Salon goes in-depth into how the White House let biotech goliath Monsanto dodge antitrust charges, squash innovation in the field and take over the seed industry.---
Top of the Alty World
“How Monsanto Outfoxed the Obama Administration”—Salon
A Texas man has caused real deaths by selling synthetic “research” narcotics online; a federal prosecution will test the government’s ability to crack down on other Internet dealers.—Houston Press
The editor of the conservative Daily Caller admit his previous work for a corporation as a Facebook spy trying to infiltrate and expose animal-rights activists.—Mother Jones
Rolling Stone live-blogs a Senate hearing on J.P. Morgan’s infamous “London Whale” incident and the too-big-to-fail bank’s disturbing lack of accountability and internal controls.—Rolling Stone
Top of Alty Utah
A recap of the final day of the 2013 Legislature.—Utah Political Capitol
The Legislature passes bill in last day of the session to set up the prison-relocation authority.—KCPW
Earlier in the week, LGBT Utahns and allies rallied at the Capitol in advance of a push to pass statewide discrimination protections into law in the 2014 session.---Q Salt Lake
From homeless to hopeful, SLC Mission spokesman Brad Jaques speaks with experience in advocating for second chances for Utah’s most vulnerable.—Salt Lake City Weekly
Rantosphere
Truthout interviews author and gun expert Tom Diaz on the gun industry in America and the role of race and gender in gun politics.
“The whole gun obsession and insurrectionist ideology is basically an old white guys' thing. These are people threatened with change. In the 1960s and 1970s, the growth of the gun-industry's market was associated with a backlash against the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement. Today's pro-gun manifestations are essentially the same. Immigration is one igniter of this feeling, perceived in racial terms. Changes in our society related to gender and sexual orientation are producing a similar backlash among white men. These changes are very threatening to people who think that the old ways should prevail.”-Truthout
The Long View
U.S.-style education reform critical of teachers unions has spread to south of the border.
“A network of large corporations and banks extends throughout Latin America, financed and guided in part from the United States, pushing the same formula: standardized tests, linking teachers’ jobs and pay to test results, and bending the curriculum to employers’ needs while eliminating social criticism. The medicine doesn’t go down easily, however. In both countries, grass-roots opposition—from parents and teachers—has been rising. In Seattle, teachers at Garfield High have refused to give the tests. In Michoacan, in central Mexico, 16 teachers went to jail because they also refused.”—The Nation