Readers' Comments

Reign in this GMO beast. First, overturn Clarence Thomas' decision to allow Monsanto a patent on the seed. A Supreme Court justice who used to be a lawyer for Monsanto decides the fate of our food?! MADNESS!! He should have recused himself. Obvious corruption. Seeds were made by Mother Nature and should NEVER have a patent. Second, the food supply should NEVER be tampered with, allowing viruses, bacteria and foreign genes. The DNA of a plant should NEVER be altered or compromised. It becomes a toxic offender to the human body.

Clarence Thomas was there again today to hear this latest case. Check this out:

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/02/monsanto.html

FDA, MONSANTO, SUPREME COURT, US GOV'T ALL CORRUPT & COMPLICIT IN POISONING AMERICANS. NOT CHINA, NOT RUSSIA...THE GOOD OLD US OF A, THE ONE THAT WE ONCE TRUSTED. WE DON'T TRUST YOU ANYMORE!!!!

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/02/monsanto.html

"As for the AR-15, you are more likely to be killed by someone's fists than by any type of rifle..."

So, if Adam Lanza hadn't had a Bushmaster 223 at his disposal, he would have PUNCHED in the door at Sandy Hook Elementary, and then PUNCHED 20 children and 6 adults to death?

After using his fists to kill his mother in her sleep, of course.

Interesting.

The "better planet" they're lovers of must be some other planet in some higher universe they can exploit and trash and pollute to their hearts' content with never any negative consequences. It sure ain't this one.

Climate blame believers are the real fear mongering neocons!

Why are we acting like the fear mongering neocons now? Bush didn't threaten my kids with a CO2 death. Our crisis is an exaggerated crisis and real planet lovers are glad not disappointed a crisis wasn't real.
You can’t have a little cataclysmic climate change and if it’s not a crisis, climate change crisis is not real!
Science has never said any climate crisis (death for all) "will" be a crisis, only could be and not one single IPCC warning says it will happen, only might happen.
So it's only you lazy copy and paste news editors and goose-stepping journalists and fear mongers and pandering politicians that are saying it "WILL" happen. 27 years of science only saying it might happen not will happen proves beyond any doubt that a crisis won't happen.
Former Climate Change Believers Are Better Planet Lovers!

I agree,
Trafficking women and children to prison with long term sentences and consecutive sentences, what is this - a time sharing plan among a few selected investment companys. Oh by the way, people in my state are fully aware of investments, trafficking people to prison, and it never donned on me no wonder I can't get representation for my son. Are these attorneys involved with getting a piece of the gov't contract money for willfully, intentionally dening a person his/her rights or are they in fear of themselves and their families lives as I am, if I open my mouth and say this is wrong. To run families further into poverty by taking their states money to incarcerate their families(aunties, uncles, cousins, second cousins etc.)--- well -- I can't wait to see the glory in all of this and see ours exchanging places with the very ones that invested the souls in the prison industry. Yes we need to wake up and stand up and open our mouths.

The original commenter is trafficking in deception, otherwise known as lies, damned lies, and statistics.

The FBI does not publish crime data by model of rifle, and so Mr. or Ms. NRA Spin is probably just parroting what someone else said and never looked it up.

The FBI's Uniform Crime Report does track homicides by weapon, and that data conclusively demonstrates that an American is more likely to be murdered with a gun than with any other weapon, including fists.

I've uploaded a PDF of that table from the UCR as an attachment to this article, so you can see the numbers yourself.

What the 2011 report (the most recent year with complete data) shows is that 8,583 people in the U.S. were murdered with a firearm, out of the 12,664 homicides that year, which is fully 2/3 (and precisely 67.77%) of all homicides.

What the deceiving commenter references without bothering to give you the benefit of the full data on (which is actually quite brief, literally a few lines on a single page) is that of those 8,583 homicides by gun, 323 were from rifles, and he or she selectively omits that 6,220 were from handguns and the remainder were from other types of guns, like shotguns. Assault-style weapons can be both long guns and hand guns and models of both types can be used with different quantities of ammunition clips.

It is the case that 728 people were murdered in 2011 by bare hands including pushing people, but that's a far cry from the 8,583 from guns. Selectively comparing rifles to fists without revealing total homicides by guns is deceptive stuff.

I'm not going to do your homework for you. You go look it up yourselves."

If you want to challenge something someone is saying, and you have specific evidence to cite, it's on you cite your source.

You said "FBI data," so you owe it to us to link to an FBI web page that backs your claims. Unless, of course, you can't, because you're just another petulant gun-nut do-some-research troll.

How can you say that the truth lies somewhere in the middle? There is a great deal of evidence to indicate that this is just not the case. Why would the State of PA put gag orders on doctors? Why would people be stepping forward with illness that we have not seen prior to fracking? Why are farmers seeing 19 of 20 calves being still born? No, the statement "the truth lies somewhere in the middle" is a sentiment that allows people, such as yourself, a way to deny what is happening. We need to stop these greedy dirty energy criminals from further polluting the air, water and land. If we don't what will become of our children and grandchildren? What kind of suffering are we heaping upon future generations? Did you read the prior posts before writing your own? If so, how can you possibly tell a person who has been poisoned and had their health destroyed to calm down and let things sort themselves out. That's just the kind of attitude that has allowed things to go this far.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I beg to disagree with you.

Click here for more information on the Minnesota Taconite Workers Health Study:

http://www.sph.umn.edu/research/highlights/taconite/

http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Study-Update-Shows-Increase-In-Mesothelioma-Cases-117214413.html

I have no issue with allowing people who have low income and no benefits access to affordable health care, we should have been trying to figure this out years ago. But there is an issue with forcing people to accept it if they do not want it. You would not be alright with a gang forcing someone to pay for "protection" so why would you allow the government to do the same? If you have a moral standard then you must hold that standard to everyone no exceptions. Force is force even if it is the government dishing it out. Stand for Freedom

The article you cite is not from an environmental expert. "Larry Kaufmann is an economic consultant based in Madison." Seems like spin to me Bart. Wisconsin does have more stringent standards than the minimum required to meet EPA requirements, that is what's kept our state so beautiful and our people so healthy. The mining company is perfectly capable of meeting the standards to get at that ore, they just happen to know that they can get them relaxed by the current administration. You might take note of the fact that not every job from mining is in the mining itself, environmental compliance is valid economic activity. Engineers, technicians, consultants etc. all make big bucks off of the permitting process, along with all the administrative support that compiles data into reports, prints it etc.

You and far too many others are being taken in by their spin and sacrificing healthy water, fishing, recreation, drinking water etc. etc. etc. so they can make more profit than they would by complying with our regulations. It is extremely sad. You think EPA standards are protective enough, but if you live in Wisconsin then maybe you should consider the disturbing water quality and health impacts of states who are more lax with environmental regulations.

I suppose the writing is on the wall but if you live anywhere near this mine I would highly recommend that if you have infants, or your wife is pregnant or nursing, or your parents or elderly that you purchase water from elsewhere. I hope your views are right, history shows us that you are probably wrong. Wisconsin used to believe it was best to err on the side of nature and the environment. Too bad it's going the Koch-Alec-Walker way. Bet the jobs won't live up to the claims either and the profits will end up in the Caymen Islands too.