A Moratorium On Genetically Manipulated (GMO) Foods

By F. William Engdahl
5-21-9

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has just issued a call for an immediate moratorium on Genetically Manipulated (GMO) Foods.

In a just-released position paper on GMO foods, the AAEM states that ‘GM foods pose a serious health risk’ and calls for a moratorium on GMO foods. Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes ‘there is more than a casual association between GMO foods and adverse health effects’ and that ‘GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.’ The report is a devastating blow to the multibillion dollar international agribusiness industry, most especially to Monsanto Corporation, the world’s leading purveyor of GMO seeds and related herbicides.
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Bee colonies drop another 29 percent: ‘Something is going wrong,’ Florida beekeeper says

By SUSAN SALISBURY

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Honeybee losses nationwide continue at a level that is economically unsustainable for commercial beekeeping, according to a 2008-09 survey released Tuesday.

The survey, which encompassed 20 percent of the nation’s roughly 2.3 million honeybee colonies, found a 29 percent loss of managed bee colonies. This compares with losses of 36 percent and 32 percent in the winters of 2007-08 and 2006-07, respectively. The Apiary Inspectors of America and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bee Research Lab in Beltsville, Md., conducted the survey from September 2008 to April.

“If you are a small businessperson in any activity, how long can you sustain 29 percent losses or greater each year?” said Jerry Hayes, assistant chief of the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspection in Gainesville.
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Here Comes The Option ARM Mortgage Explosion

Joe Weisenthal|May. 21, 2009, 6:51 AM

Subprime is done. All the teaser rates are over, the interest rates have reset and the writing is on the wall.

But in the coming quarters, the scenario will play out with other exotic mortgages, Option ARM (pick-a-pay), Alt-A, etc. The homebuyers may have had better credit, but they had the same strategy: Get a low interest rate upfront, and then deal with the reset down the road, by either refinancing or selling the home. But, whoops, home values are way lower and the economy sucks. Plan derailed.
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Dollar stops being Russia’s basic reserve currency

19.05.2009 Source: Pravda.Ru

The US dollar is not Russia’s basic reserve currency anymore. The euro-based share of reserve assets of Russia’s Central Bank increased to the level of 47.5 percent as of January 1, 2009 and exceeded the investments in dollar assets, which made up 41.5 percent, The Vedomosti newspaper wrote.

The dollar has thus lost the status of the basic reserve currency for the Russian Central Bank, the annual report, which the bank provided to the State Duma, said.

In accordance with the report, about 47.5 percent of the currency assets of the Russian Central Bank were based on the euro, whereas the dollar-based assets made up 41.5 percent as of the beginning of the current year. The situation was totally different at the beginning of the previous year: 47 percent of investments were made in US dollars, while the euro investments were evaluated at 42 percent.

The dollar share had increased to 49 percent and remained so as of October 1. The euro share made up 40 percent. The rest of investments were based on the British pound, the Japanese yen and the Swiss frank.
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Fannie and Freddie in ‘critical’ condition

By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: May 18, 2009: 4:08 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, charged with helping lead the nation out of its housing crisis, are facing “critical” financial problems, federal regulators said Monday.

The companies suffer from severe financial, operational and compliance weaknesses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said a report to Congress detailing its annual examinations of the firms. Taken over by the government in September, Fannie and Freddie are not able to operate without federal assistance.
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