14 Aug 2010
Oracle's Java Suit Gives Jolt

I got tired of Java's failed "write once, run anywhere" promise years ago - and if this kind of legal wrangling heats up, maybe more developers will discover the joys of like I did.

Oracle Corp.'s legal action against Google Inc. reverberated through Silicon Valley, prompting fears that court battles over Java software may spread beyond cellphones to other tech sectors.

(link) [WSJ Online]

06:58 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Another Disaster From Hormones in Milk Production

Maybe consumers will finally end factory farming when they have to buy training bras for their two year olds ... of course, given the current state of "the market", that may be tough, because you can't know what you're buying:

Have you ever wondered why dairy products made from cows injected with the hormone aren't labeled? It's because Monsanto, the original manufacturer of BGH, has aggressively and successfully lobbied state governments in the past to make sure that no legislation is passed that would require such labeling.

As if that wasn't enough, Monsanto has also insistently sought to make it illegal for dairy products that are BGH-free to say so on their labels, unless the labels also included wording exonerating BGH. How does Monsanto justify such a ban? They say that allowing retailers to tell consumers that a dairy product is BGH-free shouldn't be allowed, even if it's true, because it unfairly stigmatizes BGH.

This goes way beyond our children entering puberty before they enter school - our farmers are barred from even voluntarily testing for mad cow disease:

USDA and beef industry have decided to fight to ban Creekstone’s testing because the beef producers fear that Creekstone having such a competitive advantage might result in other beef producers having to implement similar 100% testing programs. Their position is that randomly testing less than 1% of the cattle in the US is adequate, and no producer should be able to do its own testing to superior standards.

There's another industrial complex at work here, and it's every bit as dangerous as the military one. A truly free market would protect us from such madness, but the Agricultural Industrial Complex has enlisted the power of the State to stifle and subvert the market. Let's just hope they haven't irreparably damaged the human species in the process.

People are very upset about this, and for good reason. Female infants in China who have been fed formula have been growing breasts.

(link) [Huffington Post]

06:21 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link