Uncle Sam’s Values – At Bat for Monsanto WikiLeaks US targets EU over GM crops

The US embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country which opposed genetically modified (GM) crops, newly released WikiLeaks cables show.

In response to moves by France to ban a Monsanto GM corn variety in late 2007, the ambassador, Craig Stapleton, a friend and business partner of former US president George Bush, asked Washington to penalise the EU and particularly countries which did not support the use of GM crops — via pameladrew.newsvine.com

California Bill Criminalizing Online Impersonations In Effect Starting Today

California’s SB 1411, which adds a layer of criminal and civil penalties for certain online impersonations, goes into effect starting today. The consequences include a fine of up to $1,000, and/ or up to a year in jail. So don’t go and do something crazy like impersonate Google CEO Eric Schmidt on Facebook. There may be consequences — via redwolf.newsvine.com

microUSB cellphone charger becomes EU standard

The European Commission has put into effect a June 2009 agreement stating that major cellphone manufacturers should standardize their charging/data connection ports to the popular microUSB format. CEN-CENELEC and ETSI provided the standards by which these 14 companies will abide by to make cell phone recharging and data transfer easy — via redwolf.newsvine.com

How Twitter saved the day

There aren’t many fairy stories that start at 6pm on a Tuesday evening in Sydney. Even fewer have no mention of dragons, pumpkins or enchanted apples. But this is a new fable, a truly modern tale for the Twitter and social media non-believers. A fairytale 2.0 if you will — via redwolf.newsvine.com