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A burning sugar cane field (Pic by skatoolaki, via Flickr) The high costs of American sugar, coupled with quotas that make it near-impossible for the product to be imported, have led two congressmen to file a bill that would overhaul the way the industry does business.

Source: A poster distributed as part of the IWW’s campaign to win sick days for Jimmy John’s workers. The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint Wednesday finding that Twin Cities Jimmy John’s owned by MikLin Enterprises unlawfully threatened, disciplined and terminated workers for engaging in union activities. The complaint about the sandwich shop stems from a March incident where six supporters of the International Workers of the World (IWW) were fired after protesting the company’s lack of paid sick leave

All politics is local, especially when it comes to energy politics. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) proved that today in Fairbanks when she outlined a plan to

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich (Pic by Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons ) GOP 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has hired people close to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to head his campaign in Florida. The Miami Herald reports : Some of the biggest and deep-pocketed Republican heavy-hitters opened their wallets Monday for Sen.

PG&E -- the owner of the natural gas pipeline that exploded in San Bruno, Calif., killing at least four people and damaging dozens of homes -- has set up a

The Inspector General for the U.S. State Department has responded to a request from more than a dozen members of Congress for an investigation into the approval process for the Keystone XL pipeline, which critics say has been tainted by a cozy relationship between the agency and the company that owns the pipeline. Inspector General Harold Geisel told the legislators in a letter that he is initiating that investigation “to determine to what extent the Department and all other parties involved complied with federal laws and regulations relating to the Keystone XL pipeline permit process.” The investigation will include interviews with State Department personnel and a review of communications between the agency and TransCanada, the owners of the pipeline.

Pic by Oslo in the Summertime, via Flickr On Monday, Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski announced changes that would modernize the agency’s Lifeline program to give greater broadband Internet access to low-income Americans. Lifeline has traditionally provided “discounts on one basic monthly telephone service (wireline or wireless) for qualified subscribers.” While announcing a series of Lifeline reforms , Genachowski said, “Which brings us to the final but perhaps most important reform: beginning the process of modernizing Lifeline from telephone service to broadband. Broadband has gone from being a luxury to a necessity in the 21st century.” He added that “broadband Internet — wired and wireless — is the most transformative new technology since electricity

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum appeared on controversial preacher Bradlee Dean’s radio show Saturday, stating his support for so-called “sodomy laws” and criticizing supporters of same-sex marriage rights. “This is not about gay marriage, it is about changing what is right and wrong and fundamentally changing what people of faith can say and do in society,” Santorum said on Dean’s radio show

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich (Pic by Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons ) Republican presidential favorite Newt Gingrich has pledged his support for the controversial anti-abortion movement known as “fetal personhood,” by signing a pledge that has yet to be signed by opponent Mitt Romney. Personhood USA, the group behind “fetal personhood” petitions that have appeared in states across the country, announced yesterday that Gingrich had signed its pledge . In doing so, he opposes ”assisted suicide, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and procedures that intentionally destroy developing human beings” and agrees to “work to advance state and federal laws and amendments that recognize the unalienable right to life of all human beings as persons at every stage of development.” “To the best of my knowledge, I will only appoint federal judges and relevant officials who will uphold and enforce state and federal laws recognizing that all human beings at every stage of development are persons with the unalienable right to life,” Gingrich pledged

The Congressional recess grinds along -- somehow it doesn’t make Mike Lillis any less busy -- and yet Hill people are starting to get frustrated at the absence

A survey by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) found that there are at least 5,100 new credit union accounts in New Mexico because of Bank Transfer Day . The New Mexico Business Weekly reports: The number of new accounts in the state could be higher because CUNA didn’t survey every credit union, said Credit Union Association of New Mexico spokeswoman Mary Beth King. The amount of deposit transfers to credit unions was not immediately available, King said.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (Pic via myfloridalegal.com) In a Monday court filing, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, Attorney General Pam Bondi and a slew of industry representatives filed their opposition to EPA-mandated water pollution standards for the state. Arguing that “federal intervention was and remains unnecessary,” they ask the court to invalidate the January 2009 determination that required that the standards be implemented. That determination followed litigation brought on by Florida environmental groups that alleged the state wasn’t meeting the requirements of the Clean Water Act. Pollution brought on by failing septic tanks, home fertilizers, utility companies and agricultural interests often leads to large-scale algal blooms and fish kills — occurrences that wouldn’t be so frequent, say some, if Florida had stricter water pollution rules.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul ‘s Iowa campaign has reached out to farmers and gun owners during the past two weeks.

President Barack Obama (Pic by The White House, via Flickr ) Women’s health advocates all over the country were stunned yesterday when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reversed an FDA request to expand access to over-the-counter emergency contraception for teenagers under the age of 17. In press releases denouncing the decision, a common theme has emerged: President Obama has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, George W.

The Apple logo (Pic 4.bp.blogspot.com ) The New York Times reports that Apple has released a statement claiming that the controversy over Siri, the new iPhone voice software, is the result of a glitch, and was not intentional. This week, controversy emerged over a lack of information provided by Siri when it comes to helping women who are seeking abortions, emergency contraception and birth control, among other things. Bloggers, who initially discovered the glitch, found the exemption troubling, writing that Siri is typically very helpful in providing information on almost anything else.

As has been widely reported, police crackdowns on the Occupy movement in cities across the country have extended beyond the protesters to include attacks on journalists as a way to stanch news of police action. Ten reporters were arrested in New York when police cleared Zuccotti Park on Tuesday, including reporters for the AP, NPR, and the New York Daily News, according to watchdog organization Free Press. The organization announced today it has launched a campaign “targeted at mayors around the country to demand they honor the 1st Amendment and drop all charges against journalists.” “If the mayor of our country’s largest city thinks protecting the press means silencing them, we’re in big trouble,” wrote Free Press Program Director Josh Stearns at the organization’s website

The Minnesota for Marriage coalition, which is pushing a 2012 constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman, is mobilizing against state campaign finance rules that require disclosure of donors.

About 250 southwest Broward residents attended a Saturday meeting in the city of Pembroke Pines to tell local and federal officials, as well as prison industry executives, that they don’t want an immigration detention center built in their area. Worried about security, property values and traffic control, residents booed and interrupted Jeff Nelson, mayor of the town of Southwest Ranches, when he offered details about the detention facility and the lot where it would be built. Residents of Pembroke Pines and the town of Southwest Ranches have voiced opposition to the federally funded and privately managed detention center since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it had chosen the Southwest Ranches/Corrections Corporation of America proposal in June

Opponents of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law say they have 80 percent of the signatures needed to put the measure up to a vote in a referendum next fall. On a conference call Friday, organizers with the repeal effort said that they have verified 130,000 of 200,000 signatures collected

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force yesterday released its comprehensive preliminary strategy for long-term restoration. The strategy, which will be presented to President Obama at the end of a period of public review and feedback, aims to address long-standing issues contributing to the decline of the gulf ecosystem. According to a press release, the strategy “builds upon on-going efforts underway in the Gulf Coast states includes specific steps for on-the-ground action and represents the Task Force’s commitment to putting Gulf coastal restoration on an equal footing with other national priorities.” “Even before last year’s oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico endured decades of decline that threatened the environmental and economic health of this region

The massive protests at the White House in opposition to the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline continued on Tuesday with 60 people, including actress Margot Kidder, being arrested and taken to jail. The Huffington Post did a video report from the site of the protests, including an interview with protest organizer Bill McKibben.

Gov. Rick Perry’s affiliation with the American Family Association for his prayer event next month has already drawn protest plans from several faith-based

The old Florida capitol (Pic by Diligent Terrier, via Wikimedia Commons) Among the long list of federal health grants the state has shunned in past year was a small award that would have “reduced the burden of cancer.” A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health tells The Florida Independent that budget authority was denied for a competitive grant “awarded to Florida beginning October 2010 for $175,000 yearly.” The DP10-1017 “Demonstrating the Capacity of Comprehensive Cancer Control Programs to Implement Policy and Environmental Cancer Control Interventions” grant was a “five-year grant built on strengths of existing statewide Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council (C-CRAB) working with four regional cancer collaboratives to reduce the burden of cancer,” according to the Department of Health. The grant did not require any contributions from the state. The grant was just one of many that has been rejected by the state.

Looking back on some June comments from Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who recently forced the public option out of the Senate’s health care reform bill, his