Russia halts imports of Monsanto corn over cancer fears

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Russian authorities temporary suspended the import and sale of Monsanto’s genetically-modified corn after a French study suggested it may be linked to cancer.

The Russia’s consumer-rights regulator Rospotrebnadzor asked scientists at the country’s Institute of Nutrition to review the study. The watchdog has also contacted to European Commission’s Directorate General for Health & Consumers to explain the EU’s position on GM corn.

The report prepared by France’s University of Caen and published last week, claimed that rats fed over a two-year period with Monsanto’s genetically modified NK603 corn, developed more tumors and other pathologies than a test group fed with regular corn. The NK603, sold under the Roundup label, is genetically engineered to withstand glyphosate weed killer.

The company criticized the study, saying it “doesn’t meet minimum acceptable standards for this type of scientific research” and the data was incomplete.

Monsanto also said Russia’s ban will have little effect on its business as the country import small volumes of corn from the US. Besides that, the Russian government doesn’t permit farmers to plant GM crops. “Russia is a net exporter of grain, so the actual impact of their temporary suspension, if any, is likely to be small,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Read more from this story HERE.

Federally-Funded Low-Calorie School Lunches Creating Schoolroom Black Markets Across America (+video)

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By Kimberly Paxton. One thing is guaranteed…anytime the government moves to restrict something, be it alcohol during prohibition, marijuana in the drug war, gold after 1933 confiscation, black markets always emerge.

In the case of the tight school lunch restrictions being put into place in schools across the country, enterprising young bootleggers are smuggling in chocolate syrup and selling it by the squeeze.

Michelle Obama championed the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act as part of her Let’s Move campaign. The act has been put into place to combat childhood obesity but it’s leaving a lot of kids…well…HUNGRY.

School lunches have undergone such a drastic transformation that students across the country are complaining of hunger pangs throughout the day. Portion sizes have been reduced, dessert and flavored milks have been banned, and, in the name of financial easing, the prices of these smaller lunches have been increased.

USDA Deputy Undersecretary Janey Thornton blames the kids for the reported hunger pangs. ”One thing I think we need to keep in mind as kids say they’re still hungry is that many children aren’t used to eating fruits and vegetables at home, much less at school. So it’s a change in what they are eating. If they are still hungry, it’s that they are not eating all the food that’s being offered.” Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s a video parody on the national school lunch policy (mandated by The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010) created by a talented group of Kansas students:

French Author: Extreme Pervert Gaddafi raped boys, girls, committed other horrendous acts

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Obama and GaddafiColonel Gaddafi beat and raped kidnapped schoolgirls he used as sex slaves in between checking his emails, according to a new book.

French reporter Annick Cojean gathered horrific accounts from the girls forced into the former Libyan dictator’s harem for the account published last week.

One victim, named as Soraya, was 15 when she was abducted in 2004 by the late tyrant’s ‘talent scouts’ after she was chosen to give him a bouquet when he visited her school.

Gaddafi had accepted the gift before placing his hand on her head, a sign she now realises meant ‘I want this one’.

The next day women in uniform appeared at her mother’s hair salon in Sirte and explained Gaddafi or The Guide, wanted her for another ‘bouquet ceremony’.

She was driven for hours through the desert, had blood taken and her breasts measured before being stripped and shaved.

Read more from this story HERE.

NYC schools give out morning-after pills to students — without telling parents (+video)

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The Department of Education is giving morning-after pills and other birth-control drugs to students at 13 high schools, The Post has learned.

School nurse offices stocked with the contraceptives can dispense “Plan B” emergency contraception and other oral or injectable birth control to girls without telling their parents — unless parents opt out after getting a school informational letter about the new program.

CATCH — Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health — is part of a citywide attack against the epidemic of teen pregnancy, which spurs many girls — most of them poor — to drop out of school.

While Big Apple high schools have long supplied free condoms to sexually active teens, this is the first time city schools have dispensed hormonal birth control and Plan B, which can prevent pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex.

It might be a nationwide first as well. The National Association of School Nurses could cite no other school district supplying Plan B. Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s an NYC news report that provides additional detail about what the Department of Education is doing:

Video: Preppers Shall Inherit the Earth

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For Alaskans who are almost completely dependent on daily flights from the lower-48 for most essentials such as food and medicine, failure to “prep” borders on insanity.

Given the increasing economic instability of the U.S., all Americans should be taking steps to provide for themselves and their loved ones in case of economic and/or natural calamity.

Although the narration leaves something to be desired, this video gives a good background on the potential crisis and the unconventional steps many are taking to prepare.

Facial Recognition Technology Prohibits Smiling on New Jersey Driver’s Licenses

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If you’re headed to the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles, you’d better not put on a happy face.

The Garden State’s DMV has banned smiling during license photos so that their new facial-scanning software can identify drivers more easily.

But the ban, which took effect in January, has many drivers scowling, complaining that they’re entitled to pose how they wish.

‘Your picture means a lot; it’s who you are,’ said Velvet McNeil, 38, of Sicklerville, N.J., to the Philadelphia Daily News.

‘Why should we all look like androids, looking mopey? I know there are some people who don’t have good driver’s licenses, but I actually keep all mine.’

Read more from this story HERE.

Suicide Now Surpasses Car Accidents as Leading Cause of Death as Economy Takes its Toll

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Suicide is the cause of more deaths than car crashes, according to an alarming new study.

The number of people who commit suicide in the U.S. has drastically increased while deaths from car accidents have dropped, making suicide the leading cause of injury death.

Suicides via falls or poisoning have risen significantly and experts fear that there could be many more unaccounted for, particularly in cases of overdose.

‘Suicides are terribly under-counted,’ said Ian Rockett, author of the study, published on Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health.

‘I think the problem is much worse than official data would lead us to believe. We have a situation that has gotten out of hand.’

Read more from this story HERE.

Joan Rivers on Romney & Obama: “Both Idiots” (+video)

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Joan Rivers, who recently penned I Hate Everyone…Starting With Me, doesn’t generally veer into political territory, but made an exception in an interview that aired on Wednesday’s CNN’s Starting Point — affirming that she does, indeed, hate everyone. Asked about her thoughts about the two presidential candidates, Rivers expressed a cynical outlook, deeming both President Obama and Mitt Romney “idiots.”

Responding to Zoraida Sambolin‘s about how she feels about the two, Rivers promptly replied, “Both idiots.” Read more HERE.

Chick-fil-A Claims Homosexual Groups Lying That It Agreed to Stop Funding Pro-family Organizations

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Chick-fil-A has responded to news reports that it has stopped funding some pro-family groups as a concession to gain approval for a restaurant in Chicago, saying that it has made no concessions in its funding philosophy and, in the words of company president Dan Cathy, remains “true to who we are.”

News reports surfaced September 19 that the company had reached an agreement with Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno, who had vowed to block approval of a restaurant site for the company unless it agreed to stop funding “anti-gay” groups. “Chick-fil-A no longer will fund traditional-marriage groups” the Washington Times headlined its story, and USA Today reported that individuals who had supported Chick-fil-A during the recent attack against it by homosexual activists were now upset that the restaurant chain had “caved in” to gay marriage proponents.

But Cathy set the record straight on September 21, issuing a statement, posted on Mike Huckabee’s website, saying: “There [continue] to be erroneous implications in the media that Chick-fil-A changed our practices and priorities in order to obtain permission for a new restaurant in Chicago. That is incorrect. Chick-fil-A made no such concessions, and we remain true to who we are and who we have been.”

One of the main sources of the report appeared to be a press release from a Chicago-based pro-homosexual group, the Civil Rights Agenda, which stated that Alderman Moreno had “finalized his negotiations with Chick-fil-A,” and had confirmed that the company would “no longer give money to anti-gay organizations.” In July Moreno had said he would block construction of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in his First Ward because of Cathy’s statement of support for traditional marriage. “If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don’t want you in the First Ward,” Moreno said of Cathy’s stand.

As the erroneous news spread that Chick-fil-A had eased up on its support for traditional marriage and pro-family groups such as Focus on the Family, individuals who had taken part in an early August Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day began posting messages on the company’s Facebook page, expressing their disappointment. “I’m disgusted that your faith is so weak,” Baptist Press News quoted one person as posting. “You sure raked in the bucks on Chick-fil-A day, huh? So when do you start opening on Sunday? ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’”

Read more from this story HERE.

Teenage girls should be offered implants or IUDs as birth control

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Doctors should be recommending IUDs or hormonal implants as birth control to teenage girls, the nation’s leading gynecologists group said Thursday.

Though sexually-active teens may prefer the pill, the patch or even wishful thinking, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said that IUDs and implants are more long-lasting and effective alternatives that users don’t have to remember to use every time.

The IUD and implants are safe and nearly 100per cent effective at preventing pregnancy, and should be ‘first-line recommendations’, read the organisation’s updated guidance for teenagers.

Both types of contraception are more invasive than the pill, requiring a doctor to put them in place. That, and cost, are probably why the pill is still the most popular form of contraception in the U.S.

But birth control pills often must be taken at the very same time every day to be most potent. And forgetting to take even one can lead to pregnancy, which is why the pill is sometimes only 91per cent effective.

Read more from this story HERE.