http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/741/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2622...
You might think that after their controversial decision to allow cloned animals into the food supply, the Bush administration would take a break for while. But they're up against the clock, and trying to push genetically engineered animals onto your dinner plate. Can you help us make sure they don't get their way?

The Food and Drug Administration recently released its draft plan for how it will approve animals that are genetically engineered to grow faster, produce more milk, or even produce drugs in their meat or milk. The agency wants to use its drug approval process to approve new GE animals - a process that is flawed and wrapped in secrecy. This approval process would require the agency to review the effectiveness of the genetically engineered trait and any health impact on the animal, but not test the food that comes from these animals.

And this process does nothing to weigh any environmental damage caused by things like GE fish escaping from fish farms and breeding with wild fish, or the ethical considerations of altering the genes of animals in the first place. And to make matters worse, the FDA is not requiring that food from GE animals be labeled, so consumers won't know if the food they buy for their families was produced with this controversial technology.

Tell FDA to ban the use of genetically engineered animals for food. Take action.

Thanks for taking action,
Sarah Alexander, Senior Food Organizer
Food & Water Watch

Friday, November 14, 2008

From: http://www.rgemonitor.com/financemarkets-monitor/254332/we_interrupt_reg...

"We interrupt regular programming to announce that the United States of America has defaulted"
by Satyajit Das Nov 11, 2008

"On 30 October 1938, the American Radio Drama series Mercury Theatre aired “The War of the Worlds”, directed by Orson Welles. Adapted from H.G. Welles’ novel, the first half of the broadcast was scripted as a series of dramatic news bulletins of a Martian invasion. Listeners who had missed or ignored the opening credits assumed that the invasion was real. People fled their homes. Police were swamped by panicked phone calls. Today the financial equivalent of this broadcast would be the announcement: “we interrupt regular programming to announce that the United States of America has defaulted on its debt!”

Pay back in devalued dollars…

Default is the failure to honour contractual obligations; in the case of debt, non-payment of interest or principal payments due to the lender. The financial impact of default is the loss suffered by the lender.

Lenders to the United States (“US”) government have already suffered significant losses. The losses have not been from non-payment but because repayments have been in a constantly debased currency – the dollar.

Published on Friday, November 14, 2008 by The Nation
In Praise of a Rocky Transition

by Naomi Klein
The more details emerge, the clearer it becomes that Washington's handling of the Wall Street bailout is not merely incompetent. It is borderline criminal.

In a moment of high panic in late September, the US Treasury unilaterally pushed through a radical change in how bank mergers are taxed—a change long sought by the industry. Despite the fact that this move will deprive the government of as much as $140 billion in tax revenue, lawmakers found out only after the fact. According to the Washington Post, more than a dozen tax attorneys agree that "Treasury had no authority to issue the [tax change] notice."

Of equally dubious legality are the equity deals Treasury has negotiated with many of the country's banks. According to Congressman Barney Frank, one of the architects of the legislation that enables the deals, "Any use of these funds for any purpose other than lending—for bonuses, for severance pay, for dividends, for acquisitions of other institutions, etc.—is a violation of the act." Yet this is exactly how the funds are being used.

Then there is the nearly $2 trillion the Federal Reserve has handed out in emergency loans. Incredibly, the Fed will not reveal which corporations have received these loans or what it has accepted as collateral. Bloomberg News believes that this secrecy violates the law and has filed a federal suit demanding full disclosure.

Today, Thursday November 13th, the Hawaii County Council
successfully overrode Mayor Harry Kim's veto of bill# 361.

Bill# 361, introduced by Council Member Angel Pilago, will now become an ordinance,
protecting the Big Island's Taro or Coffee from Genetic Engineering.

This victory was won through the overwhelming strength of people power.
We won because of you, and your willingness to show up and be counted.

Mahalo, to the 100+ individuals who showed up at the county council offices today.

Mahalo, to the thousands of you who have given testimony to the county council in support of bill# 361.

Mahalo, to the community organizers and activist who helped us keep the pressure on our Co. Council Members.

Mahalo, to the Hawaiian Kapuna, with whom we have been honored to work.

Mahalo to all of you! You made this victory possible!

The fight for safe sustainable food is not over, but today we can celebrate.

Please call and thank the Seven County Council members who voted to override Mayor Kim's Veto.
They need our support as well.

961-8225
Brenda Ford: bfordco.hawaii.hi.us">bfordco.hawaii.hi.us
Pete Hoffmann: phoffmannco.hawaii.hi.us">phoffmannco.hawaii.hi.us,
Bob Jacobson: jjacoco.hawaii.hi.us">jjacoco.hawaii.hi.us,
Emily Naeole: enaeoleco.hawaii.hi.us">enaeoleco.hawaii.hi.us,
Angel Pilago: kapilagoco.hawaii.hi.us">kapilagoco.hawaii.hi.us,
Dominic Yagong: dyagongco.hawaii.hi.us">dyagongco.hawaii.hi.us,
J. Yoshimoto: jyoshimotoco.hawaii.hi.us">jyoshimotoco.hawaii.hi.us

Paul Normann
808-557-4806
paulwnormannyahoo.com">paulwnormannyahoo.com

Ka Loko prompting political posturing
http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/11/13/news/kauai_news/doc491bd78ae74...

The Ka Loko Reservoir is seen here shortly after its dam breahced in March 2006 taking seven lives and resulting in a court schedule spread over much of 2009. The Garden Island file photo
By Nathan Eagle - The Garden Island
Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008 1:13 AM HST
State Attorney General Mark Bennett yesterday responded sharply to claims that Gov. Linda Lingle has used his office as a political tool.

Attorney Bill McCorriston in a news conference yesterday morning in Honolulu accused Lingle of abusing her power by misusing Bennett for political purposes and to advance her own agenda.

Regarding the deadly Ka Loko Reservoir Dam breach, Bennett is trying to cover up the criminal failures of the Lingle administration by attempting to place sole blame on the land owner, retired auto dealer Jimmy Pflueger, McCorriston said in a media advisory.

“Since the Ka Loko Dam tragedy occurred, I have led the state’s criminal investigation into this matter with one and only one goal: to determine whether criminal charges are legally and factually warranted and appropriate,” Bennett said in a statement. “That was the goal the day of the tragedy; that is still the goal.”

McCorriston called for an independent prosecutor to be appointed for the Ka Loko case.

General Plan gets teeth
http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/11/12/news/kauai_news/doc491a7bef711...

While Kaua‘i’s South Shore is seeing the most growth right now, both photos above, a county charter amendment that passed would apply a more strict formula to development. Photos by Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

By Nathan Eagle - The Garden Island
Published: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:14 AM HST
Speaking loud and clear with their ballots, Kaua‘i voters last week told county government that they want the General Plan to be more than a guiding document collecting dust on shelves.

By a nearly two-to-one margin, voters said “Yes” to a County Charter amendment that will limit the development of hotels, timeshares and vacation rentals to a prescribed growth rate.

As newly elected officials prepare to implement the law, expected to go into effect Dec. 4, questions continue to arise over the “devil in the details.” While the intent of responsible growth remains clear, concerns have been voiced publicly and privately over legal and logistical aspects.

“A lot of people are tired of irresponsible government,” said Carl Imparato, one of some 100 residents who worked to put the amendment on the ballot through a citizens’ petition and then campaigned behind it. “They want the plan to be more than a vision; they want it to be a reality.”

Aloha Friends ~ Please pass this along to Hawai`i Island Ohana, and for all Island residents now is the time to send testimony! Mahalo.
Bonnie ~ GMO-Free Maui/Hawai`i SEED

Overturn the Veto!

Mayor Harry Kim has taken a stand against the people of Hawaii County and Vetoed bill #361,
a bill banning GMO - Taro & Coffee on Hawaii Island.

On Thursday November 13th - Hilo, 10:00 a.m.

The County Council will hold a special session to consider
overriding Mayor Kim's veto of bill# 361.
(Meeting Location: Council Office, Second Floor of Ben Franklin Building)

(Video-conferencing is available at the following locations:
* Kona Council Office at the Kailua Trade Center; and
*Waimea Council Office at the Holomua Center.)

Help protect Taro & Coffee from GMOs.

We absolutely must pack the County Council Chambers in order to pass bill# 361.

If we do not show up with the strength of overwhelming numbers,
the opponents of bill# 361 will seize upon our weakness and kill the bill.

The defeat or victory of bill #361 is in our hands.

Please come, in person, and give your testimony to the Co. Council.
You do not need to say much more than, "please vote to overturn Mayor Kim's veto",
but we need you at the County Council Meeting.

Also:

Call your Council Member and tell them to support bill# 361.
(If you have already called, please call them again on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.)

Email testimony in support of bill 361, on or before, November 10th.

Call or Email Your Council Member:
961-8225
Brenda Ford: bfordco.hawaii.hi.us">bfordco.hawaii.hi.us

Published on Monday, November 10, 2008 by the International Herald Tribune
The Climate for Change

by Al Gore

The inspiring and transformative choice by the American people to elect Barack Obama as our 44th president lays the foundation for another fateful choice that he -- and we -- must make this January to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis.

The electrifying redemption of America's revolutionary declaration that all human beings are born equal sets the stage for the renewal of U.S. leadership in a world that desperately needs to protect its primary endowment: the integrity and livability of the planet.

The world authority on the climate crisis, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, after 20 years of detailed study and four unanimous reports, now says that the evidence is "unequivocal." To those who are still tempted to dismiss the increasingly urgent alarms from scientists around the world, ignore the melting of the north polar ice cap and all of the other apocalyptic warnings from the planet itself, and who roll their eyes at the very mention of this existential threat to the future of the human species, please wake up. Our children and grandchildren need you to recognize the truth, before it is too late.

Here is the good news: The bold steps that are needed to solve the climate crisis are exactly the same steps that ought to be taken in order to solve the economic crisis and the energy security crisis.

Published on Monday, November 10, 2008 by TomDispatch.com
Obama's Toughest Challenge
America's Energy Crunch Comes Home

by Michael T. Klare
Of all the challenges facing President Barack Obama next January, none is likely to prove as daunting, or important to the future of this nation, as that of energy. After all, energy policy -- so totally mishandled by the outgoing Bush-Cheney administration -- figures in each of the other major challenges facing the new president, including the economy, the environment, foreign policy, and our Middle Eastern wars. Most of all, it will prove a monumental challenge because the United States faces an energy crisis of unprecedented magnitude that is getting worse by the day.

The U.S. needs energy -- lots of it. Day in and day out, this country, with only 5% of the world's population, consumes one quarter of the world's total energy supply. About 40% of our energy comes from oil: some 20 million barrels, or 840 million gallons a day. Another 23% comes from coal, and a like percentage from natural gas. Providing all this energy to American consumers and businesses, even in an economic downturn, remains a Herculean task, and will only grow more so in the years ahead. Addressing the environmental consequences of consuming fossil fuels at such levels, all emitting climate-altering greenhouse gases, only makes this equation more intimidating.

As President Obama faces our energy problem, he will have to address three overarching challenges:

Published on Sunday, November 9, 2008 by Rolling Stone
The New Trough
The Wall Street bailout looks a lot like Iraq — a "free-fraud zone" where private contractors cash in on the mess they helped create

by Naomi Klein

Editor's note: The online version of this story has been amended to reflect developments since the publication of the print edition.

On October 13th, when the U.S. Treasury Department announced the team of "seasoned financial veterans" that will be handling the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, one name jumped out: Reuben Jeffery III, who was initially tapped to serve as chief investment officer for the massive new program.

On the surface, Jeffery looks like a classic Bush appointment. Like Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, he's an alum of Goldman Sachs, having worked on Wall Street for 18 years. And as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2005 to 2007, he proudly advocated "flexibility" in regulation - a laissez-faire approach that failed to rein in the high-risk trading at the heart of the meltdown.