GE | Not Mainstream Alternative News and Views

USA – Human genes engineered into experimental GMO rice which could create more disease!

May 6, 2012 — craftledger

Source: NaturalNews

Unless the rice you buy is certified organic, or comes specifically from a farm that tests its rice crops for genetically modified (GM) traits, you could be eating rice tainted with actual human genes. The only known GMO with inbred human traits in cultivation today, a GM rice product made by biotechnology company Ventria Bioscience is currently being grown on 3,200 acres in Junction City, Kansas — and possibly elsewhere — and most people have no idea about it.

Since about 2006, Ventria has been quietly cultivating rice that has been genetically modified (GM) with genes from the human liver for the purpose of taking the artificial proteins produced by this “Frankenrice” and using them in pharmaceuticals. With approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ventria has taken one of the most widely cultivated grain crops in the world today, and essentially turned it into a catalyst for producing new drugs.

Originally, the cultivation of this GM rice, which comes in three approved varieties (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/biotech_ea_permits.html), was limited to the laboratory setting. But in 2007, Ventria decided to bring the rice outdoors. The company initially tried to plant the crops in Missouri, but met resistance from Anheuser-Busch and others, which threatened to boycott all rice from the state in the event that Ventria began planting its rice within state borders (http://todayyesterdayandtomorrow.wordpress.com).

So Ventria‘s GM rice eventually ended up in Kansas, where it is presumably still being grown for the purpose of manufacturing drugs on 3,200 acres in Junction City. And while this GM rice with added human traits has never been approved for human consumption, it is now being cultivated in open fields where the potential for unrestrained contamination and spread of its unwanted, dangerous GM traits is virtually a given.

“This is not a product that everyone would want to consume,” said Jane Rissler from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to the Washington Post back in 2007. “It is unwise to produce drugs in plants outdoors.”

Though receiving tens of thousands of public comments of opposition, many rightly concerned about the spread of GM traits, the USDA approved open cultivation of Ventria‘s GM rice anyway. This, of course, occurred after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had refused approval for Ventria‘s GM rice back in 2003 (http://www.kansasruralcenter.org/publications/PharmaRice.pdf).

GM ‘pharmaceutical’ rice could cause more disease, suggests report

Besides the threat of contamination and wild spread, Ventria‘s GM rice, which is purportedly being grown to help third-world children overcome chronic diarrhea, may conversely cause other chronic diseases.
“These genetically engineered drugs could exacerbate certain infections, or cause dangerous allergic or immune system reactions,” said Bill Freese, Science Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety (CFS), who published a report back in 2007 about the dangers of Ventria‘s GM rice.

You can view that report here:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org

Posted in General News Stories. Tags: Bad Health, DNA damage, FDA, Frankenrice, GE, GE Foods, genetically modified foods, GM Food, GMO crops, GMO Rice, USA, USA Farming, USDA, Ventria Bioscience, Ventria's GM rice. Comments Off

Monsanto buys leading bee research firm after being implicated in bee colony collapse – This is NOT Good!!!

April 30, 2012 — craftledger

Amid all the controversy over genetically-modified (GM) crops and their pesticides and herbicides decimating bee populations all around the world, biotechnology behemoth Monsanto has decided to buy out one of the major international firms devoted to studying and protecting bees. According to a company announcement, Beeologics handed over the reins to Monsanto back on September 28, 2011, which means the gene-manipulating giant will now be able to control the flow of information and products coming from Beeologics for colony collapse disorder (CCD).

Since 2007, Beeologics has been studying CCD, as well as Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), for the purpose of coming up with intervention-based ways to mitigate these conditions. And based on the way the company describes both CCD and IAPV on its website, Beeologics has largely taken the approach that intervention, rather than prevention, is the key to solving the global bee crisis.

Now that Beeologics is owned and controlled by Monsanto, the company is sure to completely avoid dealing with the true causes of CCD and IAPV as they pertain to Monsanto’s crop technologies — GMOs and their chemical counterparts. So going into the future, it seems expected that Beeologics will come up with “scientific breakthroughs” that deny any link between CCD and GMO technologies, and instead blame mystery pathogens and other factors that require more chemicals to eliminate.

According to Anthony Gucciardi at Activist Post, Beeologics has also long had a cozy relationship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is convenient for Monsanto. The USDA, in fact, considers Beeologics to be one of the foremost bee research organizations in the world, as does the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the mainstream media and “leading entomologists” worldwide, according to the company.

Monsanto to use Beeologics’ ‘biological tools’ to develop more GMOs, crop chemicals

Beeologics’ acquisition announcement explains that Monsanto plans to incorporate all the biological research that Beeologics has conducted over the years into its own programs for developing more GMO systems. Monsanto has also seized control of a key product that is currently in the Beeologics development pipeline that supposedly “help[s] protect bee health.”

“Monsanto will use the base technology from Beeologics as a part of its continuing discovery and development pipeline,” says the announcement. “Biological products will continue to play an increasingly important role in supporting the sustainability of many agricultural systems.”

To translate, it appears as though Monsanto plans to use even more chemical inputs to supposedly solve the bee collapse problem, even though it is these very inputs that are largely the cause of the bee collapse problem. Several recent studies, after all, have definitively linked crop pesticides and herbicides, as well as high fructose corn syrup, to CCD.

The future looks bleak for bees, in other words, as Monsanto appears poised to slowly gobble up all the competing companies and organizations that threaten its own GMO products, while pretending to care about the dwindling bee populations. And unless drastic action is taken to stop Monsanto in its continued quest to dominate global agriculture, the food supply as we know it will soon be a thing of the past.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.beeologics.com/breaking_news.asp

Monsanto Pesticide Found to Infect Plants with AIDS-like Disease!

April 29, 2012 — craftledger

When Dr. Don Huber, professor emeritus at Purdue University and internationally-recognized plant pathologist, wrote a letter back in January to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, warning him about a new mystery disease showing up primarily in genetically-modified (GM) crops, the notice fell on deaf ears.

Research conducted by a team of senior plant and animal scientists found that Monsanto’s glyphosate chemical, which is the primary ingredient in its popular RoundUp herbicide formula, appears responsible for infecting plants with an AIDS-like syndrome that destroys their immunity, blocks their absorption of certain vitamins and minerals, and eventually kills them.

Dr. Huber explains in his letter that the destruction caused by glyphosate does not appear limited to plants, either — animals and humans alike that consume foods tainted with the chemical, or that are exposed in some other way to it, are potentially susceptible to developing the same autoimmune disorder. For this reason, Dr. Huber urged the USDA to further investigate RoundUp, as well as to deny the deregulation of GM alfalfa.

You can read a copy of Dr. Huber’s letter for yourself here:
http://es-la.facebook.com/notes/wood-prairie-farm/the-complete-text-o…

The key factor of Dr. Huber’s discovery was a microscopic pathogen specifically prevalent in GM crops. The pathogen, he explained in an interview with Food Democracy Now! (FDN) as well as in his letter, is common. But an apparent weakening of plant immunity by glyphosate makes plants treated with the chemical more susceptible to contracting the harmful pathogen. And as a result of exposure, large swaths of GM farmland have died, and many animals that feed on GM-tainted meal have become infertile or have had abortions.

But instead of listening to the scientifically sound advice of Dr. Huber and withholding deregulation of GM alfalfa until more intense safety studies could be conducted, the USDA decided to ignore it all and approve the “Frankencrop” anyway.

To watch the full video interview between FDN and Dr. Huber, visit:
http://vimeo.com/22997532

Sources for this story include:

http://www.bnet.com/blog/food-industry/mystery-science-more-details-o…

Monsanto – Now in a Bag. Be careful and don’t be fooled into buying it!

April 18, 2012 — craftledger

Source: http://www.agardenforthehouse.com

COMING TO A PRODUCE AISLE NEAR YOU, and conveniently pre-packaged and ready-to-eat, is ‘Beneforte’ broccoli. As you can see in the photo up top, the package is labeled with a number of health claims. But when you realize what’s missing from the bag, you’ll probably gag. I know I did. For Beneforte is the product of the agricultural Goliath I like the least. It is the product of Monsanto.

To be clear, there is nothing inherently wrong with ‘Beneforte.’ It is not a genetically modified vegetable, but a cross between a commercial broccoli and a wild broccoli.

This cross, according to Monsanto, produced a “super” vegetable — one which contains 2-3 times the phytonutrient glucoraphanin, “as compared to other leading broccoli varieties produced under similar growing conditions.” I can only imagine what those “similar growing conditions” might be. They certainly aren’t organic conditions, or the label would say so.

What gets my goat is Monsanto’s claim that ‘Beneforte’ helps to “maintain your body’s defenses against the damage of environmental pollutants and free radicals.” Now that’s a howler. For Monsanto is one of the biggest polluters of the environment. Have a look at their track record, which includes the company’s introduction of Agent Orange:

Monsanto Hid Decades of Pollution The Washington Post, January 1, 2002
EPA Concerned about Monsanto Pollution Control Dam
Monsanto Pays 93 Million to Victims in Settlement
Monsanto: A Legacy of Deception
The New PCB: Monsanto’s Round-up weed killer turning up in air, rain and rivers

Well. Is it any wonder that Monsanto doesn’t want its name emblazoned on packages of ‘Beneforte’ broccoli?

My goal with this article is simply to warn those you who might be avoiding Monsanto products to watch out for ‘Beneforte’ broccoli. The pre-packaged product is currently available at supermarkets in California, Texas, Georgia and Minnesota. It will, I presume, reach Northeastern shops before long.

Posted in Business / Finance / Tech News, Environment News Stories, Good or Bad News Stories - You Decide!, Monsanto News Stories, News Worthy To Tell Your Friends About. Tags: Agent Orange, carcinogenicity, DNA damage, GE, GE Foods, genetically modified foods, GMO, GMO crops, hybrid crops, Monsanto GMO, Monsanto News Stories. Comments Off

EPA Collusion in Monsanto Coverup – This IS Very Bad, Please TAKE ACTION to stop!

April 14, 2012 — craftledger

Source: OrganicConsumers.org

2,4-D and the dioxin pollution it creates are too dangerous to allow, period, but in the hands of bad actors like Monsanto and Dow Chemical the dangers increase exponentially. What’s the Environmental Protection Agency doing? Helping coverup the chemical companies’ crimes!

In February, Monsanto agreed to pay up to $93 million in a class-action lawsuit brought by the residents of Nitro, West Virginia, for dioxin exposure from accidents and pollution at an herbicide plant that operated in their town from 1929 to 2004.

That may seem like justice, but it is actually the result of Monsanto’s extraordinary efforts to hide the truth, evade criminal prosecution and avoid legal responsibility.

A brief criminal fraud investigation conducted (and quickly aborted) by the EPA revealed that Monsanto used a disaster at their Nitro, WV, plant to manufacture “evidence” that dioxin exposure produced a skin condition called chloracne, but was not responsible for neurological health effects or cancers such as Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

These conclusions were repeatedly utilized by EPA and the Veterans Administration to deny help to citizens exposed to dioxin, if these persons did not exhibit chloracne.

The EPA knew the truth about Monsanto’s dioxin crimes, but it decided to hide it. Why? It would have affected us all. EPA’s brief criminal investigation of Monsanto included evidence that Monsanto knowingly contaminated Lysol with dioxin, even as the product was being marketed for cleaning babies’ toys.

Here are the details of this jaw-dropping and heart-breaking case of corporate criminality and EPA collusion.

According to Natural News:

In the town of Nitro, West Virginia, Monsanto operated a chemical plant from 1929 to 1995, making an herbicide that had dioxin as a by-product. The name dioxin refers to a group of highly toxic chemicals that have been linked to heart and liver disease, human reproductive disorders, and developmental problems. Dioxin persists in the environment and accumulates in the body, even in small amounts. In 2001, the U.S. government listed dioxin as a “known human carcinogen”.
In 1949, at the Nitro plant, a pressure valve blew on a container of this herbicide, producing a plume of vapor and white smoke that drifted out over the town. Residue coated the interior of buildings and those inside them with a fine black powder. Within days, workers experienced skin eruptions, and many were diagnosed with chloracne, a long lasting and disfiguring condition. Others felt intense pains in their chest, legs and trunk. A medical report from the time said the explosion “caused a systemic intoxication in the workers involving most major organ systems.” Doctors detected a strong odor coming from the patients they described as men “excreting a foreign chemical through their skins”.
Monsanto downplayed the incident, saying that the contaminant was “fairly slow acting” and only an irritant to the skin.
Meanwhile, the Nitro plant continued to produce herbicides, In the 1960′s it manufactured Agent Orange, the powerful herbicide used by the U.S. military to defoliate jungles during the Vietnam War, and which became the focus of lawsuits by veterans contending they had been harmed by exposure to the chemical. Agent Orange also created dioxin as a by-product.
At the Nitro plant, dioxin waste went into landfills, storm drains, streams, sewers, into bags with the herbicide, and then the waste was burned out into the air. Dioxin from the plant can still be found in nearby streams, rivers, and fish.

http://youtu.be/gWA_IBakjyo

According to Source Watch, in 1990, Cate Jenkins, a PhD chemist at EPA, became convinced that Monsanto had deliberately manipulated studies of worker victims of the Nitro disaster showing that dioxin was a human carcinogen.

Dr. Jenkins wrote a memorandum entitled “Newly Revealed Fraud by Monsanto in an Epidemiological Study Used by EPA to Assess Human Health Effects from Dioxins.” Read the memo at PureFood.org.

According to her memo:

Dr. Raymond Suskind at the University of Cincinnati was hired by Monsanto to study the workers at Monsanto’s Nitro, West Virginia plant. Dr. Suskind stated in published studies in question that chloracne, a skin condition was the prime indicator of high human dioxin exposures, and no other health effects would be observed in the absence of this condition. Unpublished studies by Suskind, however, indicate the fallacy of this statement. No workers except those having chloracne were ever examined by Suskind or included in his study. In other words, if no workers without chloracne were ever examined for other health effects, there is no basis for asserting that chloracne was “the hallmark of dioxin intoxication.”
These conclusions have been repeatedly utilized by EPA, the Veterans Administration, etc., to deny any causation by dioxin of health effects of exposed citizens, if these persons did not exhibit chloracne.
The results of Dr. Suskind’s studies also were diluted by the fact that the exposed group contained not only individuals having chloracne (a genuine, but not the only effect of dioxin exposure), but also all workers having any type of skin condition such as chemical rash. The workers could have had no or negligible dioxin exposures, but they were included in the study as part of the heavily exposed group. This fact was revealed only by the careful reading of the published Suskind study.
Further, Dr. Suskind utilized statistics on the skin conditions of workers compiled by a Monsanto clerical worker, without any independent verification.
Dr. Suskind also covered-up the documented neurological damage from dioxin exposures. At Workers Compensation hearings, Suskind denied that the workers experienced any neurological health effects. In the Kemner, et al. v. Monsanto proceedings, however, it was revealed that Suskind had in his possession at the time examinations of the workers by Monsanto’s physician, Dr. Nestman, documenting neurological health effects.
In his later published study, Dr. Suskind denied the continuing documented neurological health effects suffered by the workers, falsely stating that symptoms “had cleared.”
All of the Monsanto dioxin studies also suffer another fatal flaw. The purported “dioxin unexposed” control group was selected from other workers at the same Monsanto plant. An earlier court settlement revealed not only that these supposedly unexposed workers were exposed to dioxins, but also to other carcinogens. One of these carcinogens, para-amino biphenyl, was known by Monsanto to be a human carcinogen and it was also known that workers were heavily exposed.
Another Monsanto study involved independent medical examinations of surviving employees by Monsanto physicians. Several hundred former Monsanto employees were too ill to travel to participate in the study. Monsanto refused to use the attending physicians reports of the illness as part of their study, saying that it would introduce inconsistencies. Thus, any critically ill dioxin-exposed workers with cancers such as Non-Hodgkins lymphoma (associated with dioxin exposures), were conveniently excluded from the Monsanto study.
There are numerous other flaws in the Monsanto health studies. Each of these misrepresentations and falsifications always served to negate any conclusions of adverse health effects from dioxins.

Within days of learning that the Office of Enforcement had initiated a criminal investigation of Monsanto based on Jenkins’ allegations, her job duties were withdrawn without warning. She was not given any assignments from August 30, 1990 until she was reassigned on April 8, 1992 to a job which was primarily administrative or clerical.

According to a 1994 report on “EPA’s Phony Investigation of Monsanto,” by William Sanjour, Policy Analyst, US Environmental Protection Agency, published in Rachel’s Hazardous Waste News:

Dr. Jenkins filed a complaint with the Department of Labor claiming that she was being harassed for carrying out perfectly legal activities. The Labor Department investigated and found in Jenkins favor. The EPA appealed three times all the way up to the Secretary of Labor but each time the Department came down in favor of Jenkins finding that “None of the rationales [explaining her transfer] given by EPA … appear valid”.
In August of 1992, EPA quietly closed the criminal investigation without ever determining or even attempting to determine if the Monsanto studies were valid or invalid, let alone fraudulent. … There was no public announcement that the investigation was closed. Dr. Jenkins didn’t learn about it until fifteen months later. Yet Monsanto knew within a few days of EPA’s closing the case.

Why did Monsanto and the EPA go to such great lengths to hide the truth? It would have affected us all. EPA’s brief criminal investigation of Monsanto included evidence that Monsanto knowingly contaminated Lysol with dioxin, even as the product was being marketed for cleaning babies’ toys.

Dr. Jenkin’s memo also contained evidence that Lysol, a product made from Monsanto’s Santophen, was contaminated with dioxin with Monsanto’s knowledge. The manufacturer of Lysol was not told about the dioxin by Monsanto for fear of losing his business. Other companies using Santophen, who specifically asked about the presence of dioxin, were lied to by Monsanto.

This is just one example of why we can’t trust the EPA to stop Monsanto and Dow Chemical from poisoning us with dioxin.

TAKE ACTION: Call EPA’s Fail! Tell the EPA You Won’t Accept a Decision on 2,4-D Based on Dow Chemical’s Biased Studies!

TAKE ACTION: Tell USDA to Stop Agent Orange Corn!

To learn more about what’s wrong at the EPA, watch this video from the recent Occupy EPA protest:

http://youtu.be/0tcPC6q3bgU

Posted in Bad & Disgraceful News Stories and Views, Boycott & Protest Worthy News Stories, Crime-Terrorism-Espionage-War-Conspiracies News Stories, Environment News Stories, Fraud & Deception News, Government & Political News - Incl Cover-ups / Corruption, Monsanto News Stories, News Worthy To Tell Your Friends About, WTF News Stories. Tags: Agent Orange, America, Bad Health, carcinogenicity, chemical pesticides, chloracne, Contaminated Lysol with dioxin, DNA damage, Dow Chemical, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, EPA collusion, GE, GE Foods, genetically modified foods, genotoxic, glyphosate, GM Food, GMO, GMO crops, Government Cover-ups, Hazardous Chemicals, herbicide, highly toxic chemicals, human carcinogen, Human Health Effects from Dioxins, human reproductive disorders, hybrid crops, Lysol with dioxin, Monsanto News Stories, Monsanto's dioxin crimes, Nitro plant, Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Poisons, RoundUp, Santophen, science, Source Watch, USA, Veterans Administration, Vietnam War, Weedkiller. Comments Off

Poland Joins Ranks of Grassroots Anti-Monsanto Activism

March 11, 2012 — craftledger

The anti-GMO, anti-Monsanto movement has been making major waves in recent months. The inexorable growth of the anti-Monsanto revolution was recently highlighted by the popularity of an article by Anthony Gucciardi, which discussed actions taken by Hungary to destroy 1000 acres of maize and issue a 10-year ban on GM foods. That article has gone mega-viral with over 95,000 shares, and is one of the best indications to date that we the people can take on even the largest of corporations if we simply take action and make our voices heard.

Recently declared the Worst Company of 2011, and people the world over are joining the opposition against bloated biotech giant Monsanto. Poland is contributing to the coordinated effort to protect their health freedom and preserve their local farming economy.

“The Festival of Nature and Culture” begins tomorrow and runs through December 11th as a celebration Poland’s effort to stop GMO and save traditional seeds. It is another angle on generating support for a Poland-wide demand to kill off continued government attempts to sneak through an Act that would permit GM seeds to be commercially grown there.

What is new about this initiative is that many artists are giving their names and talents to this festival. Jazz musicians, painters, actors, designers, rock bands and more are among those pledging their support. The festival comprises more than 80 events to take place all over Poland this coming weekend.

Activists in Poland are joining others around the world in a mission to keep their torch burning through a celebration of unmodified nature and culture. The ICPPC is coordinating this event from its farmhouse base in South Malopolska and J&J will also be engaged in other awareness-raising events in the nation’s capital of Krakow over the weekend.

Public attitudes are changing exponentially, as people are waking up to the dangers of a corrupted food chain. Moreover, the origin of this corruption is being identified as a corporate-government structure that is hell-bent on eradicating true food safety and the preservation of our right to grow and consume natural products. This corporate-government atrocity has become symbolized by Monsanto, as they aim to turn food and farming into nothing more than a sterile money-making machine.

The Festival of Nature and Culture offers another vision of the future – and its becoming clear that it is a vision shared by an increasing number of individuals from a wide cross-section of not only Polish society, but the larger human tribe as well.

For more information about this wonderful initiative, please visit their website HERE (in Polish). There are many free translation programs on the web that you can use to view how they are structuring this event. Please spread these ideas far and wide and adopt these tools to start a movement in your own community.

Explore More:

Monsanto’s Blatant Corruption and Disregard for Health

March 9, 2012 — craftledger

It is well known that Monsanto’s GMO crops provide a very real threat to both public health and the environment as a whole, but the depth of Monsanto’s corruption is often a less covered topic. It has been revealed by WikiLeaks that Monsanto not only has key figureheads stationed in powerful government positions inside the United States, but also has many — if not all — U.S. diplomats on their payroll.

In the bombshell report, the leaked cables reveal that many U.S. diplomats work directly for Monsanto. Furthermore, Monsanto also has international titans pushing their agenda to maximize profits and increase the spread of genetically modified food.

http://youtu.be/M1hgcOwUoJw

The same WikiLeaks cable exposes how in late 2007, the United States ambassador to France and business partner to George W. Bush, Craig Stapleton, urged a ‘target retaliation’ against the European Union and certain nations that did not support Monsanto’s GMO crops. Stapleton, a close business partner of George W. Bush, actually co-owned the Dallas/Fort Worth-based Texas Rangers baseball team with the former president in the 1990s. The ambassador stated:

Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices.

In addition to threatening trade wars and using political corruption as a business model, Monsanto has also been busted for forcing workers into ‘slave-like’ conditions. Forcing slave workers to work the cornfields for 14 hours per day and buy their food at highly-inflated prices from the company store, Monsanto has been running these slave rings for an unknown number of years. It wasn’t until Argentina’s tax agency, known as AFIP, raided the Monsanto corn field did the operation become unveiled.

Monsanto’s corruption has never been more obvious, with many political figureheads in the U.S. government spearheading the initiative to spread Monsanto’s GMO crops far and wide. Even billionaire celebrities like Monsanto shareholder, Bill Gates, have been pushing GMOs as the answer to everything from starvation to sustainable agriculture. Of course, despite this, it has been proven by a team of 900 scientists that GMO crops are not an effective way to fight starvation.

In addition, scientists have shown that GMOs are damaging to your health. A prominent review of 19 studies examining the safety of these crops found that consumption of GMO corn or soybeans can lead to significant organ disruptions in rats and mice – particularly in the liver and kidneys.

Disregarding this information, the USDA is now preparing to give Monsanto’s new GMO crops even speedier regulatory review in order to secure their financial success.

Explore More:

This article first appeared at Natural Society, an excellent resource for health news and vaccine information.

Genetically Modified Food Labeling Initiative Gains Momentum; Monsanto Not Happy..

March 6, 2012 — craftledger

As concerns over the consumption of genetically modified foods continue to grow internationally, legislation is increasingly being introduced to mandate the labeling of products containing genetically modified ingredients.

With thousands — if not millions — of products lining the grocery store shelves containing at least some genetically modified organisms (GMOs), consumers are demanding action. A total of 18 states are now examining laws that seek to explicitly label products containing GMOs.

Needless to say, the initiative isn’t making Monsanto very happy – the leading producer of genetically modified seeds with 90 percent of the market cornered. In fact, Monsanto has admitted influencing previous decisions to root out their GMO crops in places like Boulder, Colorado. Accused of organizing phony protests in support of their crops and using their profile as a mega corporation to influence key legislators, Monsanto has openly admitted influence in the key Boulder decision amid serious heat from the press.

Currently, millions of United States citizens — along with many international residents — are unknowingly consuming GMOs within their food. Sadly, many consumers believe that marketing terms like ‘all natural’ actually protect them from GMOs and other harmful ingredients.

It is for this reason that concerned consumers are taking action against companies sporting the ‘all natural’ label while simultaneously using GMOs in their products. One individual has launched a suit against Frito-Lay for loading their products with GM ingredients despite labeling them as natural. In his case, suit leader Chris Sakes says there’s nothing natural about the highly-concerning genetic modification process.

Among the 18 states, California and Illinois stick out as containing the country’s biggest market. However, the GMO labeling initiative stretches nationwide. Advocates have repeatedly demonstrated their resistance to GMOs, with more than 500 activist groups banding together over the Just Label It campaign.

One petition to the FDA, filed by the Center for Food Safety, called upon the agency to require labels for GMO-containing foods. Shockingly, the petition received 85,000 signatures in support. The number marked the most ever for a federal food petition.

Why isn’t the FDA and USDA responding to the massive amount of public concern? After all, a review of 19 studies even found that GMO crops can cause organ damage.

‘Fifty countries have mandatory labeling. We’re one of the only developed countries that doesn’t. GMOs are labeled in China, Russia. Why would consumers in those countries have this information and we not have it here?’ said Megan Westgate, executive director of the the Non-GMO Project.

US Judges Dismissal of lawsuit against Monsanto spurs protests, blockade by food freedom advocates

March 5, 2012 — craftledger

(NaturalNews) After many months of hopeful anticipation, a preemptive, class-action lawsuit filed by farmers seeking protection against Monsanto’s predatory patent enforcements has been thrown out by U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Buchwald. And in response, a group of food freedom protesters stormed the front steps of Monsanto’s Washington, D.C., office on Wed., Feb. 29, and staged a demonstration where they marched with signs and blockaded the front entrance of the building.

OSGATA et al. vs. Monsanto, which was filed on behalf of organic and non-GM farmers everywhere by the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA), addressed an important agricultural issue about which few people are aware. In the past, when Monsanto’s genetically-modified (GM) seeds have contaminated non-GM and organic farms, the agri-giant has sued those farmers whose fields were contaminated on the grounds that they violated patent restrictions — and in some cases, Monsanto actually won these lawsuits.

Seeking to protect themselves from such ludicrous and exploitative litigation, a consortium of farmers, seed companies, and agricultural organizations filed a preemptive lawsuit to stop Monsanto from ever again targeting farmers in this rapacious manner. The suit also challenged the legitimacy of Monsanto’s seed patents in the first place, which many say are invalid because they do not meet the “usefulness” requirements under patent law.

But Judge Buchwald, who recently heard both sides of the story at a preliminary case hearing, has apparently decided to join forces with Monsanto by declaring the lawsuit to be “a transparent effort to create a controversy where none exists.” And this statement clearly indicates that Judge Buchwald has failed to acknowledge the more than 100 instances in which Monsanto has already sued farmers for “patent infringement” when its own GM seeds and seed traits have inadvertently contaminated non-GM and organic fields.

“We’re Americans. We believe in the system. But we’re disappointed in the judge,” said OSGATA president and organic seed farmer Jim Gerritsen in response to the ruling.

Adding to Gerritsen’s sentiment, Dan Ravicher, executive director of the Public Patent Foundation at Yeshiva University‘s Cordozo Law School, stated that Judge Buchwald’s “failure to address the purpose of the Declaratory Judgment Act and her characterization of binding Supreme Court precedent that supports the farmers’ standing as ‘wholly inapposite’ constitute legal error.”

OSGATA and others are already planning to appeal the decision, which they see as a complete denial of reality. Though Monsanto claimed before the court that it would never sue a farmer over a contamination issue, this has already been shown to be false, a fact of which Judge Buchwald should have been aware.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.latimes.com

Monsanto’s GMOs with ‘stacked traits’ exponentially more harmful to humans due to synergistic toxicity

March 2, 2012 — craftledger

(NaturalNews) Monsanto’s pipeline of upcoming genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) includes several new varieties specifically engineered with “stacked traits,” which means they contain multiple genetic modifications and built-in resistance traits as opposed to just one. And a new study published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology has found that these new multi-trait GMOs appear to be exponentially more harmful to humans than single-trait GMOs because of their synergistic toxicity.

Conducting actual research on the effects of GMO toxins on human cells — this is something Monsanto will never do — researchers from the University of Caen in France have found that the Cry1Ab protein, a Bt toxin deliberately produced in many GM crops, including Monsanto’s MON810 Bt corn, destroys human cells at levels of 100 parts per million (ppm) dilution and higher when consumed by itself. This level of exposure is relatively low, considering human exposure to Bt toxin comes from multiple sources, including meat and dairy products from animals fed Bt corn feed, as well as direct human consumption of Bt corn ingredients and soon-to-be Bt sweet corn from the produce section.

Additionally, the researchers found that exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide formula, induces human cell death at exposures as low as 50 ppm, which is “far below agricultural dilutions,” according to the report. At a dilution of 57.5 ppm, which is only slightly higher, Roundup effectively kills 50 percent of human cells, which clearly illustrates its severe toxicity.

This important finding confirms the findings of numerous other reports conducted in recent days concerning Roundup’s toxicity in humans, including the fact that this widely-used chemical causes birth defects, cancer, and death

But the real kicker in the new research is the combined toxicity from exposure to both Roundup and Bt toxin which, according to the study, is tremendous. In their conclusion, researchers noted that “modified Bt toxins are not inert on nontarget human cells, and that they can present combined side-effects with other residues of pesticides specific to GM plants” (http://www.greenmedinfo.com).

So much for Monsanto’s claim that Bt toxin, Roundup, and various other chemically-engineered traits are perfectly harmless. Monsanto actually claims on its website that human testing of GMOs is unnecessary because they are no different than conventional and natural crop varieties — and regulatory authorities have never taken the agri-giant to task on actually proving this baseless claim, which flies in the face of independent science.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.greenmedinfo.com

Bill Gates, Monsanto, and Eugenics:Actively promoting a corporate takeover of global agriculture

February 29, 2012 — craftledger

(NaturalNews) After it was exposed that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the philanthropic brainchild of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, purchased 500,000 shares in Monsanto back in 2010 valued at more than $23 million, it became abundantly clear that this so-called benevolent charity is up to something other than eradicating disease and feeding the world’s poor (http://www.guardian.co.uk). It turns out that the Gates family legacy has long been one of trying to dominate and control the world’s systems, including in the areas of technology, medicine, and now agriculture.

The Gates Foundation, aka the tax-exempt Gates Family Trust, is currently in the process of spending billions of dollars in the name of humanitarianism to establish a global food monopoly dominated by genetically-modified (GM) crops and seeds. And based on the Gates family’s history of involvement in world affairs, it appears that one of its main goals besides simply establishing corporate control of the world’s food supply is to reduce the world’s population by a significant amount in the process.

William H. Gates Sr., former head of eugenics group Planned Parenthood

Read the rest of this entry »

Monsanto Pays 93 Million to Victims In Settlement

February 28, 2012 — craftledger

Source: http://naturalsociety.com

Monsanto tentatively agreed to a $93 million settlement with some residents of Nitro, West Virginia. Nitro is a small town that got its name from manufacturing explosives during WWI. It was also the site of a Monsanto chemical plant that manufactured 2,4,5-T herbicide that was half of the Agent Orange recipe. Herbicide 2,4,5-T was contaminated with the caustic by-product dioxin. This settlement may open the floodgates to successfully suing Monsanto for its poison.
Nitro Settlement

Herbicide 2,4,5-T was phased out in the late 1970′s. Dioxin is the most dangerous chemical known and has a 100 year half-life when leached into soil or embedded in water systems. The Veteran’s Administration recognizes and pays out on Agent Orange injury claims that include cancer, birth defects in children of exposed victims, leukemia, liver disease, heart disease, Parkinson’s Disease, diabetes and chloracne.

Despite an explosion in the Nitro plant in 1949, not a single penny has been paid to residents of Nitro for dioxin injuries, per an attorney that worked on a previous dioxin case. After 7 years of litigation, and on the heels of the EPA releasing part of its dioxin assessment report, Monsanto has made a tentative agreement to settle a class action suit with some Nitro residents for a total of $93 million. Here are the proposed settlement figures:

Medical Testing: $21 Million
Additional Screening: $63 Million
Cleanup of 4500 homes: $9 Million

Bloomberg reports that this settlement will reduce Monsanto’s 2012 net income by 5 cents per share, but Monsanto may face additional lawsuits and fines. There are potentially 80,000 property damage claims alone that could cost Monsanto $3.9 billion in cleanup costs. Dioxin has contaminated soil and has been found in dust in residents’ homes at very high levels.
Nitro Residents vs. Monsanto

Several months ago, the judge in the Nitro case issued a gag order in this case, which was unusual, so details are a bit sketchy. It is unclear whether the following evidence was introduced:

1. Monsanto is alleged to have burned dioxin waste in open pits, spewing dioxin and its ash into the air and polluting land.

2. The EPA recommended that Monsanto be criminally investigated for fraud in covering-up dioxin contamination in its products, including 2,4,5-T herbicide. Monsanto failed to report contamination, substituted false information to show no contamination or sent in “doctored” samples of their products devoid of dioxin to government regulators.

3. The EPA recommended that Monsanto be criminally investigated for fraud in falsifying health studies. These flawed studies that concluded dioxin did not cause cancer and other negative health effects (except chloracne) were used to deny benefits to Viet Nam veterans.

4. Solutia, a Monsanto spin-off company that once owned its Nitro plant, was found by the EPA to have many deteriorating drums of dioxin buried near the Kanawha River. The Nitro plant produced dioxin contaminated 2,4,5-T from 1949 to 1971.
Agent Orange Government Contractor Immunity

Read the rest of this entry »

US – Millions of Pounds of Toxic Poison to Flood Farmland – Compliments of Monsanto & Dow

February 23, 2012 — craftledger

Source: BlacklistedNews.com

The EPA announced that it has completed the first part of its study on dioxin, after more than 25 years of stonewalling.

Dioxin is the most caustic man-made chemical known. Dioxin is a general term for hundreds of chemicals that are produced in industrial processes that use chlorine and burning. Disturbingly, it has a half-life of 100+ years when it is leached into soil or embedded in water systems. Dioxin was the most harmful component in Agent Orange (the recipe for Agent Orange is 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T herbicides).

The EPA says that air emissions of dioxin have decreased by 90% since the 1980′s, but dioxin is dangerous at any level. The study appears to omit any analysis of dioxin transmission in water and land. The danger is growing because Dow AgroScience has received preliminary USDA approval for its 2,4-D herbicide resistant GMO corn. This means that dioxin contaminated 2,4-D herbicide will drench US farm land and pollute water supplies if the crops are widely planted.

EPA Dioxin Assessment Report

The EPA’s press release on dioxin’s health effects trumpeted the lie that current exposure rates “don’t pose significant health risks”. But the EPA does admit that there is a cancer risk, although they are not releasing their study on cancer at this time. Perhaps the delay is due to the fact that 95% of Americans have measurable levels of dioxin in their bodies.

The EPA’s claim that current levels are not a health risk is contradicted by another webpage on the EPA’s own site says that dioxin accumulates over a lifetime, persists for years, is likely to lead to an increased risk of cancer, and that the current exposure levels are “uncomfortably” close to levels that can cause “subtle” non-cancer effects. These so-called subtle effects may include birth defects, reproductive problems and immunosuppression.

There were 500,000 victims of birth defects in Viet Nam that can hardly be considered subtle. Dioxin is bad at any level especially since it accumulates in the body.

Humans are exposed to dioxin primarily through food sources. The EPA’s press release fails to mention that people who eat animal based foods like meat, dairy and eggs will continually increase their dioxin levels.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monsanto’s Bt GMO corn to be sold at Wal-Mart with no indication it is genetically modified! UN-believable! Please Sign & Forward Petition

February 21, 2012 — craftledger

(Source: NaturalNews)

Most of the genetically-modified (GM) corn products forced on American consumers today are hidden in processed foods in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), corn oil, corn starch, and various other corn-based additives. But soon to be available at a Walmart near you is Monsanto’s Bt sweet corn, the agri-giant’s first ever GM corn product made available to consumers as whole ears right on the cob in the produce section– and like with all other GMOs, neither Walmart nor Monsanto has any intention of labeling this new “Frankencorn.”

Monsanto first unveiled this new variety of GM sweet corn back in August, which rivals Syngenta’s GM sweet corn that has already been on the market in limited form for the past ten years, claiming that it would be available to farmers for planting during Fall 2011. Now, the corn appears set to make its debut in Walmart stores across the country as early as Summer 2012, unless massive public outcry is able to convince the multinational retailer to scrap the corn, or at least voluntarily label it.

This disturbing development comes courtesy of both Food & Water Watch and Sum Of Us, which recently drew attention to the issue by creating petitions against Walmart’s potential sale of the corn. Though Monsanto’s GM sweet corn contains three genetically-engineered (GE) traits that have never been used in food eaten directly by people, and that have never been properly tested, Walmart still intends to quietly stock its produce shelves with this phony corn in the very near future.

Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have rejected Monsanto’s Bt corn, how about Wal-Mart?

Read the rest of this entry »

White House, US Courts & EPA Shaft Veterans to Protect Monsanto – Another Croc!

February 15, 2012 — craftledger

Source: NaturalSociety

American veterans and the entire country of Viet Nam affected by Agent Orange have been shafted beyond imagination due to corruption within the US government and US courts. US courts have protected Monsanto and Dow Chemical from liability and criminal prosecution. The US government has shielded Monsanto and Dow from the massive cost of medical treatment for victims and environmental remediation cleanup costs that would drive these corporations into bankruptcy.

Before we delve further into the issue, it’s important to detail what exactly dioxin is. Dioxin has a half life of 100 years or more when it is below the surface, leached into soil or embedded in river or stream sediment. Dioxin was generated as a byproduct of herbicide 2,4,5-T made by Monsanto and Dow, the top 2 producers of Agent Orange. It causes cancer, birth defects, liver damage and other major health problems.

Monsanto & Dow’s 2,4,5-T dioxin laden-herbicide was used in the US for agricultural purposes in the 1940′s before it was used for chemical warfare in Viet Nam from the early 1960′s through 1971. It was phased out in the late 1970′s. Now, let’s discuss the political situation behind this carcinogen.
US Government and US Court Dioxin Cover-Ups

President Reagans’s administration, in cahoots with the CDC, thwarted a $43 million Congressional Study of Agent Orange in 1987 to protect itself and its corporate pals Monsanto & Dow from accountability to US veterans and the people of Viet Nam.

US Courts dismissed veterans’ Agent Orange lawsuits based on a Supreme Court precedent, known as the Feres Doctrine, freeing the government of responsibility for deaths and injuries related to military service.

The Supreme Court refused to hear American and Vietnamese victims’ lawsuits against Monsanto, Dow and other Agent Orange manufacturers on 3 separate occasions. Remember that the Supreme Court collects their checks from the federal government.

Atrocious Criminal Acts By Monsanto & Dow

Agent Orange makers hide behind government contractor immunity, despite the fact that dioxin contaminated herbicide 2,4,5-T was produced long before they were contractors for the government (50 million tons of the herbicide was sprayed in the US per year). No modifications were used for Monsanto & Dow’s herbicide — half the ingredients in Agent Orange — so the immunity defense falls flat.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monsanto’s False Advertising

February 14, 2012 — craftledger

Source: Motherearthnews.com

You may see advertisements in print and on TV or radio for a clever advertising campaign, America’s Farmers. It’s a feel-good series of ads that purports to show America’s family farmers — working hard, caring about sustainability and the Earth, taking every care to bring you safe, clean and healthy food.

Trouble is, you have to read the tiny print to see that the campaign is sponsored by Monsanto — now the world’s largest seed company and the largest producer of both toxic herbicides and seeds genetically modified to resist them.

The campaign, with its sophisticated website, “webisodes” and touching family photos, features a group of farmers carefully selected for racial diversity, regional representation and gender balance. All run large-scale farms — several are more than 1,000 acres. All grow commodity crops: soybeans, corn, industrial beef, pork and poultry. None are organic, at least not according to their biographies on the website (see below for link, but don’t honor Monsanto with the click-through unless you must).

Don’t be fooled by Monsanto’s efforts to present itself as a supporter of sustainable agriculture.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Bad & Disgraceful News Stories and Views, Business / Finance / Tech News, Environment News Stories, Fraud & Deception News, Science & Technology News Stories. Tags: GE, GMO, Hazardous Chemicals, Health, Monsanto News Stories, Poisons, Toxins. Comments Off

Not Mainstream Alternative News and Views

Please Follow Us....

Follow Here to Get More Interesting Stories

Other Great Sites

Recent Popular Posts

USA – Human genes engineered into experimental GMO rice which could create more disease!

Monsanto buys leading bee research firm after being implicated in bee colony collapse – This is NOT Good!!!

Monsanto to use Beeologics’ ‘biological tools’ to develop more GMOs, crop chemicals

Monsanto Pesticide Found to Infect Plants with AIDS-like Disease!

Monsanto – Now in a Bag. Be careful and don’t be fooled into buying it!

EPA Collusion in Monsanto Coverup – This IS Very Bad, Please TAKE ACTION to stop!

Poland Joins Ranks of Grassroots Anti-Monsanto Activism

Monsanto’s Blatant Corruption and Disregard for Health

Genetically Modified Food Labeling Initiative Gains Momentum; Monsanto Not Happy..

US Judges Dismissal of lawsuit against Monsanto spurs protests, blockade by food freedom advocates

Monsanto’s GMOs with ‘stacked traits’ exponentially more harmful to humans due to synergistic toxicity

Bill Gates, Monsanto, and Eugenics:Actively promoting a corporate takeover of global agriculture

William H. Gates Sr., former head of eugenics group Planned Parenthood

Monsanto Pays 93 Million to Victims In Settlement

US – Millions of Pounds of Toxic Poison to Flood Farmland – Compliments of Monsanto & Dow

Monsanto’s Bt GMO corn to be sold at Wal-Mart with no indication it is genetically modified! UN-believable! Please Sign & Forward Petition

Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have rejected Monsanto’s Bt corn, how about Wal-Mart?

White House, US Courts & EPA Shaft Veterans to Protect Monsanto – Another Croc!

Monsanto’s False Advertising

Categories

Popular History

Follow “Not Mainstream Alternative News and Views”

Please Follow Us....

Other Great Sites

Recent Popular Posts

Share this:

Like this:

Monsanto to use Beeologics’ ‘biological tools’ to develop more GMOs, crop chemicals

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

William H. Gates Sr., former head of eugenics group Planned Parenthood

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have rejected Monsanto’s Bt corn, how about Wal-Mart?

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Categories

Popular History

Follow “Not Mainstream Alternative News and Views”