With all that’s going on regarding genetically modified organisms, especially food crops, this writer became intrigued while standing in line at a Whole Foods checkout counter by a magazine’s cover story “Inside Monsanto,” which appears on the Aug./Sept. 2013 issue of The Mountain Astrologer. Online access to the magazine iswww.mountainastrologer.com. Even though being somewhat esoterically inclined, the feature article by Eric Francis Coppolino was a little more than this writer expected. Coppolino, an astrologer, delved deeply into the history of both Monsanto and its founder, John Francis Queeny, in addition to supplying astrological charts for both, which were delineated, cross-referenced to Monsanto history, and from which prognostications also were offered. According to Coppolino’s exceptional eight-page article, Monsanto was founded November 29, 1901 in Jefferson City, Missouri. Queeny, who worked for a pharmaceutical company by day, invested $1,500 of his own money and borrowed $3,500 from another company. Monsanto found its way …

Manichaeism (/ˈmænɨkiːɪzəm/;[1] in Modern Persian آیین مانی Āyin e Māni; Chinese: 摩尼教; pinyin: Móní Jiào) was a major gnostic religion, originating in Sassanid-era Babylonia. Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani(in Persian: مانی, Syriac: ܡܐܢܝ, Latin: Manichaeus or Manes) (c. 216–276 AD) have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived. Manichaeism taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process which takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light from which it came. Its beliefs were based on local Mesopotamian gnostic and religious movements.[2] Manichaeism was quickly successful and spread far through the Aramaic-Syriac speaking regions.[3] It thrived between the third and seventh centuries, and at its height was one of the most widespread religions in the world. Manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as China and as far west as the Roman Empire.[4] It was briefly the main rival to Christianity in the competition to replace classical paganism. …

The Central Intelligence Agency is funding a scientific study that will investigate whether humans could use geoengineering to alter Earth’s environment and stop climate change. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will run the 21-month project, which is the first NAS geoengineering study financially supported by an intelligence agency. With the spooks’ money, scientists will study how humans might influence weather patterns, assess the potential dangers of messing with the climate, and investigate possible national security implications of geoengineering attempts. The total cost of the project is $630,000, which NAS is splitting with the CIA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA. The NAS website says that “the US intelligence community” is funding the project, and William Kearney, a spokesman for NAS, told Mother Jones that phrase refers to the CIA. Edward Price, a spokesman for the CIA, refused to confirm the agency’s role in the study, but said, …