Editorial | WWIII Over MONSANTO?

Read this article about the possibility of war over the US corporation Monsanto.

The article that you just read is about the possibility of Russia declaring war on the US over the Monsanto corporation. 

War over Monsanto is something that has been in the back of my mind for a while now. 

I've seen a couple of articles about it, but nothing quite like the one I suggested you read. Something just clicked in me this morning. Millions of people around the world protested against Monsanto this past May, thereby showing how the world is not taking Monsanto's thread to our food supply lightly. Many millions more are set to protest at this next one in October. Hundreds of thousands of farmers are committing suicide in India over bT cotton.  People all over the world are dying or are becoming sterile due to the toxic chemicals that the US has introduced into the food supply. I do not hold Monsanto responsible for these catastrophes. I hold the US government in contempt for turning their backs on the common people of this nation. It's obvious that the US government's allies are corporations that put the needs of elitists above the needs of the common man. The US government has had a revolving door with Monsanto. It is policies like these that the world is noticing. 

I do feel like all animals and insects are in danger due to these pesticides and neonicotinoids (Neos), but I am especially concerned over the birds and the bees. 

Just a few weeks ago thousands of bees were found dead in Oregon. Last week the beekeeping industry brought a lawsuit against the EPA. Without bees our food supply will dwindle. I'm concerned that Neos can alter the gender of amphibians and what that could mean after more long term studies of GE foods are completed.  I'm also concerned about what potential affects these biochemicals are doing to our environment. I've been thinking about this since I viewed this video (see our collection of videos) about how the biochemicals are affecting the environment in Kauai.  As you may or may not know, all the Hawaiian islands are the Ground Zero of Biotech chemicals. The coral reefs are starting to become diseased and are dying.  Another good film to watch is Prophets of Doom. It discusses the imminent fall of America. In the movie they discuss water and energy as being possible downfalls, but I thoroughly believe that wars over food and water will be America's downfall.

While lots of people will be incredulous, I believe that war is a real danger. 

Russia has a lot of allies, the Middle East will find any excuse it can to fight us, and Europe is rationalizing the need to ban more and more biotech companies. These countries all have their fair share of nuclear bombs (<-- Click link to see what countries have bombs and how many they have) and they will not want to use bio warfare due to the very reason they will attack, but the US will not consider that a hinderance. In WWII the US used nerve gas, in Vietnam they used Agent Orange and in the Iraq war they used bio warfare. Because Monsanto will be backing the US, you know there will be something bigger and nastier that will be used for this war. That will mean the death of many more people around the world.

Don't get mad, GET ACTIVE!

*HOW YOU CAN HELP* in Austin

I invite you ALL to join us in the screening of "More Than Honey" that is showing on Aug. 18th. It will further enlighten us about how the extinction of bees will lead to a world wide food extinction. Tickets are $10 and it will be shown at Alamo Drafthouse Village that Sunday evening. MAMAustin plans on setting up a film festival to educate others about the importance and  immediacy of the dangers of Monsanto and other biotech companies. The highlight of our film festival will be "The World According to Monsanto" movie viewing and forum with an expert panel. We also invite you to be involved and join us at our next activist meeting on Friday, July 18th at 6:30pm at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin (Click to view all events).

How you can help elsewhere

Research all you can on these topics. Watch documentaries (start with our YouTube channel where you'll find many playlists). Share all the Monsanto material you can get your hands on! Tell everyone you know about what you know. 

I hope that MAMAustin can count on your support to help us fight the US government on this important issue.

In the meantime, remember to eat organic, local, grow your own and vote with your dollar!

News | Bill Gates Saving Seeds and The Supreme Court Ruled Generic Pharmaceutical Companies Above Being Sued

This is just the picture that goes with #5. No donation required to read! :)

Every week I'll try and provide you some relevant GMO news in case you missed it.

1. District of Columbia Council Members David Grosso (I-At Large) and Kenyan McDuffie (D-5 Ward) have proposed a bill that would end corporate run elections, in exchange for publicly financed elections. The bill, Fair Elections D.C., would seek to curb a culture of corruption by taking out corporate interest and lobbyists money. Click here for the article.
2. Bill Gates and biotech companies are saving GMO seed for future generations. See article here.
3. Roseanne Barr testified in a hearing in Hawaii, Ground Zero for GMOs, this past week.
4. The Supreme Court ruled that 80% of generic pharmaceutical companies can't be sued for wrongdoing. 
5. Exactly one week after Americans celebrated Independence Day and the 4^th of July, Monsanto and their pesticide and junk food allies at the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) are once again declaring war on the GMO labeling movement in the U.S. Today, lobbyists from the same corporations that helped defeat Prop 37 last year in California are meeting behind closed doors in Washington DC to try to kill efforts to win GMO labeling in the U.S. for good. Last week, The Hill reported that the GMA is calling for the secret meeting because the growing success of the GMO labeling movement has created an “unprecedented period of turmoil” for the chemical, biotech and junk food companies that the GMA represents. The good news is that despite considerable efforts to stop GMO labeling this year in more than 20 state capitals, Monsanto and the GMA are reeling after the passage of back-to-back GMO labeling bills in Connecticut and Maine. Now, however, they’ve set their sights on killing Washington State’s ballot initiative Yes on I-522. We’ve come too far and we can’t let up now. The GMA represents 300 of the world’s most powerful and profitable companies – trusted brands like Coke, Pepsi, Kellogg’s, Kraft and General Mills, the same companies that killed labeling efforts in the past. Right now, they’re in a panic because in the past month grassroots efforts have succeeded in passing GMO labeling bills and we’re making real progress in other states across the country. Last year, the GMA claimed that defeating Prop 37, the ballot initiative in California, to label GMOs, was their “single-highest priority”. Monsanto and the GMA spent more than $46 million to run one of the most deceptive and dishonest political campaigns in recent history to defeat Prop 37 and succeeded. With a major ballot initiative fight looming this fall in Washington State, the chemical and junk food giants are once again meeting behind closed doors today to craft a plan to silence us for good. We're so close to victory - and they know it.

Organic Lifestyle | What are GMOs?

Let's begin with a thorough understanding of what genetically modified organisms really are...

One thing to note off the bat is that GMOs are not to be confused with cross-breeding. Cross-breeding in dogs is easy to understand. We mate dogs with different dogs to get the result we desire, but we don't go into the gene and alter it to create human cells to create a fetus. Cross breeding does not alter genes. It is merely a mating of plants to make a different species.

Genetic modification means the scientist alters the DNA sequence to create a life not normally found in nature. Genetic modifications can occur when splicing open a plant gene by either inserting a bT toxin into the DNA, combining the splices together, creating plant cells to create a "seed" which is grown OR by splicing in another trait like cells from a cold hardy plant into a warm weather plant to help it grow. The second type of genetic modification is preferable than the first because no bacterial toxin is inserted into the gene.

The advantage for scientists, for the GMO with bT toxin, is that heavier pesticides can be sprayed down onto the plant. The pesticides are so heavy that when it's sprayed it covers the area with so much toxicity that it kills absolutely everything including the weeds and the insects. Insects eat a tiny bite of the plant and they die or they evolve into superbugs. Weeds begin to resist and then evolve into super weeds.

Herbicides and pesticides have been scientifically proven to cause cancer and a lot of other diseases. Monsanto owns approximately 80% of the world’s seeds. Currently, there are heavy amounts of GMOs in corn, soy, sugar beets and canola. There are many other varieties that have been introduced but, over 90% of the above mentioned are GMO and it is advisable only to purchase these organically. GMOs are not new and have been grown in the Hawaiian islands and elsewhere since the 1980's.

Glyphosate, the main herbicide used in Roundup, is a deathly toxin. Glyphosate was quickly adopted by farmers, even more so when Monsanto introduced glyphosate-resistant crops, enabling farmers to kill weeds without killing their crops. In 2007, glyphosate was the most used herbicide in the United States agricultural sector and the second most used in home and garden market. With its heavy use in agriculture, weed resistance to glyphosate is a growing problem. While glyphosate has been approved by regulatory bodies in the United States, and is widely used, concerns about its effects on humans and the environment persist.

In 2013, the United States' EPA raised the amount of allowable pesticides due to the super weeds and super bugs that have become resistant to the previously allowed amounts of pesticides. Monsanto has since developed a 2, 4-D GMO strain which uses the same toxin sprayed in the jungles of Vietnam as Agent Orange and is more effective at combating super weeds. This should give us all severe cause for concern if you've seen the pictures of children who are still severely crippled with birth defects in Vietnam.

GMOs are bad for us because the pesticides and herbicides are creating disease in our bodies. Our bodies do not recognize the plant because it is a foreign substance. Our bodies resist anything that is unnatural in our bodies and, therefore diseases like gastrointestinal disorders, Parkinson's, Autism, Alzheimers, Cancer and many more have been directly linked to GMO consumption.

Points to Consider:

• Research studies have shown that Monsanto’s genetically-modified foods can lead to serious health conditions such as the development of cancer tumors, infertility and birth defects.

• In the United States, the FDA, the agency tasked with ensuring food safety for the population, is steered by ex-Monsanto executives, and we feel that’s a questionable conflict of interests and explains the lack of government-lead research on the long-term effects of GMO products.

• Last year the U.S. Congress and president collectively passed the nicknamed “Monsanto Protection Act” that, among other things, bans courts from halting the sale of Monsanto’s genetically-modified seeds.

• For too long, Monsanto has been the benefactor of corporate subsidies and political favoritism. Organic and small farmers suffer losses while Monsanto continues to forge its monopoly over the world’s food supply, including exclusive patenting rights over seeds and genetic makeup.

• Monsanto's GMO seeds are harmful to the environment; for example, scientists have indicated they have caused colony collapse among the world's bee population.

What are solutions we advocate?

• Voting with your dollar by buying organic and boycotting Monsanto-owned companies that use GMOs in their products.

• Labeling of GMOs so that consumers can make those informed decisions easier.

• Demanding GMO labeling in your state.

• Calling for further scientific research on the health effects of GMOs.

• Holding Monsanto executives and Monsanto-supporting politicians accountable through direct communication, grassroots journalism, social media, etc.

• Continuing to inform the public about Monsanto's secrets.

• Taking to the streets to show the world and Monsanto that we won't take these injustices quietly.

(1) Download an App for Your Smart Phone!
Non-GMO Project's Shopping Guide App
Fooducate App

Center for Food Safety's True Food App

(2) Look for the Non-GMO Product Seal at the Grocery Store!

(3) Use this Produce Decoder at the Grocery Store!

(4) Shop Local!

FAQs:

“Why can’t we just eat organic?“

The problem is that...let’s say there’s a hill. At the top of the hill Monsanto is cultivating GMO corn. At the bottom of the hill there is an organic corn farm. At night Monsanto employees spray their GMO corn with pesticides. A little later on it rains. The rain comes down on the GMO corn and then streams down the hill to the organic farm and into the soil where the organic corn is growing. Scientists have tested that organic corn. It is no longer organic. It is a GMO.

That’s where we’re at concerning fruits and vegetables. Now, let’s add the GMO soy into the mix. 90% of the soy purchased is used for animal consumption. When ranchers feed their cattle, chicken and pigs they feed them that soy. Then they butcher them and put them in our super markets. Then we eat them without knowing because the food is not labeled. We’ve just eaten what that cow ate. Our bodies have just ingested chemicals that were not made for us. 

“We can just eat grass-fed animals.”

Well, that’s an interesting theory. My response is two-fold. One, remember the hill? Those GMOs will seep into the grass that the animals eat. Two, who is going to guarantee that the animals we eat are grass-fed? We also now have to be concerned with the type of grass that the cow is eating. Is it GMO free? GMO grass is now a reality.

“Then I’ll eat fish.”

Sounds good, except that they created genetically modified salmon. These salmon grow at an unnatural rate so that they will be big enough to harvest. Now we can only eat wild fish. But, remember that hill? That same water that contaminated the organic corn will stream into the oceans. How long before all fish are inedible?

“Won’t the USFDA label them so I know which ones are GMOs?“

Probably. And we will pay more for it and buy it. But, there is no guarantee that it is what it’s labeled. Remember the hill? Plus the USFDA can’t be trusted because Monsanto owns the USFDA. Yes, the deputy commissioner of the USFDA was a previous VP for Monsanto. And Hillary Clinton, a candidate for President in 2016, was formerly on Monsanto's payroll. The government is not going to stop promoting big corporations unless we start voting out the politicians that like to be paid big bucks.

“The President of the United States will do something, right?”

Actually, President Obama, that I trusted enough to vote for, signed The Monsanto Protection Act guaranteeing that they will never be sued. They will not be held accountable for poisoning a world full of people. President Obama is gong out of office soon and we need someone strong enough to stand up to business. That isn't going to be Hillary Clinton who has come out publicly with support for GMOs.

Read MORE ==>

What are 2, 4-D GMOs? *Note: This is from Wikipedia for ease of reading. Please feel free to research it further.

OCA: Tell the USDA: Don't approve new GMO crop (petition)

USDA Gives Green Light to 2,4-D Resistant GM Crops

A Photographer's Journey Through Vietnam Orphanages full of Disabled Children