New Tests Find Bee-Killing Pesticides in Over Half of “Bee-Friendly” Plants From Garden Centers Across U.S. and Canada

Friends of the Earth

Washington, D.C. – Many “bee-friendly” home garden plants sold at Home Depot, Lowe’s and Walmart have been pre-treated with pesticides shown to kill bees, according to a study released today by Friends of the Earth and allies. Details here.
PLT photo.

Related: Meet Canada's Chief Bee-Killer (CBK) - Ted Menzies

Is Ottawa Bedding Down With Crooked Bankers? (Letter)

Dear Editor,

Crooked bankers of the world, rejoice! 

Wikileaks has revealed that negotiators from 50 countries, including Canada, have been meeting in back rooms, cooking up ways of making it even easier for these financial titans to fleece their customers, everywhere!

It's all part of the ('til now) super-secretive "Trade in Services Agreement" (TISA), a massive deal that would affect the way the big banks are allowed to do business, world-wide.

According to the confidential draft text, TISA would "further deregulate global financial services markets." 

Not only that, it would prevent these nations, including Canada, from ensuring that sensitive customer data remains in the country of origin! I'm no financial whiz. But, if we want to keep our precious banking records secure, this can't be good!

Why is all of this happening? According to the text, "To assist the expansion of financial multi-nationals – mainly headquartered in New York, London, Paris and Frankfurt – into other nations by preventing regulatory barriers."

Have we learned nothing from the past? Weak to non-existent regulations, deception and conflict of interest in 2008 allowed crooked financial marketeers, mainly in the 'States, to commit countless crimes against their customers, burst the financial bubble worldwide and force many ordinary citizens into ruin. These disgusting crimes have gone pretty much unpunished to this day. 

Wikileaks notes that the draft was supposed to have been kept secret, not just during the negotiations, but for five years after the TISA enters into force! This kind of secrecy borders on the criminal. It is more befitting of a tin pot dictatorship than a western democracy!

So why does Prime Minister Harper seem so willing to play fast and loose with Canada's reputation as a sound and safe place to bank, by flirting with the notion of actually perpetuating and expanding an already failed, discredited system of "deregulation?" 

Maybe we should ask him this when he comes 'round, wanting our vote!

Larry Powell 

Neepawa, Manitoba.
RELATED: "Greed Kings of 2014: How They Stole from Us"

Pesticides Linked to Bee Deaths Must be Banned, Scientists Say

CBC News

Neonicotinoids, fipronil linked to ecosystem damage in new report. Full story here.

PLT photo.

See What Yes Is Doing (Video)

'The Ground's Wet Enough Without My Tears:' Rain Keeping Farmers From Seeding

Winnipeg Free Press

Good weather for ducks. PLT photo.

MELITA, Man. - Up to 400,000 hectares of farmland could go unseeded in Manitoba this year because soggy conditions and relentless rain are making it impossible for farmers to get on their fields. Details here.

US Administration Takes Steps to Aid Bees

New York Times:

The White House announced new initiatives on Friday to promote the health of honeybees and other pollinators, which have suffered enormous losses in recent years. Details here.

So Much Polar Ice Has Melted That Maps Have to Be Redrawn

Care2

When people discuss immediate victims of climate change, they list endangered species and island dwellers… yet never cartographers. WON’T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CARTOGRAPHERS? Full story here.