Eleven days ago, when Matt Musselwhite pulled into an encampment at Cannon Ball, North Dakota, in a 5-ton flatbed truck, he had no idea how he would unload the three tiny houses he had just hauled 1,500 miles from southwestern Oregon. Almost immediately volunteers emerged from the throngs of mostly Native Americans. Within hours, teams of 10 people were starting to assemble the first of the 144-square-foot wood structures while circulating free food and coffee.

“This feels like a new America I want to be a part of,” said Musselwhite, 41, a carpenter and woodworker based in a rural community tucked into the mountains that cross the Oregon-California border.

These houses are part of a project that began in the Yale Creek watershed southwest of Medford, Oregon. Early in October, as the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and supporters intensified their opposition to construction of the Dakota Access pipeline across Indian treaty lands and the Missouri River, Musselwhite and his neighbors wondered what they could do to help from so far across the country.

Winter was on its way. The Standing Rock community’s tents and summer tipis would not work in 20-below weather. A call went out from the Red Warrior Women’s Media Collective for donations of winter housing, something the rural Oregon forest community knew it could provide.

Foster Campbell is running as a Democrat for the US Senate in Louisana. The election has resulted in a run-off vote that will be held in December. Rachel Maddow interviewed him on Thursday.

RACHEL MADDOW: Louisiana voted on election night across the nation. Louisiana voted in their jungle primary. And in that Senate race in Louisiana, none of the 23 people who were running got a majority and won the seat. So now what happens next is the top two finishers, regardless of party, they go to a runoff that happens three weeks from now. I should tell you, happily, David Duke was not in the top two, nowhere near. He's now gone back to his regular life of being a full-time fan boy for Donald Trump, celebrating his victory as a coup for White supremacy. But the Louisiana Senate race continues without him. The runoff election takes place in Louisiana on December 10th. There's so much at stake here. Right? This is how the Senate looks now. Right now it's 48 Democrats and Senate horseshoe, pretty even. 51 Republicans. Democrats picked up two seats last week, but Republicans retained control of the Senate narrowly. You can see the one clear dot there that's not filled in, that's what we're talking about tonight. That's Louisiana. If a Republican wins that, that would make the difference 48-52, it's a four-seat difference, Republicans would have a fairly firm grip on that chamber, but if a Democrat would win, that would make the difference between the Democrats and Republicans only two. That is a gap Democrats can work with. That is a gap that stuff might happen. You know, winning this Louisiana Senate seat could mean a world of difference for Democrats trying to stop the Trump agenda, as the best website in the world, Wonkette.com, put it today,

"if a Democrat won that seat, it means it wouldn't be as much of a stretch to try to form majority coalitions with Republican senators who are occasionally decent on specific issues, like John McCain with Russia or Rand Paul opposing Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton for Secretary of State. If 49 Democrats can pull a John McCain or a Susan Collins across the aisle to oppose Trump in erecting a statue of Vladimir Putin on top of the White House, we might at least be able to mitigate some of Trump's damage, which is what we mean.
And I know, I know, Louisiana is a red state. Louisiana went for Donald Trump by 20 points, for Christ's sake, but Louisiana also did elect a Democrat for governor last year. And this Louisiana Senate race, the Republican is the State Treasurer. He's a former Democrat. He unsuccessfully ran in 2004, became a Republican in 2007. Smart money says he is favored to win, but the Democrat is no slouch. He's one-half of the last Senate race in the country right now. And he is carrying the hopes of Democrats not just in Louisiana, and honestly around the nation. "

The FDA’s residue testing for glyphosate was combined with a broader herbicides analysis program the FDA set in motion in February of this year. But the glyphosate testing has been particularly challenging for the FDA. The agency was finally forced to put the glyphosate residue testing part of the work plan on hold amid confusion, disagreement and difficulties with establishing a standard methodology to use across the agency’s multiple U.S. laboratories, according to FDA sources. Equipment issues have also been a problem, with some labs citing a need for more sensitive instruments, sources within FDA said.

FDA spokeswoman Megan McSeveney confirmed the testing suspension and said the agency is not sure when it will resume.

“As testing for glyphosate will expand to several locations, we are currently working to ensure that the methods are validated for use in these labs. As soon as the validation is completed, testing for glyphosate will resume,” she said. “We cannot speculate on timing at this point.”

Alongside the testing for glyphosate, the FDA laboratories have also been analyzing foods for 2,4-D and other “acid herbicides,” documents obtained from the FDA show. The category of acid herbicides includes five of the top 10 active ingredients used in homes and gardens. Usage of 2,4-D is expected to triple in the coming year, according to the FDA.

In addition to not believing in climate change, Myron Ebell has several other lovely qualities.

To lead the transition of the Environmental Protection Agency, President-elect Donald Trump settled on notorious climate change denier Myron Ebell. The decision rattled climate activists—see Julia Lurie's interview with Bill McKibbon and David Roberts on Vox. But it isn't just greenhouse gas emissions that are likely to get a free ride under an Ebell-influenced EPA. Farm chemicals, too, would likely flow unabated if Ebell's agenda comes to dominate Trump's EPA.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/11/trump-epa-pesticides