Monsanto Receives Key Approval for Intacta RR2 PRO Soybeans

Monsanto Company’s first technology developed specifically for an international market, Intacta RR2 PRO soybeans, has received official approval from China’s Ministry of Agriculture. With this approval, Monsanto will now begin commercial preparation for the full-scale launch of Intacta RR2 PRO soybeans in Brazil for the upcoming crop season.

Intacta RR2 PRO soybeans are expected to become one of the cornerstone products in Monsanto’s next-generation soybean platform. The technology represents one of the most significant growth drivers in its global portfolio, and it is estimated that it could deliver benefits to farmers in more than 100 million acres across South America.

“This approval represents a significant milestone for Brazilian farmers and our company, and showcases the next wave of innovation that is poised to drive the decade of the soybean at Monsanto,” said Brett Begemann, Monsanto’s president and chief commercial officer. “Importantly, the introduction of Intacta RR2 PRO brings a new choice in insect control and convenience to Brazilian farmers, and creates the opportunity to expand our soybean platform as we accelerate innovation in this core crop.”

Along with Monsanto, multiple South American seed companies are anticipated to launch Intacta RR2 PRO this coming season.

continue article http://fracturedparadigm.com/2013/06/18/monsanto-receives-key-approval-for-intacta-rr2-pro-soybeans/

The Singularity Is Near: Mind Uploading by 2045?

By 2045, humans will achieve digital immortality by uploading their minds to computers — or at least that's what some futurists believe. This notion formed the basis for the Global Futures 2045 International Congress, a futuristic conference held here June 15-16.

The conference, which is the brainchild of Russian multimillionaire Dmitry Itskov, fell somewhere between hardcore science and science fiction. It featured a diverse cast of speakers, from scientific luminaries like Ray Kurzweil, Peter Diamandis and Marvin Minsky, to Swamis and other spiritual leaders.

continue article http://www.livescience.com/37499-immortality-by-2045-conference.html

THE NSA HAS ALWAYS BEEN SPYING ON YOU

On June 5, the Guardian published a report based on a leak from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, detailing how the NSA surveils U.S. phone calls, collecting and analyzing cell phone metadata from Verizon. The following day, the Washington Post revealed PRSIM, a program that allowed the NSA to monitor electronic communications like emails, photos, and chat messages from the customers of virtually every major computer and internet company. We’ve been here before.

The scope and the depth of the NSA’s monitoring of domestic communications is worrying, but for anyone that’s been following the agency, it shouldn’t be surprising. Using the New York Times’ article archive, which contains digital copies of every article published by that paper since 1851, we’ve put together a story about how each aspect of the current scandal–the surveillance of U.S. citizens, the compliance of tech companies, the demonization of leakers–is part of a pattern that’s been repeating for decades, a pattern that couldn’t even be halted by federal legislation specifically designed to stop it.

continue article http://animalnewyork.com/2013/the-nsa-has-always-been-spying-on-you/

Many Of The Largest Charities In America Are Giant Money Making Scams

Bill Ayers: Obama Is Conducting Terror, Should Be Tried For War Crimes

Bank of America former employees: 'We were told to lie'

Bank of America routinely denied qualified borrowers a chance to modify their loans to more affordable terms and paid cash bonuses to bank staffers for pushing homeowners into foreclosure, according to affidavits filed last week in a Massachusetts lawsuit.

"We were told to lie to customers," said Simone Gordon, who worked in the bank's loss mitigation department until February 2012. "Site leaders regularly told us that the more we delayed the HAMP [loan] modification process, the more fees Bank of America would collect."

In sworn testimony, six former employees describe what they saw behind the scenes of an often opaque process that has frustrated homeowners, their attorneys and housing counselors.

continue article http://www.nbcnews.com/business/bank-america-former-employees-we-were-told-lie-6C10351458

Police: Ohio day-care operator drugged pancakes to make children sleep

DuckDuckGo hit nearly 3.1M queries yesterday, up 50% in 8 days as PRISM fears rise

Just over a week after passing a record 2 million searches in a single day, DuckDuckGo has announced a new milestone: the companyprocessed 3,095,907 searches yesterday.

DuckDuckGo made it clear that this stat does not include yesterday’s 18.9 million searches via its API and approximately half a million bot searches.

It’s no coincidence that DuckDuckGo’s stats are climbing as the PRISM and larger NSA surveillance controversy grows. The startup has received considerable attention as a Google alternative — remember, Google was cited as a main data source for PRISM.

continue article http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/06/18/anonymous-search-engine-duckduckgo-hit-nearly-3-1-million-searches-yesterday-as-surveillance-fears-grow/