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A federal indictment unsealed Thursday charges 32 people with racketeering crimes, including people described as the acting boss, members and associates of the Genovese organized crime family. The 42-count indictment says the defendants engaged in crimes for more than a decade. Those crimes include murder, violent extortion of individuals and businesses, labor racketeering, obstruction of justice, narcotics trafficking, money laundering and firearms trafficking. Federal prosecutors planned to release details at a noon news conference.

Zimbabwean Minister of State for Land Reform and Resettlement Didymus Mutasa has denied the press reports that the southern African country had started importing genetically modified foods from Argentina. Mutasa said in a statement that "To be honest, I have never heard of that. They would have to consult with me but no one has done so. That policy (against unmilled genetically modified maize) is steadfast, we continue to maintain it. It has not been reviewed and the cabinet has not changed its position," he said. Zimbabwe and many other countries in the region are suspicious of genetically modified foods,...

Who benefits from GM crops? Monsanto and its corporate driven sponsors The first significant planting of genetically modified (GM) crops took place in 1996. Ten years on, GM crops have failed to deliver the promises made by the biotech corporations. Moreover, the introduction of GM crops has increased the biotech industry’s control over the seed supply, most notably by Monsanto, the world’s biggest seed company. The last decade also shows that Monsanto has an undesirable influence over agriculture and food policies in many countries. Who benefits from GM crops? Rapid penetration is the result of aggressive biotech industry strategies. The...

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

Executive Order 13112 calls for the creation of a Federal Advisory Committee to provide information and advice for consideration by the Council. The ISAC is composed of approximately thirty stakeholders from state organizations, industry, conservation groups, scientists, academia and other interests. The ISAC is composed of stakeholders from state organizations, industry, conservation groups, scientists, academia and other interests. The members serve two-year terms. Listed below are the current members of ISAC, who have been recently selected (August 2004) to serve on the third term of the advisory committee. Federal Invasive Species Advisory Committee - Third Term (2004-2006) Updated August 4,...

How do you say No NAIS in Japanese? Say no to the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) The USDA and the agricultural business giants have been crafting a national animal identification scheme that threatens the freedoms of the citizens of the United States of America. The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is the creation of various businesses, such as Monsanto Company, to monopolize American food production by using fear tactics to advance their agenda. The NAIS scheme was not created by any act of our government. NAIS is merely a presumptuous bureaucratic dictate. So who is Monanto Company? In the...

  Both in consumption and variety, biotech is busting out all over -- and we're reaping a host of benefits from cheaper and better food to land and forest preservation.   Approved biotech crops in 2004 globally occupied 200 million acres, up from just 167 million acres the year before, an incredible forty-sevenfold increase since 1996.   In the United States, as well, biotech acreage increases annually. Most of our corn, about four-fifths of our cotton, and almost 90 percent of our soybeans are transgenic. That means a gene or genes from another organism has been spliced into them to give them new...

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...

If you're talking about PCBs, Agent Orange, Bovine Growth Hormone, water privatization, biopiracy, untested/unlabeled genetically engineered organisms, or persecuting small family farmers, you're talking about the Monsanto Corporation. "Rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food." In order for the FDA to determine if Monsanto's growth hormones were safe or not, Monsanto was required to submit a scientific report on that topic. Margaret Miller, one of Monsanto's researchers put the report together. Shortly before the report...

SAN FRANCISCO - Monsanto Co.'s "seed police" snared soy farmer Homan McFarling in 1999, and the company is demanding he pay it hundreds of thousands of dollars for alleged technology piracy. McFarling's sin? He saved seed from one harvest and replanted it the following season, a revered and ancient agricultural practice. "My daddy saved seed. I saved seed," said McFarling, 62, who still grows soy on the 5,000 acre family farm in Shannon, Miss. and is fighting the agribusiness giant in court. Saving Monsanto's seeds, genetically engineered to kill bugs and resist weed sprays, violates provisions of the company's contracts...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Monsanto Co.'s "seed police" snared soy farmer Homan McFarling in 1999, and the company is demanding he pay it hundreds of thousands of dollars for alleged technology piracy. McFarling's sin? He saved seed from one harvest and replanted it the following season, a revered and ancient agricultural practice. "My daddy saved seed. I saved seed," said McFarling, 62, who still grows soy on the 5,000 acre family farm in Shannon, Miss. and is fighting the agribusiness giant in court. Saving Monsanto's seeds, genetically engineered to kill bugs and resist weed sprays, violates provisions of the company's...

Monsanto fined $1.5m for bribery Bribes were falsely entered in the books as "consultancy fees" The US agrochemical giant Monsanto has agreed to pay a $1.5m (£799,000) fine for bribing an Indonesian official. Monsanto admitted one of its employees paid the senior official two years ago in a bid to avoid environmental impact studies being conducted on its cotton. In addition to the penalty, Monsanto also agreed to three years' close monitoring of its business practices by the American authorities. It said it accepted full responsibility for what it called improper activities. Payout A former senior manager at Monsanto directed...

EU Head Office Approves Genetically Modified Corn ProductThe Associated Press Published: Jun 25, 2004 BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Commission proposed Friday that EU governments approve Monsanto Co.'s genetically modified corn for use in processed foods. The commission said any products containing the corn, known as NK603, would have to be labeled clearly as genetically modified. The corn produced by St. Louis-based Monsanto underwent "a thorough safety assessment for any adverse impact on public health," the EU head office said in a statement. Friday's proposal to allow the corn to be marketed came a month after the European Union...

Environmentalists Rejoice at Monsanto GM DecisionLondon -- Environmentalists claimed a victory and the death knell for genetically modified crops on Tuesday as U.S. chemical giant Monsanto declared it was giving up on the GM wheat it had hoped would smash consumer resistance. "This is the end of GM. It is the final nail in the coffin. I am sure the companies will come back with more proposals in the future but basically the damage is done," Tony Juniper, director of green lobby group Friends of the Earth said. "I am sure a combination of exporters, farmers and consumers has finally...

Is it better to feed the poor and make money, or appease Greenpeace and do neither? Biotech giant Monsanto's management faced that very question this week and opted to cave in to Greenpeace. It's another example of craven shortsighted corporate managers surrendering to pressure from anti-business activist groups to the detriment of corporate shareholders and the public. -----Snip------

Seeds of conflict Percy Schmeiser vs. Monsanto reaches Canada's Supreme Court early next year You're in business. You make widgets that have yellow heads. One day, a competitor who specializes in blue-headed widgets notices some blue-heads in your inventory. He accuses you of stealing — and sues you for patent infringement. You say you don't know how the blue-heads got on your shelves, you don't want them, and worse — they seem to be "infecting" your own product. He insists you pay a technology fee. You refuse. He sues you. The lower courts side with him, ruling that it doesn't...

By now even the lactose intolerant are aware of the battle being waged by chemical giant Monsanto against the against the locally owned and operated [Portland, Maine] Oakhurst Dairy over the "hormone-free" label Oakhurst uses on its milk. Monsanto is the sole US producer of the artificial-growth hormone in question, and reportedly doesn’t like the implication that customers should care about — or want to avoid — such a chemical in their dairy products. Monsanto recently filed for an injunction to prevent Oakhurst from labeling or advertising its milk as hormone-free, based primarily on the fact that Posilac (the hormone’s...