JUNE 11TH: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH LONG TERM ANARCHIST PRISONERS

It is Friday and that means I try to bring you something about political prisoners.  Why do I do this?  Any number of reasons come to mind, but I will give you three.


One, I once was a political prisoner and I know how important support from the outside is to a person locked up.


Two, anyone who is a serious leftist activist of any kind always must understand that there are risks involved.  When the State decides you are a threat, it acts in its interest.  The Empire doesn't like to be challenged.  Consequently, there but for the grace of god, as they say, go you.  It doesn't matter if you are guilty or innocent of this or that law, it doesn't matter if what is said about you is true or a lie  It doesn't matter if someone is offering testimony in exchange for their own skin or for money.  None of that matters.  If they want you, they'll come for you.


Three, these people, these prisoners, even the one's whose ideology we may not hold dear, or whose actions we may have disagreements with, the ones I post about here, are on our side, have acted on behalf of the exploited and oppressed in a desire to create a new world free of injustice and servitude.  We can't just leave these fallen soldiers of our behind.


That said, the following comes from June 11th.org.

June 11: International Day of Solidarity with Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners (USA, Worldwide)

CALL OUT FOR SOLIDARITY ACTIONS WITH OUR PRISONERS OF WAR!

Everywhere that there exists dynamic struggle against the state and capitalism, there is some degree of repression. Capitalism knows well how to protect its interests, and it entails targeting and eradicating those who challenge it’s dominance. While we continue our daily struggle against this monster, we also fight to make sure our friends and comrades who have been imprisoned by the state aren’t forgotten, that their material and emotional needs are taken care of, and that they remain connected to the movements that they have been forcibly yanked away from.

Last year, as one small gesture to address this, June 11th was called as a yearly day of solidarity with two of our longest-imprisoned anarchist comrades, Marie Mason and Eric McDavid. While we realize that many of us don’t have spare time or resources to put toward organizing for prisoners who primarily exist in a U.S. context, we hope that their names and stories, as well as the lessons learned from their cases, can become well known everywhere. In our actions and solidarity, we wish to draw connections between Marie’s and Eric’s cases and those of imprisoned anarchist comrades all over the world who are experiencing firsthand these alarming trends of lengthy sentences and increased repression. This is a preliminary call addressed to all those who fight against this prison society to take action on June 11th, in solidarity with Eric, Marie and all long-term anarchist prisoners.

The cases of Marie and Eric appear fundamentally different at first glance. We choose to connect them in the context of June 11th, not only because of their similar sentences and the fact that they both remained incredibly strong in the face of intense harassment, but also to highlight and analyze the U.S. government’s multi-faceted strategy of repression.

Marie Mason was arrested in 2008 after more than 30 years of both above ground and clandestine organizing and action. She has been involved in both environmental and labor struggles, edited many radical publications, and was involved in water rights, anti-infrastructure and anti-logging and development projects in the Midwestern United States. She had already been subjected to years of FBI harassment when she was indicted for a string of Earth Liberation Front (E.L.F.) arsons that had occurred in 1999 and 2000. Her indictment was only possible due to the collaboration her ex-husband, Frank Ambrose, with the FBI. Due to continuing expenses, pressure and threats of a life sentence in prison, she took a non-cooperating plea deal that recommended her for 15-20 years. Citing her actions and her unwillingness to collaborate, the State turned on its word and sentenced her to nearly 23 years. Since being incarcerated, she has suffered health problems and has had many difficulties accessing vegan food, has been harassed and threatened constantly and has been re-located to a prison in Texas, nearly 2000 km away from her family, or, approximately the distance between Barcelona and Berlin. In the special “medical” unit she is currently held captive in, correspondence with the outside world is extremely controlled; her conditions can be likened to a Communications Management Unit in the U.S. or the FIES units in Spain. Some of her supporters and her family are still attempting to pursue legal means of reducing her sentence, but judicial avenues seem to be thoroughly exhausted at this point.

Eric McDavid, on the other hand, is a young anarchist who was arrested for committing no action except thoughtcrime. In 2005 he was befriended by a young girl named Anna who apparently shared his passion for taking action in defense of the environment. However, “Anna” was actually a government informant, paid over $65,000 to infiltrate the anarchist and radical environmentalist scenes to entrap people.

Anna heavily pressured Eric and two friends, Lauren and Zachary, to take action, and even went as far as to pay for renting a remote cabin in the woods where they could practice making bombs. The cabin was filled with hidden recording devices and cameras, and was funded by the FBI, who also paid for the transportation, bomb materials and provided bomb recipes. When the government felt that they had gathered enough information, they swooped in and arrested Eric, Lauren and Zach. At this point, no actions had been carried out. Lauren and Zach, under pressure from both the state and their families, collaborated with the government, while Eric remained strong and did not. His case went to trial and he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Although jurors in the trial later stated that they didn’t understand the case and didn’t think the trial was fair, all of Eric’s appeals have failed.

These two arrests are just a small part of a broader plan of repression by the U.S. government known by anarchists as “the Green Scare”, an allusion to the Red Scare of the 1950′s in which communists in the United States were harassed, blacklisted and deported. Eco-anarchists and animal rights activists in the U.S. have faced a similar brand of coordinated harassment since 2001, being named the #1 domestic terrorism threat in the United States even though their action, through careful planning and consideration, have never harmed humans or animals. In 2005, the government’s “operation backfire” plan completely ripped apart the underground E.L.F. movement in the northwest United States, and subsequently Eric, Marie and others have been targeted for two apparent purposes: the first being to completely wipe out the E.L.F. in the United States, and the second being to foster a culture of fear and obedience. The state has unfortunately been quite successful in this task, thanks to tactics such as extensive surveillance, infiltration, and clever uses of laws such as the AETA (Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law that makes it an act of terrorism to cause financial impact on businesses that profit from animal exploitation), as well as laws against organized crime and conspiracy charges.

We don’t encourage solidarity on the basis of long-term sentences because we believe in a possibility for a reasonable or fair sentence for any prisoner (though both Marie’s and Eric’s 20+ year sentences are well in excess of the sentencing guidelines for their so-called crimes.) We focus on the longevity of their sentences because, whatever the circumstances of their arrest, the government is using these lengthy sentences to send a message, and to scare broadening circles of people into compliance and fear. By locking Eric and Marie up for decades, the state wishes to erase them. If, minimally, once a year, our comrades names are shouted from the rooftops and written on the walls, our enemies will have not fully succeeded in this sinister task. Of course we’re reminded of the absence of our comrades daily, but we hope that this yearly day of solidarity can be a starting point for keeping them the minds of a greater number of people more regularly.

Last year, events and actions occurred in over 30 cities across the U.S. and internationally. We were impressed by the expressions of solidarity, from a public noise demonstrations and events across the US to fundraiser dinner shows in Israel, and actions of sabotage from as far away as Russia and Peru. (A dossier of actions from last year, as well as information and material for this year are available at http://june11.org).

The heyday of the E.L.F. in the United States is over. We’re moving into a dynamic period of growing social antagonism, and need to make sure that prisoners such as Marie and Eric aren’t left behind or forgotten. Solidarity for them should not be relegated to prisoner support specialists or those who knew them personally – their absence is of importance to all of us, and support for them should be generalized.
The struggle to free Marie, Eric and others is the struggle against the society that not only creates and maintains prisons, but also commits the environmental devastation that Marie and Eric raged against.

To other comrades facing or serving long term imprisonment: we send warm greetings to Eat and Billy, undergoing trial in Indonesia for acts of sabotage; imprisoned members ofConspiracy Cells of Fire and Revolutionary Struggle in Greece; Billy, Costas and Silvia in Swizerland; Tortuga, Freddy, Marcelo and Juan in Chile and all those implicated in the Caso Bombas; All other non-cooperating Green Scare defendants in the U.S., some of whom are about to be released: Daniel McGowan, Sadie, Exile, Jonathan Paul and the recently re-captured Justin Solondz. These are just a small sampling of cases, but unfortunately we could go on and on. We have no definition for what “long term” imprisonment could mean – every moment the state steals our loved ones away from us is too long.



Organize an event or action on June 11th, this year and every year. Let’s fight together, for the destruction of this prison society and to help remind our comrades they’re never alone!

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June 11th began as an international day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoner Jeff "Free" Luers in 2004. At the time, Jeff was serving 22+ years. Infuriated by the environmental devastation he saw occurring on a global scale, Jeff torched three SUVs at a car dealership in Eugene, OR. The sentence imposed on him was meant to send a clear message to others who were angered by capitalism's continued war on the Earth's ecosystems – and to those who were willing to take action to put a stop to it. Jeff is, after all, not alone in his concerns about climate change, fossil fuels, pollution and genetically modified organisms.


After years of struggle, Jeff and his legal team won a reduction in his sentence and he was released from prison in December 2009. But in the years intervening Jeff's arrest and release, the FBI had carried out a series of indictments and arrests in an attempt to devastate the radical environmental and anarchist communities. Two of the people caught up in this maelstrom of repression were Eric McDavid and Marie Mason.


Eric McDavid was arrested in January 2006 after being entrapped by a paid government informant - "Anna" - and was charged with a single count of conspiracy. Eric – who never carried out any actions and was accused of what amounts to “thought crime” - refused to cooperate with the state and took his case to trial. After a trial fraught with errors, the jury convicted Eric. He was subsequently sentenced to almost 20 years in prison. More information on Eric's case can be found at www.supporteric.org


Marie Mason was arrested in March 2008 after her former partner - Frank Ambrose - turned informant for the FBI. Facing a life sentence if she went to trial, Marie accepted a plea bargain in September 2008, admitting her involvement in the burning of an office connected to GMO research and the destruction of a piece of logging equipment. At her sentencing in February the following year, she received a sentence of almost 22 years. More information on Marie's case can be found at www.supportmariemason.org


Marie Mason and Eric McDavid share the unfortunate distinction of having the longest standing sentences of any environmental prisoners in the United States. Please join us in an international day of solidarity with Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, and other long-term anarchist prisoners on every June 11th. This is a time to remember our friends who are in prison – who are continuing their struggles on the inside. This is a time to continue and strengthen the very work for which Eric and Marie are now serving so much time - to struggle against capitalism, ecological devastation, and the ever more diffuse forms of control in this prison society.


Free Marie and Eric! Free all prisoners!




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If you're planning an event for June 11th and would like it to appear on this website, please send us the info you'd like posted at june11 @riseup.net. If you raise money at your event, you can find donation instructions here for Eric or here for Marie.

confirmed events for 2012

(more info about each event will appear as it's sent in)

Memphis, TN--a showing of "Attica", a talk by Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, letter-writing, and refreshments. Donations will be split between Sundiata Acoli and Marie Mason. Facebook event here

            Louisville, KY--a showing of "If A Tree Falls" and a chili dinner.

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Evansville, IN--a community picnic and info session.

Minneapolis, MN--a microphone demo!

St Louis, MO-- a benefit show, dance party, dinner and discussion on June 9th at the Boulder space. All money collected going to prisoner support.

New York City, NY-- punk rock kareoke benefiting Marie and Eric. Facebook event here. " Along with the NYC Anarchist Black Cross, Punk Rock Karaoke Chicago will be hosting their first ever night in NYC! We'll be throwing down for Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, and other long-term anarchist prisoners in honor of the annual June 11th International Day of Solidarity. Every penny raised will go directly towards support efforts for Marie, Eric and others. Come out and support our prisoners by shelling out some cash and singing your heart out to one-of-a-kind punk rock karaoke tracks! Seriously, it is a win/win. Monday, June 11th 8pm - midnight (8pm sharp! Not punk time.) Fontana's Bar (105 Eldridge Street, Manhattan) $7 donation 21+ (SORRY!)"

Guelph, Ontario--public information and letterwriting night on June 4th.

Portland, OR--all stores in the vegan mini mall are donating 10% of their profits to Marie and Eric on June 11th. Facebook event here, awesome video to promote the event here.

Salt Lake City, Utah--Afternoon: a family friendly activity in the park featuring a mini carnival (game booths, face painting, three-legged 'Mutual Aid' race, etc.) with vegan food and refreshments for donations. Evening: punk rock show with performances by local political bands. Possible fire juggling display.

Philadelphia, PA--on Saturday, June 9th, 50% of all sales from the Wooden Shoe (704 South St) 50% of all sales will go to Marie and Eric. That evening at 6pm, there's a benefit show at the LAVA Space, located at 4134 Lancaster. Peregrine, Cop Problem, Dying, and one band TBA are playing.

Washington, DC-- an ice cream social on June 11th, from 6pm to 9pm at 1213 Delafield Pl NW. $10-20 suggested donation, all proceeds to Marie and Eric. "There will be homemade ice cream, cookies, and caramel sauce as well as a variety of other toppings. We're talking sundaes, milkshakes, and ice cream sandwiches! There will even be sandwiches from Sticky Fingers." Facebook eventhere.

Houston, TX

Grand Rapids, MI

Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Jogjakarta, Java, Indonesia

Asheville, NC

Bloomington, IN

Sacramento, CA

Olympia, WA

Lawrence, KS

Eugene, OR

CHICAGO, NATO, OBAMA, PROTEST OR SIMPLY PUT: "STAY OFF THE GRASS OR GO TO FEDERAL PRISON"

Chicago bound last week

They said, "trust us."  They said it didn't have anything to do with rights and protests and all that jazz..  They said not to worry.


Yeah, right.


Last weekend when thousands were marching around Chicago during the NATO summits, they used the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act, signed in March by Obama, exactly as we knew they would.


In some ways, it was more like a test run.  There weren't hoards, at least yet, of felony arrests, but still the act was used in an attempt to thwart the right to protest.  They'll get it done better for next time, for next year.  They've got their little conventions coming up after all, and the campaign.  Good times for all.


I am not chicken little saying the sky is falling.  The country is not on the verge of fascism, all of our civil liberties are not gone, yet.  But make no mistake about, THEY know what they know, and, in the end, THEY believe they know what is best for THEIR security and for THEIR way of life.


The truth is, I don't care what Act they pass, they are not going to stop people from protesting or from resisting the Empire's militarization and the policing of all our lives.  They may make it tough, but they are the ones taking on the direction of history.


Venceramous.


The following is from Indian Country Today.

New Bill Restricts Speech and Assembly Rights; Peaceful Political Protest at Risk of Criminalization

By Gale Courey Toensing May 7, 2012

            

 RSS

AP Images

Environmental activists gather outside the White House in Washington, Monday, August 22, 2011

One might think from the name – the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act – that this legislation is meant to spruce up federal buildings and beautify their grounds with landscaping.

But the bill does none of that. Instead, H.R. 347, which President Barack Obama quietly signed into law on March 8, has the potential to criminalize protests and clamp down on the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom to assemble. With recent and possible future indigenous protests against tar sands pipelines, with the Occupy movement springing back with the season, with demonstrations expected at the NATO Conference in Chicago this month and at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in September, the new bill gives the government the power to bring charges against Americans engaged in peaceful political protest.

The new law amends the federal criminal code to expand an existing statute that criminalizes certain activity in and around areas that are restricted by the Secret Service. It defines “restricted buildings or grounds” as the White House or its grounds or the vice president’s official residence or its grounds; a building or grounds where the president or someone else protected by the Secret Service is or will be visiting; and a building or grounds at which a National Special Security Event is taking place.

Under the new law, that means the Indigenous Peoples arrested for civil disobedience in front of the White House last fall in a protest against the Keystone XL Pipeline, and later released, could be charged with a felony. “Simply standing with a bullhorn, holding up a sign, promoting a contentious message or even being on the grounds of a Secret Service secured event will now make it possible for the government to detain, arrest and charge those involved in these ‘disruptions’ (even if you just happen to be passing through) with a felonious criminal act,” according to InfoWars.

Under the old law those kinds of activities were deemed illegal within the restricted zones: “willfully and knowingly” entering a restricted zone without authorization, engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct, blocking an entrance or exit to a restricted zone, or engaging in violent acts against people or property.

These four activities are still illegal under H.R. 347, but the “willingly” part of the provision has been dropped. “This is one of the two major changes to existing law (the other is the extension of the statute to the White House and VP’s residence),” according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website. “Previously, the law required someone to act ‘willfully and knowingly.’ This is the state of mind the government has to prove you had to establish your guilt (the ‘intent standard’). ‘Willfully and knowingly’ means that you need to know you’re committing a crime. ‘Knowingly’ just means you need to be aware you’re in a restricted zone, but not necessarily that it’s unlawful.”

The punishment for violating the new Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act is harsh, the ACLU said. If a weapon is used or injury is caused, which is a felony, a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 can be imposed. Otherwise, the maximum is one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

ACLU was cautious in defining the impact of H.R. 347 means for peaceful protesters. “The honest answer is we simply don’t know yet. These zones will hopefully occupy (no pun intended) a very small footprint at the three types of locations covered by the law. Also, these areas must be clearly identified to prevent protesters from inadvertently violating the law (or else they can’t form the required intent). That said, the provision covering disruptions in or near the secure zones is of concern and could be misused to stifle lawful protest; same with the entrance/exit provision. These were already in the law, but the “knowingly” change could make them easier to abuse,” the ACLU said.

Others believe there’s solid reason to worry about the amended law. “H.R. 347 makes protest of any type potentially a federal offense with anywhere from a year to 10 years in federal prison, providing it occurs in the presence of elites brandishing Secret Service protection, or during an officially defined National Special Security Event (NSSEs),” Huffington Post columnist Jeanne Moloff said. NSSEs, which were created by Bill Clinton in Presidential Decision Directive 62 in 1998, are events that come under Secret Service protection. Past NSSE events included the funerals of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, and Superbowl XXXVI, Moloff noted. “Other NSSE protected events include the Academy Awards and the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. I suppose presidential candidates, no matter how insane they may be are deserving as much security protection as Brad and Angelina’s sex life,” she wrote. “The dangerous part of this ‘executive order’ lies not in the triviality of a Super Bowl receiving taxpayer funded Secret Service protection – but in the convenience manufactured for any President desperate to hide deliberations of groups like the G-8, the G-20 and the World Trade Organization. The classification of such events as NSSE – insures the rich and powerful against any pesky accountability or transparency to the unwashed minions – namely the U.S. public. HR 347 & S. 1794 insulates such events as the G-8, WTO and presidential conventions against tough questions and politically justified protests.”

H.R. 347 follows other recent controversial government actions that restrict Americans’ civil rights. In March, the president signed Executive Order 13602 – the National Defense Resources Preparedness Order – which gives the federal government extraordinary rights to seize all manner of property or take virtually any actions it deems necessary in the interests of national security “in peacetime and in times of national emergency”—without defining either of these terms. Under the new directive, Obama may delegate broad authority to agency secretaries to commandeer all manner of material, including food, construction materials, livestock, fertilizer, farm equipment, energy, water resources, transportation (including private cars, boats and airplanes) and anything else considered necessary for “national defense.”

The Executive Order came on the heels of the $622 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which Obama signed on New Year’s Eve. The NDAA annually funds the United States’ ongoing wars and the 900 military bases it maintains in 130 countries. This year’s version also provides for the U.S. president to have draconian worldwide authority to order the military to seize anyone suspected of “terrorism” or “providing aid to terrorists” or their “associated forces” anywhere in the world, including U.S. citizens on American soil, and detain them without charge or trial indefinitely. Indigenous Peoples worry that it could be used against them for asserting their rights to self-determination and sovereignty, or for protecting their lands and resources against exploitation by governments or corporations. Other opponents argue that the bill violates the U.S. Constitution, and protests against it have spread across the country as states, civil liberty and justice organizations join a rapidly growing nationwide movement.

CAPITALISM IS MAKING AMERICA AND THE WORLD FAT

The can be no doubt that there is an obesity epidemic going on in America.    Obesity is not only killing individuals, it is killing the entire healthcare system, as well.  Make no mistake about it, this is a serious issue and, as they say, "something needs to be done."


Let's put it like this, when I was a kid there was always one or two "fat kids" in your schoolroom.  Now days, well, I don't have to tell you about now days.  


And that's the kids.  You know about the adults.


Obesity is horrible for your health in so many ways, that it seems like our society has gone insane and is bent on suicide.


But whose fault is it, really.  


Sure, we all have to take some personal responsibility for what and how much we eat.  I am not about to absolve us of our own responsibility in this, BUT...


The truth is that like every other ill in our society, well, virtually every other ill, if you want the real villain in all this...point a finger at Capitalism.


Kenneth Rogoff, writing at Alhazeera, talks about Coronary Capitalism.  I like that term.  Here is some of what he has to say.

Obesity affects life expectancy in numerous ways, ranging from cardiovascular disease to some types of cancer. Moreover, obesity - certainly in its morbid manifestations - can affect quality of life. The costs are borne not only by the individual, but also by society - directly, through the healthcare system, and indirectly, through lost productivity, for example, and higher transport costs (more jet fuel, larger seats, etc).

But the obesity epidemic hardly looks like a growth killer. Highly processed corn-based food products, with lots of chemical additives, are well known to be a major driver of weight gain, but, from a conventional growth-accounting perspective, they are great stuff. Big agriculture gets paid for growing the corn (often subsidised by the government), and the food processors get paid for adding tonnes of chemicals to create a habit-forming - and thus irresistible - product. Along the way, scientists get paid for finding just the right mix of salt, sugar and chemicals to make the latest instant food maximally addictive; advertisers get paid for peddling it; and, in the end, the healthcare industry makes a fortune treating the disease that inevitably results.

Coronary capitalism is fantastic for the stock market, which includes companies in all of these industries. Highly processed food is also good for jobs, including high-end employment in research, advertising and healthcare.

 Consumers are provided with precious little information through schools, libraries or health campaigns; instead, they are swamped with disinformation through advertising. Conditions for children are particularly alarming. With few resources for high-quality public television in most countries, children are co-opted by channels paid for by advertisements, including by the food industry.

Beyond disinformation, producers have few incentives to internalise the costs of the environmental damage that they cause. Likewise, consumers have little incentive to internalise the health-care costs of their food choices. 

Global capital isn't only keeping us in the dark about all this, it is transforming the food we eat into something that is not even food and stuffing in down our throats.


You wouldn't think the water you drink could be a culprit in obesity, would you?


Alternet has reported that in 2006, Bruce Bloomberg at the University of California, Irvine exposed pregnant mice to a chemical called tributyltin, which is found in marine paints and plastics and often ends up in people through drinking water. Begley writes that he found that, "The offspring were born with more fat already stored, more fat cells, and became 5 to 20 percent fatter by adulthood."


Guess what?  This was no fluke.  Further research all over the world by scientists found that tributlytin and other chemicas affected people in the same way.  In Spain, scientists, fjor example found that the more pesticides fetuses were exposed to, the greater their risk of turning into obese toddlers.  


And then there ae those fabulous genetically altered foodstuffs.


Oy veh!


The following is from the Black Commentator.


CORPORATE AMERICA FIGHTS TO KEEP THE PEOPLE IN THE DARK ABOUT THE FOOD THEY'RE EATING

BY JOHN FUNICIELLO

It’s time to blame the people. Again. We’re told that we have an “obesity problem” and we’re told we have a high blood pressure epidemic and a diabetes epidemic, along with unusual cancers, especially among the children, and we’re told that we have many other problems. We have a problem with water (we soon won’t be able to find enough potable water for our teeming cities) and we have a problem with our air (in many places it’s not a good idea to breathe too much of it). One aspect of our myriad problems is the possible connection between obesity and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and the fight that is under way in California. On one side of the issue are the people and on the other side are corporations, like Monsanto and other giant agribusinesses, which have a stranglehold on the American food system. For many years, people across the country have become increasingly concerned about the way their food is raised, processed, transported, and retailed. In the past couple of decades, they began to be concerned about GMOs, which some call genetically manipulated food crops (and, even, animals). These crops have been rather mysterious (until it was time to market them commercially) and their origins were shrouded in laboratory research, apart from the farms and ranches where such “research” had been done for the millennia. People who eat were told that GMOs would produce more food, using the same amount of energy and effort, and that in some cases would be immune to specific diseases and pests. It sounded like a miracle or, more to the point, it sounded like magic. As it turned out, it wasn’t so magical. In many cases, the GMO crops did not even produce as much as conventionally hybridized seeds. And their effects on humans and other creatures who consumed them is not known, although there is great evidence that there are many negative effects of consuming these foods. In California, a group was formed last year, the California Committee for the Right to Know, to ask the government for just one thing: Require the labeling of GMOs. That’s all. Just label the foods you have in your supermarkets that are the products of genetic manipulation, so that we can have a choice about whether to buy them. The committee gathered a total of 971,126 signatures since last November, in preparation for placing the question on the ballot in this fall’s election. They needed 550,000 valid signatures to put it on the ballot; there is that kind of keen interest in the issue. Between now and then, however, everyone involved expects there to be a battle royal, with Monsanto and Corporate America spending whatever they have to, to defeat this measure. They do not want the people to even consider what the corporations have planned for their dinner (tonight, and on into the future). As for blaming the people for our nation’s problems…the obesity “epidemic” could have something to do with the manipulation of the food-like substances that food corporations put on supermarket shelves. It is accepted that more than 80 percent of corn in the U.S. is GMO and more than 90 percent of soybeans are GMO. There are other crops that are now genetically manipulated, but much of what is put out there for human consumption contains corn and soy and thousands of items contain high fructose corn syrup, which many scientists have concluded is a leading cause of obesity. So-called medical experts and others, many of whom represent the food and medical industries, like to blame a sedentary life and the eating of junk food (or unhealthy food) as main causes of obesity, high blood pressure, cancer, and other serious health problems. They also like to point out that the poor among us are fat. How can they be fat, if they’re poor, they ask? Usually, they don’t address the kind of food that is available in poor neighborhoods. There is some effort to change that debate, but it is very slow in reaching the national level, so that it might be an issue in a presidential election. Often, the closest thing to a restaurant in a poor neighborhood is a fast food shop and there is no supermarket within several miles. There might be a convenience store, but all they offer is snack food, filled with corn and soy products, filled with poor quality oil and high fructose corn syrup (including the ubiquitous soft drinks). When this is the case in a neighborhood, it’s called a “food desert.” It’s hard to get raised healthy in a food desert and millions of our children are growing up in them. All of this, of course, is not to mention the hormones and antibiotics that have routinely been given to cattle and chickens to make them grow faster (and, thereby, eat less feed to reach slaughter weight) and not to mention routinely giving food animals antibiotics, not just to keep them from getting sick, but also to make them grow faster. The corporations that control our food system do not want people to think about the food-like substances they are being offered as food. They do not want the people to start thinking that it might be the food, itself, that is causing the problems. Certainly, the uproar that is under way over the labeling of GMO foods is an indication that people are, indeed, thinking about the food they eat and its effect on them. Blaming the people for the ills of society is an old ploy for those in control. About 20 years ago, there was a problem with salmonella in the chicken that was being sold across the nation. At least some of the problem was traced to the way the chickens were being slaughtered and processed and, as part of the process, the finished chickens were dipped into vats that contained antibiotics, among other things. Some critics called the dip “fecal soup,” since the contents of the vats contained that part of the chicken viscera, as well. When the chickens were prepared for sale, they were rinsed and appeared fresh and clean. To avoid any trace of salmonella or other contaminant, the U.S. government made a recommendation. Did they recommend that the chicken processing plants change their operations to avoid contamination at the outset? No. They changed the rules and had instructions printed on the chicken packages…for the customer! The steps taken were similar to those of any sanitized space, washing all utensils, the counters the chicken touched, the cutting board, and the cook’s hands. Suddenly, the family was responsible for its own health, and not the processors, who turned out chickens by the millions. The attitude was that, if you got sick, it was your own fault. The American people became responsible for the shortcomings of the food industry. So it is with GMO foods. The general public does not know how GMOs affect humans, although there is plenty of evidence that it is not good, yet there is an inexorable propaganda and advertising (is there a difference?) drive by the food corporations to force us to eat those foods, simply because we don’t know what we’re eating. That’s why the fight over labeling in California is going to be so fierce. It may take political overtones, since politicians likely will be on the ballot side by side with the question of GMO labeling. And, that’s why it will be important to monitor the money that comes from the side of Corporate America. With the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens  Unitedruling, big business money will be unlimited, just as it will be in the elections, in general. It would be common sense not to put GMOs on the market, until there is proof that the eating of them will not cause harm, but that’s not how it works in this country. Rather, substances (chemical and comestible) are put on the market without testing to determine their safety and they must be proven unsafe. When billions of dollars of profit are at stake, there is little incentive to do any such testing and it isn’t done unless there is a crisis or a catastrophe. Since everyone eats, there is a possible catastrophe waiting to happen and, in fact, may be under way now, but we can’t see it or touch it or feel it. We just know that people have strange ailments and deadly diseases and don’t know why. At the very least, we need to have GMOs labeled, so that we can make a decision about whether to buy those products, or not. In a country that prides itself on free choice, it should not be very difficult to make a choice about food. All that needs to be done is to require labeling, on raw foods and on food products that contain GMO substances. How hard could that be? It’s time for the powerful profit-mongers to stop blaming poor families for their poor health and for obesity. It’s time for them to stop blaming all Americans for the “obesity epidemic” and all of the other epidemics that appear directly connected to the food they are forced to eat, food that is produced and marketed by a system that is controlled by just a handful of giant corporations. Not knowing what you are eating is an unhealthy situation and, as a people, we have very little information about what we eat. It’s why the GMO labeling ballot initiative is so important in California this fall, but let’s go one even better. The Congress should be considering a bill that would require the entire national food system to label GMO foods. We know that it would not solve all our problems, but it would be a good start. And, it would show that members of Congress can actually accomplish something. Tell them to do it. BlackCommentator.com Columnist, John Funiciello, is a labor organizer and former union organizer. His union work started when he became a local president of The Newspaper Guild in the early 1970s. He was a reporter for 14 years for newspapers inNew York State. In addition to labor work, he is organizing family farmers as they struggle to stay on the land under enormous pressure from factory food producers and land developers. Click here to contact Mr. Funiciello.