Buzz Blog

The United States' failure to recognize that China is not the powerhouse we’ve feared could hurt our preparing for regime change in the communist nation, argues Foreign Policy. “The biggest and most important unknown, however, is about China itself: Can a weak or weakening country of 1.3 billion manage a peaceful transition to democracy?”---

Top of the Alty World

“Everything You Think You Know About China is Wrong”—Foreign Policy

A Gallup poll shows the Republican National Convention had little impact on voters’ opinion of Mitt Romney—Huffington Post

Meanwhile, Truthout reports that corporate parties are shaping up to make the Democratic National Convention an “influence-peddling free for all” for lobbyists.---Truthout

The Obama administration has now concluded all of its investigations into Bush-era torture without pressing any charges—Mother Jones

Top of Alty Utah

A Colorado couple searches for their missing 25-year-old son, Robin Putnam, who in July mysteriously left behind all of his possessions on an Amtrak train and disappeared into Salt Lake City, only for the couple to hear repeated tips that their son may be now living homeless on the streets.—Salt Lake City Weekly

In a letter to Q Salt Lake, Equality Utah Director Brandie Balken discusses progress made with LDS Church-owned TV station KSL in acknowledging LGBT families.—QSalt Lake

Salt Lake City residents are close to settling a longtime feud with west side club the Rail Event Center.—Salt Lake City Weekly

PETA will have a guilt-tripping booth at the Utah State Fair—KCPW

Rantosphere

Chuck Norris, conservative action-movie star, issues a video clip about the perils of evangelicals not voting in 2012 election.

“30 million evangelical Christians stayed home on voting day and Obama won the election by 10 million votes. We know you love your family and your freedom as much as Gena and I do, and it is because of that we can no longer sit quietly or stand on the sidelines and watch our country go the way of socialism or something much worse.”

And from the comments section:

“Chuck Norris is so stupid that his brain has a missile-defense system against facts.”—Buzzfeed

The Long View

The Boulder Weekly examines Monsanto companies monopoly of genetically modified crops and the implications their chokehold buisiness model may have on U.S. food production in patenting seeds and traits.

“It is the selling and licensing of its patented traits that has given Monsanto near-total control over certain sectors of the food market. For instance, even though the company may only account for 30 percent or less of the seeds sold, 88 percent of all the corn acres in the U.S. are planted with one or more of Monsanto’s patented traits, because it either sold the seed directly through one of its subsidiaries or licensed its traits to another company such as Dupont that sold the seed with Monsanto’s patent attached. Similarly, more than 90 percent of all soy acres in the U.S are planted with seeds containing Monsanto-patented traits, as are nearly 95 percent of sugar beet acres and most of the U.S. cotton crop, as well. Due to recent acquisitions, Monsanto is also the largest owner and reseller of fruit and vegetable seeds in the world.”—Boulder Weekly