Take a lap, guys.
In Hawaii, legislation is moving forward that bans spraying pesticides and growing GMOs. But Hawaii isn’t alone: Twenty-eight states have introduced bills relating to genetically modified crops this year.
A crowd celebrates on the steps of the historic Kauai County building in Lihue, Hawaii, on Nov. 16, 2013, after the Kauai County Council voted 5-2 to override the mayor's recent veto of Bill 2491.
Christopher D'Angelo / Via REUTERS
HONOLULU — Last week, the Kauai County Council moved forward a bill that requires biotech companies to reveal where they're spraying pesticides and creates no-spray zones near schools and public areas.
On Tuesday, the Hawaii County Council passed a bill prohibiting biotech companies from opening shop on the Big Island and banning existing companies from growing any new genetically modified crops. The measures are the latest victories for anti-GMO groups in an increasingly vocal debate in Hawaii.
Because Hawaii's tropical climate allows for three harvests per year, it has become ground zero for testing GMO seeds — and a focus for critics of the practice. Hawaii's state legislatures have introduced 26 bills that relate to genetically modified crops in 2013.
But Hawaii isn't alone. Ninety-five bills relating to genetically modified crops were introduced in 28 states this year.
Cornfields on Kauai.
Biotech companies have made Hawaii the world's leading producer of genetically engineered seed varieties. Hawaii's year-round grow season is used to engineer seeds that resist pesticides so farmers can spray chemicals liberally on fields without harming the genetically modified crop. A biotech company then sells its brand of seed and pesticide together to a farmer (e.g., Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybean).
Supporters of the legislation passed in Hawaii are worried about environmental and health risks associated with widespread application of pesticides. Big Island and Kauai's county bills serve to protect against these risks in different ways.
Kauai's bill seeks transparency from biotech companies, requiring them to disclose the type and amount of chemicals being sprayed, as well as when and where they are dispersed. It also requires companies to spray at a safe distance from public spaces like schools, hospitals, and parks, and the county is required to look into health and environmental impacts.
Lands used by the biotech companies are currently adjacent to the Waimea River as well as schools. Teachers at Kauai's Waimea Canyon Middle School raised concerns about unusual odors and blamed pesticides sprayed by Syngenta. Investigators earlier this year released a report showing pesticides were detected in air and water samples taken at the school.
It is well established that pesticides can cause birth defects and other developmental conditions in children. Activists and local doctors say they want additional research on the potential health impacts on Kauai residents.
Biotech companies like Syngenta, Monsanto, Pioneer, Dow, and BASF have been experimenting with GMOs on Oahu, Kauai, and Molokai for years now, but they've never operated on Big Island. With Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi's approval of Bill 113, large biotech companies could be permanently kept out. (However, the bill exempts Big Island's papaya industry.)
Keeping seed experimentation out of the Big Island could protect it from cross-pollination, which can be caused by anything from pigs and goats transporting and depositing seeds at other locations to wind and insects carrying pollen over large distances.
Organic farmers are especially worried about cross-pollination, which cannot be undone, and how it would impact their export market. Wheat growers in Oregon couldn't sell their grain to Japan and South Korea this summer after Monsanto's unapproved GMOs appeared in their fields.
Statements sent to the Hill repeat tough positions on Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives for talks in Geneva this week.
Pool / Reuters
GENEVA — The State Department reiterated Iran's status as a state sponsor of terrorism and as a destabilizing force in the region and also stood by a May report stating that Iran had increased its terrorist activity in a list of responses sent to Capitol Hill last month after the first round of Iran nuclear negotiations.
A senior Senate aide provided BuzzFeed with a list of responses the State Department provided to questions for the record submitted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the topic of Iran. A second Senate aide confirmed the list, which arrived on Capitol Hill on Oct 30, two weeks after the first round of talks this fall. The below are the questions from the committee and the State Department's responses:
Question:
In the Department's Annual Country Reports on Terrorism released on May 30, 2013, the Department wrote: "Iran increased its terrorist-related activity, including attacks or attempted attacks in India, Thailand, Georgia, and Kenya. Iran provided financial, material, and logistical support for terrorist and militant groups in the Middle East and Central Asia. Iran used the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and militant groups to implement foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations, and stir up instability in the Middle East. The IRGC-QF is the regime's primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad." Does the Department still stand by this report?
Answer:
The Department stands by this report. Iran poses multiple challenges to the international community through its nuclear ambitions, its support for international terrorism, and destabilizing activities in the region. There have been no indications that Iran has ceased this activity.
Question:
Does the United States government remain concerned about Iranian financing of terrorism?
Answer:
Iran poses multiple challenges to the international community through its nuclear ambitions, its support for international terrorism, and its destabilizing activities in the region. Iran provides hundreds of millions of dollars to Hizballah annually and has long aligned itself with Syria – Hizballah's primary trainer and arms supplier. Iran also supports the Asad regime, providing not only funds and weapons, but also strategic guidance, technical assistance, and training, thus enabling the regime's continued repression and slaughter of tens of thousands of Syrians. Iranian money, training, and equipment are playing a significant role in keeping the Asad regime in power.
Question:
Does the United States continue to consider Iran to be a state sponsor of terrorism?
Answer:
The United States continues to consider Iran to be a state sponsor of terrorism.
Iran remains the world's foremost sponsor of terrorism which it often uses as a strategic tool of its foreign policy. Led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force (QF) and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the Iran Threat Network (ITN) is comprised of an alliance of surrogates, proxies and partner such as Lebanese Hizballah, Palestinian and Shia Militant groups, and others. Iran provides funding, weapons, training, and safe haven to numerous terrorist groups--most notably in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon--posing a security concern to the international community. Iran also continues to interfere in the internal affairs of various countries in the region; it supports the Basher al-Asad regime in Syria and Houthi extremists in Yemen.
A spokesperson for the State Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
The list becomes public just as the U.S. negotiating team seeks to close an interim deal with Iran during a third round of talks, currently underway in Geneva. Secretary of State John Kerry plans to travel to Geneva to join the negotiations "to help narrow the differences and move closer to an agreement," which is being interpreted here as a sign of progress in the talks.
The talks are taking place against a backdrop of fierce skepticism in Washington as hawkish members of Congress push to add more Iran sanctions while negotiations are ongoing, a position that is meeting with equally intense opposition from the administration, which views additional sanctions as having the potential to scuttle any deal.
Mayhem is what.
Ben A. Pruchnie / Getty Images
Ben A. Pruchnie / Getty Images
People exchanging totally paranoid ideas about the government existed way before the internet.
The Theory: A shadow government of politicians who backed the Federal Reserve had the president assassinated because he wanted to regulate the economy and take away their power.
How likely is it? This theory is a total gateway into conversations about the Illuminati, so let's just say it's not a rabbit hole worth going down.
The theory: The idea is that DiMaggio was upset over the alleged affairs between his wife Marilyn Monroe and both John and Robert Kennedy. So he decided to use Lee Harvey Oswald as a patsy and get revenge for the deaths of Marilyn Monroe.
How likely is it? No way.
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
The Theory: Three men were arrested after being found in a boxcar near the site of Kennedy's assassination. Conspiracy theorists believed that they were too clean-shaven to be actual homeless men. Some believe that two of these men were E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis (of Watergate scandal fame) in disguise.
How likely is it? The real identities of the three men have since been confirmed through arrest records. They were actual homeless men who had showered and shaved at a shelter the night before.
The Theory: Another popular theory is that the driver of JFK's motorcade, Bill Greer, double braked the vehicle after the first shot as a distraction to pull out a pistol and shoot the president. Or that he slowed down long enough to allow another shooter to land the second fatal shot.
How likely is it? Greer has been widely criticized for his actions, but most experts agree that the fatal pause was out of shock and most likely nothing malicious.
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Girls just wanna have fund$.
Talented Totes Sally Beerworth "Only My Credit Card Likes a Workout" tote bag
Buy it here for $17.80.
Marc Jacobs special items: Skyline Notebook New York
Buy it here for $18.
OPI "Cheers to the Holidays" four-piece mini set
Buy it here for $12.95.
H&M clutch
Buy it here for $17.95.
Twenty-three is the worst year. If you’re 23, I’m sorry. You’ll make it.
Sorry, 23-year-olds, but this year is total shit. You’re a year or two removed from college and reaching a legal drinking age, but you’re not mature enough to have actually figured out what you want to do with your life. Drinking and partying is getting old, but you’re equally bored by staying home. Basically everything is terrible. Ask a bunch of over-30 people what the worst year of their twenties was and they will inevitably tell you that when they were 23, everything fell apart and they had no idea who they were anymore or WTF they were doing with themselves. Be strong, better years are coming.
Nylon Magazine / Via charstew.tumblr.com
Being 20 is the purgatory of life. You are no longer a teen but no one treats you like an adult either. You can join the Army, vote, date a 40-year-old (don’t), buy porn, smoke cigarettes, you probably even pay taxes — but you can’t DRINK (legally). Three-hundred sixty-five days of waiting to turn 21. Have fun with that. :(
As one of my coworkers just said, “26 is the year that you wake up and realize someday you’re going to die.” Twenty-six is a mortality year — you’re now closer to 30 than you are to 20, and it’s when you first experience genuine pressure to settle down and, like, have your shit together already. This is the year of most people’s dreaded “quarter-life crisis,” and with good reason. You’re going to die someday, and you’re one year closer to it.
Via giphy.com
Nothing really happens when you’re 24. You’re a little too old to be magically young and alive and all "YOLO," but a little too young to be jaded and apathetic. You just are. It's OK.
Via some-heroes-are-real.tumblr.com
This year The Festival of Lights has to share it’s thunder with Thanksgiving. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still celebrate with these crafts.
Grab templates here.
Grab the tutorial here.
You can make this dinosaur menorah with any animal figurines. Grab the tutorial here.
Learn how here.
Babies are small. Their stuff is not.
The space under the crib is usually ignored but it's a great place to store baby supplies. Find these storage boxes here for $14.99 each.
The Lovely Lark / Via five4fivemeals.com
A TV stand takes up a lot of space (especially in a studio or one bedroom apartment), but a dresser can do the same job and hold your baby's clothes, too.
Every nursery needs its cute touches. This rack is plenty cute while also supplying a place to hang your baby's clothes.
As part of a student project, illustrator Justin Steinburg created some beautiful and powerful work.
Hey, so I’m pretty sure Thanksgiving is coming up pretty soon? If you or your guests are vegan or vegetarian, you’ll need something delicious for said herbivores to eat. Here are some such things! Enjoy!
LINK: Get The Recipe
A judge delayed ruling on a lawsuit that could shut down production of Sriracha at a California plant.
Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A California judge delayed ruling on the closing of a facility that produces Sriracha chili sauce Friday.
The city of Irwindale filed a lawsuit against Huy Fong Foods after receiving complaints from residents. The suit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Nov. 4, called the plant a public nuisance because of fumes and odors produced when it harvests jalapeño chili peppers.
A judge said he did not have enough information to make a decision in the case. He added that he did not receive a report from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, according to the Los Angeles Times.
At least 18 complaints have been filed with the city, according to court documents. They include:
Whatevs.
NBC Universal Television / Via tabu.tumblr.com
Paramount Pictures / Via tabu.tumblr.com
James Devaney / WireImage / Via tumblr.com
20th Century Fox Television / Via caseymeeks.tumblr.com
You want a $125 Britney Spears gym bag? You better work, b**ch.
SPOILER ALERT: It’s not all sunshine and rainbows.
If you don’t like your co-workers and don’t have children in play groups, meeting new people can be tough. And until you hang out with your favorite coffee shop barista outside the coffee shop, they don’t count as a new friend.
While this sounds awesome (cereal for dinner FTW!), most of the time it means one of two things:
• Spending ridiculous amounts of money on eating out
• Spending half of your Sunday, every Sunday, cooking meals for the week
Deductibles? Copays? Dafuq?!
“I’m hungry, I should eat now." "The afternoon will be so long if I eat now. I should wait till 1." "No, I should eat now, I’m so hungry." "No I should wait.”
Via sourpatchkid4ever.tumblr.com
Featuring a dramatic reenactment of YouTube comments, the college kid who tried to bash his head through a coffee table, and Harry Potter’s adventure at Penn Station.
Improv Everywhere dressed an 11-year-old actor up as Harry Potter and sent him to Penn Station to catch the train to Hogwarts. Watching him ask strangers for directions to Platform 9 3/4 will pretty much make your day. (3:27)
YouTube comment wars are some of the craziest things in the world. So comedy channel Dead Parrot had two actors stage a fight between two YouTubers on a One Direction video as a dramatic scene, and the results will *not* disappoint. (3:15)
The direct address format that worked for The Office and Modern Family has grown stale from overuse. By breaking the fourth wall, new series like The Michael J. Fox Show are holding themselves back.
John Krasinski on The Office.
NBC
It's tempting to blame it all on John Krasinski's face. But that isn't really fair.
While the U.S. version of The Office may have popularized the mockumentary-style sitcom for American audiences, the U.K. iteration had already been there and done that. Besides, before The Office, there were films like This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show, iconic comedies from the master of the genre, Christopher Guest, that remind us how funny direct address, interview format can be.
For a while, Krasinski's mugging worked as a punch line: His reaction face was always perfectly timed, the ideal coda to a great line. But over time, that wore thin, and The Office was forced to expand its scope, and to eventually incorporate the previously unseen documentarians into its ninth and final season. The series should serve as a warning to other sitcoms: The mockumentary style has its limits.
And yet, TV writers still haven't learned. The format has persisted and in the process, become lazier and the framework. Who's filming all of this anyway? Apparently, it doesn't matter, as long as the audience gets to see an actor making Krasinski face right into the camera.
The first run of mockumentary series after The Office — Parks and Recreation and Modern Family — get a pass, if only because the trend wasn't totally played out when they began. But at this point, it's strange that either show has stuck with it: Who is still making a documentary about Pawnee, Indiana, and why? How long is this documentary about the today's "modern family" going to last? And how have the cameramen on either show followed these characters around for years without any sort of acknowledgement?
Michael J. Fox as Mike Henry on The Michael J. Fox Show.
NBC
These more established shows don't suffer greatly from the occasional interview break, but it does feel superfluous at this point — and maybe even a little cheap. (Hasn't anyone heard of "show, don't tell"?) What's truly baffling, however, is why a new sitcom would fall into the same trap of the mockumentary. The Michael J. Fox Show, for example, is actually quite good, but it's holding itself back with interviews and Modern Family-esque voiceovers.
In the pilot, it made sense, as daughter Eve (Juliette Goglia) filmed a documentary about her dad's resilience in the face of Parkinson's disease for a class project. It was also an easy (and again, rather lazy) way to introduce all the characters, explain the central conflict, and give us entry into the world of The Michael J. Fox Show. So why, nine episodes later, is the Henry family still talking to the camera? Unless Eve is gunning for some serious extra credit, it just doesn't make any sense.
More to the point, it's unnecessary to drag a potentially great sitcom into knock-off territory. Even when The Michael J. Fox Show is at its best, it remains hampered by a derivative device. And so, we get episodes that are very strong, for the most part — and then take a sharp nosedive in quality as one character offers a final voiceover explicitly stating the moral. Regardless of what Modern Family has led you to believe, people don't talk this way in real life. And when it happens on a sitcom, it undermines the humor. There's no reason for The Michael J. Fox Show to try to be Modern Family when it has so much potential to be its own unique and admirable series.
