California Poised to OK Supertoxic Pesticide

Posted on June 3, 2010 by abby

SF GATE– Farmers planting strawberries and other crops in California will soon have to contend with cancer-causing poison instead of bugs, worms and fungus if regulators get their wish.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has proposed registering methyl iodide as a pesticide in California to the dismay of scientists and environmental groups, who say it is so toxic that even chemists are reluctant to handle it.

The chemical will become legal for growers to use after a 60-day comment period ending June 29 unless there is some kind of public outcry.

“This is one of the most egregious pesticides out there,” said Sarah Aird, the state field organizer for Californians for Pesticide Reform, a coalition of watchdog groups opposed to the use of potentially harmful chemicals. “It is really, really toxic. It is actually used in the laboratory to induce cancer cells.”

Methyl iodide was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 for use as a fumigant over the protests of more than two dozen California legislators and 54 scientists, including five Nobel laureates, who signed a letter opposing registration of the chemical.

Read the full article HERE.

Photo by flickr user Michael Oh

Obama to Use National Guard to Beef up Border Security

Posted on May 30, 2010 by abby

LA TIMES– With its immigration overhaul effort bogged down in Congress, the Obama administration will deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the violence-plagued Mexican border, officials said Tuesday.

News of the expected deployment came just hours after Obama met with GOP senators over lunch and discussed immigration and other issues on his agenda. Republicans last month wrote to the president asking for a larger National Guard deployment along the border to deal with drug-running and the smuggling of people.

The administration will seek $500 million to pay for the Guard and other border-protection measures. The Guard is expected to focus on efforts against drug trafficking, which has made the border region a murder zone. The troops are not expected to do law enforcement.

The last time the Guard was sent to the border was in 2006, when President George W. Bush sent thousands of troops to handle support issues and to free up U.S. Border Patrol agents.

In an afternoon appearance on the Senate floor, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called for a renewed effort to bring the border region under control. In televised remarks, McCain, who had been a leading proponent of immigration overhaul, argued that troops were needed to prevent the human rights violations carried out by smugglers bringing undocumented workers into the U.S.

The dispatch of federal troops comes as the national spotlight has again turned to immigration issues after Arizona passed a law that gives police the power to stop people they suspect of being undocumented workers.

Liberals have vowed to overturn the law, arguing it is unconstitutional. Conservatives, however, have backed the law as needed to secure the borders.

Obama has pushed immigration issues, but his efforts have been rebuffed in this midterm election year. On Tuesday, he told the Republican lawmakers that he needed their help in getting a sweeping overhaul through the Senate.

Obama has repeatedly argued for better border security, a position backed by Mexico President Felipe Calderon, who recently visited the White House.

But Obama has also called for a program targeting employers of undocumented workers and a plan to give those immigrants a path to citizenship after paying penalties.

Written by Michael Muskal, twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Congress Sells Out, Stalls FCC on Net Neutrality

Posted on May 28, 2010 by abby

CNET– The Federal Communications Commission’s plan to impose Net neutrality regulations just became much more difficult to pull off.

A bipartisan group of politicians on Monday told FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, in no uncertain terms, to abandon his plans to impose controversial new rules on broadband providers until the U.S. Congress changes the law.

Seventy-four House Democrats sent Genachowski, an Obama appointee and fellow Democrat, a letter saying his ideas will “jeopardize jobs” and “should not be done without additional direction from Congress.”

A separate letter from 37 Senate Republicans, also sent Monday, was more pointed. It accused Genachowski of pushing “heavy-handed 19th century regulations” that are “inconceivable” as well as illegal.

This amounts to approximately the last thing that any FCC chairman, at least one concerned with his future political prospects, wants to happen on his watch. Not only do Monday’s letters inject a new element of uncertainty into whether the FCC will try to repurpose analog telephone-era rules to target broadband providers, but they also sharply increase the likelihood of the process taking not many months but many years.

“Questions about the FCC’s legal authority should be decided by the Congress itself, and not by applying to the Internet a set of onerous rules designed for a different technology, a different situation, and a different era,” AT&T’s senior vice president for legislative affairs, Jim Cicconi, said Monday.

Last month, a federal appeals court unanimously ruled that the FCC’s attempt to slap Net neutrality regulations on Internet providers–in a case that grew out of Comcast throttling BitTorrent transfers–was not authorized by Congress. The opinion called the FCC’s claims “flatly inconsistent” with the law.

Read full article HERE.

Photo by Adam Selwood, flickr user

LA Orders 439 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to Close

Posted on May 23, 2010 by abby

LA TIMES– Los Angeles city prosecutors began notifying 439 medical marijuana dispensaries Tuesday that they must shut down by June 7, when the city’s ordinance to regulate the stores takes effect. It’s the first step in what could be a lengthy and expensive legal battle to regain control over pot sales.

The letters, which were sent to both dispensary operators and property owners, warn that violations of the city’s laws are a misdemeanor and could lead to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Collectives that stay open after the deadline could also face civil penalties of $2,500 a day.

“We’re hopeful that the fact that we’ve given them more than 30 days to comply that a significant number of them will cease operating,” said Asha Greenberg, the assistant city attorney who has handled most of the efforts to close dispensaries.

Los Angeles became the epicenter of the state’s dispensary boom last year, following the Obama administration’s announcement that it would not prosecute medical marijuana stores that adhered to state law. Although the city had a moratorium on new dispensaries, it failed to enforce the ban and hundreds opened with no oversight, triggering complaints from neighborhood activists.

The letters were welcomed by city officials and activists as a sign that the contentious issue, which was first considered by the City Council five years ago, is nearing a resolution.

Continue reading at LA TIMES.

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In Texas, History Textbooks Get a Conservative Makeover

Posted on May 23, 2010 by abby

TRUTHOUT– In a move that has potential national impact, the Texas State Board of Education has approved controversial changes to social studies textbooks – pushing high school teaching in a more conservative direction.

The Dallas Morning news reports that the curriculum standards adopted Friday by a 9-5 vote along party lines on the elected board have “a definite political and philosophical bent in many areas.”

“For example, high school students will have to learn about leading conservative groups from the 1980s and 1990s in U.S. history – but not about liberal or minority rights groups that are identified as such.

Board members also gave a thumbs down to requiring history teachers and textbooks to provide coverage on the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy while the late President Ronald Reagan was elevated to more prominent coverage in the curriculum. In addition, the requirements place Sen. Joseph McCarthy in a more positive light in U.S. history despite the view of most historians who condemn the late Republican senator’s tactics and his view that the U.S. government was infiltrated by Communists in the 1950s.”

Conservative Icons

Students would learn about the “unintended consequences” of Title IX, affirmative action, and the Great Society, and would study such conservative icons as Phyllis Schlafly, the Heritage Foundation, and the Moral Majority.

There’s also more emphasis on religion’s role in US history. This was evident in the opening prayer at Friday’s meeting in Austin by education board member Cynthia Dunbar made “in the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … [on behalf of] “a Christian land governed by Christian principles.”

Supporters of the changes see them as correcting liberal views imposed when Democrats controlled the state education board.

Continue reading article about Texas Schoolbooks Getting Revised.

Photo by flickr user ShutterHacks

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