Alright, if I had read this 6 years ago I would have thought this was a joke, but it’s true.

The FDA is going to approve cloned meat for human consumption this week.

The new cloned meat probably won’t be labeled any different from regular meat. So you won’t know whether you’re eating real meat or frakenmeat raised in a labratory.

Ouch.

I wonder how long Americans will pretend where their food comes doesn’t matter. It’s been a scary journey in food since 2000, and things are getting worse. The European Union decided genetically modified foods were unsafe, but the United States thought it was safe enough for us.

Biotech companies are this generation’s cigarrette companies - only much worse.

Only, instead of selling cancer sticks to kids, they’re selling cancer food to everyone.

Companies like Monsanto are virtually unknown by people who live in the US, but up to 80% of the grains they eat are from their Genetically Modified seeds.

They have a strains of corn and wheat called “Roundup Ready”. These plants have been modified to be immune to the herbicide Roundup. I’ve used Roundup before, and the stuff is crazy. It kills every plant it touches, and it can’t be good for you.

But the Roundup Ready grains are immune to it. That means a farmer can spray his entire crop with Roundup and kill all of his weeds in one quick spray. The grains get covered in Roundup (which Monsanto owns too), and live, while everything else dies. S not only do you get the benefit of frakenstein grain, you also get a nice dose of herbicide.

I’ve bought Organic food (free of pesticides, synthetic fertilizer, and GM) before in the past, but nowadays the stuff just costs too much. In the coming years, you’re going to have to be rich to eat well, or grow your own food.
So, what’s my advice?

Go vegan or vegetarian now, and eat organic. And plant a garden at home. If you don’t have room for a garden, at least start with a few potted plants. GM companies “own” the plants they create, and so it’s illegal to save the seeds of one plant to the next. It’s to their benefit to have their “fraken” strains contaminate seeds humanity has had for ages. As things get even more out of hand with corruption and downright stupidity, food and drug safety are just going to get worse.

Get educated. Learn where your food comes from, and seek out small farmers. Pay them well for their labor, because it really will be one of the most important jobs in the coming times.

Can you really trust someone who tells you that cloned food is good for you?

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There’s a scramble by governments to track their citizens online. Because of rapid advances in technology, it’s possible to build complete profiles of people through their online aliases and email accounts. And anyone with enough know how can do it too.

Do you have a Myspace? How many forums have you posted to in your life? How many of your comments would give away a political preference? How many would give away a religious bias?

Even a trip down to the local library’s internet is now completely logged in the US. In order to use the public internet, you’ve got to provide an ID, and all of your web browsing habits are stored with your personal ID. It’s enough to make even the most jaded person paranoid.

Data mining massive amounts of personal data is already going on. Big companies use it to build consumer profiles, and governments use it to build databases of potentially “dangerous” people. But who determines what constitutes a dangerous person looks like, and how do we deal with people who only have the profile to do wrong?

The answer is, of course, that a “dangerous” person looks like whatever’s convenient to the current political power. If there’s a problem with land shortage, the “dangerous” person becomes the person who controls a large portion of property. If there’s a problem with people talking about Democracy, the “dangerous” person becomes the one who talks about it.

So, how is the average person supposed deal with this sort of data mining and profiling?

The short answer is, they don’t. They probably won’t even realize it’s going on. The long answer is, it’s difficult but getting easier.

If you think people should be allowed to look at and disseminate information without being tracked, you’re not in the minority. The only problem is, technology has made this process very easy, and the amount of observable information exchanges has risen exponentially with the internet.

Ten years ago, it would be impossible to track exactly which books you read in the past year, and what sort of information you’re into. But with the internet everywhere, it’s extremely easy to build a profile. Just start with a search for your name. Find any aliases you use - email addresses, usernames - and do a search for those. Within 10 minutes, you can find out a lot of information on what type of person someone is. If they’ve got an Amazon account, you can see books they’re into using their Wish List.
If you’d like to have your internet actions stay anonymous you should:

• Be aware of the information you post, and who it’s available t
• Use protection when posting potentially damning evidence
• Use multiple aliases, and dump them
• Be careful of where you post your name
• Use a DemocraKey while surfing (So no one listening to your internet can tell what sites you visit.)

Joining the EFF helps if you want to donate something to fight for freedom of thought. Otherwise, researching for yourself and letting others know what’s going on is the most efficient way to get things done.

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