The market has forced Monsanto to abandon Prosilac, a bovine growth hormone used to artificially boost milk production in cows.  First, Monsanto could not convince enough consumers that milk from treated cows was as good as milk from untreated cows. Then, Monsanto could not convince enough governments to outlaw labels that revealed if the milk was from untreated cows. Now, Monsanto has decided sell its division that produces Prosilac. This would have happened long ago, but Monsanto persistently manipulated the market and suppressed information. 

The Pickens Plan is a trojan horse, and yesterday, warriors hidden inside came pouring out.  Pickens revealed his plan for the government to grant him the power of eminent domain, government subsidies for power transmission lines, and power to control those lines (as well as water pipelines) from his land in the Texas Panhandle to Dallas/Fort Worth.  The Pickens Plan is being sold as a common sense effort to shift toward wind and solar power, but it includes a bold attempt to gain control over the market for alternative energy sources. 

Today, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals filed an opinion of great importance.  It may, at long last, give farmers protetection from Pilgrim's Pride, Tyson Food, and other meatpackers that dominate the livestock markets.  For decades, farmers have been denied this protection under the Packers and Stockyards Act ("PSA").  The opinion in Wheeler v. Pilgrim's Pride Corp,  Case No. 07-40651 (5th Cir.) may change that.