Betrayal from the White House as Obama signs Monsanto Protection Act

By DAISY LUTHER | ORGANIC PREPPER | MARCH 28, 2013

Of course, it’s hard to honestly expect President Barack Obama to do the right thing, but many people held out hope that he would veto the most dangerous food act ever to pass the US Congress.  After all, one of his campaign promises the first time around was to enforce the labeling of GMOs.  His wife has that famous organic garden on the White House lawn.  We can trust the Obamas, right?

Wrong.

Yesterday, that slender hope,  the hope that Obama might finally do something for the good of the people instead of the good of the special interest groups that donate heavily to his campaigns, was dashed.  Obama, once again, showed that he is for sale to the highest bidder – and this time that bidder is Monsanto.  Despite a petition that garnered over 250,000 signatures in just a few days, he signed the Monsanto Protection Act into law, completely ignoring the wishes of the people.  In fact, a press release has not even been issued by the White House to give the impression that the highly successful petition was considered.

Food Democracy Now has not given up the battle, however:

We regret to inform you that late last night President Barack Obama signed H.R. 933, which contained the Monsanto Protection Act into law. President Obama knowingly signed the Monsanto Protection Act over the urgent pleas of more than 250,000 Americans who asked that he use his executive authority to veto it. President Obama failed to live up to his oath to protect the American people and our constitution.

Today we’re calling on President Obama to issue an executive order to call for the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods.

Not only is GMO labeling a reasonable and common sense solution to the continued controversy that corporations like Monsanto, DuPont and Dow Chemical have created by subverting our basic democratic rights, but it is a basic right that citizens in 62 other countries around the world already enjoy, including Europe, Russia, China, India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

Join us in demanding mandatory labeling of GMO foods. Now’s the time!

Please take a moment to click the links above and get involved.  We’ve lost the battle, but not the war.   I’m personally pledging at least one article  per week about Monsanto, their incestuous relationship with the government and their toxic grip on agriculture.  I urge everyone to raise a deafening public outcry – every voice adds to the noise that we can create.  Let’s make a noise that cannot be ignored.

The Monsanto Protection Act was slipped quietly through the Congress, in the usual devious manner.  Officially called the  Farmer Assurance Provision, the resolution puts Monsanto, with all their toxins like the cheerfully dubbed Agent Orange and Round-up, as well as their genetically modified monstrosities, beyond the reach of the judicial system.  The courts cannot stop the death brokering company from growing crops deemed to be potentially dangerous.  (Ummm….that would be ALL OF THEM that have been produced by the Monsanto mad science club.)

If ever there was a company that embodied evil, it would be the Monsanto Company.  Last year I wrote about the company:

The combination of unfettered corporate greed, a eugenics agenda and corrupt political manipulation forms an unholy trinity that could make Monsanto the real Cyberdyne Systems.  In the Terminator movies, Cyberdyne Systems created the artificial intelligence computer system Skynet, which destroyed most life on earth and forced survivors to live underground.

Proving once again that fact is indeed as strange as fiction, the Monsanto Company could single handedly cause TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It).   Read more at  Monsanto: The Real Cyberdyne

Horrifyingly, this is just another step towards the science fictionesque predictions that I wrote about.

While most people are constrained by morals, that clearly doesn’t apply with Monsanto.  Now, they aren’t even limited by fear of prosecution.

Pandora’s Box is unlocked, Obama just propped open the lid, and there’s no way to cram the evil back in.

The Genetically Modified Seed Monopoly

How biotechnology companies monopolize seed markets, escalate seed prices, and eliminate farmer choice

By KEN ROSEBORO | THE ORGANIC REPORT | FEBRUARY 18, 2013

This is the first of a 2-part series

The introduction of genetically modified crops has corresponded with increasing monopolization of seed by biotechnology companies and higher seed costs that have led to tragedies in some countries, while pushing out conventional, non-GMO seeds, and reducing farmer seed choices. These impacts are being seen in the United States, Brazil, India, the Philippines, and South Africa, and even Europe.

Seed monopoly

According to Philip Howard, a researcher at Michigan State University, economists say that when four firms control 40% of a market, it is no longer competitive. According to AgWeb, the “big four” biotech seed companies—Monsanto, DuPont/Pioneer Hi-Bred, Syngenta, and Dow AgroSciences—own 80% of the US corn market and 70% of the soybean business.

Monsanto has become the world’s largest seed company in less than 10 years by capturing markets for corn, soybean, cotton, and vegetable seeds, according to a report by the Farmer to Farmer Campaign. In addition to selling seeds, Monsanto licenses its genetically modified traits to other seed companies. As a result, more than 80% of US corn and more than 90% of soybeans planted each year contain Monsanto’s patented GM traits.

Other factors that have led to industry domination by a few players include purchase of smaller seed companies by larger companies, weak antitrust law enforcement, and Supreme Court decisions that allowed GM crops and other plant materials to be patented, while prohibiting seed saving by farmers.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) investigated Monsanto’s dominance of the seed market after holding public meetings in 2010 where farmers described the company’s practices. But at the end of 2012, DOJ announced it had “closed its investigation into possible anticompetitive practices in the seed industry.”

Diana Moss, vice president of the American Antitrust Institute, told Mother Jones food blogger Tom Philpott, “To have a two-year investigation and close it without a peep in our view does a disservice.”

Tamara Nelsen, senior director of commodities at the Illinois Agricultural Association, compares Monsanto to Microsoft, a company that was prosecuted by DOJ for anti-trust violations. “Ninety-three percent of soybean production is Roundup Ready,” Nelsen told Nature Biotechnology. “It’s still like everyone is on a Microsoft system—at least, that’s how farmers feel.”

Escalating GM seed prices

Another indication that the seed market has become monopolized is the escalating prices for GM seed. Moss points out that in competitive markets, technologies that enjoy widespread and rapid adoption—such as GM crops—typically experience steep declines in prices.

The opposite has occurred with GM crops. Charles Benbrook, research professor at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University, writes that from 2000 to 2010 as GM soybeans came to dominate the market, the price for seed increased 230%. The cost for Monsanto’s Roundup Ready2 soybeans in 2010 was $70 per bag, a 143% increase in the price of GM seed since 2001.

According to the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, the average per-acre cost of soybean and corn seed increased 325% and 259%, respectively, between 1995 and 2011. This is roughly the time period when acreage of GM corn and soy grew from less than 20% to more than 80-90%

Moss says that the escalating prices for GM seeds are outstripping increases in grain prices earned by farmers, resulting in farmers being squeezed by higher costs with less returns.

“Destroying the lives of many farmers around the world”

Problems resulting from escalating prices for GM seed are seen most dramatically—and tragically—in developing countries. According to a study by Consumers International, an estimated 270,000 small-hold farmers in the Philippines are being forced to grow GM corn and ending up in debt. The cost of corn seeds has risen 282% from its introductory price and accounts for 18-21% of a farmer’s total cost of production. Farmers are at the mercy of seed suppliers and lenders who are one and the same in the country and refuse to provide lending unless the farmers grow GM corn.

The impacts of high GM seed prices are even worse in India where more than 250,000 peasant farmers have committed suicide since 1998, or about one every 30 minutes. Indian farmers grow GM Bt cotton, which accounts for 95% of all cotton acres in the country. According to a report by the New York Times, the seeds can cost between 700 to 2,000 rupees ($38) per bag or about three to eight times the cost of conventional seeds. Similar to the situation in the Philippines, Indian farmers go into debt to buy the expensive GM seeds and pesticides. If their crops fail, many farmers kill themselves by drinking pesticides.

The suicides began before the introduction of GM cotton, but GM cotton has exacerbated the problem, according to an advisory from the Indian government, which stated, “Cotton farmers are in a deep crisis since shifting to Bt cotton. The spate of farmer suicides in 2011–12 has been particularly severe among Bt cotton farmers.” A PBS documentary, “Seeds of Suicide,” has also implicated expensive GM seeds and pesticides in the indebtedness and resulting suicides.

According to John Vandermeer, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan, genetically modified seeds are “destroying the lives of many farmers around the world right now.”

(Part two of this series next month will focus on restricted availability of non-GMO seeds and reduced farmer choices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, and South Africa)

References:

• Philip Howard. “Visualizing Consolidation in the Global Seed Industry: 1996–2008.” Sustainability 2009, 1(4), pg. 1266-1287.
• Sara Shafer. “Behind the Seed Scene.” AgWeb. July 28, 2012.
• Kristina Hubbard, Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering. “Out of Hand: Farmers Face the Consequences of a Consolidated Seed Industry.” December 2009.
• Tom Philpott. “DOJ Mysteriously Quits Monsanto Antitrust Investigation.” Mother Jones. December 1, 2012.
• Charles Benbrook. “The Magnitude and Impacts of the Biotech and Organic Seed Price Premium.” December 2009.
• Daniel Grushkin. “Threat to Global GM Soybean Access as Patent Nears Expiry.” Nature Biotechnology. January 2013, Vol 31: 10-11.
• Vivekananda Nemana. “In India, GM Crops Come at a High Price.” New York Times. October 16, 2012.
• Z. Haq. “Ministry Blames Bt Cotton for Farmer Suicides.” Hindustan Times. March 26, 2012.

Roleta Genética: A aposta de Nossas Vidas

POR LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | OUTUBRO 11, 2012

Estão você e sua família do lado errado de uma aposta? Essa é uma das questões levantadas pelo novo documentário Roleta Genética: A Aposta de Nossas Vidas. O documentário foi produzido pelo Instituto de Tecnologia Responsável.

Os organismos geneticamente modificados (OGM) são agora parte da comida, mas não sao devidamente rotulados para que o consumidor possa tomar uma decisão informada sobre que tipo de produtos deve levar para casa para suas famílias. Embora os OGM foram proibidos ou restritos em muitos países do mundo desenvolvido, os Estados Unidos e outros muitos países do terceiro mundo não tem emitido tais proibições ou limitações e as suas populações são expostas diariamente aos OGM.

Em os EUA, o governo tem continuamente ignorado os resultados de estudos que alertam sobre os perigos que os transgênicos representam para a saúde humana. A principal razão para sua recusa à proibição de OGM decorre do fato de que as agências governamentais que deveriam proteger os consumidores de alimentos inseguros são dirigidas por ex-chefes de Monsanto, DuPont, Cargill e Syngenta, que apesar de ter um conflito de interesses foram chamados pela Casa Branca para trabalhar como czares de segurança alimentar.

Atualmente, os EUA permite o cultivo, colheita e utilização de organismos geneticamente modificados para a produção de milhares de produtos que acabam nas mesas de toda a América e ao redor do mundo. A recusa a estudar formalmente os efeitos que os OGM têm sobre os seres humanos ou acolher os resultados de estudos realizados de forma independente, sem dúvida, beneficiou a produção e venda de produtos alimentares que contem OGM sem estes serem identificados.

Os governos que não avaliam cuidadosamente, e que, depois de verificar as ameaças apresentadas pelos OGM, recusan-se a proibir a sua produção e utilização nos  alimentos estão — como o título do documentário diz — brincando de roleta russa com a saúde das pessoas. Funcionários públicos — que na realidade trabalham para as grandes corporações bioquímicas — estão arriscando a saúde de todos e estão preparando o palco para causar doenças e morte em massa em suas populações. As conseqüências se estenderão para as futuras gerações.

“Depois de duas décadas, os médicos e os cientistas descobriram uma tendência séria. Os mesmos graves problemas de saúde encontrados em animais de laboratório, o gado e os animais domésticos que foram alimentados com organismos geneticamente modificados estão aumentando na população dos EUA e muitos outros países na Ásia, África e América. E quando as pessoas e os animais param de comer organismos geneticamente modificados (OGM), a sua saúde melhora. Mas as advertências destes cientistas encontraram ouvidos surdos em órgãos do governo que supostamente são responsáveis pela segurança dos alimentos que você come.

Em 19 de Setembro, foi relatado como os cientistas de CRIIGEN descobriram como o milho OGM é responsável pela morte prematura e de causar câncer. Em um estudo publicado no “Food and Chemical Toxicology“, os pesquisadores liderados pelo professor Gilles-Eric Séralini descobriram que ratos alimentados com uma dieta contendo milho NK603 RoundupReady ou beberam água contaminada em níveis permitidos para uso em OGMs, desenvolveram câncer e morreram rapidamente, antes que os ratos alimentados com uma dieta padrão.

Anteriormente, em 14 de setembro, os cientistas da Fundação Safe Food, informaram sobre a forma como o trigo transgénico poderia potencialmente alterar o Genoma Humano para “silenciar” genes ao ser ingerido. Judy Carman, diretora de bioquímica de IHERS em Flinders University, disse em seu discurso que o transgene tinha o potencial para silenciar genes humanos, o que poderia ter sérias complicações.

O mesmo tipo de reacções observadas em estudos pela Fundação Safe Food e CRIIGEN são encontrados em estudos e histórias pessoais que aparecem no documentário Roleta Genética. O filme apresenta evidências convincentes e documentos que mostram os perigos dos OGM, bem como os depoimentos de vários médicos e cientistas. O filme explica como esses genes criados em laboratório deterioram a saúde das pessoas, especialmente as crianças, e oferece sugestões que qualquer um pode implementar para proteger-se a si mesmo e suas famílias.

Para saber mais sobre como a engenharia genética dos alimentos e produtos ameaça todas as formas de vida, leia o nosso relatório aqui. É altamente recomendado que você assista Roleta Genética: A Aposta de Nossas Vidas e dissemine a informaçao sobre os perigos dos OGM para todos que você conhece. Além disso, faca parte da nossa campanha no Facebook para apoiar a rotulagem adequada de OGM em produtos alimentares.

Mais informacao en: http://geneticroulettemovie.com e http://responsibletechnology.org

Adquira o DVD: http://seedsofdeception.com/store/dvdcd?product_id=124

Doe para apoiar o Institute for Responsible Technology: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/donategr

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Ruleta Genética: La Apuesta de Nuestras Vidas

POR LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | OCTUBRE 11, 2012

¿Están usted y su familia en el lado equivocado de una apuesta? Esa es una de las preguntas formuladas por el nuevo documental Ruleta Genética: La Apuesta de Nuestras Vidas. El documental es una producción del Institute for Responsible Technology.

Los organismos genéticamente modificados son ahora parte de los alimentos, pero no están debidamente etiquetados para que los consumidores puedan tomar una decisión informada en cuanto a qué tipo de productos deben traer a casa a sus familias. Aunque los OGM han sido prohibidos o limitados en muchos países del mundo desarrollado, Estados Unidos y muchos países del tercer mundo no han emitido tales prohibiciones o limitaciones y sus poblaciones están expuestas a los OMG diariamente.

En los Estados Unidos, el gobierno ha ignorado continuamente los estudios cuyos resultados advierten sobre los peligros que los transgénicos representan para la salud humana. La principal razón de su rechazo a la prohibición de los OGM se deriva del hecho de que las agencias del gobierno que se supone deben proteger a los consumidores de alimentos peligrosos están encabezados por ex jefes de Monsanto, DuPont, Cargill y Syngenta, quienes a pesar de tener un conflicto de intereses fueron llamados por la Casa Blanca para trabajar como Zares de seguridad alimentaria.

En la actualidad, los EE.UU. permite el cultivo, la cosecha y el uso de organismos modificados genéticamente para la producción de miles de productos que terminan en las mesas en toda América y el resto del mundo. La negativa a estudiar oficialmente los efectos que los OMG tienen sobre los seres humanos o para revisar los resultados de los estudios realizados de forma independiente ha beneficiado indudablemente la producción y venta de productos alimenticios no etiquetados que contienen organismos genéticamente modificados peligrosos.

Los gobiernos que no evalúan cuidadosamente, y que, después de comprobar las amenazas planteadas por los OGM, se niegan a prohibir la producción y uso en los productos alimenticios están — como el título del documental dice — jugando a la ruleta rusa con la salud de las personas. Los funcionarios públicos que trabajan para las grandes corporaciones bioquímicas están arriesgando la salud de todos y están preparando el escenario para causar enfermedad y muerte en masa en sus poblaciones, cuyas consecuencias se extenderán a las generaciones venideras.

“Después de dos décadas, los médicos y los científicos han descubierto una tendencia grave. Los mismos problemas serios de salud que se encuentran en los animales de laboratorio, el ganado y los animales domésticos que han sido alimentados con organismos modificados genéticamente están en aumento en la población de los EE.UU. y muchos otros países en Asia, África y América. Y cuando las personas y los animales dejan de comer los organismos genéticamente modificados (OGM), su salud mejora. Pero las advertencias de estos científicos encontraron oídos sordos en las agencias del gobierno que se supone revisan la seguridad de los alimentos que se ingieren.

El 19 de septiembre, se informó de cómo científicos de CRIIGEN encontraron que el maíz transgénico era responsable por la muerte prematura y el cáncer. En un estudio publicado en “Food and Chemical Toxicology“, los investigadores dirigidos por el Profesor Gilles-Eric Séralini encontraron que las ratas alimentadas con una dieta que contenía maíz NK603 Roundup Ready o que bebieron agua contaminada con Roundup, a niveles permitidos para usar en cultivos transgénicos, desarrollaron cánceres más rápido y murieron antes que las ratas alimentadas con una dieta estándar.

Anteriormente, el 14 de septiembre, los científicos de la Fundación Safe Food, informaron de cómo el trigo transgénico podría potencialmente cambiar el Genoma Humano al “silenciar” genes una vez que es ingerido. Judy Carman, bioquímica y directora de IHERS en Flinders University, advirtió que en sus observaciones el gen transgénico tenía el potencial para silenciar genes humanos, lo que podría tener serias complicaciones.

El mismo tipo de reacciones observadas en los estudios realizados por CRIIGEN y la Fundación Safe Food se encuentran en estudios citados y las historias personales que aparecen en el documental Ruleta Genética. El film presenta documentos que muestran evidencia incontestable sobre los peligros de los transgénicos además de incluir el testimonio de varios médicos y científicos. La película explica cómo estos organismos creados en laboratorio deterioran la salud de las personas, especialmente de los niños y ofrece sugerencias que cualquier persona puede poner en práctica para protegerse a sí mismos y a sus familias.

Para aprender más sobre la forma en que la ingeniería genética de los alimentos y los productos amenaza a todas las formas de vida, lea nuestro informe aquí. Es muy recomendable que usted vea Ruleta Genética: La Apuesta de Nuestras Vidas y difunda la información sobre los peligros de los OGM a todos sus conocidos. Asimismo, únase a nuestra campaña en Facebook para apoyar el etiquetado adecuado de los OMG en los productos alimentarios.

 

Mas información en: http://geneticroulettemovie.com y http://responsibletechnology.org

Aquiera el DVD: http://seedsofdeception.com/store/dvdcd?product_id=124

Done para apoyar al Institute for Responsible Technology: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/donategr

The Real Agenda permite la reproducción del contenido original publicado en el sitio SOLAMENTE a través de las herramientas proporcionadas al final de cada artículo. Por favor NO COPIE contenido de nuestro sitio para redistribuirlo o enviarlo por correo electrónico.

Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | OCTOBER 11, 2012

Are you and your family on the wrong side of a bet? That is the questions asked by the new documentary film Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives. The film is a production of the Institute for Responsible Technology.

Genetically Modified Organisms are now part of foods and those GMOs are not properly labeled so consumers can make an informed decision as to what kind of products they can bring home to their families. Although GMOs have been banned or limited in many countries in the developed world, The United States and numerous third world nations haven’t issued such bans or limitations and their populations are exposed to GMOs on a daily basis.

In the United States, the US government has continuously ignored the studies whose results warn about the dangers that GMOs present to human health. The main reason for its refusal to ban GMOs stems from the fact that government agencies that are supposed to protect consumers from dangerous foods are headed by former Monsanto, DuPont, Cargill or Syngenta employees, who despite having a conflict of interest were called by the White House to work as food safety Czars.

Currently, the US allows the cultivation, harvest and use of GMOs for the production of thousands of products that end on dinner tables all across American and many more around the world. The refusal to officially study the effects that GMOs have on humans or to review the results of independently conducted studies resulted in one outcome: the production and sale of unlabeled food products that contain dangerous genetically modified organisms.

The governments that do not properly study and upon confirming the threats posed by GMOs, refuse to ban they production and use in food products are genuinely — as the title of the film says — playing Russian Roulette with the health of the citizenry. The corporate-owned officials are taking a gamble with everyone’s health and are setting the stage to cause mass disease and death in the population and these effects will be extended to the coming generations.

“After two decades, physicians and scientists have uncovered a grave trend. The same serious health problems found in lab animals, livestock, and pets that have been fed GM foods are now on the rise in the US population. And when people and animals stop eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), their health improves.” But the warnings from these scientists found deaf ears in government agencies that are supposed to review the safety of the foods people ingest.

On September 19, we reported how scientist at CRIIGEN found that GM Maize and Roundup were linked to premature death and cancer. In a study published in “Food and Chemical Toxicology”, researchers led by Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini found that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 Roundup tolerant GM maize or given water containing Roundup, at levels permitted in drinking water and GM crops in the US, developed cancers faster and died earlier than rats fed on a standard diet.

Earlier, on September 14, scientists from the Safe Food Foundation, reported how GM Wheat Could Potentially change the Human Genome by ‘silencing’ genes once GMO wheat was ingested. Judy Carman, a biochemist and Director of the IHERS at Flinders University, warned that during her observations the GMO gene had the potential to silence human genes, which could have serious complications.

The same kind of reactions seen in both CRIIGEN and the Safe Food Foundation’s observations are seen in the studies and personal stories presented on Genetic Roulette. The film is complete with documents that show uncontestable evidence about the dangers of GMOs. The film explains how these laboratory-made organisms deteriorate people’s health, especially that of children and provides suggestions that anyone can implement to protect themselves and their families.

For an in-depth look at how the genetic engineering of foods and products threatens all life forms, read our report here. We highly recommend that you watch Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives and spread the information about the dangers of GMOs to everyone you know. Also, join our campaign on Facebook to support the adequate labeling of GMOs on food products.

More information can be found at: http://geneticroulettemovie.com and http://responsibletechnology.org

Order the DVD at: http://seedsofdeception.com/store/dvdcd?product_id=124

Donate to support the The Institute for Responsible Technology: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/donategr

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