Dutch Scumbag Still Preying On Women

Infamous Dutch serial killer Joran van der Sloot, serving 28 years in prison for murdering a Peruvian woman, and who is wanted in the U.S. in connection with the disappearance of another woman, is scheming to marry his Peruvian girlfriend in an attempt to avoid extradition to the U.S.

26-year-old van der Sloot is currently serving time in a Peruvian prison for the murder of local college student Stephany Flores.  The Dutchman was long suspected in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, but her body was never found and charges were never made.   In 2010, van der Sloot tried to extort $250,000 from Natalee Holloway’s mother in return for details about her daughter’s death.  Van der Sloot took a $25,000 down payment and then ran off to Peru, where he met  Miss Flores in a Lima casino,   He became enraged after she found out about his suspected involvement in the Natalee Holloway case and he murdered her. 

He now faces extortion charges in the U.S.,  and his extradition to the U.S. was approved in principle last year by Peru's Supreme Court-- but only after he serves out his sentence in Lima. He could serve less than ten years in his Peruvian prison for good behavior.

After he lost his extradition appeal at the Peruvian Supreme Court last year, there were rumors that he would marry a Peruvian girl in July-- but those plans fell through.

Recently Van der Sloot has been visited in prison by 22-year-old Leydi Figueroa Uced, who was last reported to be pregnant with his child (although no reports of the baby’s birth have ever been released).   If van der Sloot is able to convince Figueroa Uced to follow through with his current wedding plans, he will be able to  automatically apply for Peruvian citizenship, which will hinder America’s chances of ever extraditing him.

Unapproved Franken-Wheat Found In Oregon

Unapproved genetically engineered wheat has been discovered in an Oregon field, a potential threat to trade with countries that have concerns about genetically modified foods.

The U.S. Agriculture Department has said that the genetically engineered wheat is safe to eat and there is no evidence that modified wheat entered the marketplace. But the department is investigating how it ended up in the field, whether there was any criminal wrongdoing and whether its growth is widespread.

The unidentified farmer discovered the modified wheat when farm workers were trying to kill some wheat plants that popped up between harvests. The farmer used the herbicide glyphosate to kill the plants, but they did not die, prompting the tests at Oregon State to find out if the crops were genetically engineered to resist herbicides.  USDA officials would not identify the farmer or the farm's exact location-- but the field with the genetically modified wheat is in the eastern part of the state.

The tests confirmed that the plants were a strain developed by Monsanto to resist its herbicides and tested between 1998 and 2005. At the time Monsanto had applied to USDA for permission to develop the engineered wheat, but the company later pulled its application.

USDA said that during that seven-year period, it authorized more than 100 field tests with the same glyphosate-resistant wheat variety. Tests were conducted in in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.  During the original testing and application process, the Food and Drug Administration had reviewed the variety found in Oregon and said it was as safe as conventional varieties of wheat.

As of today, however,  no genetically engineered wheat has been approved for U.S. farming.  While most of the corn and soybeans grown in the U.S. are already genetically modified, the country's wheat crop is not.

The discovery could have far-reaching implications for the U.S. wheat industry if the growth of the engineered product turns out to be far-flung. Many countries around the world will not accept imports of genetically modified foods, and the U.S. exports about half of its wheat crop.

The discovery also could have implications for organic companies, which by law cannot use genetically engineered ingredients in its foods. Organic farmers have frequently expressed concern that genetically modified seed will blow into organic farms and contaminate their products.  Consumers have shown increasing interest in avoiding genetically modified foods. Several states are considering bills that would require them to be labeled so consumers know what they are eating.

Bye Bye Batshit Bachmann

Tea Party wing-nut Michelle Bachmann announced today that she will not be running for reelection. In her nine-minute web video announcing the move, she denied that her decision had anything to do with her ongoing ethics inquiry nor the FBI investigation of her presidential campaign.  Maybe it was due to the lawsuit against her for the theft of an email list-- she forgot to mention that.

In any case, it doesn't matter much-- nor does it seem to matter to anyone in her party, as there was no accolades or public comment of any kind from her GOP colleagues.  But that's no surprise, as she was little more than a carnival act, having accomplished next to nothing during her eight-year congressional career. 

While in office, she sponsored 58 bills-- 53 of which were immediately referred to committee (in other words, went nowhere).  Of the remaining five, three were agreed to without a vote: HR 373 (support for designating "National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month") HR 923 (recognizing Minnesota's 150th anniversary) and HR 79 (honoring public child welfare agencies).  Another bill (HR 850, facilitating a proposed project in the lower St Croix river) got out of committee but failed to get any action in the full House.  HR 45 (repeal of "Obamacare") passed the house, but went nowhere further (as it has failed to do another 30 or so times since then).  Impressive!

Bachmann has never wielded a committee gavel (either at the full or subcommittee level) and her amendments have rarely been considered by any committee, even with the House under GOP control.  As lame as she was, she was certainly entertaining--- and for that, we'll miss her!

It's Time for the Millenials

The Scoop on Poop in Venezeula

First milk, butter, coffee and cornmeal ran short. Now Venezuela is running out of the most basic of necessities – toilet paper.  Blaming political opponents for the shortfall, as it does for other shortages, the government says it will import 50 million rolls to boost supplies.

That was little comfort to consumers struggling to find toilet paper.  "This is the last straw," said Manuel Fagundes, a shopper hunting for tissue in Caracas. "I'm 71 years old and this is the first time I've seen this."

One supermarket visited by reporters in the capital was out of toilet paper. Another had just received a fresh batch, and it quickly filled up with shoppers as the word spread.  "I've been looking for it for two weeks," said Cristina Ramos. "I was told that they had some here and now I'm in line."

Economists say Venezuela's shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government's controls on foreign currency.  "State-controlled prices – prices that are set below market-clearing price – always result in shortages. The shortage problem will only get worse, as it did over the years in the Soviet Union," said Steve Hanke, professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University.

Nicolas Maduro who was selected by the dying Hugo Chávez to carry on his "Bolivarian revolution", claims that anti-government forces, including the private sector, are causing the shortages in an effort to destabilise the country.  The government this week announced it also would import 760,000 tonnes of food in addition to the 50 million rolls of toilet paper.

Commerce minister Alejandro Fleming blamed the shortage of toilet tissue on "excessive demand" built up as a result of "a media campaign that has been generated to disrupt the country".  "The revolution will bring the country the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper," he said. "We are going to saturate the market so that our people calm down."

 

Another Warning To Those (Still) Using Facebook

Facebook has been caught again in an act that further erodes its credibility-- by censoring the free speech of users who are critical of global corporate giant Monsanto.  Facebook recently suspended of an account that posted a photo of children rallying against Monsanto during a protest against genetically modified food.  The photo posted by Facebook user Andrea Lalama shows her children carrying hand-drawn signs.

After this picture was shared on Facebook, Andrea's account was immediately suspended.

As a result, Andrea Lalama can only re-post other people's content but is disallowed from posting her own content. Another woman, Georgia Gallucci, was also censored by Facebook-- her account was also suspended by Facebook after reposting a friend's photo from the Monsanto March.

Yet another account called "Reversing Autism" was also suspended by Facebook for posting Monsanto march photos, claiming that they were "abusive."

Krewella - Alive