<!-- The House will vote March 2, 2006 on a bill that would gut state food safety and labeling laws. H.R. 4167, the "National Uniformity for Food Act," lowers the bar on food safety by overturning state food safety laws that are not "identical" to federal law. Hundreds of state laws and regulations are at risk, including those governing the safety of milk, fish, and shellfish. The bill is being pushed by large supermarket chains and food manufacturers, spearheaded by the powerful Grocery Manufacturers of America. Big food corporations and the biotech industry understand that consumers are more and more concerned about food safety, genetic engineering, and chemical-intensive agriculture, and are reading labels more closely. They understand that pesticide and mercury residues and hazardous technologies such as genetic engineering and food irradiation will be rejected if there are truthful labels required on food products. Industry-sponsored H.R. 4167 is gaining momentum and must be stopped! Act now! Preserve local and regional democracy and protect yourself and your family from unsafe food by sending an email or calling your Representative and urging them to vote "No" on H.R. 4167. Please Take Action Now--Send a Message to Your Congress Member in the House of Representatives to Vote "No" on H.R. 4167 http://www.organicconsumers.org/rd/labeling.cfm And please call your Congress Member at 202-224-3121 Regards & Solidarity, Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association Related News Headlines 2/25 - States right in food fight (Toledo Blade) 2/24 - State Leaders Take Charge (Wall Stree Journal) Dear Diary: By my calculations, if I complete a mere 6 more missions, the entirety of known space will have been swept clean of pirates. Killed another 12 today. Dear Diary: It's been 8 missions, some 15,237 additional dead pirates, yet they keep popping up. I must discover the source of this enigma.... Dear Diary: I'm having dreams of Juni in thigh boots, wearing an eye patch and wielding a cat o' nine-tails. Killed 5,312 pirates today. Dear Diary: I'm close to solving the mystery. An informant tells me that all pirates originate from something called the "Republic Back Lot" and there were actually SIX ships launched in the Great Diaspora, not five, and the sixth ship landed in the vast, uncharted "Hollywood" sector....oh, killed another 3,000 pirates.