There could be no life in that livid face, in those glassy eyes

Western Montana Growers Go Beyond Organics & Get Local

Since those early days, Brieger and Elliott have seen organics go from obscurity to a mainstream marketing boon. And now, many organic farmers, including Brieger and Elliott, feel that organic programs have lost touch with their roots in small farms and close communities by embracing corporations that ship their produce all over the world.

In that spirit, 12 Missoula-area organic farms have formed a group that will offer an alternative to the USDA organic certification — a "Homegrown" label focusing more on growing and selling food locally.

My first thought was that a trend like this, let's say to eventually include cloth grown from local organic cotton and then made into clothing locally would seem to contradict the flattening of the global economy view, at least as universal; work as collaboration made possible by the internet. Ideas about the global economy become a little more complex when people look around at their local resources and ask themselves why they should shop at a corporate monolith that imports its goods from ten thousand miles away. Some will continue to fall prey to advertising and the herd mentality, but many may see very local micro economies in terms of regional pride of place and a chance to express a degree of individualism. There's little reason that I can see that we don't have a healthier mix of local enterprise with transpotation reliant products like computers. As I wrote that last sentence I realized that admittedly from a non-tech position there seems to be a trend for computers to become more like electronic Legos. Most of the parts are very similar, the replacement parts are snap out and snap in. That being the case it is easy to see a near future where people order mix and match modules that are cranked out in a regional facility and can be put together by a nine year old in half an hour. Should things reach that point maybe electronics would become closer to a cottage industry.

Informed Consent Waived in Public Crisis

"To be candid, I hope it is a hypothetical problem. I hope we spent a lot of time creating a rule we never have to invoke," said Dr. Steve Gutman, director of the FDA's in-vitro diagnostics office.

Determining what constitutes a life-threatening public health emergency would be left up to the laboratories doing the testing. That creates the potential for conflicts of interest and other abuses, critics said.

"I don't like a rule like this because its most likely use is likely to be a form of abuse. The emergency exception it creates will be stretched to encompass non-emergency situations," said Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute.

The FDA said it published the rule to ensure the ability to identify quickly whatever chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agent is involved in a terrorist attack or natural outbreak of disease. Doing so could save the lives of those being tested as well as of others exposed, the FDA said.

"Baloney," said Dr. Deborah Peel, chairwoman of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, a watchdog group. "This sounds like they're taking for themselves the right to test individuals every time they declare a public health emergency. There is no way getting consent would delay testing."

There is room here for debate, but much like becoming an entire nation under warrant-less surveillance, the powers that be will simply decide that they have the right to test anyone they choose; it says so in their personally written version of the constitution. Since yelling that the sky will fall if we don't let the government do what ever they want has been so effective it will probably work in this situation too.
Many of us were getting all misty eyed over the good old days of Representative Randy Cunningham(R) and the conservative culture of corruption, never fear there is always another conservative ready to throw his body and soul into the gutter for cash and power, Lewis, stepdaughter face scrutiny

Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, under federal investigation for his connection to a lobbyist, is facing new questions about payments his stepdaughter got from a political fundraising committee.

The committee is headed by the president of a tech company that has received millions in government project spending approved by the House committee Lewis chairs.

Lewis' stepdaughter, Julia Willis-Leon, got more than $40,000 in payments from the Small Biz Tech Political Action Committee between February 2005 and March 2006, records show – far more than the sums the PAC contributed to candidates and other committees. She was paid for fundraising work and is listed on the PAC Web site as its director.

How great is that, Lewis's corrupt family values include his stepdaughter.

It needed but a glance to tell me that the man was dead. There could
be no life in that livid face, in those glassy eyes.

"Don't touch him," I said, for Vantine had started forward. "It's too
late."

I drew him back, and we stood for a moment shaken as one always is by
sudden and unexpected contact with death.

"Who is he?" I asked, at last.

"I don't know," answered Vantine hoarsely. "I never saw him before."
Then he strode to the bell and rang it violently. "Parks," he went on
sternly, as that worthy appeared at the door, "what has been going on
in here?"

"Going on, sir?" repeated Parks, with a look of amazement, not only
at the words, but at the tone in which they were uttered. "I'm sure I
don't know what–"

Then his glance fell upon the huddled body, and he stopped short, his
eyes staring, his mouth open.

"Well," said his master, sharply. "Who is he? What is he doing here?"

"Why–why," stammered Parks, thickly, "that's the man who was waiting
to see you, sir."

"You mean he has been killed in this house?" demanded Vantine.

"He was certainly alive when he came in, sir," said Parks, recovering
something of his self-possession. "Maybe he was just looking for a
quiet place where he could kill himself. He seemed kind of excited."

"Of course," agreed Vantine, with a sigh of relief, "that's the
explanation. Only I wish he had chosen some place else. I suppose we
shall have to call the police, Lester?"

from THE MYSTERY OF THE BOULE CABINET by Burton E. Stevenson