Music by The Refusers

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Episode 14 of the Disarming Grandmothers of the UK Documentary Series - "You have to start somewhere"



28 June 2012

EPISODE FOURTEEN: YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE

Helen and Sylvia meet with two students from Bradford University to talk about the virtues and disillusionments that befall the modern day peace campaigner.  Coinciding with an opportunity to meet with a local journalist, the women share insights, ideas and frustrations of a society that supports the upgrade of nuclear submarines yet arrests those that stand in opposition for breach of the peace.  As two generations come together, history shares a table with the future; so is it time for the batten to finally be handed down?

FURTHER INFORMATION

Read the article that was published as a result of this encounter.

CREDITS

With special thanks to Paddy McGuffin from the Telegraph and Argus

Bradford University

Sarah Cartin from Yorkshire CND

Rebecca Holloway

Lavinia Crossley

Source:

Disarming Grandmothers


Monsanto's Seedy Legacy with Abby Martin



June 26, 2012

Monsanto's Seedy Legacy
by grtv

Agricultural giant Monsanto is best known for their production of pesticides and genetically modified foods, but they have a controversial history as a chemical company with a slew of toxic cover-ups.
In addition to their battle against small farmers, the newest buzz about the corporation is the speculation that their GM seeds are linked to the die-off of bees.

Abby Martin of RT brings us more on their seedy practices and what they are up to now.

For more on this story, see also:
http://youtu.be/oVz5Z9QfOK8

Recommended articles:


You might also wish to review these former blog entries:






Wednesday, June 27, 2012

In love With Mother Earth and Her Children/Dans l'amour à la terre mère et ses enfants - The Green Beautiful/ La Belle Verte



Dans l'amour à la terre mère et ses enfants

In Love With Mother Earth and Her Children

Ce film est en français et en anglais subtexted.
This film is in French and subtexted in English.

Jouir
Enjoy

In Liebe zu Mutter Erde und ihren Kindern - Der grüne Planet (Spielfilm)



Der grüne Planet - Besuch aus dem All

Weit weg von der Erde und 4000 Reisejahre weit entfernt existiert der grüne Planet, auf dem Verwandte der Menschen leben. Sie sind soweit entwickelt, dass sie sämtliche Objekte eliminiert haben und ihre volle Konzentration, ihr Wissen, ihre Stärke und Energie auf den Fortschritt ihrer Körper und Gedanken richten.

Einmal im Jahr treffen sich die passionierten Naturmenschen in einem ausgestorbenen Vulkan, um über die Ernteverteilung und Auslandsreisen zu berichten. Gewöhnlich will jeder Planetenbewohner gerne einen Ausflug auf die Erde unternehmen, nur dieses Jahr ist alles anders. Keine Seele will einen Fuß auf einen Planeten setzen, der so voller Gefahren und Primitivität steckt und auf dem die Bewohner die Arroganz gepachtet haben.

Schließlich soll mit Mila eine Frau die Reise antreten, deren Vater bisher als letztes den Trip auf die Erde unternahm, und mit ihr selbst als Baby zurückkehrte. Also möchte Mila ihre Heimat erkunden. Sie lässt ihre vier Kinder auf dem grünen Planeten zurück und landet auf einer Pariser Hauptstraße. Der Kulturschock stellt sich sogleich ein, als Mila den Asphaltdschungel sieht und mit Umweltverschmutzungen aller Art konfrontiert wird. Auf ihrer Odyssee durch die Großstadt lernt sie Menschen kennen, deren Schicksal sie zum Positiven wendet.

In Liebe zu Mutter Erde und ihren Kindern

Have You Seen Jessica Mitchell? - Missing in the UK

 

Jessica

Missing In The UK

Jessica Mitchell
Reference No: 12-001674
  • Age at disappearance: 13
  • Missing Since: 26-Jun-2012
  • Missing from: Taunton, Somerset
  • If you think you can help the search please call Missing People.
    Jessica, we would love to hear from you.
    Call. Text. Anytime. Free. Confidential. 116000
For further information, click on the link below:

http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/jessicamitchell


Her father, Karl Mitchell is looking for her.  His request for help:

PLEASE HELP!

THIS IS MY DAUGHTER WHO IS 13 YEARS OLD. SHE HAS BEEN ABDUCTED BY THE MAN IN THIS PHOTO CALLED AARON O'DELL, HE IS 19. WE LIVE IN TAUNTON SOMERSET ENGLAND AND WE BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE HEADING TOWARDS EITHER LONDON OR ESSEX.

SHE IS 13 YEARS OLD AND HAS DARK HAIR AND EYES, SHE IS MY BABY GIRL AND I WANT HER BACK DESPERATELY, SHE WILL PROBABLY BE WEARING A HOODIE AND BLACK JEANS.

PLEASE RESHARE IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS IN THAT AREA.


Episode 10 Of The The Julian Assange Show With Noam Chomsky & Tariq Ali



June 26, 2012

A surprise Arab drive for freedom, the West's structural crisis and new hope coming from Latin America. That's the modern world in the eyes of Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali, two prominent thinkers and this week's guests on Julian Assange's show on RT.

If you've missed the previous episodes, you can always watch them online at:
http://assange.RT.com

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Space of Love Documentary - Part 1 of 5



This documentary is about people who have made real steps towards their dream -creation of their own kins domains and life in close connection with land.

Some people are calling selves tree talker or co-creator, who is able to communicate with plants and trees, and learn from nature.

Producer/Director Valeri Jadov, Russian TV journalist and documentary maker from ST-Petersburg, Russia. Currently he lives in Toronto, Canada and working for his own film production company Cedar Land Films Corp.

Part 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbVPSyWoeZs

Part 3:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MVbN7m4tW4



Part 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kRr1_ipFBw

Part 5:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5N72H8Q9-8



To learn more:

Ringing Cedars Of Russia Website

Source:   http://www.spiritofmaat.com/archive/jan1/anastas.htm

Pharmageddon: The Drug Industry's Grip on Our Health and Lives by Martha Rosenberg







Pharmageddon: The Drug Industry's Grip on Our Health and Lives


By Martha Rosenberg,  AlterNet  24 June 12
An interview with David Healy, an expert witness in homicide, suicide and birth defect legal actions involving psychotropic drugs.

David Healy is a Professor of Psychiatry at Bangor University. He is a former Secretary of the British Association for Psychopharmacology, and author of over 175 peer reviewed articles, 200 other pieces and 20 books, including The Antidepressant Era, and The Creation of Psychopharmacology from Harvard University Press,The Psychopharmacologists Volumes 1-3, Let Them Eat Prozac, Mania, & Pharmageddon. He has been involved as an expert witness in homicide, suicide and birth defect legal actions involving psychotropic drugs, and in bringing problems with these drugs to the attention of American and British regulators, as well raising awareness of how pharmaceutical companies sell drugs by marketing diseases and co-opting academic opinion-leaders, ghostwriting their articles.
Rosenberg: Your new book,  Pharmageddon, gives a bleak picture of the doctored data, skewed drug trials and rigged treatment guidelines that characterize today's pharmaceutical industry. Many people will be shocked to learn the abuses are not limited to the US, where direct-to-consumer advertising is legal, but found in Europe.
Healy: The situation is identical.  Pharma actually finds socialized health care systems easier to exploit. And despite direct-to-consumer advertising, more money is spent on marketing to doctors who are the real consumers. They are also pressured by the treatment guidelines process which is based on "evidence" that Pharma makes sure to keep secret so they are really in the dark, though they may not realize it.
Rosenberg: One example you give of Pharma's reach and power is the eerie symmetry between the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP), conceptualized and funded by US Pharma, and Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Healy: Despite their public/private differences, both organizations recommend the use of branded antipsychotics like Risperdal, Zyprexa and Seroquel before the use of older, affordable antipsychotics which of course enriches Pharma. One of the otherissues is this-there is a new bill aimed at speeding up the FDA approval process yet again-and also getting regulators to take into account the jobs that come with a strong pharmaceutical sector. Both America and Europe have been keen to keep their companies happy and have turned a blind eye to the outsourcing of clinical trials to Asia and Eastern Europe.
Rosenberg: In Pharmageddon, you chronicle how clinical trial oversight has gone from a hospital and university-based system to a for-profit system run by clinical research organizations or CROs.
Healy: The drug companies have outsourced all their operations from drug development and testing to clinical trials to scientific and academic writing so that they have become nothing but marketing organizations at their core. At each juncture where they have spun off a traditional responsibility, no one has objected and so it continues.
Rosenberg: There have been reports of risks to human subjects in overseas trials as well as bribes and protocol irregularities. Who oversees the ethics of outsourced trials and the quality of their data?
Healy: Clinical trials are overseen by private Institutional Review Boards, which are funded by the organizations they regulate-
Rosenberg: Like Moody's and Standard & Poor's are funded by their clients?
Healy: Yes. A recent large trial for the antipsychotic Abilify demonstrates the danger with outsourced clinical trials. On the basis of about 28 trials in the US, Abilify did not prophylactically stabilize mood as the manufacturer wants to claim. But when data from just two trials from Mexico were mixed in, it did.
Rosenberg: Most of Pharma's power to mislead and harm comes from such opaque and distorted data, you charge in Pharmageddon.
Healy: Without access to the raw drug data, medical professionals cannot practice responsible medicine and guidelines cannot be written. Yet Pharma, with very few exceptions, refuses to publish the data and share them with practitioners. This result is guidelines that are fictions and doctors who lack critical information they need to prescribe and treat.
Rosenberg: Pharma's stonewalling of data and use of ghostwriters has resulted in articles in major medical journals that made Vioxx, hormone therapy and Neurontin look safe when they weren't. Another example you give is a paper in the Journal of the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in which GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has made the antidepressant Paxil look safe by hiding raw data. Then editor, Mina Dulcan, says about the missing data, which hid Paxil's suicidal side effect in children, "I can't control the authors. No, I don't have regrets."
Healy: If we were getting our drug information from the New York Times instead of medical journals, we would all be a lot safer. When theTimes reporter Jayson Blair was found to have fabricated stories, he was history. But the editors and writers involved with journal fraud still have their jobs and the articles are not even retracted. In fact, Liz Wager, the chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is herself Pharma linked.
[Ed note. The COPE site says, "Liz provides writing, editing, training and consultancy services for various pharmaceutical companies (most recently Astra Zeneca, Cephalon, Cordis, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Serono, Mundipharma, Norgine, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi Pasteur and Vifor). ]
Rosenberg: Many conflicts of interest in your book, including COPE's leadership, are structural and create a closed loop of misinformation, especially because of the money that Pharma wields. How can sunlight and transparency ever break through?
Healy: Some colleagues and I are in the process of fine-tuning a free web site that offers FDA MedWatch data with other crucial dug information but gets people affected by treatment to report in detail for perhaps the first time. The site, called RxISK.org, also helps patients file an adverse event report to US and Canadian authorities, with other countries to follow. For too long, patients, doctors and pharmacists have been isolated from each other when they encounter adverse drug events and only Pharma's messages get out. This will help them communicate directly.
Source:      Reader Supported News

Crops Near Amarillo, Texas Show Heavy Metal Damage to Roots Part 1 & 2



June 21, 2012

CORRECTION:  What I say are lateral roots are actually secondary roots, mainly used for water storage. The fine lateral roots branch off the primary root system which usually drills deep into the ground.

Aluminum and other heavy metals affect the growing tip of a tap root and decrease the elongation of other types of rooting plants. But heavy metals decrease elonation there limiting the plant to a shallow and small area to get what it needs. That's they the tops of the trees burn out and branches die off systematically instead of all at once.

My crops were sprayed on June 12 1989 by crops dusters, many witnessed this unauthorized act, but the local sheriff did nothing.. DPS would not check out reports that spray planes were conducting operations on county rds. at night with 5000 gal tanker trucks and fuel trucks on site. The local County Extension Agent Jim Allison and Texas A&B refused to look at postive test results.

I fought these people for three years and spend over $160,000 doing testing and taking photographs, I even hired a local photographer to take very scientific infra red and natural color of the crop that showed paths across the crop the same witdth of a spray plane. The photos also showed that these lines of death also traveled across roads that had been there for years.

But Country Extension Agents publshed papers that said "checker board ," rain, and drought with abundant rain 19" over a 90 day period..and they would still call it drought. I could not believe it.. They even told em that these 30 ft paths of death in my crop could be caused by ancient elephant tracks. They thought it was so funny and all the people at the coffee shop laughed... but a 14 year old boy did die of an anysurem,

Charlie Lamb a local spray guy threatened the lady who ran a day care center for putting in the Stratford Star that they should not spray children. Afterward her garden died and her trees started showing signs of yellowing and the tops died off. But they people charged with protecting us kept on laughing.. it's so funny..

There was an article in the Hereford Texas Paper about planes "playing chicken," with coal trains. It said that they would fly level with the engine and pull up at the last moment, spraying something, all the while. But when they got over the coal they would pull the dump hatch and dump the load. Later the Power Plant had to switch sources because that Canadian Coal had to much heavy metals especially aluminum... Who messes with a train? Does not Secret Service or a branch of the Fed like the SS look after that?

Try to find the December 16th 1989 front page article of the Wall Street Journal that says "40 States Have Wide Spread Damage from the Yellow Monster." This is where someone (Monsanto?) claimed that Du Pont has cross contaminated Benelate with Atrizine.. and it was causing wide spread damage in 40 states. It dropped Du Pont's stock 3/4 point and they had already paid out 350 million in claims and had over 1.5 billion to go.

Part 2 of the above video:


For more videos, please click on the link provided below:

Iondetox

Monday, June 25, 2012

Bad News For The FDA And Good News For MMS Users with Jim Humble



Help MMS fight for freedom
or lose it forever; your choice- 06-08-2012 -

Just over three weeks ago I sent out an urgent plea to donate to the MMS Defense fund. This fund has been set up to fight the FDA and their attempts to make criminals out of people involved with MMS.


To date, the fund has received over $40,000 in donations. While this amount still isn't nearly enough, it clearly shows that people around the world are coming together to fund this “historic” fight against the Food and Drug Administration, Monsanto and Big Pharmaceutical. This is a fight intended to insure our personal health freedom once and for all!

The fund needs close to $2 million to turn this fight into an all-out war against the FDA and what they are attempting to do to our health choices and MMS.

Again, we don't have months to play around with this, it has to be now.

Of the 175,000 people I sent the alert out to, 200 donated to begin with. We sent out our second alert and an additional 800 people donated. We will succeed in this fight people! First, thank you to all who have stepped forward. Now, the rest of you, if you would give just $10.00 each, we would hit our mark and the FDA will tremble. Anyone who can donate more please do so now.

This mission is working and because of our supporters world-wide, we will witness a huge success. Don't let your inaction allow the FDA to take away our personal health freedoms or MMS.

Donations may also be sent to:
MMS Defense Fund
c/o US~Observer
233 Rogue River HWY PMB #387
Grants Pass, OR 97527

Check back soon for an exciting announcement! 

The US~Observer has taken on this fight and published an initial article. You can read it here. If you haven't already, please read the urgent plea I previously sent out. You can read it here.


Source of Video and Text:

Master Mineral Organization
 

To learn more about Jim Humble and MMS click on the link provided below:



Sunday, June 24, 2012

Fear Not And Take The Lead by M.N. Hopkins

© Frank Stiefel (LAPPLAND_NATURE-ART.html)

So, fear not and take the lead and worry not within the pettiness of your fears.  Live within the world of fear, yet be apart and able to touch upon the glowing Light, that Light that will bring you back to your good senses and lead you back upon the path that will assure you a place amongst those who carry the torch of freedom and lead the way to the heart's way.

For now, few can truly see the need.  For few are not bound by the chains of ego.  Be not afraid to show what freedom you have and lead the way to a better tomorrow.

See others as companions and co-workers in this journey toward the Light.  Seek not fame and seek not fortune.  For these are traps or detours to keep you from yourSelf.

Seek always that which is best and most beautiful within yourself and share it with others within your world.

© M.N. Hopkins

Vandana Shiva Speaks About Earth Democracy



June 19, 2012

Dr. Vandana Shiva is a physicist and ecologist who is active in biodiversity conservation and protection of farmers' and women's rights. In this interview, Shiva reflects on the current economic and ecological crises, their roots and the way forward for a democratic, sustainable future.


Source:   http://earthscoutsblog.blogspot.se/

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Center For Food Safety: Urgent Farm Bill Amendment on Labeling of GE Foods


Urgent Farm Bill Amendment on Labeling of GE Foods

As you probably know, the Farm Bill debates are in full swing, and there is a key amendment on the labeling of GE foods that needs your help to pass! This amendment could be voted on any moment, so please take a moment to contact Congress now!

Absent clear labeling of GE foods, consumers are deprived necessary and important information about the foods they are purchasing. In response, dozens of U.S. states have introduced legislation and many are currently considering bills that would require the labeling of GE foods. Unfortunately, fear mongering and massive corporate spending has intimidated states from moving forward to pass legislation.

That is why Senators Sanders and Boxer have introduced amendment #2310 (Consumers Right to Know About Genetically Engineered Food Act) that clarifies the existing authority that states have to require the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods.

Tell your Senators to support Senate Amendment 2310!

For more information, please read:

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/12021-congress-poised-to-reverse-monsanto-crop-bans-by-courts


http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/448-farm-and-food-policy/12013-label-genetically-engineered-food



June 14, 2012

Senator Sanders introduces an amendment to the farm bill that would require labeling of foods produced through genetic engineering or derived from organisms that have been genetically engineered.

The measure also would require the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to report to Congress within two years on the percentage of food and beverages in the United States that contain genetically-engineered ingredients.

Happy Midsummer 2012 - Glad Midsommar 2012


Art by Maria Ignatieva

Happy Midsummer 2012 - Glad Midsommar 2012

Mom-Turned-Activist Launches National Movement to Boycott GMOs By Katherine Paul

Diana Reeves
Mom-Turned-Activist Launches National Movement to Boycott GMOs

By Katherine Paul

Organic Consumers Association, June 13, 2012
Diana Reeves was furious when her state legislators caved into threats by Monsanto to sue the state of Connecticut if it passed a GMO labeling law. Lawmakers effectively told Connecticut's voters, who had clearly expressed overwhelming support for GMO labeling, "oh well."

Unlike her gutless state legislators who rolled over, Reeves is determined to keep the fight for transparency in GMO ingredients alive - and she's taking her fight national. She's started a group called GMO Free USA which plans to pressure food manufacturers into revealing which of their products contain GMOs. The ultimate goal is to organize national boycotts of those companies that refuse to switch to non-GMO ingredients.

GMO Free USA is Reeves' first foray into activism. The mother of three was on the fast track at a major accounting firm when her son was diagnosed with cancer. She walked away from her job to take care of him.

"I never looked back," she said. Her son died before he turned five.

 "This is one of those things that act as a catalyst, that bring people together," Reeves said. "You learn to live with it, to try to make some good come of it, to find better ways to channel the grief."
Having lost one child to disease, and with two daughters who were also suffering from health problems, Reeves became increasingly interested in the relationship between food and health,  About 4 or 5 years ago, she began reading about the potential hazards of GMO. "I started sending emails to my friends, telling them to 'say no to GMOs," she said. "I was probably driving them all crazy."

Then a few months ago, a friend introduced her to Non GMO Hartford, which eventually led to her involvement with the Connecticut Right to Know group which was pushing for a state labeling law. She began distributing information, and campaigning for HB 5117, which included a provision for mandatory GMO labeling.

With overwhelming public support for the Connecticut GMO labeling law, Reeves and others were sure it would pass. But at the last minute, under threat of a lawsuit by Monsanto, the bill was eviscerated behind closed doors, and the labeling provision removed before it was voted on by the House.

"I was so angry that our legislators didn't do their job that they didn't stand up to the corporations - especially because the majority of voters wanted this law," Reeves said.

Just as she had channeled her grief, Reeves now channeled her anger. She decided that if the government wasn't going to do its job, she would go directly after the food manufacturers.

She started GMO Free USA. The group's first task is to attract a significant number of like-minded members (5,000+). Once they reach that critical mass, they'll identify one company per week, and members will bombard that company with emails. The e-mailers will express concern about the health risks of GMOs, ask the company if they are sourcing GMO ingredients, and express their intent to boycott their products unless the GMOs are removed.
"We're going to hit them from every angle," Reeves said. "It's going to be thousands of people speaking directly to food manufacturers."

In order to make their voices heard by companies with very high sales volume, Reeves said they will need to mobilize thousands of people to act independently. So they're trying to find a minimum of 5000 people who will commit to the campaign, before they begin emailing food manufacturers.
"The more people who join this consumer email initiative, the more powerful the campaign will be," she said.

Anyone who wants to get involved in this national campaign can sign up on:

Source of this article and picture:



Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Tell EPA to Protect Our Honey Bees from Pesticides Petition




Tell EPA to Protect our Honey Bees from Pesticides


 Honey bees and other insect pollinators are dying off at unprecedented rates and pesticides are a clear causal factor. This week and next, EPA is deciding just how “real” they think the pesticide threat to our pollinators is. 
 
Bees and other pollinators are indicator species – as they go, so goes the environment, and with it, us. If bees dying off en masse aren’t an “imminent hazard”, then we don’t know what is.


In March, the Center for Food Safety joined partners and beekeepers from around the country in filing a legal petition with EPA, calling on the agency to make use of its emergency powers to protect bees from a pesticide called clothianidin that is particularly harmful to bees. In the next two weeks, we expect EPA will decide whether this threat constitutes the “imminent hazard” necessary for the agency to take emergency action to suspend registration of this toxic pesticide.


Sign the petition below to tell EPA that the threat to bees is very real, and they need to take emergency action!

Petition



Biodiversity and the Environment: Silent Spring For Us? by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

Source:   http://www.facebook.com/REALFOODREALLOVE

Biodiversity and the Environment: Silent Spring For Us?

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Episode 9 Of The The Julian Assange Talk Show - An Interview With Imran Khan



June 19, 2012

No country has ever been bombed by its own ally, like Pakistan has been bombed by the US, Pakistani politician Imran Khan tells Julian Assange. He says it is time to put an end to the US-Pakistani 'client-master' relationship. ­In the ninth episode of his show, Julian Assange talks to Imran Khan, whose political party was ignored for years and which US State Department cables called "Pakistan's one-man party."

If you've missed the previous episodes, you can watch them online at:

http://assange.rt.com/


Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan gestures upon his arrival during a rally in Lahore
Source of this photo:  AFP 

GMO Myths and Truths by Earth Open Source

 

GMO Myths and Truths


Earth Open Source,  17 June 2012


Genetically modified (GM) crops are promoted on the basis of a range of far-reaching claims from the GM crop industry and its supporters. They say that GM crops:
  • Are an extension of natural breeding and do not pose different risks from naturally bred crops
  • Are safe to eat and can be more nutritious than naturally bred crops
  • Are strictly regulated for safety
  • Increase crop yields
  • Reduce pesticide use
  • Benefit farmers and make their lives easierBring economic benefits
  • Benefit the environment
  • Can help solve problems caused by climate change
  • Reduce energy use
  • Will help feed the world.
However, a large and growing body of scientific and other authoritative evidence shows that these claims are not true. On the contrary, evidence presented in this report indicates that GM crops:
  • Are laboratory-made, using technology that is totally different from natural breeding methods, and pose different risks from non-GM crops
  • Can be toxic, allergenic or less nutritious than their natural counterparts
  • Are not adequately regulated to ensure safety
  • Do not increase yield potential
  • Do not reduce pesticide use but increase it
  • Create serious problems for farmers, including herbicide-tolerant “superweeds”, compromised soil quality, and increased disease susceptibility in crops
  • Have mixed economic effects
  • Harm soil quality, disrupt ecosystems, and reduce biodiversity
  • Do not offer effective solutions to climate change
  • Are as energy-hungry as any other chemically-farmed crops
  • Cannot solve the problem of world hunger but distract from its real causes – poverty, lack of access to food and, increasingly, lack of access to land to grow it on.
Based on the evidence presented in this report, there is no need to take risks with GM crops when effective, readily available, and sustainable solutions to the problems that GM technology is claimed to address already exist. Conventional plant breeding, in some cases helped by safe modern technologies like gene mapping and marker assisted selection, continues to outperform GM in producing high-yield, drought-tolerant, and pest- and disease-resistant crops that can meet our present and future food needs.



Source:

The Case for Mandatory GMO Labeling by Mike Adams

 
Source:   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seeds-of-Truth/202013183163923

The Case for Mandatory GMO Labeling

by Mike Adams

Global Research Canada,  June 18, 2012

Now that the GMO labeling ballot measure has been officially accepted onto the California ballot, Monsanto is gearing up its propaganda campaign that aims to convince people you don't need to know what you're eating! Trust us, we're the food companies! We never lie, do we?

For the record, I'm an opponent of most government mandates against individuals. When the government says you have to give your children vaccine shots, that's a violation of your liberty. When Mayor Bloomberg says you can't buy a 16 oz. soda in New York, that's a violation of your liberty, too -- even though I am opposed to soda consumption in general.

When the government says you can't drink raw milk, or you can't treat cancer with medicinal herbs, or you have to get EPA approval before building a house on your own neighborhood lot, those are all examples of government mandates against individuals gone terribly wrong.

But this GMO labeling ballot measure is not a government mandate against the People. In fact, it's quite the opposite: A People-powered mandate against the corporations.
Forcing corporations to tell the truth

It is the People of California, after all, who developed this GMO labeling ballot measure, gathered the signatures, and put it on the ballot. And the point of it is solely to keep corporations honest about what they put in our food. It is, technically, merely an extension of existing food ingredient labeling laws, and I can't think of a single person who would argue that food companies shouldn't even be required to list food ingredients.

For the record, I've actually lived in a country where food ingredients were not required to be listed on labels. It was a nightmare trying to avoid MSG because food companies consistently and tirelessly seek to deceive consumers about what they put into foods. Without labeling laws, we would all soon be eating melamine, human fetal cells, and mystery chemicals of dubious origin (even beyond what we're already eating).

If the GMO labeling issue were up to the government of California, there would be no ballot measure whatsoever. The biotech industry rules over corrupt government bureaucrats and politicians because it can always buy sufficient influence to kill any legislative initiative. Such is the reasoning behind a people-powered ballot measure: It is the one lawmaking mechanism still available to the People who can bypass corruption and go straight to the voters. Of course, even if passed, the ballot measure is subject to state Supreme Court interpretation, and that's an important measure to make sure the masses of any state don't enact a law that would deprive other people of their constitutional rights and liberties.

But GMO labeling is a threat to no one other than the deceptively-operated biotech industry itself. GMO labeling is an effort to force corporations to simply tell the truth on food labels so that moms, dads, children and everybody else can know what they're buying and eating.
The proper use of regulatory power

The People forcing their state government to mandate honest food labels is one of the few legitimate applications of government regulatory power. This is true even if you believe, as I do, that government is too big, too oppressive, too arrogant and way too expensive. Today in America, we suffer from bloated government that has become a serious threat to the liberty of the People. Yet to take that argument and use it to say that GMO labeling mandates are an encroachment of liberties is a logic error: this mandate is directed solely at corporations with a proven track record of deceiving the People. In no way is GMO labeling encroaching upon individual rights or liberties. If anything, it actually empowers individuals with accurate information about their free market choices of what they're buying.
The free market requires accurate information about products

One of the most fundamental concepts of the free market is that both producers and consumers benefit from access to accurate information about what they are buying or selling. This is fundamental to the efficiency of any free market. But biotech companies selling GMOs want the market to be a one-way mirror -- they know what's in the food but you don't!

Consumers therefore don't know what they're buying, and thus you don't have a free market... you have a contrived market where products are deceptively labeled to make sure that consumers do not have access to accurate information about what they're buying.

Think about it: the successful selling of GMOs depends entirely on consumers not knowing they are buying them. Nearly every other product is sold because people actually want it: People buy vitamin C because they want vitamin C. They buy whole wheat bread because they want whole wheat. But they only buy GMOs because they are not aware they are buying GMOs.

Genetically engineered food ingredients, in other words, are purchased entirely by accident by nearly everyone who buys them. That's not a free market. That's not transparency. That's deception. It is what destroys consumer confidence in the free market, thereby harming the efficiencies of the market itself. How many corn-based food products, for example, are entirely avoided by informed consumers today merely because they suspect those products might contain GMOs even if they don't?
If GMOs are so good, why don't the food companies want them listed on food labels?

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Global Research Canada

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