You've Gotta' Love the Irony

First Lady Michelle Obama broke ground today on a new vegetable garden near the South Lawn that will supply the White House kitchen. She was encouraged in the project by noted California chef Alice Waters, considered a leader in the movement to encourage consumption of locally grown, organic food. During Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, Ms. Waters organized a series of fund raising dinners that served foods purchased at a Washington area farmer’s market.

However, if Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. and Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio have their way, it will soon be nearly impossible to purchase food from local markets. HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 was introduced in February by DeLauro, whose husband works for Monsanto, the world’s leading producer of herbicides and genetically engineered seed. The bill calls for the creation of a Food Safety Administration to allow the government to regulate food production at all levels, and mandates property seizure, fines up to $1 million per offense and criminal prosecution for producers who fail to comply with regulations. Under the broad wording of the legislation, anyone who transports any food product for retail sale would be subject to strict government regulation that is sufficient to put small farms and local growers out of business.

Senate Bill 425, the food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act is sponsored by Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown, and backed by lobbyists for Monsanto and Tyson. The measure establishes a nationwide “traceability system” monitored by the FDA for all stages of manufacturing, processing, packaging and distribution of food, at a cost to taxpayers of $40 million.

And just 3 days ago President Obama announced he’s forming a Food Safety Working Group to propose new laws and stop “corruption” of the nation’s food.

So much for buying locally. Sorry Ms. Waters - I hope Michelle’s garden does well.

The Everywhere President

Sometimes I feel like I just can't get away from him. His face is everywhere.

Why is the President of the United States, during a time of economic distress, appearing on a late night talk show to yuk it up with Jay Leno, and on ESPN to give his thoughts on March Madness? Why did he boogie with Ellen Degeneres on her show while on the campaign trail? Today on Politico.com, Andie Coller gives her take on the communication strategy of the Obama presidency.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20254.html

National Civilian Security Force

The House has passed legislation to create President Obama’s promised civilian service force, ostensibly to vastly expand “volunteerism” in the U.S., via H.R. 1388. The bill passed 320-105, so we can thank BOTH sides of the aisle for the new Obama army. The bill is now headed to the Senate.

This is Obama’s promised “national civilian security force” which will be “just as strong, just as powerful, and just as well funded" as the military.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s

Critics have warned that passage of the legislation is a backdoor way to require mandatory service under the guise of “volunteerism.” It could require individuals to give 3 years of paid “volunteer” service, with details of where and how they would volunteer determined by the government. Think ACORN/Saul Alinsky/Hitler Youth.

Smart Phone Spying

The millions of people who use their cellphones daily to play games, download applications and browse the Web may not realize that they have an unseen companion: advertisers that can track their interests, their habits and even their location.

Eswar Priyadarshan, the chief technology officer of Quattro Wireless, which places advertising for clients like Sony on mobile sites, says he typically has 20 pieces of information about a customer who has visited a site or played with an application in his network.

An advertising system could know, for instance, that someone is 27 years old, male, a New England Patriots fan (which NFL.com can track), plays Blackjack, travels frequently between Boston and New York on weekdays (which applications using GPS can track) and uses a 3G iPhone. That would make him attractive to a host of advertisers, like the Delta Shuttle or a Las Vegas hotel, whose ads would appear while the consumer was browsing the Web on his phone.

"It's potentially a portable, personal spy," said Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, who will appear before Federal Trade Commission staff members this month to brief them on privacy and mobile marketing.

Several firms are experimenting with a program called AisleCaster that can offer specials based on a person's exact location in a supermarket aisle or mall.

Un-cover Tax?

A Brooklyn assemblyman has introduced a bill that would require patrons to pay the state $10 every time they visit a “strip club”. Felix Ortiz, a Democrat, said the fee could raise as much as $500 million for victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual abuse and child prostitution. After the city takes its cut, I wonder how much of that money would actually reach these victims. Not to mention that the dancers in strip clubs are victims of a sexual racket with ties to organized crime. He would rather tax these vile businesses than close them down?

"The bottom line is, we have to protect people who have been victimized by unscrupulous individuals,” Ortiz said. He needs to do his homework on the predators right in his own back yard: the sexual predators, pimps, gang members, drug dealers, pornographers, and child molesters who frequent these clubs.