Free Talk Live

According to the latest lobbying disclosure report submitted to the Senate, lobbyists for Disney pushed to extend millions in federal film credits in the final spending and tax deal adopted by Congress Jan.1, hidden among hundreds of other “tax extenders.” These deals carve out specific tax incentives to favored industries to boost economic growth.

As courts and bureaucrats continue to assert that citizens have no fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice, we find Monsanto lurking nearby. The Wisconsin judge who recently ruled that we have no right to own a cow or drink its milk resigned to join one of Monsanto’s law firms.

‘Gentlemen, We Shot a Judge’ and Other Tales of Blackwater, DynCorp, and Triple Canopy’s Rampage Through Iraq. Every time a Blackwater centurion discharged his weapon in Iraq, the company filed a written report with the U.S. State Department. Blackwater shot Iraq to shit. Here are the reports.

A hidden computer database recently discovered in the course of a racial profiling investigation shows Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio misspent up to $80 million in funds intended for jail operations, according to Maricopa County supervisors and budget officials.

Gathered here in Bonn this week are some eighty Right Livelihood Award laureates, including the Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, who has battled the biotech giant Monsanto for years. When Monsanto seeds blew into Schmeiser’s property, Monsanto accused him of illegally planting their crops and took him to court. Ultimately his case landed in the Canadian Supreme Court. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1997 for fighting to defend the rights of farmers and the future of seeds.

Insane Clown Posse and its fans might feel as if they’re in the cross-hairs once again.
At the urging of Royal Oak police, the Detroit rap group’s scheduled Oct. 31 concert has been canceled by the Royal Oak Music Theater. “The cancellation of the show by the Royal Oak Music Theatre is further evidence that the Juggalos are being harmed by the FBI’s designation of Juggalos as a gang,” said attorney Howard Hertz

The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing today on Paravant, a previously little-known subsidiary of Xe Services (aka Blackwater). It caps a six-month investigation by the committee, and it promises to be a doozy.

Lawmakers in Vermont are looking to regulate food labels so customers can know which products are made from genetically modified crops, but agricultural giants Monsanto say they will sue if the state follows through.

Monsanto is going mad over the proposal, however, which would also make them unable to label their productions as “natural,” “naturally made,” “naturally grown” or “all natural,” if, in fact, they are not. For the corporation, it would seem that moving products and making money is much more of a worthwhile venture than telling its customers what exactly they are consuming.

John Kinnucan of technology research firm Broadband Research was approached by the FBI who asked him to wear a wire to capture conversations with his clients. He refused and sent an email to his clients (many of the large hedge funds) informing them of the approach by the FBI.