WSTM.com - Bush wants Congress to update US intelligence laws

WSTM.com - Bush wants Congress to update US intelligence laws: "Bush argues that in an age of terrorism and the Internet, the 1978 FISA (FY'-zuh) law is badly outdated. But civil libertarians don't like his proposed rewrite, and the chances of passage soon by the Democratic Congress are slim.

Lawmakers of both parties note it was only when the cover was blown that Bush reluctantly agreed to place his warrantless wiretap program under the supervision of the special intelligence court set up by the existing law."

U.S. Set to Offer Huge Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia - New York Times

U.S. Set to Offer Huge Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia - New York Times

The Bush administration is preparing to ask Congress to approve an arms sale package for Saudi Arabia and its neighbors that is expected to eventually total $20 billion at a time when some United States officials contend that the Saudis are playing a counterproductive role in Iraq.

2 Republicans Demur on a YouTube Debate - New York Times

2 Republicans Demur on a YouTube Debate - New York Times: "Earlier yesterday, it seemed that the candidates were fleeing the unconventional format, in which the public asks questions via video. Mr. Romney told The Union Leader in Manchester, N.H., that it could be demeaning for presidential candidates to “answer questions from a snowman,” a reference to a video question that was presented to the Democratic presidential candidates in their YouTube debate on Monday."


LOLOLOLOL

Justice Dept. Lawyers Join Chorus Criticizing Gonzales - New York Times

Justice Dept. Lawyers Join Chorus Criticizing Gonzales - New York Times

Okay, back to document some fun AG failure

DesMoinesRegister.com Blogs � Blog Archive � Licensing farmers to grow hemp would be a boon to Iowa, energy revolution

DesMoinesRegister.com Blogs � Blog Archive � Licensing farmers to grow hemp would be a boon to Iowa, energy revolution

A great post by a young Iowan about growing Hemp as an industrial product...I am very behind this to say the least

We should learn from those who have gone before us

I have had this link in my IE favorites for a couple years now, and the material keeps coming back up in my mind. I read this book when I first found it, and my mindset at the time was changed right away. The book called out to me, told me that there are better ways to live, better ways to eat.

If only people would see the benefits of proper farming and make changes to society so that we could have a healthier public, I think there would be many positive side effects. People will be in better moods, won't have so many medical problems, and mental health issues should decrease when people get the nutrients their bodies need.

This book was a wake up call to me. Even in 1946 when this book was written, the author was watching the conversion from local family farms to farms that existed purely for profit. Looking at the farming environment today I see all the factory farms everywhere, the long path food follows to get to my table, and I am repulsed. It is just sick to think of the way animals are treated in the world now, injected with growth hormones, locked up in a closed factory where they will never experience the sun and air that healthy animals need. Read the following quote, from the introduction to "Pay Dirt" by J. I. RODALE, which is available at the following link: Pay Dirt

A REVOLUTION in farming and in gardening is in progress all over the world. If I were asked to sum up in a few words the basis of this movement and the general results that are being obtained, I should reply that a fertile soil is the foundation of healthy crops, healthy live stock, and last but not least healthy human beings. By a fertile soil is meant one to which Nature's law of return has been faithfully applied, so that it contains an adequate amount of freshly prepared humus made in the form of compost from both vegetable and animal wastes.

This revolution in crop production involves making the very most of the earth's green carpet -- that marvelous machinery for producing all our food and a great deal of the raw materials needed by our factories. Both units of this natural factory -- the green cells of the leaf and the power which drives them (the energy of sunlight) -- owe nothing to mankind. They are the gifts of Providence which all the resources of Science cannot copy, still less improve. Mankind can only assist the food factory in two directions. He can look after the soil on which the green carpet rests and in which the roots of crops and the unpaid labour force of the soil -- moulds, microbes, earthworms, and so forth -- live and work. He can also by selecting crops by plant breeding methods make the most of the energy of sunlight and of the improved soil conditions. But the plant breeder must avoid one obvious blunder. He must not be content with improving the variety only, otherwise his labours will soon lead to the exhaustion of the soil. The improved variety will take more out of the ground and will soon become a boomerang. The plant breeder, therefore, must always be careful not to confine his attention to the variety, but must increase the fertility of the soil at the same time. Such crops will look after themselves, and insect and fungous pests will do little or no damage.

Why have we taken the wrong path in our society? Why have we treated our animals and land with disrespect? Greed has lead us down this path. Business just wanted quantities of food. If the farmer could plant 20% more of his crop by using chemical fertilizers instead of taking the time to properly care for his land, he will be able to get more money at the end of the year. Business and uneducated citizens do not care if there is less nutrition in the food, and this has created our current situation. Chickens, locked away in a factory farm, produce eggs and meat that to all appearances seem to be the same as meat from a more tradition farm. When you buy your chicken sandwich at your favorite fast food resturant, there is no easy way to tell what nutrients are in the chicken. Now, if the chicken has been allowed to roam a farm out in the open air, they have had a diet of bugs, seeds, and anything else they were able to find. Such a variety in their diet will allow them to get a balanced group of nutrients to support healthy growth. The factory chicken however, is in a cage, with very little room to walk, does not get exercise, does not get to experience life as nature intended. The factory chicken eats premade food, the same diet its whole life. For years this chicken feed has included the byproducts of slaughtered chickens, so we have basically been forcing chickens to cannabalize their own species.

So, we signed up for a local program, where we have bought a 'share' of the output of a local farm. We will be getting milk, butter, breads, fruits, and delicious bagels every week from farmers who take care of their land, and take on the responsiblity of running an organic, healthy farm. When we went to sign up, we were also able to purchase some of the food because some farmers had brought extra in case you hadn't made a selection yet. We bought some whole wheat bread, rolls, and the most delicious bagels I have ever eaten. It is unbelievable the change you notice right away when you eat truly healthy food. I was able to eat two slices of bread for lunch, with two eggs, and I was not really hungry when supper came around. My body was satisfied.

Rodale was a visionary of his time. I really wish his vision would have spread and became the norm...the factory farms, oil wars, and sickness running through our country are symptoms of our lost connection with the land. From the conclusion of his book:

The back-to-the-land movement is a formidable one -- whether you construe it to mean to farms for careers in agriculture, or whether you imply a sort of small town garden developments and "weekend" farms for commuters. It is a fact that the majority of human beings need some contact with country life, to restore the soul.

Click here to read Pay Dirt

Click here for the small farms online library

Rejoice, The Hummer Is Dead

Rejoice, The Hummer Is Dead

Another great piece of sarcasm and wit from Mark Morford, who writes for SFGate.com.

"Bottom line: You can hope for the big shifts. You can hope for some sort of grand awakening, some sort of removal of the tumor and a relief from the pain of excess waste and abuse and happy ignorance.

But, of course, what you get instead is, well, a nice drive to the megamall in a shiny 2008 Escalade for a couple of aspirin and some compact fluorescent lightbulbs and a copy of 'An Inconvenient Truth' on DVD. Ain't that America."

Read the article. You'll probably laugh :D

I've always said that while I understand the motivations behind ethanol, it's a very un-perfect solution. There are many drawbacks, which I would document if I had time. Luckily Sen. Grassley reminds us of one of them:

From Bleeding Heartland:

It's easy to forget Chuck Grassley was ever known as Tweedle Dumber, but I remembered when I saw this piece in the Des Moines Register:

Grassley: Ethanol plants should use coal

Responding to worries that the ethanol boom will drive up the price of natural gas used to power the ethanol plants, Grassley had a brilliant idea:

“We’ve got to use things that we have in greater supply. We need to use more coal in place of natural gas,” Grassley said Tuesday.

Noneed4thneed comments that using coal to produce ethanol negates any environmental benefit from the renewable fuel. If you're not reducing greenhouse gases, then the only benefit of ethanol is that it helps Iowa farmers. He wonders, "Why limit the benefits?"

Digg's Digital Tea Party

Digg's DRM Revolt - Forbes.com

Digg.com has become one of the Web's top news portals by putting the power to choose the news in the hands of its users. Just how much power they wield, however, only became clear Tuesday night, when Digg turned into what one user called a "digital Boston Tea Party."

One thing...if your users create the content for your website, and the website is about allowing people to democratically decide which news is important...I don't recommend censoring them. You might run into something like this....

But Digg's users were not understanding. Instead, they covered the site's main pages with links to blogs that revealed the HD-DVD code and criticized the site's decision to censor content. Because Digg gives users the ability to rate news stories, pushing their favorites to the site's most visible positions, thousands voted to bring links to the top of the site with titles like "Revolt at Digg?" and "Digg Punched me in the Face for Posting This."

It's the digital revolution my friends :D

And we even get a happy ending, so thanks to the executives over at Digg, who raised the white flag and gave into their users. Digg they would fight whatever legal battles they might get into over this issue...

But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you've made it clear. You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be. If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.

Now that's the American spirit!

Popular Progressive: This is What Democracy Looks Like

Popular Progressive: This is What Democracy Looks Like

Below is a copy of Judith's statement before the Judge at sentencing:

"If I do not act to hold my Representative accountable then I have no claim to Democracy. Democracy exists only when We the People stand up; speak out; and take action. I am proud to have done my part to build and sustain our Democracy by trying to hold Representative Loebsack accountable for his campaign promise to end the war in Iraq. And I encourage others to follow in my footsteps. This IS what Democracy looks like."

This was the statement that a fellow Iowan read to the court while she was being sentenced for her guilty plea of trespassing. I would personally like to see many more people being a pain in the ass to the system, forcing our representatives to see what our wishes are. While everything I've heard about Loebsack has been good, I don't have any problem with one of his constituents keeping the pressure on him.

What really strikes me about this case is that both the Magistrate who sentenced her, and the district attorney both gave the lightest sentence possible under law. They knew that the activist (Judith Pdedersen-Been) was just trying to assert her natural rights to petition her representative.

One thing that comes up with this issue, is that if I petition my government with a letter or phone call, it is just labelled as pro or against a certain issue and a form letter is sent in reply. The representative was not able to just file this person's opinion away and mark her down in a list. The disturbance to his office I'm sure caused him to notice the opinion being expressed.