Sustainablepulse, By: Admin, 10/25/2013

More than 125,000 people have signed a consumer petition demanding that major food and chemical companies stay out of the corporate campaigns opposing voter initiatives to require labeling of GMO foods in Washington state and around the country, Just Label It and the Environmental Working Group said today. “The support for this petition is more evidence that consumers insist on knowing more about the ingredients in their food and want companies to stop spending millions of dollars to deny them that right,” said EWG’s president Ken Cook. “These expensive lobbying efforts by the food and chemical industries are sending consumers the message that they have something to hide.” The 65 companies targeted donated more than $45 million last year to narrowly defeat a labeling initiative (Proposition 37) in California. Nearly half of those companies have contributed $17 million to the “No on 522″ campaign in Washington state.

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After weeks of protest against a dolphin park in the state of Kerala and several other marine mammal entertainment facilities which were to be built this year, India has officially recognized dolphins as non-human persons, whose rights to life and liberty must be respected. Dolphin parks that were being built across the country will instead be shut down.

India's Ministry of Environment and Forests has informed state governments to ban dolphinariums and other commercial entertainment that involves the capture and confinement of cetacean species such as orcas and bottlenose dolphins. They issued a statement that said, "research had clearly established cetaceans are highly intelligent and sensitive, and that dolphins "should be seen as 'non-human persons' and as such should have their own specific rights."

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There’s just one major problem: many of these same experts say Google hasn’t sought the proper permits to open any such operation.

“Google has spent millions on this,” one anonymous source close to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) told the station. “But they can’t park this barge on the waterfront without a permit, and they don’t have one.”

A second source confirmed that Google has inquired about “hypothetical operations” that would be water-based but has not specified how or for what purpose any such enterprise would be employed.

Naturalsociety, By: Christina Sarich, 10/26/2013

Several years ago, the FDA pulled tryptophan (an amino acid) from the US market when a contaminated batch was delivered to the American soil from Japan. Several people got sick, but it had nothing to do with trytophan itself, and only the fact that it was contaminated. In fact, trytophan is far safer than many of the sleeping pills on the market today (which have been linked to cancer and premature death). Still, it was pulled from the market, primarily to save FDA’s buddy, big pharma.

Part of the reason it was pulled from the market by the FDA was not to protect our health, but to protect the bottom line for drug companies. As a natural substance, L-tryptophan cannot be monopoly patented, which is a problem for the FDA and big pharma. Tryptophan is not only a safe way to deal with insomnia, but it also calms frazzled nerves and can be used as a safe antidepressant. It was big competition for Prozac, which has since been called less effective than a sugar pill and much more toxic.

Activists say at least 60 joined call to allow female drivers – making it country's biggest ever demonstration against the ban.

"I am very happy and proud that there was no reaction against me," she told AP. "There were some cars that drove by. They were surprised, but it was just a glance. It is fine. They are not used to seeing women driving here."

More on: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/26/saudi-arabia-woman-driving-car-ban