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Elizabeth Harrington The federal government spent more than $2 billion to provide food stamps to Puerto Rico in 2012, up to 25 percent of which is untraceable because it is distributed in cash and there is “no way to verify that funds are spent on food,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The funds are used to supply more than one-third of the population of Puerto Rico with [...] One-Third of U.S. Honeybee Colonies Died Last Winter, Threatening Food Supply Nearly one in three commercial honeybee colonies in the United States died or disappeared last winter, an unsustainable decline that threatens the nation’s food supply. Multiple factors — pesticides, fungicides, parasites, viruses and malnutrition — are believed to cause the losses, which were officially announced today by a consortium of academic researchers, beekeepers and Department of Agriculture scientists. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/winter-honeybee-losses/ Cell phone towers radiation Mobile [...] From The PERColator: As PERC’s Rick Stroup often says, “Efficiency has no constituency,” and that’s certainly true of environmental policy. The federal government is replete with inefficiencies resulting from overlapping, redundant, and wasteful spending programs. The U.S. government has been caught promoting the delivery of taxpayer-funded welfare benefits to foreigners, and Judicial Watch’s conclusion is that the Obama administration “cannot be trusted to protect our borders.” Judicial Watch, the Washington watchdog which is known for tracking down and trying to stamp out government corruption, has issued a report revealing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working with the Mexican government to promote the U.S. food stamp [...] WASHINGTON — If the feds get their way, meats on supermarket shelves will include some unappetizing details, such as where the animal was slaughtered. Find that stomach-turning? Better get used to it: Labels on meat products sold in the U.S. could soon read like a sad mini-biography of the ranch-raised beasts. In a little-known regulatory action that has produced a storm of criticism, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has moved to rework how [...] Washington’s Blog America has been decimated by the breakdown of the separation of powers between different branches of government. For example, the executive branch is negotiating laws in secret – and grabbing powers –without telling Congress. And life-and-death decisions about who the government labels an “enemy combatant” and assassinatesare being kept away from the judges altogether. At the same time, government agencies like the FDA go to great lengths to cover up [...] Salmonella outbreaks. E. coli outbreaks. Millions of dollars in economic losses. These are among the scenarios the Obama administration warned about last month as it claimed the sequester would force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to furlough meat inspectors. But while the administration prepares to take that step, it continues to pursue a “partnership” with the Mexican government to “raise awareness” about food stamps among immigrants from that country. When a top [...] Should Congress approve a proposition included in an agriculture bill up for vote this week, biotech companies like the Monsanto Company could win yet another victory in Washington. The US House of Representatives is expected to weigh in on the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for Fiscal year 2013 this week, and included within the act lies the “Farmer Assurance Provision,” a small subsection that has so far earned opposition from hundreds of [...] Caroline May The United States Department of Agriculture has been working to dispel immigrants’ concerns that getting on Food Stamps will harm their chances of becoming U.S. citizens. The USDA addresses those fears in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp, brochures it distributes to Mexican consulates as part of its “partnership” with the Mexican government “to help educate eligible Mexican nationals living in the United States about available [...] A cellphone company whose top executive has close ties to President Obama lobbied for and won a piece of a major new government push to provide Internet service to low-income job-seekers, even though critics say the company’s smartphones are poorly suited to the task of helping those in the program find work. The program’s supporters tout it as a way for the unemployed to learn technical skills, to prepare resumes and [...] Infowars.com The Obama administration’s Department of Agriculture has released nutrition standards for “competitive” foods and has outlawed snacks considered unhealthy by the nanny state federal government. “Regular soda is out, though high-schoolers may have access to diet versions,” The Hill reports. That’s right – the government is recommending our kids drink soda laden with the deadly neurotoxin aspartame. As usual, the right hand of government has no idea what the left hand is doing… [...] by Patrick Burke, CNS News: During fiscal year 2012, the U.S. government spent a record $80.4 billion on food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a $2.7 billion increase from FY 2011. (Fiscal year 2012 ran from Oct. 1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2012.) According to the Monthly Treasury Statement that summarizes the receipts and outlays of the federal government, $80,401,000,000 went towards SNAP during FY 2012, which was a $2.7 billion [...] mybudget360.com There was a startling figure that came across my desk from the United States Department of Agriculture regarding food stamp usage in the SNAP program. Food stamp usage has grown dramatically in the last decade even during the debt inspired boom times. Yet the devil is always in the details as we reported with the unemployment rate really dropping because of the over 500,000 Americans simply dropping out of the labor force. [...] The scientists, from a government agency in Queensland, have spent ten years trying to develop a new variety of sweeter, juicier pineapple but did not actually intend to create the coconut flavour. “It’s sweet, low acid, very juicy,” said Garth Sanewski, a senior horticulturalist at Queensland’s department of agriculture. “It has this lovely coconut flavour, which you won’t find in any other pineapple in Australia.” The new pineapple, called AusFestival, has been dubbed [...]  Turk – The Fed Is Playing An Extraordinarily Dangerous Game Today James Turk spoke with King World News about an extraordinarily dangerous game the Fed is now playing and how it will impact key markets, including gold and silver. But first, here is what Turk had to say about the ongoing crisis in the US: “On Friday in the United States, the Department of Agriculture released its report showing the number [...] Egon von Greyerz: We are entering one of the most worrying times in history via KWN: With gold and silver moving higher this week as stocks were trounced, today, Egon von Greyerz lets King World News readers know what to expect for the rest of this year as well as for 2013. Here is what Greyerz had this to say: “We are entering one of the most worrying times in history, maybe even for [...] House Republicans say new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines aimed at forcing students to eat fruits and vegetables are a failure because students across the country are simply tossing the healthy fare into the trash. “[T]here remains great concern with the amount of food waste generated at school cafeterias, much of it brought on by requiring students to take fruits and vegetables rather than simply offer them,” Reps. John Kline [...] zerohedge.com While the 0.4% perfectly unmanipulated and totally coincidental swing in the unemployment rate in anObama favorable direction one month before the election came at a prime time moment for the market, one hour ahead of the open, setting the market mood for the rest of the day (which despite all best efforts still closed red, valiant efforts by Simon Potter and the FRBNY’s direct pipe to Citadel notwithstanding), there [...] As part of an effort to encourage Mexicans living in the United States to enroll in the federal food stamp program, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees have met with Mexican officials over 150 times in the last eight years, the Daily Caller reports. The result: an enormous increase in the number of noncitizens participating in the program and a concomitant rise in federal spending and debt. http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/13089-us-mexico-conspire-to-get-mexicans-in-us-on-food-stamps (CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it spent $55 million in fiscal 2012 to support 748 “specialty crops” across the country – benefiting everything from fruit and nuts in California to an “interactive wine trail” in Massachusetts to the promotion of Michigan-grown Christmas trees and poinsettias.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack lamented that such support programs will not be funded in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 unless Congress passes the [...] Real Unemployment Reaches 20% In 7 Colorado Counties By Tyler Sandberg DENVER — The slowest economic recovery since World War II is going especially slow for sections of Colorado, according to a letter from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) obtained by The Colorado Observer. In seven counties in Colorado unemployed individuals are close to or exceeding 20% of the population, a letter from the Chief Economist of CDLE [...] July was the hottest month ever recorded in the continental U.S. Some areas were 8 degrees warmer than average, with the average temperature in the lower 48 states at 77.6 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.3 degrees above the 20th century average. Spring 2012 saw the warmest march, third-warmest April and second-warmest May in history, and was approximately 5.2 degrees Fahrenheit above average overall. Through late June 2011, daily record highs were outnumbering daily record [...] Bacon lovers are advised to start bulk buying the breakfast favorite or switch to an alternative, as ‘a world shortage of pork and bacon next year is now unavoidable,’ warns an industry trade group. Annual production for Europe’s main pig producers fell across the board between 2011 and 2012, a trend that ‘is being mirrored around the world’, warns Britain’s National Pig Association. The decline in pig numbers is closely linked to increased [...] As part of “a new era of civil rights” at the Department of Agriculture, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced Monday that Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who believe USDA discriminated against them can file claims to get a piece of at least $1.33 billion in cash awards and tax relief payments and up to $160 million in farm debt relief, beginning this week. Women and Hispanic ranchers and farmers who feel [...] Hot and Dry Summer may lead to Aflatoxin Contamination in Corn Most of our corn this year has experienced extremely hot, dry conditions. As a result grain development has been severely hampered. In addition, such drought-like conditions have area producers concerned about Aspergillus ear rot and aflatoxin contamination of grain. presstv.com The results of a new poll show that American citizens are still experiencing difficulty in affording food for themselves or their families, a sign which proves that the country’s economy is not on the road to recovery. A total of 177,662 adults from across the United States responded to the poll conducted by Gallup organization via phone from January through June 2012. According to the findings, which were made public [...] |
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