Dead dolphins wash up on coast; oil's role unclear

Associated Press


SHIP ISLAND, Miss. — Federal wildlife officials are treating the deaths of six dolphins on the Gulf Coast as oil-related even though other factors may be to blame.

Blair Mase (MACE') of the National Marine Fisheries Service said Tuesday that the carcasses have all been found in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama since May 2. Samples have been sent for testing to see whether a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico helped kill the dolphins.

Mase and animal rescue coordinator Michele Kelley in Louisiana said none of the carcasses has obvious signs of oil. Mase also said it's common for dead dolphins to wash up this time of year when they are in shallow waters to calve.

The Associated Press found dolphins swimming and playing in oily waters off Louisiana last week.

Cross Posted at Lucy's Revenge

Seeds of Discontent: Monsanto defends genetic modification practices

AT DERRINALLUM, in Victoria, Australia, prosperity comes courtesy of a nearby volcano called Mount Elephant. Over the past 10,000 years, its spent lava has weathered into a rich brown topsoil. But John Sheehan is one of a rapidly growing number of Victorian farmers for whom such riches of the earth are not enough. This year, he and others like him plan to enhance their natural resources with modern technology.

Seed-drilling machinery on the Derrinallum property Sheehan manages works day and night across the flat crop-land to inject the soil with with science. It is the season to plant grains such as wheat and canola and - for the first time this year - an estimated 20 per cent of the canola crop in Victoria will come from one of the most sophisticated levels of scientific endeavour: genetic modification.

But despite the huge uptake by Victorian farmers, this might be the last year Sheehan uses the controversial technology. For him, the outcome has not matched the promise.

Although GM canola has been planted since 1995 in Canada - where it was developed - many other countries, including Australia, had a moratorium on planting the crop due to public disquiet about perceived dangers.

The list of concerns was long, ranging from unease about the possible allergic effects of new untested proteins on humans, to worries the plants could affect other crops and transfer their genetically modified characteristics to weeds.

In the first year after Victoria and New South Wales dropped the moratorium in late 2007, support for the technology was tentative, but plantings have rocketed since. This season, sales of GM canola seed across the country have more than doubled compared with last year. And Victoria farmers appear to be the nation's most enthusiastic, with by far the largest plantings of the three states in which the technology is allowed.

Monsanto is the US-based chemical and biotechnology company that holds the patents on all GM canola grown in this country. It expects 40,000 hectares to be planted in Victoria this year, up from less than 28,000 last year. Nationally, the area cultivated for this type of crop is expected to more than double to 89,000 hectares, thanks to Western Australia dropping its moratorium following the election of the Barnett Liberal government.

David Tribe is a Melbourne University scientist and an energetic advocate for GM technology. He also runs a blog called GMO Pundit that has devoted considerable energy to confronting GM opponents. In conjunction with American academic Bruce Chassy, Tribe has launched a detailed attack on one of America's most high-profile GM critics, Jeffrey Smith, whose book Seeds of Deception has been a best seller.

The book, which takes particular aim at Monsanto, claims the company has historically combined some of the most toxic products ever sold with misleading reports, pressure tactics on opponents and collusion with friendly government scientists.

It asserts the company and its competitors now race to genetically engineer and patent the world's food supply, which Smith says profoundly threatens our health, environment, and economy.

Tribe believes that such claims, while popular, are easily debunked and have never been subjected to scientific peer review.

He believes that in the long term, genetically modified organisms will better suit the needs of agriculture, and are the only way to feed an increasing global population amid the uncertainties thrown up by climate change.

''Many of the opponents of GM take that position because they simply dislike large companies, but they are not facing the problem that our agriculture system will need to feed billions more people.

''If global warming is the greatest moral challenge of our time, then we have to confront it. Many of the opponents [of GM] have a fundamentalist ideological vision of the world, and over history fundamentalist ideologies have killed millions of people.''

Sheehan could be seen to be a similar enthusiast. He planted the first crop as soon as the moratorium was lifted and this is the third year in which he has used the seed known as Monsanto's Roundup Ready. Its characteristic is a modification to allow it to survive being sprayed by the herbicide glyphosate, which Monsanto markets under the Roundup brand.

Despite the claims of increased yields from GM proponents, Sheehan has recorded no such increase. What he has noticed is a much higher cost of using GM canola than using TT varieties. Roundup Ready canola costs $25 a kilogram, whereas TT costs about $4 - although this is modified by the amount needed to be planted.

''With TT you have to plant about five kilos to the hectare whereas with Roundup Ready and Clearfield, you only have to plant three.

''But the real problem with Roundup Ready is the very limited window allowed for weed spraying. You can only spray the plants when they have between two and six leaves … There are times when you might need to spray if weeds develop when the plants have 12 leaves, but if you do that you really knock them around. This [limitation] has really taken the gloss off GM.''

Read more at The Age

Committee To Elect Will Longwitz raises more than $44,000 in first reporting period

Campaign Finance Reports made public today show Will Longwitz with major fundraising advantage in race for Madison County Court Judge.

Madison, Miss. - With the Campaign Finance Reports made available today showing campaign fundraising activity between January 1st and April 30th, 2010, the Committee to Elect Will Longwitz Madison County Court Judge reported a major and historic level of activity - raising $44,188.35 during that time period.

"We are very encouraged by the broad base of support for the Campaign to Elect Will Longwitz Madison County Judge" said E. David Cox, Director of the Committee. "Will's campaign raised over $44,000, and we are honored to have so much support from people of all walks of life, and from individuals in all areas of Madison County."

"Will's experience and vision for the Madison County Court is being well-received by the people of Madison County," Cox stated. "Clearly, today's fundraising reports are further evidence of the strong support for Will's campaign."

"We are very grateful to everyone who has offered their support for Will's campaign for judge. We will continue to run a campaign that will honor people who have lent their names, donations and time to a campaign that focuses on safe neighborhoods and strong families for the future of Madison County," Cox concluded.

President Obama positioning for Net Neutrality

President Barack Obama once again seemed to be setting up for a future challenge Sunday when he lamented the many sources American's have to check up on our elected officials.

"You're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank all that high on the truth meter," Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia.

That's right. Your President wants to limit your choices in where you get your information, too!

"What Jefferson recognized... that in the long run, their improbable experiment -- called America -- wouldn't work if its citizens were uninformed, if its citizens were apathetic, if its citizens checked out, and left democracy to those who didn't have the best interests of all the people at heart," he said.



"It could only work if each of us stayed informed and engaged, if we held our government accountable, if we fulfilled the obligations of citizenship."

The problem is, he wants to decide for you what information is and is not worth your time. He may as well be saying, "Citizens are much easier to control when they lack the ability to check up on the facts that I provide."

As Obama speaks of citizens getting too much information, his FCC Chairman is attempting to get it done by slowly picking the lock on the back door.

Regulators to reassert broadband regulation




WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission will announce on Thursday that it will reassert regulation of broadband and continue an open Internet policy, but also refrain from imposing strict regulatory burdens on broadband providers like Verizon, AT&T and Comcast.


A senior FCC official said on Wednesday that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has decided to stick with preserving a free and open Internet under a middle-of-the-road approach.


He is seeking to walk a line between moving forward with a bold broadband policy and averting a heavy regulatory hand that could spark legal action by companies like Verizon and AT&T.


The FCC's announcement is expected to focus on maintaining the "status quo" for the lightly regulated broadband business that existed prior to a court ruling in April, the FCC official said. The ruling threw into doubt the government's ability to move forward with an ambitious broadband plan.


The FCC's decision would reclassify the regulatory framework for broadband services under an existing set of rules governing telephone services. However, the FCC will not impose the strict regulatory regime associated with telephone services, the official said.

Senator Wicker, who serves on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announced today that he is watching.

MBJ: Wicker critical of proposed new Internet rule




WASHINGTON — In response to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski’s intent to impose stricter regulation on the Internet under Title II of the Communications Act, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) released the following statement:


“I am extremely concerned about chairman Genachowski’s proposal to reclassify broadband services under an antiquated regulatory regime. Doing so would seriously threaten innovation and investment in the Internet marketplace. The unburdened Internet allows communities and small businesses to remain competitive in the local, national, and global marketplaces.


“There is no evidence that imposing this degree of regulatory control over the Internet is necessary or that it would benefit consumers. Unfortunately, this effort appears to be little more than another attempt by the Administration to take over private industry and stifle our economy. This is not how a good government operates.


“I am committed to working with the FCC and my colleagues to ensure the Internet remains consumer-focused and free of unwarranted regulations that would hinder its continued success.”

In the words of Will Rogers, "Things in our country run in spite of government, not by aid of it.”