Federal Judge Tells the Dept. of Agriculture to Do Its Job!

The Center For Food Safety Press Release (portion of article)

FEDERAL COURT FINDS USDA ERRED IN APPROVING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ALFALFA WITHOUT FULL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

February 14, 2007

Precedent-setting Decision May Block Planting, Sales of Monsanto Alfalfa

Washington, DC (February 14, 2007) - In a decision handed down yesterday, a Federal Court has ruled, for the first time ever, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture failed to abide by federal environmental laws when it approved a genetically engineered crop without conducting a full Environment Impact Statement (EIS).

In what will likely be a precedent-setting ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California decided in favor of farmers, consumers, and environmentalists who filed a suit calling the USDA's approval of genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa a threat to farmers livelihoods and a risk to the environment. Judge Breyer ordered that a full Environmental Impact Statement must be carried out on "Roundup Ready" alfalfa, the GE variety developed by Monsanto and Forage Genetics. The decision may prevent this seasons sales and planting of Monsantos GE alfalfa and future submissions of other GE crops for commercial deregulation.

Read the Remainder of the Article:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/Alfalfa_DecisionPR2_14_07.cfm

Read the District Court Opinion by Judge Breyer (brother of Supreme Court Justice Breyer):
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/Alfalfa%20Decision%202-13-07.pdf

NEW BOOK OF INTEREST: Left Ahead, The Beginning Times

If you answer any of these three questions affimatively, you should buy the new book: Left Ahead, the Beginning Times by Hale Amity.
1) Do you hate Tim LaHaye's Insane Views on Christianity?
2) Are you looking for a fresh perspective on Christian views and a critique of right-wing, exclusionary, views?
3) Are you curious to know more about what it means to be Left Ahead?

Please visit the books website: www.left-ahead.com to read excerpts of the book and to buy a copy.

The book was self-published by an amazing author, who has spent the last few years perfecting the story. The book is written as a fictional story, but has many metaphors to real life battles regarding what it means to be "christian" and to be a "sinner."

The book Left Behind scared thousands of people into believing that they would be damned....Left Ahead is an answer to the insane interpretations of the bible in that book.

The Author has this to say about his book:
Bill Moyers' watershed interviews with Joseph Campbell in 1988 taught me about the power of myth. I understood, for the first time, why stories matter -- how stories carry a deep meaning for the storytellers who seek to locate themselves and define their purpose within the vastness of Creation.

I offer the following as an alternative to a story that is currently moving within a segment of the American public. The story is an old one -- dating back nearly two millennia -- but recently, in the hands of religious fundamentalists, it has been given a fearful modern twist.

Left Ahead is an invitation to reexamine the mythology that is guiding our culture and influencing our politics. It is a new look at the Apocalypse -- a whimsical story of what might happen if Americans changed their expectations of God.

Hale Amity
August 2006

Carving New Paths

Shallow Stream, Yosemite, Summer 2006

I haven't written much in the past several months--and when I do write it is usually about something less than uplifting. So despite all the setbacks, challenges, and general stressors, things are still generally good. Repeating what an anonymous blogger wrote: No matter how hard the surface is, no matter how much damage it seems to do, water is always stronger. It will always carve it's path.

Here is to Carving New Paths:

(1) The Democrats have the Senate and the House!
(2) A dear friend will be leaving a bad work situation--entering a much better one!
(3) A burden has been lifted, and is now far away (see earlier poem about concrete)
(4) I have reconnected with family, that I missed very much!
(5) I haven't yet signed my soul over to a giant law firm...(rejections are sometimes a good thing)
(6) I have the most wonderful boyfriend in the world, who supports me every day and gives me much needed hugs when I have a hard day--may we continue to carve two intertwined paths.

Lost Time Perception

For the first time in my life, I have been so busy that I have actually developed a sort of short-term memory loss co-mingled with a loss of time perception for brief moments.

Ex. Riding on the train to and from law school, I will often be so "in my head" that when I come out of it, I either (1) think that a great amount of time has passed, and that I may have missed my stop, only to realize only a minute or so has passed, or (2) I will think that only a minute has passed and infact, 7 or so minutes have passed.

The short-term memory loss comes into play when I am attempting to keep a clear train of thought. I am easily pushed "off the track" and then it takes me a second to remember what I was saying.

Concrete

Sometimes it feels
like you are concrete
pouring over me,
solidifying,
and trying to hold me back
from living.

I keep breaking through
but the pressure,
the weight of your words
is breaking my branches,
wilting my petals,
and drowning my roots.

I ask you to stop
at least take a break
so I can breath a moment.
But you aren't listening,
you are trapped inside
your necessary fictions.