Cancer, the Avoidable Epidemic

NaturalNews) Cancer strikes every other man and every third woman in the United States, and roughly 50 percent survive it. The cure, we are told by the mainstream media and doctors, is under way, but prevention is already nearly 100 percent proofed. Who knew? How could you take certain steps to preserve your cells, your DNA, and protect your body from the silent killer which has a thousand causes "they" won't tell you about?

First, study this list of six steps that keep your cells from degenerating and mutating, thus keeping them from multiplying uncontrollably. If you want the secret to the 9th ill-wonder of the world, and if you don't want your life to be "driven by suffering," take a close look at the six-step plan for guarding your life from the "c" word:

1. Get rid of parasites and lingering waste in your organs, your intestines, and your entire cleansing system. Any food which isn't excreted within 24 hours becomes a toxin in your body. Parasites can feed in this way. Food grade diatomaceous earth kills parasites in your body, naturally! Research the many uses of diatomaceous earth. Also, kidney and colon cleanses, and even a liver cleanse may be appropriate for you. Click on these links and make an educated decision. Then contact a Naturopath Physician for more advice and guidance:
(http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp)
(http://store.naturalnews.com/Detox-Support_c_12.html)
(http://www.naturopathic.org/)

2. Get the "Fooducate" app for your smart phone. If you don't have smart phone, tell someone you know who does, and get the FREE app that scores food, tells you if it is GMO or not, tells you if its organic or not, or if it has ingredients you are allergic to, and best of all if those food "agents" cause cancer. Get in "the know" with "Fooducate:"
(http://www.naturalnews.com/039993_fooducate_GMO_smart_phone.html)
(http://www.fooducate.com/)

3. Go organic, at least 75 percent of what you consume, and make most of that raw vegetables and fruits. No more "corporate" GMO pesticide laden food for you and your family! No more fluoridated water or artificial sweeteners. Do your homework and click on these links for details. Also be careful of everything you put on your skin, including shampoo, conditioner, soaps, lotions, sunblock, cosmetics and the like:
(http://store.naturalnews.com/)
(http://www.naturalnews.com)
Stop toxic fluoridation of water; "The great culling; our water!" (free short film)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx0ROInM3C4)

4. Get "Kangen" water or another source of alkalized spring water (pure). Find out how an alkalized body beats down diseases and disorders and heals damaged cells. Get natural solutions to your natural body chemistry. Check out findaspring.com and find mineral loaded spring water straight from the mountains. Make the most of these resources now. Change your total food intake to at least 75 percent raw organic vegetables and fruit:
(http://www.naturalnews.com/024208_water_tea_bottled.html)
(http://www.findaspring.com/)
(http://guraw.com/)

5. Don't eat cancer! In other words, don't be a human filter. You are what you eat and what you put on your skin. Learn about chemicals in foods, drinks, candy, gum, cosmetics, lotions, toothpaste, shampoo, makeup and more:
(http://programs.webseed.com/Dont_Eat_Cancer__TV.htm)

6. Get the tools for transforming yourself into 100 percent organic, so you can think, feel and focus to the maximum capability of your beautiful body and spirit. Take care of yourself. Awaken! Your mind and body should be running on all cylinders, all of the time, feeding off of superfood fuel and organic raw nutrition: (http://www.naturalnews.com/030481_superfoods_nutrition.html)
(http://store.naturalnews.com/Superfoods_c_4.html)

Cancer is a chemically-driven disorder of the cells

Realize that cancer is avoidable if you live smart, buy smart and eat smart. Don't fuel the "epidemic" which thrives off chemical food, chemical water, chemical skin care and chemical-laden medicine. Don't fall for the big GMO lies and the allopathic doctor's lies that contaminate your one and only body, the "temple of your soul." Don't trust the FDA and the AMA on food and medicine approvals. They don't know about nutrition and they never have. Listen to nutritionists and the pioneers of longevity and "super" health, like Mike Adams the Health Ranger. Get the inside scoop on ideal health and powerful immunity, the natural way. Cancer has really only been an "epidemic" in the United States for about 75 years. Before that, there was rarely a case. That tells you a lot about modern day food and medicine!

(http://www.naturalnews.com/036034_history_medicine_investigation.html)

Sources for this article include:

http://www.naturopathic.org/

http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

http://store.naturalnews.com/Detox-Support_c_12.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/024208_water_tea_bottled.html

http://www.findaspring.com/

http://guraw.com/

http://programs.webseed.com/Dont_Eat_Cancer__TV.htm

http://www.naturalnews.com/030481_superfoods_nutrition.html

http://store.naturalnews.com/Superfoods_c_4.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/036034_history_medicine_investigation.html

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New Stem Cell Book Highlights The Patient Perspective

The Healing Cell devotes individual chapters to adult stem cell treatments for multiple sclerosis (where so far it seems the most successful), neurodegenerative diseases, burns, anemia, arthritis, heart and vascular disease. [I'm not including bone marrow transplants which, while technically also stem cell treatments, were developed long before the field took off.]

Every chapter features the true-life story of at least one patient, but often two or three (with names changed to protect their privacy). Not all of them have happy experiences in their pursuit of treatment, and it’s to the authors’ credit that they illustrate the disappointing results along with the positive.
More Here


Book Description
Release date: April 2, 2013

THE HEALING CELL is an easy to read, carefully researched, and clear-eyed view of medicine many decades in the making that is now paying off with treatments that repair damaged hearts, restore sight, kill cancer, cure diabetes, heal burns, and stop the march of such degenerative diseases as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and Lou Gehrig's disease. The emotionally and intellectually stimulating stories throughout the book dramatically illustrate that stem cell therapies can change the way we live our lives after being afflicted by a disease or trauma. The book is the result of a unique collaboration between the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture and the Stem for Life Foundation. It includes a special address by His Holiness Benedict XVI, urging increased support and awareness for advancements in adult stem cell research.

Amazon Link

Food labeling 101: GMO, organic, and other common grocery labels decoded

Navigating the food labels at the grocery store these days can feel like reading through a legal brief.  Here’s a quick, easy guide to eight commonly seen (and misunderstood) terms, from GMO to 'organic' to 'grass-fed', so you can bypass the jargon and get back to the food. 

A Great and Informative Read!

A Tale of 3 Cats

This is Mimi and Jada.  We've had Mimi for close to 20 years.  She was the runt of her litter, and the friendliest.

Jada showed up as a tiny kitten a few years ago.  We live back in the woods, 3/4 mile from the nearest house.  It was quite a feat for the little girl.  She quickly became ours.

Unfortunately, Mimi DESPISED her.  Would attack her constantly.  It was frightening to watch.

Then, this guy showed up about a year ago.  He's a mess.  He's got thumbs and an overbite.  I named him Barnabas.  (He doesn't know how to meow, either...kind of grunts)

He shows up probably once a week for a night or two.  (I've got the feeling that he has multiple mommies....I'm jealous)   He's a little eating machine.  I spoil him rotten.  I let him in at night when Dom goes to sleep...he's content laying on the floor and watching TV with me.

He's a BIG boy.  Very affectionate.  Trying hard to fit in.  I absolutely ADORE him.

My girls HATE HIM.

So now.... the girls are best friends.  "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

Don't Let Monsanto Kill the Humble but Wholesome Dandelion

I was watching TV the other day.  Commercial break.  Cut to a lush green lawn.  A single yellow dandelion springs up through the emerald expanse.  The heroic protagonist appears left.  He spies the flower, runs, dives, somersaults onto the lawn and pops up sturdily on one knee. Brandishing a bottle of weed killer, he fires.  The patented nozzle rains hell on the defenseless sunbather.  The flower withers. And dies. The lawn-owner is triumphant.  Right?
                                                         
                                               SNIP

The dandelion doesn’t simply nourish humans; it nourishes other plants as well.  Year after year this perennial often reappears in spite of all the mowings, weedings, and poisonings it endures.  This is because the dandelion has a “taproot”, a long twisted root that can grow three feet deep within the earth.  The taproot brings minerals and nutrients not available at the soil’s surface to neighboring plants with shorter roots.  The taproot connects us to less contaminated parts of Mother Earth.  It connects us to our foundations.
                                                              
                                              SNIP

Monsanto and its subsidiaries, competitors, and peers sell us pesticides that kill the free food we could grow on our lawns.  Then they sell us processed foods that damage our bodies.  They sell us pharmaceuticals to “help” us with the ailments that come from eating those processed foods, ailments such as obesity, diabetes, kidney failure, and cancer.  We are even more susceptible to lesser ailments (common colds, influenzas, and infections) because our immune systems lack the proper nutrients to combat them.   They profit at every step.  And at every step we suffer.  We get sick. We suffer. And we die.

JUMP

Our Garden is Finally Planted

A friend of ours gave us some G-90 Sweet Corn seeds that we still have to put in the ground.... other than that, we're finally finished.

This year, I decided to buy some Heirloom Tomato plants.  If they work out, I might go strictly heirloom next year.

I'm also going to buy a "seed starter" and just buy seeds next year.

Geez, I LOVE this time of year!

(For my own recollection, I planted the following)  :


Heirloom Tomatoes:
1 Black Prince
1 Yellow Pear  (miniatures)
1 German Queen
3 Rainbow Blend

Cherry Tomatoes:
3 Mini Charm
3 Sweet 100
3 Sweet Million

Tomatoes:
6 Better Boy
1 Big Boy  (test….not watering like Dennis)

Peppers:
6 Sweet Banana
6 Hot Banana
4 Jalapeno

Cukes:
2 Mounds Burpless

Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans

Roundup, An Herbicide, Could Be Linked To Parkinson’s, Cancer And Other Health Issues, Study Shows

(Reuters) Heavy use of the world’s most popular herbicide, Roundup, could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including Parkinson’s, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.

The peer-reviewed report, published last week in the scientific journal Entropy, said evidence indicates that residues of “glyphosate,” the chief ingredient in Roundup weed killer, which is sprayed over millions of acres of crops, has been found in food.

Those residues enhance the damaging effects of other food-borne chemical residues and toxins in the environment to disrupt normal body functions and induce disease, according to the report, authored by Stephanie Seneff, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Anthony Samsel, a retired science consultant from Arthur D. Little, Inc. Samsel is a former private environmental government contractor as well as a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body,” the study says.

We “have hit upon something very important that needs to be taken seriously and further investigated,” Seneff said.

Environmentalists, consumer groups and plant scientists from several countries have warned that heavy use of glyphosate is causing problems for plants, people and animals.

The EPA is conducting a standard registration review of glyphosate and has set a deadline of 2015 for determining if glyphosate use should be limited. The study is among many comments submitted to the agency.

Monsanto is the developer of both Roundup herbicide and a suite of crops that are genetically altered to withstand being sprayed with the Roundup weed killer.

These biotech crops, including corn, soybeans, canola and sugarbeets, are planted on millions of acres in the United States annually. Farmers like them because they can spray Roundup weed killer directly on the crops to kill weeds in the fields without harming the crops.

Roundup is also popularly used on lawns, gardens and golf courses.

Monsanto and other leading industry experts have said for years that glyphosate is proven safe, and has a less damaging impact on the environment than other commonly used chemicals.

Jerry Steiner, Monsanto’s executive vice president of sustainability, reiterated that in a recent interview when questioned about the study.

“We are very confident in the long track record that glyphosate has. It has been very, very extensively studied,” he said.

Of the more than two dozen top herbicides on the market, glyphosate is the most popular. In 2007, as much as 185 million pounds of glyphosate was used by U.S. farmers, double the amount used six years ago, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data.

LINK

Birds Galore, Deer, Raccoon and the Beach- Fun Pictures

I'm happy to report that Dom is in great health.... looks and feels good!

We noticed alot of raccoon and birds eating our deer corn, so we picked up a bag of wild bird seed.

Within days, we were inundated with birds that we've never seen here before...luckily, I have an Audubon Society Field Guide for North American Birds.  I was able to identify Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Orchard Orioles, and my new favorites, a family of gorgeous Indigo Buntings.... These pictures don't show how brilliantly blue these little guys are:

Meanwhile, Rocky Raccoon and his buddy stop by every night for a snack:

Dom bought a 2nd Game Camera and set it up down by our pond.  Our 2 girls quickly found their new feeding spot, although still come up to the house on a regular basis:

I went to the condo last week.  The water was amazing.  Cold, but too beautiful to stay out of!  I recently changed my Facebook location to Panama City Beach, as I'll be spending more time there this Spring and Summer, than I do here at home!

GMO Just Label IT Bill Introduced – BREAKING NEWS

The national Just Label It coalition applauded the introduction of bipartisan legislation today to require food manufacturers to inform consumers when packaged food contains genetically engineered ingredients.

The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act was introduced today by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR).

“Americans want to know more, not less, about their food,” said Katey Parker of Just Label It, which has more than 650 partner organizations. “More than 90 percent of Americans want the same rights as consumers in 64 countries around the world.  It’s time to trust American consumers with information about genetically engineered ingredients so they can make the best choices for themselves and their families.”

More than 1 million Americans have petitioned FDA to require labeling on packaged food containing GE ingredients.

To view the Senate version of the bill, click here.

To view the House version of the bill, click here.

JUMP for live links

SCIENTISTS FIND SIMPLE WAY TO TRANSFORM BONE MARROW STEM CELLS INTO BRAIN CELLS…BY ACCIDENT

Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have found a mechanism to turn bone marrow stem cells into brain cells. It is one the press release states is not only “simple” but was “serendipitous” in its discovery.


The current method for transforming marrow cells, for use in treating things like spinal cord injuries or strokes, is described as not only cumbersome but also risky. But this latest find, which was uncovered by scientists researching antibodies that activate a growth-stimulating receptor on the marrow cells, pointed to one type of antibody that causes the marrow stem cells to become a nearly mature form of brain cell.

“These results highlight the potential of antibodies as versatile manipulators of cellular functions,” Richard Lerner, the Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Immunochemistry at the institute and principal investigator for the new study said in a statement. “This is a far cry from the way antibodies used to be thought of—as molecules that were selected simply for binding and not function.”

In the research of one isolated antibody that activated the marrow stem cells growth receptors, researcher Jia Xie in Lerner’s laboratory said the cells started “becoming long and thin and attaching to the bottom of the dish.” Lerner speculated, and later confirmed through tests, that they were becoming neural progenitor cells.

This process of changing a one cell into a completely different type is called transdifferentiation. Lerner said in a statement that he doesn’t know of any other laboratories that have been able to use a single protein to accomplish this, as their research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has. Current techniques for transdifferentiation involve deprogramming cells to a state that is like that of embryonic stem cells and reprogramming them, the press release explained.


Here’s how this new method of cell transdifferentiation could be used:

In principle, according to Lerner, an antibody such as the one they have discovered could be injected directly into the bloodstream of a sick patient. From the bloodstream it would find its way to the marrow, and, for example, convert some marrow stem cells into neural progenitor cells. “Those neural progenitors would infiltrate the brain, find areas of damage and help repair them,” he said.
U.S. World News and Report stated that the team will conduct animal tests using the technique and hope to collaborate with researchers working on regenerating eye nerves.

LINK

Monsanto Controls Your Diet

The chemical company's influence extends across all three branches of government -- and affects our daily lives

Forty percent of the crops grown in the United States contain their genes. They produce the world’s top selling herbicide. Several of their factories are now toxic Superfund sites. They spend millions lobbying the government each year. It’s time we take a closer look at who’s controlling our food, poisoning our land, and influencing all three branches of government. To do that, the watchdog group Food and Water Watch recently published a corporate profile of Monsanto.

Patty Lovera, Food and Water Watch assistant director, says they decided to focus on Monsanto because they felt a need to “put together a piece where people can see all of the aspects of this company.”

“It really strikes us when we talk about how clear it is that this is a chemical company that wanted to expand its reach,” she says. “A chemical company that started buying up seed companies.” She feels it’s important “for food activists to understand all of the ties between the seeds and the chemicals.”

Monsanto the Chemical Company

Monsanto was founded as a chemical company in 1901, named for the maiden name of its founder’s wife. Its first product was the artificial sweetener saccharin. The company’s own telling of its history emphasizes its agricultural products, skipping forward from its founding to 1945, when it began manufacturing agrochemicals like the herbicide 2,4-D.

Prior to its entry into the agricultural market, Monsanto produced some harmless – even beneficial! – products like aspirin. It also made plastics, synthetic rubber, caffeine, and vanillin, an artificial vanilla flavoring. On the not-so-harmless side, it began producing toxic PCBs in the 1930s.

According to the new report, a whopping 99 percent of all PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, used in the U.S. were produced at a single Monsanto plant in Sauget, IL. The plant churned out toxic PCBs from the 1930s until they were banned in 1976. Used as coolants and lubricants in electronics, PCBs are carcinogenic and harmful to the liver, endocrine system, immune system, reproductive system, developmental system, skin, eye, and brain.

Even after the initial 1982 cleanup of this plant, Sauget is still home to two Superfund sites. (A Superfund site is defined by the EPA as “an uncontrolled or abandoned place where hazardous waste is located, possibly affecting local ecosystems or people.”) This is just one of several Monsanto facilities that became Superfund sites.

Monsanto’s Shift to Agriculture

Despite its modern-day emphasis on agriculture, Monsanto did not even create an agricultural division within the company until 1960. It soon began churning out new pesticides, each colorfully named under a rugged Western theme: Lasso, Roundup, Warrant, Lariat, Bullet, Harness, etc.

Left out of Monsanto’s version of its historical highlights is an herbicide called Agent Orange. The defoliant, a mix of herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, was used extensively during the war in Vietnam. The nearly 19 million gallons sprayed in that country between 1962 and 1971 were contaminated with dioxin, a carcinogen so potent that it is measured and regulated at concentrations of parts per trillion. Dioxin was created as a byproduct of Agent Orange’s manufacturing process, and both American veterans and Vietnamese people suffered health problems from the herbicide’s use.

Monsanto’s fortunes changed forever in 1982, when it genetically engineered a plant cell. The team responsible, led by Ernest Jaworski, consisted of Robb Fraley, Stephen Rogers, and Robert Horsch. Today, Fraley is Monsanto’s executive vice president and chief technology officer. Horsch also rose to the level of vice president at Monsanto, but he left after 25 years to join the Gates Foundation. There, he works on increasing crop yields in Sub-Saharan Africa. Together, the team received the National Medal of Technology from President Clinton in 1998.

The company did not shift its focus from chemicals to genetically engineered seeds overnight. In fact, it was another 12 years before it commercialized the first genetically engineered product, recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbGH), a controversial hormone used to make dairy cows produce more milk. And it was not until 1996 that it first brought genetically engineered seeds, Roundup Ready soybeans, onto the market.

By 2000, the company had undergone such a sea change from its founding a century before that it claims it is almost a different company. In Monsanto’s telling of its own history, it emphasizes a split between the “original” Monsanto Company and the Monsanto Company of today. In 2000, the Monsanto Company entered a merger and changed its name to Pharmacia. The newly formed Pharmacia then spun off its agricultural division as an independent company named Monsanto Company.

Do the mergers and spinoffs excuse Monsanto for the sins of the past committed by the company bearing the same name? Lovera does not think so. “I’m sure there’s some liability issues they have to deal with – their various production plants that are now superfund sites,” she responds. “So I’m sure there was legal thinking about which balance sheet you put those liabilities on” when the company split. She adds that the notion that today’s Monsanto is not the same as the historical Monsanto that made PCBs is “a nice PR bullet for them.”

But, she adds, “even taking that at face value, that they are an agriculture company now, they are still producing seeds that are made to be used with chemicals they produce.” For example, Roundup herbicide alone made up more than a quarter of their sales in 2011. The proportion of their business devoted to chemicals is by no means insignificant.

Monsanto’s pesticide product line includes a number of chemicals named as Bad Actors by Pesticide Action Network. They include Alachlor (a carcinogen, water contaminant, developmental/reproductive toxin, and a suspected endocrine disruptor), Acetochlor (a carcinogen and suspected endocrine disruptor), Atrazine (a carcinogen and suspected endocrine disruptor), Clopyralid (high acute toxicity), Dicamba (developmental/reproductive toxin), and Thiodicarb (a carcinogen and cholinesterase inhibitor).

Roundup: The Benign Herbicide?

Defenders of Monsanto might reply to the charge that Roundup is no Agent Orange. In fact, the herbicide is viewed as so benign and yet effective that its inventor, John E. Franz, won the National Medal of Technology. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, kills everything green and growing, but according to Monsanto, it only affects a metabolic pathway in plants, so it does not harm animals. It’s also said to break down quickly in the soil, leaving few traces on the environment after its done its job.

Asked about the harmlessness of Roundup, Lovera replies, “That’s the PR behind Roundup – how benign it was and you can drink it and there’s nothing to worry about here. There are people who dispute that.” For example there is an accusation that Roundup causes birth defects. “We don’t buy the benign theory,” continues Lovera, “But what’s really interesting is that we aren’t going to be having this conversation pretty soon because Roundup isn’t working anymore.”

Lovera is referring to “Roundup-resistant weeds,” weeds that have evolved in the past decade and a half to survive being sprayed by Roundup. Nearly all soybeans grown in the United States is Monsanto’s genetically engineered Roundup Ready variety, as are 80 percent of cotton and 73 percent of corn. Farmers spray entire fields with Roundup, killing only the weeds while the Roundup Ready crops survive. With such heavy use of Roundup on America’s farmfields, any weed – maybe one in a million – with an ability to survive in that environment would survive and pass on its genes in its seeds.

By 1998, just two years after the introduction of Roundup Ready soybeans, scientists documented the first Roundup-resistant weed. A second was found in 2000, and three more popped up in 2004. To date, there are 24 different weedsthat have evolved resistance to Roundup worldwide. And once they invade a farmer’s field, it doesn’t matter if his crops are Roundup-resistant, because Roundup won’t work anymore. Either the weeds get to stay, or the farmer needs to find a new chemical, pull the weeds by hand, or find some other way to deal with the problem.

“We’ve wasted Roundup by overusing it,” says Lovera. She and other food activists worry about the harsher chemicals that farmers are switching to, and the genetically engineered crops companies like Monsanto are developing to use with them.

Currently, there are genetically engineered crops waiting for government approval that are made to tolerate the herbicides 2,4-D, Dicamba and Isoxaflutole. (These are not all from Monsanto – some are from their competitors.) None of these chemicals are as “benign” as Roundup. Isoxaflutole is, in fact, a carcinogen. Let’s spray that on our food!

Corporate Control of Seeds

No discussion of Monsanto is complete without a mention of the immense amount of control it exerts on the seed industry.

“What it boils down to is between them buying seed companies outright, their incredible aggressive legal maneuvering, their patenting of everything, and their enforcement of those patents, they really have locked up a huge part of the seed supply,” notes Lovera. “So they just exercise an unprecedented control over the entire seed sector. Monsanto products constitute 40 percent of all crop acres in the country.”

Monsanto began buying seed companies as far back as 1982. (One can see an infographic of seed industry consolidation here.) Some of Monsanto’s most significant purchases were Asgrow (soybeans), Delta and Pine Land (cotton), DeKalb (corn), and Seminis (vegetables). One that deserves special mention is their purchase of Holden’s Foundation Seeds in 1997.

George Naylor, an Iowa farmer who grows corn and soybeans, calls Holden’s “The independent source of germplasm for corn.” Small seed companies could buy inbred lines from Holden’s to cross them and produce their own hybrids. Large seed companies like Pioneer did their own breeding, but small operations relied on Holden’s or Iowa State University. But Iowa State got out of the game and Monsanto bought Holden’s.

Monsanto’s tactics for squashing its competition are perhaps unrivaled. They use their power to get seed dealers to not to stock many of their competitors products, for example. When licensing their patented genetically engineered traits to seed companies, they restrict the seed companies’ ability to combine Monsanto’s traits with those of their competitors. And, famously, farmers who plant Monsanto’s patented seeds sign contracts prohibiting them from saving and replanting their seeds. Yet, to date, U.S. antitrust laws have not clamped down on these practices.

With the concentrated control of the seed industry, farmers already complain of lack of options. For example, Naylor says he’s had a hard time finding non-genetically engineered soybean seeds. Most corn seeds are now pre-treated with pesticides, so farmers wishing to find untreated seeds will have a tough time finding any. Once a company or a handful of companies control an entire market, then they can choose what to sell and at what price to sell it.

Furthermore, if our crops are too genetically homogenous, then they are vulnerable to a single disease or pest that can wipe them out. When farmers grow genetically diverse crops, then there is a greater chance that one variety or another will have resistance to new diseases. In that way, growing genetically diverse crops is like having insurance, or like diversifying your risk within your stock portfolio.

Food and Water Watch Recommendations

At the end of its report, Food and Water Watch lists several recommendations. “There are a lot of ways that government policy could address the Monsanto hold on the food supply,” explains Lovera. “The most important thing is that it’s time to stop approval of genetically engineered crops to stop this arms race of the next crop and the next chemical.”

She also calls Monsanto “the poster child for the need for antitrust enforcement” – something that the Justice Department has yet to successfully deliver up. In fact, last November the government ended a three-year antitrust investigation of Monsanto.

A third recommendation Lovera hopes becomes a reality is mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. “If we had that label and we put that information in consumers’ hands, they could do more to avoid this company in their day-to-day lives,” she says.

In the meantime, all consumers can do to avoid genetically engineered foods is to buy organic for the handful of crops that are genetically engineered: corn, soybeans, canola, cotton, papaya, sugar beets, and alfalfa.

Original Story with Many Links

Join COVVHA’S Email List For Breaking Agent Orange News

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YOU WILL RECEIVE A ONCE DAILY EMAIL OF ANY BREAKING AGENT ORANGE NEWS AND RELATED TOPICS IN ADDITION TO ANY COVVHA UPDATES

PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL IN THE BOX BELOW,  A CONFIRMATION LINK WILL BE SENT TO YOUR EMAIL.  YOU MUST OPEN THE EMAIL AND CLICK THE CONFIRMATION LINK TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.

Link to this Wonderful Group

Kidney failure in Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a clonal B-cell disease of slowly proliferating plasma cells, accompanied by monoclonal protein production and lytic bone lesions. Up to 50 per cent of newly diagnosed patients have a decrease in creatine clearance and 20 per cent of Multiple Myeloma patients Kidney failure occurs as a consequence of elevated calcium levels in the blood or when the kidneys are overloaded with protein.

Normally, the kidneys remove wastes, extra fluids, and minerals from the blood. But when they stop functioning, harmful wastes build up and this can cause other complications such as high blood pressure. In addition, the disease can cause too much calcium to leave your bones and head into your bloodstream, where it can put a strain on your kidneys.

When kidney failure is irreversible, patients undergo a procedure known as dialysis to help their bodies filter blood. Dialysis removes the extra fluid and waste from the blood, and it can prolong the overall survival for multiple myeloma patients.

The incidence of renal failure certainly rises as the tumor load increases, but it is the underlying tumor burden that ultimately determines survival. Therefore, treatment of myeloma to achieve reduction might also reduce the occurrence of kidney failure.

The most common test used as a follow-up to abnormal routine tests and to help diagnose the disease include Protein and Immunofixation Electrophoresis. This test is used to diagnose and monitor multiple myeloma. Protein electrophoresis separates the proteins in a blood or urine sample into several groups based on their electrical charge and size. In most patients with multiple myeloma, large amounts of an abnormal immunoglobulin protein (M-protein) will show up as a large peak on the electrophoresis graph.

Usually, both a blood and a urine sample will be tested during the diagnosis of multiple myeloma because some proteins, such as the Bence Jones proteins (free light chains), may not show up in significant quantities in blood samples, while those with only intact immunoglobulins may not have the abnormal protein in urine.

Bence Jones protein (free light chains) can be detected in the urine of some patients with multiple myeloma. Cancer screening exams are important medical tests done when you’re at risk but don’t have symptoms. They help find cancer at its earliest stage, when the chances for successful treatment are best.

—Dr Bharat Vaswani, Yashoda Hospital

LINK

Are Your Children Roundup Ready?

Lawn & Garden Tips From Your Friends at ExxonMobile and Monsanto

GMOs: Seeds Of Sickness

For years, scientists have been warning the public about the long-term health risks posed by genetically modified foods. In 2010, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine advised the public to avoid eating genetically modified foods, saying, “There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation.” Mounting research backs up this claim, including a recent groundbreaking long-term study with particularly gruesome findings.

Enormous Tumors And Premature Death

Substantial research has been conducted on GM foods — and much of it has demonstrated adverse health effects. But until now, studies of GM foods have been observed effects in lab rats for only 90 days. In contrast, a first-of-its-kind experiment just published in Food & Chemical Toxicology examined results of GM foods in rats over a span of two full years.

For the study, Italian and French researchers at the University of Caen in the United Kingdom fed 200 rats a Monsanto corn variety, NK603, that was modified to make it resistant to glyphosate, an herbicide sold under the name “Roundup.” The results? The rodents developed several enormous tumors at an increased growth of 200 to 300 percent. They also suffered severe liver and kidney damage early in the experiment. Compared to the control group, most of the female and male rats died prematurely.

Corn Nation, NK603, And You

You should know that the GM corn eaten by those rats is the same Monsanto corn found in the chip you likely dip in the salsa bowl. And it’s the same corn likely to be found in your breakfast cereal, baked goods, processed foods and drinks, corn tortillas, and corn chips. After all, we are living in a corn nation. In 2011, approximately 91 million acres of corn were planted across North America.

What Are GMOs?

Some people joke that GMO means “God Move Over.” But literally, “GMO” refers to a genetically modified organism or transgenic organism. Both of these terms apply simply to what happens when genes from one species are taken and inserted into another to obtain a desired trait not seen in nature. For instance, scientists have spliced arctic fish genes into tomatoes to give them a tolerance to frost. Monsanto, the largest biotech company in the world, is the No. 1 maker of GMOs. Just like the fishy tomatoes bred to withstand cold, all GMO seeds are modified to meet various economic goals (regardless of health effects). The main traits sought by modification are:

*A tolerance to herbicides
*The ability of the plant to produce its own pesticide

GMOs: Here, There, And Everywhere!

An estimated 70 percent of processed foods in the United States — from soda to soup, crackers to condiments — contain genetically engineered ingredients. That’s according to Sustainable Table, a subset of the nonprofit organization GRACE, created to help consumers understand the problems with our food supply. As far as specific crops go, 95 percent of sugar beets, 94 percent of soybeans, 90 percent of both cotton and canola, and 88 percent of corn in this country are genetically modified.

At the moment there are no proper labeling laws, so unless you eat organic, you have no way of avoiding Frankenfood. The United States is far behind the curve in protecting its citizens from the hazards of GMO foods. Europe has taken a much stronger stand on behalf its consumers: Only 5 percent of food sold in Europe contains GMOs, and European laws ensure that the public is educated. In fact, outside the United States, 50 other countries require labeling of GMOs.

“Unless we make the regulatory system more reliable, some engineered crops, which may be harmful (to our health), could find their way into our food in the future,” says Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in the Food & Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The most important point with regards to GE (genetically engineered) food is that current regulations are weak and cannot ensure that possible-risky GE foods will be identified as such.”

Michael Taylor, the current deputy commissioner for foods at the United States Food and Drug Administration has worked for Monsanto in the past, both as an attorney and eventually their public policy vice president, making you wonder about the FDA’s revolving-door ethics.

A Sneak Attack With Harrowing Consequences

Starting in 1996, GMOs snuck into our food without a trace of government testing to determine their safety for human consumption. By 2005, the number of Americans with three or more chronic diseases nearly doubled — from 7 percent to 13 percent. Allergy-related visits to the emergency room also doubled between 1997 and 2002. In March 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that compared to seven years earlier, Americans were suffering from twice the number of food-related illnesses. This spike in health problems caused by food occurred during the very same time period that GMOs were infiltrating our food supply.

“There are potential dangers that may occur from some engineered foods that many scientists have widely agreed are possible,” Gurian-Sherman says. “One of the biggest risks is putting genes from non-food organisms like bacteria, viruses, or fungi into our food that do not have any history of safety. Potential side effects from this, depending on the gene used, include an increase in allergies and increased food-toxicity.”

These risks coupled with the finds of the recent rat study provide us with food for thought about the state of our current agricultural landscape. As Dr. Suzanne Wuerthele, a toxicologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told the press, “We are confronted with the most powerful technology the world has ever known, and it is being rapidly deployed with almost no thought whatsoever to its consequences.”

Meanwhile, Monsanto (makers of DDT and Agent Orange) is funding its own safety studies, with no further testing required by the FDA.

                                How To Avoid GMOs

Eat Organic

Derivatives of soy, corn, canola, cotton, and sugar beets show up in most processed foods including bread, crackers, chips, chocolate, candy, cookies, cereal, jelly, frozen or canned foods, snack foods, sauces, soups, dressings, protein bars, sodas, juices, and even our vitamins and supplements. If you must eat processed foods, make sure that they are labeled organic.

Keep in mind that the five crops mentioned above are herbicide resistant because they’ve had bacterial genes inserted into them. As a result, U.S. farmers have sprayed an extra 383 million pounds of herbicides between 1996 and 2008 alone. Therefore these crops feature higher herbicide residue, which we then ingest.

In addition to the herbicide-resistance gene, cotton and corn are also genetically engineered to produce their own pest-killing toxins, making it thousands of times more concentrated. Needless to say, the adverse side effects of pesticides on human health are enormous.

Oils

Avoid canola oil (also called “rapeseed”), cotton oil, vegetable oils, and margarine. Many blended oils in North America contain canola and cottonseed oils. Also avoid soybean oil. Instead, choose organic extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, almond oil, grape seed oil, or peanut oil.

Soy

Unless it is specifically listed as organic or non-GMO, avoid the following: soybeans/edamame, tofu, “fake” meats/alternative meat products, soy milk, soy cheeses/alternative dairy products, tempeh, and tamari. If you are buying anything processed or packaged and not labeled organic, check the ingredients and avoid if it has soy flour, soy protein (included in protein bars and many protein supplements), soy isolates, soy isoflavanes, soy lecithin, or vegetable proteins.

Corn

Unless specifically listed as organic or non-GMO, avoid the following: corn on the cob, corn in a can, corn chips, cornflakes and other cereals (read labels), and sweeteners such as fructose, dextrose, and glucose. For anything processed or packaged and not labeled organic, check the ingredients and avoid if it lists high-fructose corn syrup or corn syrup. An increasingly high number of products are being made with this crap. Also avoid cornstarch, corn meal, corn gluten, and modified food starch.

Meats And Eggs

Keep in mind that GM corn is fed to cattle and dairy cows. If you eat beef, pork, poultry, or eggs, you are probably consuming secondhand GM corn. To avoid products from animals that have been fed GMOs, choose organic, wild-caught (fish or game), and foods from 100 percent start-to-finish grass-fed animals. Eggs labeled “free range” or “cage-free” do not necessarily mean GM free — make sure it also says organic.

Sugar

Half of the sugar sold in the United States comes from sugar beets. If a non-organic product lists sugar as an ingredient (not pure cane sugar) then it is almost definitely a combination of sugar cane and GM sugar beets. Avoid anything not listed as 100 percent cane sugar on the packaging. Look for candy, cookies, chocolate, and other products made with 100 percent cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, or organic sugar.

Finally — and importantly — avoid aspartame (the artificial sweetener also known as NutraSweet or Equal). Not only is aspartame associated with myriad disturbing health problems, it’s derived from GM microorganisms, and the amino acid phenylalanine is manufactured with the aid of genetically modified E. coli bacteria. Also steer clear of soft drinks, processed beverages, and juices that are not 100 percent juice blends. These are most likely made with corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup.

Hawaiian Papaya, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Farm-Raised Salmon

The other main GM foods are Hawaiian papaya (more than 50 percent is genetically modified), and over 24,000 acres of zucchini and yellow squash. Some farm-raised salmon is also genetically modified, so stay away from eating farm-raised. Choose wild-caught instead.

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BioTech Lies Exposed: Genetically Modified Corn is Loaded with Chemical Poisons

A breakthrough report on the nutritional density of genetically-modified (GM) corn crops demolishes all existing claims that GMOs are “substantially equivalent” to non-GMOs. Entitled 2012 Nutritional Analysis: Comparison of GMO Corn versus Non-GMO Corn, the paper reveals not only that GMO corn is greatly lacking in vitamins and minerals compared to non-GMO corn, but also that it is highly toxic and filled with deadly crop chemicals like glyphosate (Roundup).

Overall, the paper found that non-GMO corn is 20 times richer in nutrition, energy and protein compared to GMO corn.

Similarly, GMO corn contains dangerously high levels of formaldehyde, according to the report. A previous study conducted by Dr. Don Huber on GMOs revealed that .97 ppm of formaldehyde is toxic if ingested by animals. As it turns out, GMO corn contains 200 times more formaldehyde than this maximum safety threshold.

These shock findings are at great odds with the claims continually being made by agri-genocide giant Monsanto. On its corporate website, Monsanto claims that approved genetically-modified (GM) crops are “substantially equivalent” to non-GMOs, meaning they are not nutritionally different from non-GMO crops. But as this study shows, these claims are patently false, and indicate that Monsanto is engaged in a global agricultural scam based on complete lies.

More Here

Air Force Vietnam Veteran wants Other Vets to learn about AGENT ORANGE REGISTRY

LUTZ, Fla. - "It floored me!  It floored me when I found out about it that day.  It did, it floored me," recalled Bob Wood.

When Wood suffered a heart attack two years ago, doctors at the Haley VA Hospital told him his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam contributed to his heart disease.

"This is unbelievable," Wood thought at the time.

Wood served at Air Force bases in Thailand during the war and said that agent orange, an herbicide and defoliant was used around the perimeter of the base for security.

"I felt like for decades that we were exposed to agent orange," said Wood.

It was after the heart attack that he learned of the Agent Orange Registry.

"The message I would like to get out there today, is to get all veterans of the Vietnam War, signed up and do the Agent Orange Registry exam," Wood explained.

Available through the VA, the exam is not tied to current benefits; and is an opportunity for vets who have not shown signs of exposure to Agent Orange.

"Their benefits, their health is at stake," said Wood.

Wood was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and wants to use his time to bring awareness.  He says all you have to do to find out more is contact Veterans affairs.

"The earlier the detection, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease and the other ailments, they'll be able to meet these medical situations sooner; and can be cured in a lot of cases," Wood said.
 
One veteran looking out for others on a day when we honor them all.

LINK

Veteran takes on feds in fight for Agent Orange Compensation

A New Brunswick veteran who says his life has been forever changed due to Agent Orange exposure is fighting the federal government for compensation.

For months, 82-year-old Basil McAllister has been preparing to represent himself in the case, and today he didn’t back down in a Fredericton courtroom.

“I have prostate cancer, I have bone cancer, I have skin cancer, and I’m a four-needle-a-day Type 2 Diabetic,” says the Burton, N.B. resident.

The deadly dioxin Agent Orange was sprayed at CFB Gagetown during the 1960s while McAllister worked on the base.


He claims he worked closely with 10 other people who have since received monthly payments for their own Agent Orange damages.

“For some reason, the panel members who reviewed my case five times declined to give me a pension,” he says.

Officials with the federal government say that in order to receive a pension for Agent Orange compensation, a claimant must prove there was direct exposure to the chemical.

In court today, Veterans Affairs argued that McAllister’s direct exposure evidence was insufficient and not credible, adding that decisions made about other pensions are irrelevant to his case.

Many of the veteran’s family members and friends appeared in court today to show their support, including some people who worked with McAllister at CFB Gagetown.

“Who in Veterans Affairs can prove that we weren’t sprayed on?” asks Christopher Tucker.

“If he and 10 other people or whatever are in the same region, and I don’t think the mosquitoes took the spray away,” says Harry Harkes.

McAllister’s case is also attracting attention from other complainants in the midst of their own fight for Agent Orange compensation.

“Two people can have the same illness. One gets approved, one doesn’t,” says Marie Hogan, a member of the Widows on the Warpath group. “There’s no need for that. It should be consistent across the board.”

The judge in the case has reserved her decision to be made public at a later time.
McAllister says he has made it this far, and he is prepared to wait it out.

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How to Avoid Foods Made with Genetically Modified Organisms [GMOs]

Here's a list of non-GMO containing foods, as well as many foods/brands which likely contain GMO, which everyone should take a look at and keep in the back of their minds when grocery shopping.

Many are well aware that Monsanto and GMO are infiltrating our food supply, but the most common question I come across is how to stay away from GMO containing products. Hopefully this helps.

Jump to This Extensive List Here

Monsanto law undermines democracy, public health

It takes away the power of U.S. courts to block the planting and sale of genetically modified seeds if evidence indicates they are harmful.


The otherwise-named Farmer Assurance Provision, which is now law, takes away the power of U.S. courts to block the planting and sale of genetically modified seeds if evidence indicates they are harmful.

It was slipped in anonymously at the last minute as part of the budget bill President Barack Obama signed to avoid a federal government shutdown.


How could such a provision, which undermines both the public health and the democratic process to serve the bottom-line interests of a major corporation, get through without broad public attention and lobbying? Why were no hearings held on it and no reviews conducted by either the agriculture or judiciary committees?

.And how could members of Congress claim not to know when, as Stewart drily noted, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., lashed out at the provision in a Senate speech and sponsored an amendment to nullify it? An organic farmer, Tester said he had tried to find out which lawmakers put it in there, but no one would own up to it.

Of course they wouldn’t. Mother Jones magazine reports that Monsanto spent $5.9 million in lobbying last year. No politician wants to appear to have been bought.


Even in the era of the Citizens United ruling, when undue powers have been accorded corporations, we have three branches of government to protect and balance public interests. Congress and the executive branch should not be able to take power away from the judiciary at the behest of a corporation, or any other entity.

And lawmakers should not be doing a corporation’s bidding at the expense of the public health and economic well-being.

That sinister provision needs to be overridden, one way or another.

More Here

What Every Parent Should Know About Monsanto

Keeping our children from harm in today’s chemically-saturated world is one of the great challenges of modern parenting. The more I read the news, the more I want to look for toddler-sized quarantine suits on Etsy, but the most proactive way I can protect my daughter is to keep myself educated on these issues — even if that means I get forehead wrinkles from excessive worry. In addition to the health of my child, I fear for the ecological health of the planet. Last time I checked, Earth is the only place we have to live, and what kind of future am I providing for my daughter if I am not cognizant of how my life, and the decisions of my government, effect our environment? That is why every parent should be aware of the Monsanto Protection Act and what it means for their family.

When President Obama signed the Monsanto Protection Act, many citizens were outraged by this blatant violation of the Constitution. By approving this act, Obama has allowed Monsanto to exist above the law, since genetically modified seeds are now protected from any litigation involving health risks. That is strange, right? If you were confident in your product, why would you be concerned about lawsuits involving health risks? You may wonder how this applies to you, considering you don’t buy Monsanto-Oh’s for breakfast, but essentially, you are. Monsanto’s genetically engineered corn, soy, wheat and beet crops have infiltrated our entire food system, and you could be eating their products every day and not even realizing it.

Many people, including children, have developed deadly allergies to peanuts and other food products. Imagine the trauma for a child who has to deal with their mortality every time they eat — how terrifying for the affected kids and their parents. According to PBS.org, “Some critics of GM foods feel that the possibility exists that those genetically modified food crops may unintentionally introduce a new allergen — for example, a fish gene can be put into a plant…. ” Although I am fan of sushi, I don’t really think it is necessary to cross-breed it with my strawberries — especially considering the potential adverse reaction. PBS then goes on to explain, “Another potential hazard is the possibility that bacteria in our guts could pick up antibiotic-resistant genes found in many GM foodstuffs… in principle, it could exacerbate the already worrisome spread of disease-causing bacteria that have proven able to withstand our antibiotics.”

Beyond frightening and unforeseen potential consequences to human health, there are some serious ecological effects we can’t afford to ignore.  Traditionally, farmers around the world have saved seeds in order to cultivate a variety of strands to help maintain bio-diversity, particularly heirloom varieties, some of which may have been developed hundreds of years ago or more. Monsanto requires farmers to sign contracts on their seed that cannot legally be used the next season, and therefore the farmers have to purchase new seed annually. These GMO seeds are used only in monocrop farming type operations, which are not environmentally friendly or sustainable for their own reasons even without the GMOs, pesticides, and petrochemical fertilizer. So when you drive cross-country, one-third of the time you will be staring at corn and soy fields making you wish the Children of the Corn will emerge and eat your eyeballs directly out of your sockets. Massive fields with one crop, created from one seed, become very susceptible to pests — hence the creation of pesticides. And because there is no crop-rotation to replenish fields, the pesticides often continue to build up over time.

I know organic is a bit more expensive, but that is largely because organic farmers don’t receive the subsidies that GM farmers do. It is not like organic farmers are blinged out in diamonds because of all their profit from kale. They are barely scraping by trying to compete in a marketplace dominated by agribusiness. And think of it this way — until the 1940s the whole world ate organic all the time. Because that was all there was. Of course this is a very complicated issue because millions of people are dependent on GM crops to survive, but as an individual with purchasing power, how you spend your money will dictate where the market will start to lean. Supporting local farmers and getting involved with CSA‘s (community supported agriculture) will keep your costs down.  And, of course, the more people who buy food grown without GMOs, the more companies will move in that direction.

It can be difficult to make an assessment for yourself of the personal and environmental risks of genetically engineered crops, because both the pro and con sides of the argument are very impassioned. You can find massive amounts of research pointing you in either direction, and that in and of itself should be a major warning sign. That the long-term consequences of these products are not yet understood means that we, the consumers, are essentially the test subjects of a global experiment involving our entire food system. What kind of responsible scientist uses humans as their guinea pigs? Not to throw the mice and rats under the bus, but I would much prefer we test on them for a few decades instead of using our children.

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Monsanto: Six Truths and a Lie

President Obama just signed a budget bill the other day, into which Monsanto had cleverly snuck a rider. The so-called Monsanto Protection Act, allows Monsanto to continue planting, growing and selling their GMO crops while they are under court review. But to make sure we needn't worry about this last minute addition and what it might mean – after all, it looks an awful lot like corporate immunity from here – they named it the "Farmer's Assurance Act," which sounds kind of pleasant.

It's a dick move, to be sure, on the part of the biotech behemoth. But there’s no surprise there - Monsanto plays the part of Evil Corporate Overlord so perfectly that if you search for “Monsanto”, Google helpfully suggests “evil”.

But where did this reputation come from? What evil things has Monsanto actually done?

Well, Grasshopper, the better question is what evil has Monsantonot done. See if you can guess which one from this list Monsanto didn’t do.

1. Still Insisting Agent Orange is A-OK

Agent Orange was a dangerous herbicide sprayed by the U.S. Military during the Vietnam War (12 million gallons). Children and veterans who had Agent Orange dumped upon them have suffered a huge list of health problems including severe deformation, extra fingers and toes, mental retardation, leukemia, and Hodgkin's Disease. Here are some pictures that will make you cry.

But Monsanto’s not convinced. Company spokesperson Jill Montgomery said the company should not be liable for injuries or deaths caused by Agent Orange. Even today Monsanto accepts no responsibility and refers only obliquely to “alleged consequences.” Those who think their liver cancer or extra fingers are Agent Orange-related may want to try readjusting their “beliefs.” Perhaps “walking it off” might do the trick. If you have any legs.

2. Monsanto Worker/Government Worker Mix 'N Match

Many former Monsanto employers see nothing untoward in taking jobs in the EPA or FDA, the very agencies that regulate Monsanto. Linda J. Fisher jumped freely between high-level jobs at the EPA, then Monsanto, then back to the EPA. William D. Ruckelshaus, former EPA administrator, and Mickey Kantor, former U.S. trade representative, each served on Monsanto’s board after leaving government.  And Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and former Monsanto attorney, wrote the majority opinion in a 2001 Supreme Court decision that gave the ok to patenting newly developed plant breeds. In subsequent biotech cases, Thomas saw no need to recuse himself, even those involving his former boss. Conflict of interest is for pussies.

3. Being A—holes about Seeds

Behold Monsanto's genius idea of patenting seeds, then forbidding farmers from saving or replanting the seeds for the next year. So what if it undoes millennia of time-tested agricultural practices and creates monocultures of dubiously safe plants? It's all good because this way farmers have to buy their weed-killer Roundup and a new batch of GMO Roundup-resistant seeds every year. And if seeds go rogue and contaminate other crops via genetic mutations and/or an errant wind, that's good too. Just sue the farmer - or you know, whoever - for patent violations. Right now, Monsanto is tying up the Supreme Court (including Justice Thomas who—surprise! - did not recuse himself) with a suit against a 75 year old farmer for the heinous crime of seed replanting.

4. Fighting the Consumers' Right to Know What We're Eating

Monsanto spent $8.1 million to fight Proposition 37 in California, a proposition that merely required GMO-containing products to be labeled. Not a judgey label with skulls all over it--just a neutral informative label stating that the product contained GMOs. Monsanto felt so strongly that consumers should be shielded from this knowledge that they fought like a wet cat against it, hiring a PR firm to create a misleading study predicting outrageous price increases, illegally using the FDA logo on mailings, making up an FDA quote, and ominously claiming that consumers' “broad food choices” could be “denied.” How that last one works, Monsanto never said, but it sure sounds bad.

5. False advertising

New York's Attorney General ordered Monsanto to stop running ads that claimed weed killer Roundup was “safer than table salt” and “practically nontoxic” to wildlife.  But, despite those reassurances, if you do have a choice in condiments, go for the table salt, unless the zesty spice of Roundup is worth side effects like birth defects and hormone disruption. And lest you were planning feeding your cat a big bowl of Roundup, please note that “practically” nontoxic doesn't necessary mean the same thing as actually nontoxic. (That’s why no one ever puts that they are “practically non-murderous” in online dating profiles.)

6. Various and Sundry Evil Deeds

These include—yawn -Monsanto's day-to-day evil such as violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, involvement with 41 active or archived US Superfund sites, producing now-banned toxic chemicals PCBs and DDT, developing terminator seeds that create sterile plants, using child labor and whatnot.

7. Monsanto, though the glories of GMOs, makes good on pledge to end world hunger

Which one do you think we made up? Go on, have a guess…

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A COLD Spring Break in PCB and a Wonderful Easter

We've been having big fun, as usual.  Dom looks and feels great.  Our dear friend Chris had never been to our condo, so we kidnapped him for 6 nights and hit the road.

Headed to Panama City Beach for the Crimson Tide Spring Break Week.  I got ONE day on the beach, then it got too cold.

Much to the boys' delight, the college gals were still running around in bikinis.

We made the normal circuit.  Had a blast. Came home on Good Friday.

Another dear friend, Dennis, bought a beautiful home and alot of property just 15 miles from us.  He and his son, Rene, stopped by for a visit on Sat.

I've known Rene his entire life.  Was at his mamma's baby shower!  Now the kid is getting ready to enter law school.  How time flies!  (He fell in love with my Barnabas and his thumbs!)

 Easter Sunday was very pleasant.  Normally, I make creamed hard boiled eggs and asparagus served over English Muffins for Brunch.

This year, I tried something new.  WOW!  This will be our new yearly brunch!


Creamy Baked Eggs with Asparagus and Pecorino

Butter for ramekins
6 thin asparagus spears, ends trimmed
4 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup lightly packed shredded pecorino
Pinch of sea salt or kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 275°. Lightly butter two 4-oz. (1/2-cup) ramekins or ovenproof bowls and set in a baking pan just big enough to hold ramekins.

2. Slice asparagus thinly on the diagonal. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add asparagus; cook until just tender-crisp, 1 to 2 minutes, and scoop out into a colander. Keep water boiling, covered.

3. In a bowl, beat eggs with milk until smooth. Stir in cheese and salt. Divide mixture between prepared ramekins. Top each with half the asparagus and sprinkle with pepper.

4. Set ramekins in baking pan and put in oven. With oven door open, carefully pour hot water into baking pan up to the level of the eggs in ramekins. Bake until eggs are set in centers (touch to test), about 45 minutes. To remove ramekins, carefully pull oven rack out partway; lift ramekins from pan with tongs and set aside. Push rack with pan back into the oven to cool. Serve eggs immediately.

Dinner was a great success.  I picked up a 6 1/2 pound Leg of Lamb, stuffed it with loads of garlic, topped it with lemon juice, rosemary and cracked black pepper.

I roasted it on a "rack" of lemon halves.

The lamb was delicious, and the gravy was outstanding.

Served this with something new this year:

Crash Hot Potatoes


Ingredients

12 small yellow potatoes
Kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
Fresh ground black pepper

Directions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until fork-tender, about 12 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 475F.

Place the potatoes on a baking sheet. Using a potato masher, gently press down to mash each one. The tops of the potatoes should be really textured. Drizzle the tops of the potatoes with the olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake until golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes. These are absolutely irresistible!

Variations:

Place 1/4 pat of butter on top of each smashed potato before baking.

Top each smashed potato with grated Cheddar before baking.

These were YUMMY.

Finished up the dinner with Spinach Souffle (Stouffer's), and had planned on Pecorino/Butter stuffed and baked Vidalia Onions, but forgot them.

I hope that everyone had a pleasant Easter!