Free Republic

•EU watchdog reveals approval for GM foods fails to identify poisonous gene •54 of the 86 GM plants approved contain the dangerous gene •Gene found in food for farm animals producing meat, milk and eggs •Biotech supporters argue there is no evidence that GM foods are harmful A virus gene that could be poisonous to humans has been missed when GM food crops have been assessed for safety. GM crops such as corn and soya, which are being grown around the world for both human and farm animal consumption, include the gene. A new study by the EU’s official food...

You didn’t think that fundamentally transforming America was going to be cheap did you?(snip)     And speaking of fundamentally transforming our economy, have you heard what Hasbro is up to? They have plans for fundamentally transforming the game of Monopoly: the last existing format for educating children on how capitalism works.     Here’s the deal: Hasbro has launched an effort to introduce a new token (a robot, helicopter, guitar, diamond ring or cat – your choice) to the perennially popular board game. Butt instead of just adding it, they have decided to get rid of one of the...

In many families, Monopoly fights start long before the property is purchased. Inevitably, every player wants the same playing piece. Well, it's time to stand up for your beloved old boot or Scottie dog or thimble, because Hasbro is aiming to get rid of it. The company has announced plans to upgrade Monopoly, which will include replacing one of the game's iconic tokens with a fancy new figurine. Even worse, Hasbro is making you decide which one will go. From now through Feb. 5, fans can vote to save their favorite token -- and which new one will take the...

      

"The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use Plain English To Rob You Blind" with Pulizer Prize-winning David Cay Johnston. Right Click, Save As

The presidential and vice presidential debates are sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonprofit corporation that mandates that a candidate have at least 15 percent support in national polls to participate. Since the CPD took over running the debates in 1988, only once has a third party candidate been allowed to participate: In 1992, when Ross Perot joined Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush on the debate stage. The dominance of the two major parties at the debates has critics charging that the system is effectively rigged to shut out other voices. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee...

Speaking to Arutz Sheva, businessman and supermarket chain owner Rami Levy criticized politicians who blame corporations for increases in the cost of living. “I always argue that the public sector is more of a monopoly and more centralized than the private sector,” he said. “The bureaucracy it creates makes the cost of living more expensive by 15-20 percent,” he added. “When it comes to water, electricity, and property taxes...there’s no competition.”

The judge overseeing Apple’s patent lawsuit against Samsung said Apple can’t keep secret a marketing survey it took of its customers. Apple argued that the survey’s release would aid competitors, as the data is not available elsewhere. “It’s plainly a trade secret,” Apple’s lawyer told the court. “There’s no reason for a document to come into evidence in its entirety.” Judge Lucy Koh disagreed, but allowed Apple time to file an appeal. “I’m denying your request to seal today, so take it up on appeal,” Koh said. Meanwhile, in another hotly contested issue, Koh said she was denying Apple’s request...

An estimated two billion people around the world saw Jamaica's Usain Bolt thrash his rivals to win gold in the men's 100m final - but none of them were in the U.S., as NBC declined to broadcast the historic moment live. Bolt sailed through the semi-finals before successfully defending his Olympic title - against a field that included three Americans - at 4.50pm EDT. But, not for the first time this Games, NBC took the controversial decision to hold off broadcasting the hugely popular event until prime time, leaving millions of track and field fans outraged.

Are leftists now equating the life of blood thirsty terrorists to fallen IDF soldiers? We get a LIVE report on the scene with Yoni Klein who is reporting at a demonstration against the equating of a terrorist's life being equal to an IDF soldier's life- in other words, is a criminal's life equal to that of a police officer's? "Combatants for Peace explains why it chooses to invite parents of TERRORISTS who died fighting IDF soldiers to its Memorial Day ceremony. - 'No one has a monopoly on grief', they say. This is a radio talk show. Your participation is...

So far, during the presidency of Barack Obama, the price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 83 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (AP Photo) During the same period, the price of ground beef has gone up 24 percent and price of bacon has gone up 22 percent. When Obama entered the White House in January 2009, the city average price for one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $1.79, according to the BLS. (The figures are in nominal dollars: not adjusted for inflation.) Five months later in June, unleaded gasoline was $2.26 per gallon,...

German chemical company BASF today (16 January) announced that it is stopping production of genetically-modified (GM) crops for the European market, citing hostility from consumers as the reason for the decision. “There is still a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe — from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians,” said Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF's board. “It does not make business sense to continue investing in products exclusively for cultivation in this market.” The company will move its plant-science unit from Limburgerhof in Germany to the United States. It will also close other...

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The number of new prescription drug shortages in 2011 shot up to 267, well above the prior record and about four times the number of medication shortages in the middle of the last decade. Figures just released by the University of Utah Drug Information Service, which tracks national drug shortages, show there were 56 more newly reported drug shortages in the U.S. last year than in 2010, when there were 211. By contrast, there were only 58 drug shortages reported in 2004. As the drug shortages worsen, so does their impact on patient care, particularly...

Laura Chavez is shown in this Santa Fe County Jail booking photo. (Santa Fe County Jail) Laura Chavez, 60, of Santa Fe, N.M., is accused of repeatedly stabbing her boyfriend, Clyde “Butch” Smith, 48, when a family game of Monopoly went terribly awry. Chavez began to argue with Smith while playing the board game with her 10-year-old grandson. The boy told police that Chavez accused Smith of cheating at Monopoly, and then sent the boy to bed around 11 p.m. mid-argument. According to a probable cause statement released by police, the couple’s argument escalated until Chavez hit Smith over the...

A New Mexico woman repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend after accusing him of cheating during a Monopoly game early yesterday, according to police. Laura Chavez, 60, and her boyfriend were playing the popular board game at her Santa Fe apartment when the dispute occurred. Chavez, pictured in the mug shot at right, allegedly admitted stabbing her beau, Clyde "Butch" Smith, with a kitchen knife. Police reported that both Chavez and the 48-year-old Smith appeared to be intoxicated. The man, who cops found bleeding heavily from wounds on his head and right wrist, was hospitalized yesterday in stable condition. Smith told investigators...

There’s a supermarket anomaly near my home. Two supermarkets, a block apart: King Soopers (a Kroger store) and Safeway. In my town, everybody shops at King Soopers. Safeway is deserted. There are literally more employees than customers. Consequently, I get tremendous prices at Safeway, including a large percentage of my groceries at 50% off. What’s up with that? For some reason, Safeway has made the corporate decision to keep the store open as a loss leader. Curious. They stock all the normal foods, but then they have to get the food out of the store quickly at 50% off while...

In a report issued today, Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner says the state liquor control board's wine vending machines, a wonderful illustration of what happens when a government monopoly tries to act more like a business, are operating at a loss, costing taxpayers more than $1 million since they were introduced a year ago. "We think the wine kiosk program has failed," Wagner said at a press conference, "and it needs dramatic, radical changes if the program is going to continue to exist." His report attributes the failure largely to mechanical problems that caused an embarrassing month-long shutdown of...

According to last Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, pets who rely on drugs approved for people are likely to suffer now that nearly 200 of these are in short supply, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. So you understand, only a fraction of the drugs veterinarians use on animals are actually approved for use in veterinary settings. That’s mostly because it’s expensive to get drugs approved for specific uses in specific species (as the FDA requires for each individual drug). Luckily, the federal government makes exceptions for what’s called "extra-label" drug use. This means that when a critical mass...

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy Simon and Schuster, 424 pp., $26.00 I’m Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 416 pp., $27.00 The Googlization of Everything (and Why We Should Worry) by Siva Vaidhyanathan University of California Press, 265 pp., $26.95 Search & Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google Inc. by Scott Cleland with Ira Brodsky Telescope, 329 pp., $28.95 Tweets Alain de Botton, philosopher, author, and now online aphorist: The logical conclusion of our relationship to computers: expectantly to type “what is...

On the one hand, the tech industry is awash in patent trolls, companies that own generally spurious patents for technologies they didn't really invent, which exist solely to sue other companies into licensing said technologies. On the other, we have tech companies that have patents for technologies that they did, in fact, invent (or at least purchase legitimately) and, as important, use in actual products. These companies, too, must sue others to protect their patents, but for far more legitimate reasons. Google is upset about the latter kind of company, and it's citing two heavy-hitters, Apple and Microsoft, as example...