On the oil spill front, the Coast Guard is now helping BP in efforts to prevent the media from photographing oil-soaked birds and other marine animals. Photographers have been banned from accessing sites where oiled animals can be found by boat and plane.
There's nothing to see here folks, move along or we'll have to arrest you.
A recent study found that love is like an addiction, and the pain associated with a breakup is similar to withdrawal from a chemically addicting substance. Some of the brain regions that are active while you're pining for your ex turn out to be the same as when an addict is craving cocaine or tobacco. The good news is that understanding the mechanics of this was actually helpful to some of the study participants, and talking about your situation helps, and of course time will eventually cure you of this particular problem. Which we didn't really need a fancy brain scan to figure out, but it's interesting stuff.
Monsanto is generously sending more seed to Haiti. Which is actually quite tragic. You see, Monsanto's hybrid seeds require toxic chemicals to make them grow, and you can't use traditional farming methods like saving seed from your harvest to plant the following year. These
kind of seeds have to be bought new every year, along with the chemicals that make them grow. So, ya know, it's like an addiction. And Monsanto is feeding their particular brand of heroin to the farmers of Haiti right now under the guise of charity. Some fucking charity you've got there. To make matters worse, these genetically modified varieties often cross-pollinate with and thus replace the local, non-hybridized strains that some farmers may still be trying to use, so farming in a more sustainable way will effectively become impossible. Instead of fostering strong local seed banks and helping family farmers to be productive and giving them the support they really need (as many local NGOs have called for), this is our solution. This is how Haiti's one shot at establishing food sovereignty died in the womb. We've witnessed it folks.
Seriously, AssMan. The alternative isn't to let them starve, but to listen to them, like the people who actually live there and work the farms, and take actions that will foster good farming practices for the location and culture and result in a vibrant farming community. That's like the opposite of leaving people to starve. Which you would know if you had actually read this post.
ReplyDeleteHaha, you're funny Assman.
ReplyDeleteThe study on addiction is really interesting. I'm not surprised that the same reward/ punishment mechanisms are involved, and it explains a lot of stupid behavior, doesn't it?
The underlying issue is that Monsanto gives so much in campaign contributions that there is no politician that would ever stand against them.
ReplyDeleteThe Monsanto thing is part of a disturbing trend of companies looking to "expand their markets" into poor nations. The idea is that you've already maximized your market in developed nations, so expanding requires moving into third world markets. This often means they'll rely on aid money (as they would in this case, since it would keep Haiti dependent), so it's the most cynical sort of scheme to capture the aid money we're giving away.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the rationale is for prohibiting planes in the area effected by the spill. In the case of boats they can say they're trying to restrict boat traffic for saftety and to preserve the booms or whatever. But how do they justify the restriction on planes?
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