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Eric Holder ‘confident’ of bringing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden ‘to justice’

“The United States is confident it will bring Edward Snowden to justice for ‘extremely damaging’ leaks about secret internet surveillance programmes, US Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday. ‘The national security of the United States has been damaged by those leaks. The safety of the American people and safety of people in allied nations is at risk,’ he said. Holder also said that he had agreed to share details with the European Union about the so-called PRISM programme, which was exposed after Snowden spoke to British and American newspapers.” Continue reading →

Hong Kong protesters back Edward Snowden, denounce allegations of U.S. spying

“A few hundred rights advocates and political activists marched through Hong Kong on Saturday to demand protection for Edward Snowden, who leaked revelations of U.S. electronic surveillance and is now believed to be holed up in the former British colony. ‘Arrest Obama, free Snowden,’ protesters shouted outside the slate grey building as police looked on. Many waved banners that said: ‘Betray Snowden, betray freedom’, ‘Big brother is watching you’ and ‘Obama is checking your email’. The city reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 but enjoys far more liberal laws on dissent and freedom of expression.” Continue reading →

Police sued after charging girl with making up rape claim about serial rapist

“A woman has sued several police and city officials after she was accused of lying about being raped. Marc Patrick O’Leary was later sentenced to more than 300 years in prison in 2011. In 2008, when the woman was 18, she reported that O’Leary had tied her up and assaulted her. Police found physical evidence that supported her story, and doctors documented abrasions on her wrists and vagina. However, the detectives accused her of fabricating the incident and charged her with filing a false police report. Three years later, O’Leary was arrested and federal agents uncovered hundreds of photos of his victims, including the woman.” Continue reading →

Organic growers lose decision in suit versus Monsanto over seeds

“Monsanto Co. on Monday won another round in a legal battle with U.S. organic growers as an appeals court threw out the growers’ efforts to stop the company from suing farmers if traces of its patented biotech genes are found in crops. Organic farmers and others have worried for years that they will be sued by Monsanto for patent infringement if their crops get contaminated with Monsanto biotech crops. In its ruling Monday, the appellate court said the organic growers must rely on Monsanto assurances on the company’s website that it will not sue them so long as the mix is very slight.” Continue reading →

Connecticut becomes first state to pass legislation requiring genetically modified (GM) food labeling

“The small US state of Connecticut became the first to pass legislation requiring food products with genetically modified ingredients to be labeled as such. The legislation was strongly supported in a 134-3 vote in the state House, making Connecticut the first of some two dozen states mulling GM foods labeling to pass a measure. The bill said that the labeling rules will only take effect when at least four other states, including at least one of them an immediate neighbor of Connecticut such as New York, enact similar legislation, and also only when states in the northeastern region of the country with a combined population of 20 million or more do the same.” Continue reading →

Study links genetically modified grain to stomach inflammation in pigs

“Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers. those pigs that ate the GM diet had a higher rate of severe stomach inflammation – 32 percent of GM-fed pigs compared to 12 percent of non-GM-fed pigs. The inflammation was worse in GM-fed males compared to non-GM fed males by a factor of 4.0. Critics have argued for years that the DNA changes made to the transgenic plants engineer novel proteins that can be causing the digestive problems in animals and possibly in humans.” Continue reading →

Will the FDA Harm Compounding Pharmacies?

“The FDA knew, as early as 2002, that ONE compounding pharmacy was doing risky things. But the FDA took no action until 2012. By that point, 700 people were sick and 53 had died. The FDA Commissioner then went on 60 Minutes and lied to the American people. She claimed this tragedy happened because the FDA lacked regulatory authority. But a House investigation showed the opposite. The FDA simply failed to do its job. Now the FDA wants to use its incompetence as an excuse to grab more power. The opposite should happen. This is like the SEC’s failure to investigate Bernie Madoff, despite numerous tips.” Continue reading →

Supreme Court revokes right to protest on court grounds

“Just two days after a judge struck down a decades-old law banning protests on Supreme Court grounds, the nation’s highest court has in effect restored it with a new rule governing conduct on its premises. The ban, first passed by Congress in 1949, was struck down Tuesday with extreme prejudice by Obama-appointed Judge Beryl A. Howell, who called it ‘repugnant’ and a clear violation of the First Amendment. According to The Associated Press, a rule the court issued Thursday bans ‘picketing, speech-making, marching or vigils’ on the Supreme Court’s plaza, while explicitly making way for ‘casual use’ by visitors.” Continue reading →