That said, I wanted to alert you to the fact that a revised Monsanto Protection Act bill sponsored by Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo, would not only prevent states from enacting their own GMO labeling laws, but it would go even further by nullifying all existing restrictions on GMO crops already on the books. This bill is quickly making its way through Congressional committees and could be up for a final vote soon.
If it is passed, the new Monsanto Protection Act would:
- Block all state laws requiring mandatory GMO labeling, including Vermont’s landmark labeling law;
- Prevent the FDA from establishing a national mandatory GMO labeling program;
- Possibly block non-GMO claims until the USDA creates a non-GMO certification program, which could take up to 10 years;
- Block all state and local efforts to protect rural communities and farmers from the impacts of GMO crops;
- Prevent claims by food companies that non-GMO foods are better than GMO ones.
So, if you would rather not eat a tomato that has possibly been genetically altered by DNA from a cow, maybe you could call your state representative and politely ask that he or she vote against this bill.
FRIDAY’S FUNNIES
A group of Americans was traveling on a tour bus through Holland. One of the stops was a cheese farm, where a young guide led them through the process of making cheese from goat’s milk. Then she showed the group a lovely hillside where many goats were grazing.
These older goats,” she explained, “are put out to pasture when they can no longer produce. What do you do in America with your old goats?”
A spry old gentleman answered, “They send us on bus tours.”
These next two jokes are from the comic strip Mother Goose and Grimm:
In the first one, Ralph is seated in a restaurant and the cook comes out to grab him up from the table. The cook says, “So you’re the little twerp who wants to take the food off my table.” Then the cook punches Ralph.
In the last panel the waitress has come back with order pad in hand. Ralph says, “On second thought, I won’t have the Chef’s salad.”
In the next strip, Grimm is at his desk working on a laptop. Ralph comes up and says, “Grimm, I finally found a Minotaur, a wise and trusted adviser who can help me make big decisions in life.”
Grimm says, “Ha, ha, Ralph. You mean you found a mentor. A Minotaur is a mythical flesh-eating monster with a head of a bull and the body of a man.”
In the final panel, Ralph says to his new friend, “I’m going to have to let you go, Bob.”
Bob has the head of a bull and the body of a man.
WRITING WISDOM
The following is just a clip from a wonderful article, “One Second of Detail” at Writer Unboxed by Barbara O’Neal, that illustrates how adding detail to our writing makes it much more engaging.
What is happening right now gives us everything we need.
One moment of detail, one second of true observation, can give us a wealth of information about a character, a setting, a charged situation between characters. In your writing, if you focus on a single second, you will naturally avoid cliché, and bring the real life freshness of ordinary life to the work. Ordinary life is where all the miracles are, all the freshness you could ever need to infuse your writing with powerful, original details.
That’s it for me folks. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and do check out the whole article at Writer Unboxed if you’d like to. There is a neat writing prompt over there that you might enjoy and really cements the message.
As always, I welcome comments. Let me know what you think of the whole GMO issue, or just skip that and let me know which joke you like best.