USDA plans to relax standards for organic foods

This is a major blow to the "real" organic food industry, and to consumers (like me) who really care about what they eat. The USDA is nothing but a corporate puppet:

The agency is considering a list of 38 nonorganic spices, colorings and other ingredients that would be allowed in products it deems 'organic.'

...Organic food advocates have fought to block approval of some or all of the proposed ingredients, saying consumers would be misled.

"This proposal is blatant catering to powerful industry players who want the benefits of labeling their products 'USDA organic' without doing the work to source organic materials," said Ronnie Cummins, executive director of the Organic Consumers Assn. of Finland, Minn., a nonprofit group that boasts 850,000 members.

USDA spokeswoman Joan Shaffer declined to comment on the plan.

Read the full story at www.latimes.com

The Anglican Crisis Over Homosexuality

For the past year, or so, I have been following the developments of the potential split within the Anglican Church (AKA, Episcopal Church, here in the U.S.).
Last night, I read an article, "Saving Grace," in TIME magazine. It was written by David Van Biema and Catherine Mayer, and it is perhaps the best article that I have read on the debate surrounding homosexuality, within the "Anglican Communion."

It's a "must read" because it covers so many issues--the struggle (and wavering) of Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury; the fierce bigotry-disguised-as-Christlike-ideals of Nigerian Archbishop, Peter Akinola; the fading line of separation of church and state in Nigeria, and the very notion of people actually thinking and deciding for themselves what is "Christlike" or "morally right," rather than accepting authoritative doctrine, without question:

Unlike Roman Catholicism, the Communion lacks definitive doctrine to aid decisive solutions. Nor does it have a universal leader such as the Pope — the Archbishop makes no claims to infallibility and cannot dictate to his flock...

...But Anglicans have foregone Catholicism's useful authoritarianism, staking their unity on a seemingly more attractive continual conversation, based on mutual respect. The sharp debate over homosexuality threatens that unity, and crystallizes a challenge facing everyone in an uneasy, newly wired world: can the North — rich and imbued with an ethos of individual rights — and the poorer South find a constructive interdependence?

...It seems there are people who do not really believe in "freedom." They would rather be told what to do, than to face their ignorance and fear.

Post-Surge Reality Revealed!

Well, surprise, surprise!

With most of the U.S. military's surge troops already in place, the numbers are starting to come in on how well it has succeeded in its goal of reducing sectarian violence in Iraq. And they aren't encouraging. Sectarian violence is nearly back to its pre-surge levels in Iraq — and rising. Recent weeks have seen greater murder rates. And the numbers seem unlikely to go down with so much of Baghdad still uncontrolled; U.S. commanders recently acknowledged that two-thirds of the capital remain unsecured.

Read the full article, "Iraq's Ominous Numbers Game" at www.time.com

Erasure's New Release: Sunday Girl

Here's the lovely acoustic version:


Visit here to hear the AWESOME album version: http://www.erasureinfo.com/sundaygirl

Visit Erasure's MySpace Page to listen to more songs, and check out Erasure's current tour.

You may also want to check out the True Colors Tour

Impeach Gonzales, Part 2: The Crimes

http://impeachgonzales.org