It is probably with little surprise to most that this announcement comes, but on Friday (I believe that to be the date) the USDA lifted any and all restrictions on the planting of genetically engineered alfalfa. This debate has been stirring for sometime now, since a court placed an injunction the planting of any further GE alfalfa sometime back. It looked as if the USDA might actually be reasonable with the matter and perhaps restrict it in some ways, including potential zoning and requirements for barriers, as were some of the suggested possibility that came up in the various meetings that the USDA held. Apparently though, that was merely lip service to make the folks like me and the number of outraged and affected farmers from previous problems with GMO’s in the past.
Stephen Colbert (from the Comedy Central show the Colbert Report) recently testified to Congress regarding his vast experience as a migrant laborer on a farm. This kind of stage publicity makes me sick to my stomach. I admit that I really dislike Colbert and purposely will change the channel if I accidentally hit his show. His vast experience that qualified him as an expert witness in regards to the farm labor issues – one day of work on a farm. He basically used his slight amount of fame to both mock Congress, the farm, and certainly any needs of the farm laborer.
A show recently caught on PBS’s American Experience about the Dust Bowl of the 1930′s really brought home relevant thoughts about lessons perhaps lightly learned at the time. Perhaps we need a bit of a history lesson a revisit of what happened then due to bad farming practices. Further, it is with some irony that one has to consider the big picture here, as the government stepped in with better practices and suggestions about limited scope in the 1930′s – since the 1970′s the say get big or get out.
My hats off to France! Long live the revolution! Okay, so I don’t even know what number of revolution we are on and I am most times more fond of the history of France in the 1st half of the Hundred Years War, when prior to Joan they were getting their butts kicked by the English armies under Edward, Edward of Woodstock, and Henry. Beyond that I admit a fondness for the romantic imagery and notions, and of course from military history one has to appreciate the years under Bonaparte. The modern France though, well suffice it to say I generally disagree with the leadership there at almost every turn.
