This is why we need to stop fearing GMOs

broken link

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/05/17/gmo-genetically-modified-foods-chipotle-science-editorials-debates/27501525/

If you like cheese,Mike me, you are most likely eating a GE Product. 80% of hard cheese production in the world use chymosin (rennin) that is created through genetic modification. Natural rennin is not as available nor as effective as that which man created. More science wonders over woo.

There certainly appears to be a lot of hyperbole on both sides but I did find HBO's recent "VICE" segment very interesting and quite troubling:

http://www.vice.com/read/watch-host-isobel-yeung-debrief-our-new-hbo-episode-about-gmos-151

Vice "hit piece" was so far removed from facts I actually started screaming at my TV

New Study Gives Genetically-Modified Crops a Failing Grade
Michelle Schoffro Cook
May 29, 2015

While Monsanto and other companies involved in creating and distributing genetically-modified (GM) seeds have been citing the supposed environmental benefits for many years, a new Canadian study gives GM crops a failing grade. The study by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), indicates that genetically-modified crops fail on multiple levels: they do not reduce pesticide use or protect biodiversity regardless what companies continue to claim.

In the report “Are GM Crops Better for the Environment?” released on May 22, researchers examined twenty years of data to determine whether genetically-modified crops reduced pesticide use or protected biodiversity in Canada. Not only did CBAN find that GM crops did not live up the environmental claims, instead they aggravated the same problems the corporations claim they improved. Not only did GM crops not reduce herbicide use, but there has been a 130 percent increase in use of them over the last 20 years in Canada.

According to Lucy Sharratt, spokesperson for CBAN, “There is a strong correlation between the expansion of GM herbicide-tolerant crop area and the increased use of herbicides in Canada. This environmental impact was predicted twenty years ago and needs to be urgently addressed to protect ecosystems and human health.”

The study also found that the use of glyphosate-based herbicides in Canada tripled between 2005 and 2011, and is associated with the cultivation of GM glyphosate-tolerant corn, canola, soy and sugar beets. Glyphosate is now the highest-volume pesticide active ingredient sold in Canada, followed by 2,4-D and glufosinate ammonium. CBAN’s study arrives after many other studies found links between glyphosate exposure and cancer, sterility, obesity and other serious health concerns.

In March 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer determined glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.

Another study published in the peer-reviewed journal Entropy found that glyphosate—the main ingredient in Monsanto’s “Roundup” weed killer may be linked to gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Other research from the University of Caen, France, found that animals exposed to Roundup experienced an increased impairment in sperm structure and reproduction.

Still more research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found a link between some pesticides and a significantly increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma—cancer of the lymphatic system. In this meta-analysis, scientists evaluated 44 studies, 80 active ingredients in 21 classes of chemicals and found that exposure to glyphosate the main ingredient in Roundup doubles the risk of this deadly cancer.

CBAN’s report also examined the impact of GM crops on biodiversity and concluded that:
· Insects that have developed resistance to GM insect-resistant (Bt) crops are spreading across the world.
· North America has lost 90 percent of its Monarch butterfly population due to habitat destroyed by glyphosate used on genetically-modified glyphosate-tolerant corn in the U.S.
· GM contamination in Canada prevents organic farmers from growing canola, and may have reduced genetic diversity in both canola and flax seed.
· GM organisms are difficult to control once they are released into the environment.

Says Lucy Sharratt: “We need to make sure we don’t continue using ineffective and destructive strategies. At the moment we’re set to simply accelerate herbicide use along with the problems of pest and weed resistance and biodiversity loss.”

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/new-study-gives-genetically-modified-crops-a-failing-grade.html?onswipe_redirect=no&oswrr=4#comments

Major Monsanto Lawsuit Completely Blacked out by Media
MAY 22, 2015 · N. AMERICA
http://www.theeventchronicle.com/news/north-america/major-monsanto-lawsuit-completely-blacked-out-by-media/

(Natural Society) What happens when one courageous attorney and a few citizens try to take down Monsanto? The MSM doesn’t cover it, for starters.

Efforts to publicize a class action lawsuit against Monsanto for false advertising it’s best-selling herbicide Roundup filed in Los Angeles County Court on April 20, 2015 have been rejected by almost every mainstream media outlet.

It’s no different than Fox, NBC, CNN, or ABC refusing to cover the DARK ACT which would give Monsanto legal immunity and disallow states to demand GMO labeling.

You would think that coverage of something the whole world wants to see – the first step toward the successful downfall of Monsanto –would be a hot news item; a newsworthy tidbit that every paper, radio station, and blog would want to spread across their pages with double bold headlines. But wait. . . just six corporations own ALL of the media in America, so there isn’t much luck there.

That’s why you have to go to sites like Russia Insider or Al Jazeera to find real news outside of certain alternative news channels in the US, and even those are white-washed from Facebook pages, and given secondary ratings on Google pages.

Matthew Phillips, the attorney suing Monsanto in California for false advertising on Roundup bottles, has asked the LA Times, New York Times, Huffington Post, CNN, and Reuters, one of the world’s largest news agencies to report on the lawsuit (Case No: BC 578 942), and most enforced a total media blackout.

When I spoke with Phillips over the phone, he said that he has tried posting the suit in Wikipedia’s Monsanto litigation section, but it keeps ‘disappearing.’ He says that he has also noticed posts on Facebook about this lawsuit get removed.

Phillips points out that as long as Monsanto can keep this lawsuit off of most of America’s radar, then his client base would be relegated to just the citizens of California.

If other attorneys were to follow his template-style lawsuit, which he wrote in English, devoid of extraneous legal-speak to encourage others to also take action against Monsanto, then suddenly the plaintiff count could be closer to several million. That is if you were to tally up all the citizens in the US who have purchased a bottle of Roundup from their local DIY store (Lowe’s, Home Depot or Ace Hardware, for example) in the last four years, not suspecting it could demolish their gut health.

Another possibility, according to Phillips, is that Monsanto could try to bump the case up to federal court in order to try to side-step a likely adverse judgment. But in this case the class action suit would also be open to residents other than those of just California. This is surely an idea that Monsanto doesn’t want seeded in the American psyche.

Phillips is extremely confident he has the goods on Monsanto in this case, and barring a sold out judge:

“This is a slam-dunk lawsuit that exposes Monsanto for LYING about Roundup. Contrary to the label, Roundup does indeed target and kill enzymes found in humans — in our gut bacteria — and this explains America’s chronic indigestion!”

His enthusiasm is palpable, as many well-known scientists and professors emeritus have offered to be key witnesses in this suit when it goes to trial. The attorney says he refuses to ‘settle’ the case and hopes that 49 additional attorneys in 49 states use his case as an example. He joked:

“When we allege that Roundup’s targeted enzyme is found in humans, it’s like alleging that the Golden Gate Bridge is found in California.”

The facts of the case really are that obvious.

Phillips also states that ‘false advertising’ and ‘misleading’ are synonyms in California law, so the fact that Monsanto has stated that there are enzymes in its product that don’t target humans – well that’s beyond just misleading. This obvious misjudgment by Monsanto is a well-known secret among many anti-GM scientists. This enzyme is definitely found in humans.

Here is how ‘misleading’ Monsanto’s statement that, “Round Up targets an enzyme only found in plants and not in humans or animals,” truly is:

EPSP synthase, also known as (3-phosphoshikimate 1-carboxyvinyltransferase) is found in the microbiota that reside in our intestinal tracts, and therefore the enzyme is “found in humans and animals.” It is partly responsible for immunity activation and even helps our gut and our brains communicate with one another.

EPSP synthase is among other beneficial microbes that produce neurometabolites that are either neurotransmitters or modulators of neurotransmission.

“These could act directly on nerve terminals in the gut or via ‘transducer’ cells such as enterochromaffin cells present throughout the intestinal tract and are accessible to microbes and in contact with afferent and efferent nerve terminals. Some of these cells may also signal and therefore modulate immune cell activity.”

Furthermore, although this will not be addressed in Phillip’s lawsuit:

“There is increasing evidence that exposure to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, may be an underlying cause of autism spectrum disorders (see [19]). Glyphosate, the active ingredient, acts through inhibition of the 5-enolpyruvylshikimic acid-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS synthase) enzyme in the shikimate pathway that catalyses the production of aromatic amino acids. This pathway does not exist in animals, but it does exist in bacteria, including those that live in the gut and are now known to be as much a part of our body as our own cells. A widely accepted dogma is that glyphosate is safe due to the lack of the EPSPS enzyme in our body. This however does not hold water now that the importance of our microbiota to our physiology is clear.”

Though Monsanto is only being sued for false advertising in this case, it is an important precedent to set in order to eventually take down one of the biotech giants that is poisoning the planet. It should send a clear message to Dow, Bayer, Cargill, and Syngenta as well.

Please show the MSM that we will not be silenced, and pass this information along however you can. If you live in California, consider being a part of the suit yourself. If you are an attorney, Phillips is happy to discuss his suit with you in hopes that you will add your state to the growing list of those standing up to Big Ag and the biotech bullies.

Phillip’s has been invited to speak at the upcoming Los Angeles March against Monsanto. You can read more about his case, here.

The attorney’s final advice?

“Glyphosate kills – it’s made that way.”

* The plaintiff also has a go fund me site for this lawsuit.

Source: Natural Society

It is blacked out for good reason. T Matthew Phillips is a chemtrail believer, 9/11 truther, fluoride in water is making us zombies, conspiracy nut.

He is entertaining though

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/05/29/gmo-scientists-could-save-world-hunger-if-we-let-them-334119.html

http://www.theworldweekly.com/reader/i/scientists-modify-herpes-virus-kill-cancer-cells-world-first/3854

Was wondering when you were going to post!;)

I just got back in town. Had my father's memorial. I was researching though.

I've been off island, too. Sorry about your dad.

GONE IN A GENERATION
Despite greenwashing schemes, Monsanto may be the death of the monarch butterfly
BY MIKEY JANE MORAN

http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2015-3-may-june/green-life/gone-generation?pi_email=alanamawsonvi%40gmail.com&utm_source=insider&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

Roundup is America’s favorite herbicide. But it withers more than weeds—over the past 20 years, 970 million monarch butterflies have died, and Roundup is one of the main culprits. And while Monsanto recently put $4 million toward monarch conservation, the mega-corporation continues to churn out the herbicide that has helped wipe out 90 percent of the beloved butterflies.

Each year, clouds of millions of orange and black wings flutter against a blue North American sky in the world’s only butterfly migration. Some butterflies travel up to 3,000 miles to the same dozen forests in Mexico. But the monarch migration is an endangered phenomenon. The population has plummeted from 1 billion to less than 40 million—and monarchs are still not a federally recognized endangered species.

Glyphosate, Roundup’s main ingredient, kills milkweed, which competes with crops and is also monarch larvae’s only food source. Glyphosate is also harsh on crop plants, so Monsanto developed glyphosate-resistant corn and soy. Now 94 percent of U.S.-grown soybeans and 89 percent of corn is genetically modified to be “Roundup Ready.” With herbicides that kill everything but their own GMOs, Monsanto is controlling what lives and what dies—and milkweed and monarchs are on the chopping block.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to determine whether monarch butterflies should be designated as endangered. Protecting the monarchs will help other important species that fewer people care about. The less photogenic cycnia moth, for example, also relies on milkweed, and the greater prairie chicken needs protected open plains to survive.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Sign the Sierra Club’s petition to bestow the “endangered” title upon monarchs.

Monarchs could face extinction in our lifetime.
Help give them a chance

Plant milkweed—as much as you can. Monarch Watch provides a planting guide that suggests milkweed species native to your hometown. The organization will even send schools and nonprofits free flats of milkweed to start gardens.
Become a citizen scientist. Monarch counting programs exist across the country. Spend a sunny day watching butterflies and contributing to research.

So now Milkweed is only harmed by Roundup? Pretty sure all farmers, organic too eliminate milkweed. Monsanto has actually pledged 4 million dollars to habitat creation for butterflies. Still waiting for the big organic's money...

Gratuitous spin doctoring from a multi billion dollar corporation that sells poison.

I didn't mention Whole Foods did I ?

Pathetic retort.

How much has Whole Foods pledged I guess I should have said? Monsanto sells organic seeds as well. I'll even bet some organic cotton you wear are from evil Monsanto.

You betcha.
Came across this today.

Cotton Isn’t as Innocent as You Think
The fluffy fiber can have toxins that are being absorbed by your skin every day.

Read article: http://www.takepart.com/video/2015/05/27/conventional-cotton-cost?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2015-05-27

why would a natural habitat need to be created in the first place?

Because natural habitats are being displaced/replaced by gmo crops such as soybeans, etc.

thanks alana

Because natural habitats are being displaced/replaced by gmo crops such as soybeans, etc.

I may be completely wrong but seems to me that the biggest cause of loss of "natural habitats" is raping of the worlds' forests and unfettered building construction, not the planting of any crops, gmos or otherwise.