Yearly Archives: 2011

A Call for Skepticism

Camano Island is NW of Everett, Washington, and this article is from 2002, responding to an article in the local paper there. -jsq
Commentary
A Call for Skepticism
by Steven K. Roberts
Camano Island

If ever we needed a demonstration that the fundamental flaw in many arguments is a lack of discrimination regarding information sources, we have it in the Nels Konnerup article, “Toxicology 101 Defended,” in the March 26 issue of the S/C News.

The author makes a “plea for cogent thought, rather than a visceral reaction to the use of pesticides and herbicides,” and cites a number of references “authored by highly qualified and respected scientists.” So far, so good.

But just for fun, I spent a few minutes researching some of these sources to see if I could determine the affiliations and biases of their authors.

Continue reading →

Pigweed on Georgia Farm Monitor

Dr. Stanley Culpepper of UGA Tifton says 52 counties have the mutant pigweed. He says they’re looking at cover crops and deep turning. (You may know that as plowing.) He hastily adds that they’re looking at other herbicides. But he wraps up by saying we have to look at other methods than herbicides: tillage and cover crops. He frames it as diversity and integration. What it really means is spraying poisons eventually breeds weeds that refuse to be poisoned. People, of course, are not so lucky.

This is the same Dr. Culpepper whose extensive slides on this subject I reviewed last summer.

-jsq

Germans document glysophate poisoning

The promise of Roundup:
“No tilling, just seed, spray, and harvest.”
Adriana Alvarez, who lives next door to an Argentinia GM soy field, says:
“They came from this side and sprayed the entire field. Here he turns, spraying all the time.”
The farmer was wearing a mask. That’s more than no-till farmers around here do.

Interesting statistic that in Argentina soy production increased 35-fold between 1996 and 2003 while Roundup use increased 56 times. And eventually it doesn’t work at all, because it breeds resistant weeds. In Georgia it took only ten years to produce mutant pigweed that not just Roundup but not even paraquat can kill. Many farmers are realizing that it’s cheaper, more effective, and more profitable to plow the weed under in the fall and plant a winter cover crop. Even mutant weeds are not resistant to cold steel.

The documentary points out many products in German stores that include GM soy. In Argentina, it’s even worse, with increasing numbers of birth defects.

They interview Prof. Andrés Carrasco about his research on amphibians:

“The hemispheres do not separate, like you can see here. If you look closely you can see one brain. Glyphosate can cause this kind of mechanisms, for it is an enzymatic toxin.”

Monsanto refused an interview, responding in writing:

“Monsanto is convinced of the safety and usefullness of its products and its contribution to efficacious agriculture.”
As Dr. Carrasco has been known to say:
“Son hipócritas, cipayos de las corporaciones, pero tienen miedo. Saben que no pueden tapar el sol con la mano.”

“They are hypocrites, those corporate lackeys, but they are afraid. They know they can’t cover the sun with their hand.”

The documentarians interviewed Gilles-Eric Seralini in Caen, France.

“To human cells glyphosate is already toxic in a very low dose. A farmer uses a much higher dose on the field. Roundup is even more toxic than glysophate, for that is only one of the ingredients in Roundup.”
Roundup says none of this applies to humans and Roundup is safe. Seralini says:
“Transgenics are toxic for human health.”

This is the same Monsanto that made Fox rewrite 80 times about RBGH in Florida cows.

The same Monsanto that was convicted by the French Supreme Court of lying about leaving the soil clean.

The same Monsanto that was fined $2.5 million by the U.S. EPA for selling genetically modified cotton seeds without labeling them as such.

Who should you believe? A corporation repeatedly convicted of deception, or scientists who say that GM crops cause liver and kidney damage in animals, according to research using Monsanto’s own data.

The Roundup-spraying farmer said:

Roundup, mas algo! mas algo!

Roundup, more and more!

It’s time to say:
Ya basta!

Enough already!

-jsq

PS: Credits to the German TV consumer series ‘plus minus’:

Bericht
D. Flintz
M. Rauck
Kamera
J. Fenske
C. Kültür
J. Midú
Schnitt
H. Bischoff
E. Elsner
GM toxic soy in animal feed broadcast (© WDR) by Detlef Flintz and Mathias Rauck. Translation and highlighting provided by TraceConsult. Broadcast Tue, 08 Feb. 2011 | 9:50 PM.

Food tastes good as politics

Bryan Walsh writes in Time that Foodies Can Eclipse (and Save) the Green Movement:
Even as traditional environmentalism struggles, another movement is rising in its place, aligning consumers, producers, the media and even politicians. It’s the food movement, and if it continues to grow it may be able to create just the sort of political and social transformation that environmentalists have failed to achieve in recent years. That would mean not only changing the way Americans eat and the way they farm — away from industrialized, cheap calories and toward more organic, small-scale production, with plenty of fruits and vegetables — but also altering the way we work and relate to one another. To its most ardent adherents, the food movement isn’t just about reform — it’s about revolution.
Food is something that affects everybody, and now that people are starting to realize that the mainstream food supply is poisoned: Continue reading →

Rumsfeld’s Legacy: Aspartame and brain cancer

In honor of Donald Rumsfeld’s memoir, here’s another part of his legacy: as president of G.D. Searle, Rumsfeld got the FDA to approve aspartame (aka Nutra-sweet, Equal, or Canderel), shortly after Reagan was elected, despite massive evidence that it caused cancer. Don’t believe me, listen to Mike Wallace:

Or consider Hesh Goldstein’s opinion:

“If Donald Rumsfeld had never been born think of how many millions of people the world over would not suffer headaches and dizziness. Thousands blind from the free methyl alcohol in aspartame would have sight, and there would be much fewer cases of optic neuritis and macular degeneration. Millions suffering seizures would live normal lives and wouldn`t be taking anti-seizure medication that won’t work because aspartame interacts with drugs and vaccines. Think of the runner, Flo Jo, who drank Diet Coke and died of a grand mal seizure. She, no doubt, would still be alive. Brain fog and memory loss, skyrocketing symptoms of aspartame disease, would not be epidemic.”
What’s not opinion is that aspartame includes methyl acohol and other toxic and carinogenic chemicals.

Rumsfeld sold G.D. Searle to Monsanto in 1984 Continue reading →

EPA approved bee-killing pesticide despite warnings from its own scientsts

Susie Madrak writes in Crooks and Liars, Leaked Document: EPA Scientists Warned Of Bee-Toxic Pesticide. Agency Approved It Anyway.
Clothianidin has already been banned by Germany, France, Italy, and Slovenia for its toxic effects. So why won’t the EPA follow? It probably has something to do with Big Agra, who loves the stuff for treating the corn seed supply.
Ariel Schwartz in Fast Company a reminds us of why this matters
The world honey bee population has plunged in recent years, worrying beekeepers and farmers who know how critical bee pollination is for many crops.
She includes a quote from the study:
Clothianidin’s major risk concern is to nontarget insects (that is, honey bees). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. Although EFED does not conduct RQ based risk assessments on non-target insects, information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoids insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long-term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects.

Here’s the leaked document (PDF).

-jsq