freedom. The freedom to exploit other people, especially women. 

The corporate left and right passed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) and there are protesters in prison for writing in chalk on the sidewalk outside the home of a primate “researcher”.   There is an island owned by the military where they use animals in horrible experiments they mean to unleash on the world.  Even the earth itself is sick of them. The earth is hysterical.

http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/aeta-analysis-109th/

We need to vote in order to gain time for the masses to understand that the 99% have to amend the US Constitution to equalize the balance of power between the Big Money global oligarchy and United States democracy. 

I do not think the world has any more time for  tactics that are male identified in the sense that they are the tactics espoused by the left or are half measures espoused by the corporate democrats. 

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agent orange on your corn

Action Alert: Say 'No' to Dow Chemical's GE Corn Petition -- Proven in the Jungles of Vietnam as Part of Agent Orange! Access the action alert at: http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/12/action-alert-say-no-to-dow-chemicals-ge-corn-petition/ Dow Chemical is seeking USDA approval for a genetically engineered (GE) version of corn that is resistant to 2,4-D, a herbicide that was used in the formulation of the highly toxic defoliant Agent Orange. Agent Orange (half 2,4-D by composition) was extensively used in Vietnam by the military to destroy forests and crops. Dow's Christmas gift for America was formally announced, by the USDA, in the December 27, 2011 edition of the Federal Register. If the federal government wants to bury something in the news, and burn up part of our window to publicly respond, you can bet they'll do it around the holidays. The public has 60 days to comment on Dow's petition for deregulation, and can do so online at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001 Weeds are increasingly adapting to Monsanto's genetically engineered line of crops that rely on the use of a different herbicide, glyphosate, which Monsanto markets as Round-up®. This is leading competitors, like Dow, and proponents of GE agriculture to look for weed killing alternatives. Herbicides more toxic than Round-up® appear to be next up in the pipeline. 2,4-D, a systemic herbicide, is used on many types of broadleaf weeds. It is a chlorinated phenoxy compound that has caused serious eye and skin irritation among agricultural workers. According to information compiled by Cornell University, rats fed 2,4-D produced "fetuses with abdominal cavity bleeding and increased mortality." And 2,4-D may cause infertility, birth defects, organ toxicity and neurological effects. As Dow's GE corn is resistant to the herbicide, it is possible that the plant may absorb 2,4-D residues into its structure, and then transfer those chemicals, or their related metabolites, to livestock and humans consuming corn or milk, meat and eggs produced from the GE crop. The USDA also just announced the proposed approval for a new strain of drought resistant corn, and a soybean, Soymega™, both from Monsanto. The Obama White House appears to be giving Monsanto and Dow, and other biotechnology corporations, everything they want while the public, according to polls, is overwhelmingly concerned about genetic engineering and losing control of our diets. Thanks for speaking out in defense of a sane food production system. We hope you will be proactive by doing the following to protect your family: 1.  Exclusively purchase organic products in the supermarket. They are the only food items that are legally prohibited from using GMOs with oversight sanctioned by Congress and independent watchdogs like The Cornucopia Institute. 2.  We hope you also consider signing the following petition, asking President Barack Obama and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to consider the widespread public opposition to further release of novel genetic organisms in our environment. Given the immaturity of the industry, the long-term impacts to health and the environment are simply unknown. The petition also calls for mandatory labeling of GMOs giving consumers the right to choose. Click here to read and sign this petition. The Cornucopia Institute P.O. Box 126 Cornucopia, WI 54827 www.cornucopia.org

Headlines from the war on women: Two Maryland abortion doctors face murder charges

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 3:15 PM EST, Fri December 30, 2011

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The doctors were arrested earlier this week in New Jersey and Utah
• They face five counts of first-degree murder and five of second-degree murder
• A prosecutor says the charges stem from abortions on viable, late-term fetuses

Elkton, Maryland (CNN) -- Two Maryland doctors face murder charges related to abortions performed on late-term fetuses that were viable, authorities said Friday.
Steven Brigham and Nicola Riley are in jails in New Jersey and Utah, respectively, awaiting extradition hearings to bring them back to Maryland, police in Elkton, Maryland, said in a news release.

The two face identical charges -- five counts each of first-degree murder, five of second-degree murder and one of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

The cases did not fall into the exceptions for aborted fetuses under Maryland law, Kerwin Miller, the deputy state's attorney for Cecil County, told CNN.

Defense attorney Tom Brown told CNN by e-mail that Brigham "has fully cooperated with this investigation" and has not "violated any Maryland laws." Another lawyer for Brigham, Norman Wilson, declined to comment.

Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, an attorney at a Baltimore-based law firm that is representing Riley, said, "We believe that the criminal charges are without merit, (and) we believe it is inappropriate for (Riley) to be held without bond."

The investigation began August 13, 2010, when Riley brought a woman into an Elkton hospital due to a "complication resulting from a medical procedure," police said. The woman had driven from New Jersey to Maryland for an abortion, investigators later determined.

Days later, Elkton police searched the abortion clinic where Brigham and Riley work and found several fetuses "in a freezer chest." The fetuses were taken to a medical examiner's office in Baltimore, according to the news release.

The indictment warrant was issued Wednesday, following an investigation. Camden, New Jersey, police took Brigham into custody "without incident" later that night. The 55-year-old doctor has since been held at the Camden County jail.

Riley, 46, was also detained without incident Wednesday evening by the Unified Police Department in Utah. She is being held at the Salt Lake City jail, ahead of an anticipated extradition hearing, Elkton police said.

Miller, who is the chief homicide prosecutor for Cecil County, said more details on the case will not be released until Tuesday.

CNN's Greg Seaby in Elkton and David Mattingly and Tristan Smith in Atlanta contributed to this report.

I don’t think there should be anything wrong with showing them where meat comes from.”

School Field Trip Tour of Slaughterhouse Traumatizes Children

OMAHA, Neb. (Newsweak.com Exclusive) — Eighteen grade 5 students of Mavis Beacon Elementary School are undergoing counseling after a school field trip visit to a beef slaughterhouse. The children reportedly were horrified to see how cows were processed into beef. Some of the students vomited, and most cried.

Their teacher, Maxwell Barnes, faces disciplinary action for organizing the school field trip. “I didn’t see anything wrong with it.” Barnes stated. “Earlier this year we had a field trip to a chocolate factory. Kids have a curiosity about where their food comes from. I don’t think there should be anything wrong with showing them where meat comes from.”

The children were escorted through the facility from the loading bay, where cattle enter the building, through to the stunning process where the animals receive a pneumatic bolt to the brain, rendering them brain dead. “Some of the kids started crying then.” said slaughterhouse foreman Dan Smith. “We told them it was all a natural part of how beef is made and ends up in yummy hamburgers, but that didn’t seem to help much.”

The field trip then went awry after the brain dead animals were chained up by their back legs and then cut into to be bled to death. “I saw one little boy throw up.” Smith said. “And then after that there was screaming and running and all these other kids throwing up all over the place. We tried to calm them down but it was out of control by then. These kids were just freaked out, they didn’t even finish the tour.”

Israeli Aparthied

From Democracy Now

Meet the New Boss Same As The Old Boss

Israeli Woman Draws Rosa Parks Link After Refusing to Give Up Bus Seat to Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Man

A Israeli woman is being compared to U.S. civil rights activist Rosa Parks after refusing to bow to ultra-Orthodox Jewish customs and relinquish her seat on a public bus to a man. Tanya Rosenblit took a Jerusalem-bound bus from her native Ashdod recently when an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man demanded she move to the back of the bus. In ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, mingling between sexes is forbidden, and women are relegated to the back of buses when men are present.

Rosenblit refused the order, which led to an argument. The bus driver then pulled the bus over, and the police were called, but Rosenblit maintained her position. The bus carried on to its final destination.

The act of defiance has sparked a national discussion in Israel on the issue of gender segregation. On Monday, the disagreement turned violent when ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh clashed with police. Hundreds of men in the ultra-Orthodox community took part in the unrest. Members of local news crews were reportedly hurt in the clashes, and at least six Beit Shemesh residents were arrested.

An estimated 10,000 people are expected to turn out in the community today to protest the exclusion of women, as well as violence against girls and women by Haredi extremists.

From: Phyllis Chesler
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 11:30 AM
To: Greenconsciousness
Subject: RE: ISRAELI APARTHIED
 

Isn’t this a bit old? If I am wrong, what is the date on this? This is gender apartheid within Judaism as practiced by the ultra-orthodox maniacs.

I am opposed to it.

It is still not the same as Islamic gender apartheid.

Still, I am strongly opposed to it.

To: Phyllis Chesler
Subject: RE: ISRAELI APARTHIED

From Greenconsciousness 

It was under Headlines Dec 27, 2011, here

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/27/headlines#15

It is the second from the bottom.

Of course we are opposed and it is a disgrace to Israel to have religious laws interfere with equal gender treatment and women’s freedom.  Let the patriarchs buy their own bus line – as I understand it they don’t have to serve in the army either – bunch of patriarchal parasites – you should write in Israeli newspapers about this and tell them they lose female friends here when they look just like the Moslems.

From: Phyllis Chesler
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 12:44 PM
To: Greenconsciousness
Subject: RE: ISRAELI APARTHIED

Still, they are a very small cult-sect and the chief rabbis have publicly opposed them and the signs to separate women and men on the streets were taken down by the police and the mayor supported this, etc.

The end of this cycle is ruled by Saturn-Winter is coming, says Saturn, the old man, the taskmaster; Be Prepared, he says. He who passes at the Solstice.

United Nations’ Special Rapporteur vs. the World Trade Organization

On December 19, Food Chemical News reported that Pascal Lamy, secretary-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) “traded blows” with United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, over the role of trade in food security.  MORE HERE>>>>>>>

One of the most important thing you can do for animals and the people who brave hell to help them; defend our right to protest injustice and exploitation

Cross posted from Bravebird Sanctuary

Sarahjane blum co plaintiff

Last week, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed suit against the Department of Justice on behalf of six animal advocates seeking to overturn the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). I am proud of the plaintiffs in Blum v Holder (as well as thankful to CCR) for stepping forward in the face of fear to challenge the law that brands as a “terrorist” any of us who succeed in reducing the profits of industries that exploit animals, even if we do so simply by showing and speaking the truth about their practices.

Sarahjane Blum

Sarahjane’s documentation of the atrocities inherent in foie gras production not only sickened potential consumers of that “delicacy” but also helped to spark the passage of a California law banning foie gras production in that state. Sarahjane would like to talk about foie gras in her new home of Minnesota, which has become a center of foie gras production, but—given her successful record of actually reducing demand for foie gras and shutting down foie gras factories—legitimately fears that to do so now, after the passage of AETA, might result in being jailed as a terrorist.

Under AETA, any action that causes any harm to any “animal enterprise” is terrorism. Sarahjane’s co-plaintiffs include a rescuer of rabbits who used to attend peaceful anti-fur demonstrations but now no longer does so, due to a well-founded fear that participation in a protest might lead to a charge of terrorism if a fur store made fewer sales or hired an extra security guard that day.

Under AETA, even striking union members might be terrorists, if a factory or store they picket happens to make or sell animal products. Even Michelle Obama might be a terrorist if she succeeds in convincing kids to snack on carrots.

Barack Obama should direct the Department of Justice not to defend AETA. It is a law passed to stack the deck against democracy in order to protect the profits of Big Money.  There’s precedent for this kind of non defence of discriminatory laws.. Back in February of 2011, after an achingly long period of reflection, Obama concluded that the Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA) was not constitutional. He thereby directed the Department of Justice not to expend its resources defending DoMA against court challenges.

Obama could and should do the same for AETA.

You can send email to the White House here.(use the paragraphs above ) Or you can call or write a real letter. Either way, make your message brief to-the-point. We know, from DoMA, that Obama likes to make up his own mind and is not easily swayed by persuasive argumentation. We know that AETA really is unjust and unjustifiable. As a former teacher of constitutional law, Obama will see that if he takes the time to read and think about it. Encourage him to do that.

READ WHAT REAL LIFE IS FOR ANIMAL LIBERATION ACTIVISTS HERE  >>>>

No investigation of forced marriage of Muslim women who are US citizens to non citizens for immigration purposes: Are we going to continue to tolerate Muslim "cultural practices" in the USA?

ABC NEWS

By CHRISTINA NG (@ChristinaNg27)
Dec. 22, 2011

Even though Aisha Khan, the 19-year-old Kansas college student who disappeared on Friday, has been found unharmed, many are still baffled about what led to her disappearance and where she is, including her own family.

"Right now, at this point, all we know is that she's safe and sound and there are no further details," Aisha Khan's sister Faiza Khan, 21, told ABCNews.com.

Khan said that the family has not seen or spoken to Aisha Khan. The Overland Police Department notified them on Wednesday night that they had spoken to Aisha and confirmed that she was safe and not being held against her will.
 The Overland Police spent about 400 hours looking for Khan with around 60 law enforcement agents, including the FBI. But authorities are saying that Khan will likely not face any legal consequences.

"She didn't report any criminal activity so there's nothing at this time that I'm seeing that she could be charged for, unless there's something else going on, which there hasn't been," Overland Police spokeswoman Michelle Koos told ABCNews.com. "There's not anything for them to be responsible for at this time."

Koos said that neither Aisha Khan nor her family ever called police to report any criminal activity. It was campus official from the University of Kansas that reported the situation.

"Law enforcement have been able to speak with her and confirm she's okay," Koos said. "They've actually been able to confirm her identity, which takes more than a phone call," said Koos.

She confirmed that authorities have seen Khan in person. When asked if Khan was the one who initiated contact with authorities, Koos said she was not absolutely certain, but believed that it was authorities who reached her.

The formal police investigation has been closed and Koos said police have not released Khan's location to her family. Koos said the cost of the investigation is not known at this time and may take a few days to determine.

But they said the Aisha thing is now a family matter -- WTF???  She was married off to a non citizen - bought for a green card.  Family matter???  Forced marriage -- arranged marriages to circumvent immigration rules a family matter?? Now, after her obvious cry for help, it is a family matter?? Thanks again patriarchal law enforcement.  What if they are treating her as a slave?  The selling of Muslim girls who are US citizens to foreign muslim men who want citizenship is a big scandal, and is ignored as all immigration crimes are by both political parties. The only Muslim "hate crimes" we have to worry about in this country are  those practiced by Muslim men against women.

And these people will vote away women's rights as they unrestrainedly breed to majority status. Wake up women!

The Sun Returns: Hail the Winter Solstice: Wecome to the Sun Our Savior

From Pat Wilbern and me to you dear viewers, with Yule Greetings:

Ban the Burqa and Sharia - Praise secular society

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15991641

and Hillary Clinton's State Dept is negotiating with the Taliban to bring them into the govt in exchange for "peace". 

That is what Hillary does while making pretty speeches about women's rights.  She plays ball with the boys so to be considered a good democrat.  She does what Obama tells her to do despite his need for her.  She fixes things so he can claim peace and withdrawal from Afghanistan before his election.

That is where electoral politics goes for women. That is what the anti-christ has done to the symbol of women's equality - made her a traitor to women so all can see Hillary Clinton betray other women for men while her female admirers applaud the crumbs of pretty words and ignore the stoning of their sisters.  So goes the patriarchy. Shed your illusions - know the enemy.



FROM MILES AMOORE:

I thought I’d flag up a story in The Times newspaper yesterday that highlights how far the rights of Afghan women have slipped down the agenda in Afghanistan. One of the justifications for going to war in 2001 was to “free the Afghan women” from the “barbaric” Taliban. Despite this pledge, little has changed for women in the 10 years since the US-led invasion.

The Times’ story is about how the European Union banned a film it commissioned on the rights of Afghan women. The censored film documents the cases of a number of Afghan women jailed for “moral crimes”. These “crimes” are usually committed by women who try to run away from their homes because they’ve suffered horrific torture and abuse at the hands of their husbands or male relatives.

One of the women featured in the film, Gulnaz, was raped and impregnated by a relative. She reported her rape to the police, who promptly locked her in jail for committing adultery. One and a half years later Gulnaz is still in jail, although she will soon be released because she has agreed to marry the rapist (a condition set by the judge).

Instead of publicising the suffering of women locked up for moral crimes the EU decided to prevent the film from seeing the light of day. Read the Times’s story here.
The Times followed this story with another today. The paper quoted Gulnaz’s rapist, who said that the EU had “done a good thing” by banning the film. The rights of women have slipped so far down the agenda in Afghanistan that we now have convicted rapists thanking the EU for concealing the suffering of women here.

As one senior rights activist told me: “It’s all about withdrawing the troops now. That’s the main focus for the foreigners here. Everything else, especially the rights of women, has pretty much been forgotten”.

The Burqa Arrest in France

Sun News Network (Canada)
December 16, 2011

http://www.phyllis-chesler.com/1057/burka-ban

Proposed amendments to the US constitution

• 1.State and federal campaign financing reform, (no private money – period. Public air time – public funds)(Dylan Rattigan’s original petition and the one most of us signed.)

• 2.Blind trusts and stock and asset disclosure for congress members and govt. employees,(re: Throw Them All Out: How politicians and their friends get rich off insider stock tips, land deals, and cronyism that would send the rest of us to prison by Peter Schweizer)

• 3.Eliminating ALL congressional and regulatory contact with lobby money (including no revolving doors re: Capitol Punishment by Jack Abramoff ) except for information given at public hearings and in public documents released to the public.

• 4.Elimination of politicized gerrymandering,

• 5.No state or federal congress or executive exemptions from any law or regulation.

• 6. State ballot citizen initiatives rights so that the citizen public may petition, initiate, place on the ballot proposed legislation, vote and pass or reject legislation when their govt is unresponsive.

• 7. Politician's, staff's and govt. worker's benefits restricted to (use of) the public's “entitlements”.

• 8. No earmarked bills, that is, a bill shall be restricted to the matter under consideration and no member shall add unrelated amendments, earmarks or other matters unrelated to the original matter. Bills limited to 25 pages with related matter passed separately.

• 9. Executive shall have the right of the partial veto providing that entire sections are vetoed and the veto is not used to introduce provisions contrary to or not voted on by the members of congress.

• 10. Public workers shall not collectively bargain with elected public officials but shall, where bargaining is permitted, negotiate with a board of residential property tax payers chosen by lots as juries are selected. This will prevent public unions from negotiating with those they organize to elect but rather they shall negotiate with those who actually are obligated financially by the bargaining process. Thus the balance of power will be restored as between government and taxpayers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are amendments proposed by William Brown
http://www.petition2congress.com/5713/employment-compensation-congressional-representatives/

No member of Congress shall receive pay greater than the national median household income as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau for the present year. Health and Disability insurance shall be provided at equal rates and coverage as provided to a majority of legally employed American workers not protected by and or held by labor union regulations. No member of Congress shall be allowed to demand fees, wages, salaries or other compensation from personal or private appearances for personal use. No member of Congress shall hold a position of authority/management in any not-for-profit and/or for profit organization.

No member of Congress shall reside on any federal or other publicly owned land or in any federal or other publicly owned structure not determined as a proper residential facility by the United States Housing and Urban Development agency. No member of Congress shall reside in publicly owned housing facility unless rents and/or leases are paid at fair market value.

Any and all personal debt incurred by any member of Congress, public and or private, shall be the sole responsibility of that member of Congress. No member of Congress shall accept loans, gifts, services, monies and/or other compensation held as campaign or political contributions for himself/herself or other Congressional Representatives.

No member of Congress shall be allowed to take the oath office if public and/or private liens are held against him or her except personal credit debt. All members must be current with alimony and/or child support as documented by his or her home state as personal circumstances require.

Personal gifts of cash and/or in-kind services or products received by persons or representatives of for-profit and/or not-for-profit organizations not eligible to vote in his or her district or state shall be considered as income and taxed at its fair market value to be assessed by the Congressional Budget Office or other Non-Government Organization not affiliated with any member of Congress and/or his/her immediate family.

Personal gifts of cash and/or in-kind services or products received on behalf of for-profit and/or not-for-profit organizations shall be considered as income and taxed at its fair market value to be assessed by the Congressional Budget Office or other Non-Government Organization not affiliated with any member of Congress and/or his/her immediate family.

One paid day per month shall be allowed for sick leave, not transferable to the next year. Two paid days of vacation per month shall be given, not transferable to the next year. Unused sick days or vacation days shall not be exchanged for compensation.

All personal investments and real property not considered as his or her primary place of residence shall be held in a non-interest bearing blind trust account. No member of Congress or his or her immediate family members shall participate in the sale, purchase or other trade of stocks, bonds, commodities or other traded market products during their term of service as a member of the House Representatives or Senate. Members of Congress shall recuse himself or herself from debates, speeches, votes or other legislative actions that may benefit any family members directly or give the appearance of conflict of interest.

OASDI Trust Fund as required of all federal employees.

Any and all campaign and political contributions, cash or in-kind, remaining at the end of any direct election in which a candidate is not elected and/or at the end of each term of service as defined by the United States Constitution shall be surrendered to the U.S. Treasury. Any and all debt held as result of campaigning or accrued during the occupation of the seat shall be the sole responsibility of that member of Congress or non-elected candidate; they shall be allowed to solicit public assistance in debt restitution, any and all funds remaining after all debt is cleared shall be surrendered to the U.S. Treasury.

No law shall be passed that will exclude any member of Congress from laws and/or regulations except as those exclusions shall be enjoyed by all Americans.
Wednesday at 2:55pm • LikeUnlike • 6

The Female Eunuch

The Bald Vulva read it all at Echidne here>>

Excerpt: It sounds like the national bird (of the US, that is), doesn't it? The Atlantic has an article about women shaving off all their pubic hair or getting Brazilian waxes down there or even having the pubic hair permanently zapped with laser treatment. I recommend reading the whole piece from the beginning to the end to note how the actual reasons for this trend are subsumed in all sorts of dead-end theories about why young women, quite suddenly as history goes, have decided that a bald vulva is a necessary fashion or health accessory. Nothing replaces that reading as an exercise in learning how smoke is blown into our eyes when it comes to political issues about women. And this IS a political issue. I'm not really blaming the writer who does do the necessary work of discussing the real reasons. But all the fluff around that real reason, about low-slung pants requiring the shaving of pubic hair (what about men?) to the age-old argument that women are smelly by nature are trotted out, and so is the idea that femininity means hairlessness (even if biology disagrees). ......(skiped important info) The reason, of course is in p*rnography (which so far isn't that interested in eyebrows). It became widely available, in forms which did not require a man to walk into a crummy shop to buy a magazine, about twenty years ago. We now may have a generation of heterosexual men who formed their first ideas about how naked women look by watching p*rn. And women in those depictions do not have pubic hair. This is so that one can see all the dangly bits and the jingly bits better, of course. Imagine such a man having first-time sex with a woman who actually has pubic hair! Might he not express shock or disgust at this horror? Might she not then feel that she, too, must shave her vulva bald? ...more Must read it all at Echidne>>>>>here

Mouth Watering

GEEZUS



Seitan Stuffed with Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, and Mushrooms - recipe here

How to make tofu at home here.....>>>>>>

How to make soymilk which is the first step in making tofu -- reqires a soy milk maker -- about $100.00

We are the Lions Running from the Cages

Thanks to Hecate for this.  Jackson Browne performed free show in Freedom Plaza for OccupyWashingtonDC on 12.05.2012. This is a cover of Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul's "I Am A Patriot."

TOXIC FOOD AND US POLITIC:BIG MONEY OWNS THIS TOWN

Two must read articles this week - Marion at Food Politics

Let’s Move Campaign gives up on healthy diets for kids?

In what Obama Foodorama calls “a fundamental shift in the Let’s Move campaign,” Michelle Obama announced in a speech last week that she will now focus on getting kids to be more active.
Apparently, she has given up on encouraging food companies to make healthier products and stop marketing junk foods to kids.

This shift is troubling. Here’s why:

HERE MARION GIVES 5 0R 6 POINTS...

Mrs. Obama says:

Major food manufacturers are cutting sugar, salt and fat from their products. Restaurants are revamping kids’ menus and loading them with healthier, fresher options. Companies like Walgreens, SuperValu, Walmart, Calhoun’s Grocery are committing to build new stores and to sell fresh food in underserved communities all across this country.
Congress passed historic legislation to provide more nutritious school meals to millions of American children. Our schools are growing gardens all over the place. Cities and towns are opening farmers markets. Congregations are holding summer nutrition programs for their kids. Parents are reading those food labels, and they’re rethinking the meals and the snacks that they serve their kids.

So while we still have a long way to go, we have seen so much good progress. We’ve begun to have an impact on how, and what, our kids are eating every single day. And that is so important. It’s so important.

Really? I’d say we’ve seen promises from food companies but remarkably little action.
Mrs. Obama’s speech fails to mention what I’m guessing is the real reason for the shift:
 “Move more” is not politically loaded. “Eat less” is.

Everyone loves to promote physical activity. Trying to get the food industry to budge on product formulations and marketing to kids is an uphill battle that confronts intense, highly paid lobbying.
You don’t believe this? Consider recent examples of food industry opposition to anti-obesity efforts:

• Soda companies successfully defeated efforts to impose taxes on soft drinks.
• Food companies successfully defeated efforts by four federal agencies to set voluntary standards for marketing foods to children.
• Food companies successfully lobbied Congress to pass a law forbidding the USDA from setting standards for school meals regarding potatoes, tomato sauce, and whole grains. The result? Pizza tomato sauce now counts as a vegetable serving.
• McDonald’s and Burger King evaded San Francisco’s new rules restricting toys with kids meals by selling the toys separately for ten cents each.

The political cost of fighting the food industry is surely the reason for the change in Mrs. Obama’s rhetoric. Now, she agrees that kids won’t eat vegetables unless forced to.
But in March 2010 Mrs. Obama warned Grocery Manufacturers Association:

We need you…to entirely rethink the products that you’re offering…, the information that you provide about these products, and how you market those products to our children….This isn’t about finding creative ways to market products as healthy.

The food industry understood those as fighting words. It fought back with weapons at its disposal, one of which is to deflect attention from food by focusing on physical activity. It now has White House endorsement of this deflection.
I’m all for promoting physical activity but the refocusing is a loss, not a win, in the fight against childhood obesity.

THE SECOND EVEN MORE IMPORTANT ARTICLE TO READ IS IN THE NEW YORK TIMES:

How the Food Industry Eats Your Kid’s Lunch.

Each day, 32 million children in the United States get lunch at schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program, which uses agricultural surplus to feed children. About 21 million of these students eat free or reduced-price meals, a number that has surged since the recession. The program, which also provides breakfast, costs $13.3 billion a year.

Sadly, it is being mismanaged and exploited. About a quarter of the school nutrition program has been privatized, much of it outsourced to food service management giants like Aramark, based in Philadelphia; Sodexo, based in France; and the Chartwells division of the Compass Group, based in Britain. They work in tandem with food manufacturers like the chicken producers Tyson and Pilgrim’s, all of which profit when good food is turned to bad.

Here’s one way it works. The Agriculture Department pays about $1 billion a year for commodities like fresh apples and sweet potatoes, chickens and turkeys. Schools get the food free; some cook it on site, but more and more pay processors to turn these healthy ingredients into fried chicken nuggets, fruit pastries, pizza and the like. Some $445 million worth of commodities are sent for processing each year, a nearly 50 percent increase since 2006.

The Agriculture Department doesn’t track spending to process the food, but school authorities do. The Michigan Department of Education, for example, gets free raw chicken worth $11.40 a case and sends it for processing into nuggets at $33.45 a case. The schools in San Bernardino, Calif., spend $14.75 to make French fries out of $5.95 worth of potatoes.

The money is ill spent. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has warned that sending food to be processed often means lower nutritional value and noted that “many schools continue to exceed the standards for fat, saturated fat and sodium.” A 2008 study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that by the time many healthier commodities reach students, “they have about the same nutritional value as junk foods.”

Monica Zimmer, a Sodexo spokeswoman, said that “much has changed” since those studies, pointing to the company’s support for “nutrition education to encourage young students to eat more fruits and vegetables.”

Roland Zullo, a researcher at the University of Michigan, found in 2008 that Michigan schools that hired private food-service management firms spent less on labor and food but more on fees and supplies, yielding “no substantive economic savings.”

Alarmingly, he even found that privatization was associated with lower test scores, hypothesizing that the high-fat and high-sugar foods served by the companies might be the cause. In a later study, in 2010, Dr. Zullo found that Chartwells was able to trim costs by cutting benefits for workers in Ann Arbor schools, but that the schools didn’t end up realizing any savings.

Why is this allowed to happen? Part of it is that school authorities don’t want the trouble of overseeing real kitchens. Part of it is that the management companies are saving money by not having to pay skilled kitchen workers.

In addition, the management companies have a cozy relationship with food processers, which routinely pay the companies rebates (typically around 14 percent) in return for contracts. The rebates have generally been kept secret from schools, which are charged the full price.

Last year, Andrew M. Cuomo, then the New York State attorney general, won a $20 million settlement over Sodexo’s pocketing of such rebates. Other states are following New York and looking into the rebates; the Agriculture Department began its own inquiry in August.

With the crackdown on these rebates, food service companies have turned to another accounting trick. I found evidence that the rebate abuses are continuing, now under the name of “prompt payment discounts,” under an Agriculture Department loophole. These discounts, for payments that are often not prompt at all, are really rebates under another name. New York State requires rebates to be returned to schools, but the Sodexo settlement shows how unevenly the ban has been enforced.

The food service companies I spoke with denied any impropriety. “Our culinary philosophy, as a company, is to promote scratch cooking where possible and encourage variety and nutritionally balanced meals,” said Ayde Lyons, a Chartwells spokeswoman. “We use minimally processed foods whenever possible.”

There are economic and nutritional consequences to privatization. School kitchen workers are generally unionized, with benefits; they are also typically local residents who have children in public schools and care about their well-being. Laid-off school workers become an economic drain instead of a positive force. And the rebate deals with national food manufacturers cut out local farmers and small producers like bakers, who could offer fresh, healthy food and help the local economy.

Children pay the price. Dr. Zullo found that privately managed school cafeterias offered meals that were higher in sugar and fats and made unhealthy snack items — soda, cookies, potato chips — more readily available. The companies were also less likely to use reduced-sugar recipes. Linda Hugle, a retired school principal in Three Rivers, Ore., told me that when her district switched to Sodexo, “the savings were paltry.” She added, “You pay a little less and your kids get strawberry milk, frozen French fries and artificial shortening.”

...

MORE HERE

And what they do to humans is only a fraction of what they do to our animal companions .......read about it>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>