{"id":83957,"date":"2013-10-12T18:42:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-12T17:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=cf4304af8664e538b6ad6ba186f709c0"},"modified":"2013-10-12T18:42:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-12T17:42:00","slug":"anti-monsanto-activism-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/anti-monsanto-activism-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Monsanto Activism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\"><b>Anti-Monsanto Activism<\/b><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Monsanto perhaps is the world&#8217;s most hated corporation. Considering the competition, it&#8217;s not easy taking top honors.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">GMO foods and ingredients are toxic. They&#8217;re unsafe to eat. They&#8217;re hazardous to human health. They should be banned. Monsanto&#8217;s the leading producer.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">GMOs poison people for profit. Independent studies explain. Agribusiness giants want all animal and vegetable life forms patented.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They want worldwide food control. Getting it means everything produced for human consumption won&#8217;t be safe to eat. Last May, tens of thousands of people marched against Monsanto.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They did so in dozens of countries worldwide. They want consumer protections enacted. They want safe food to eat.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They want governments assuring it. They want GMO foods and ingredients labeled. Ideally they want them banned.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Former Monsanto executives run the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An obvious conflict of interest exists.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Independent FDA scientists warned repeatedly. GMO foods and ingredients have harmful side effects. They compromise human health.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Sheep, buffalo and goats in India died after grazing on Bt cotton plants. Mice eating GMO corn had fewer, smaller babies.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Over half the newborns of mother rats fed GMO soy died in three weeks. Testicle cells of mice and rats on GMO soy change significantly.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Third generation GMO soy-fed hamsters can&#8217;t reproduce. Rodents fed GMO corn and soy showed harmful immune system responses and signs of toxicity.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">After GMO soy was introduced in Britain, allergies increased by 50%. Stomach linings of rats fed GMO potatoes showed excessive cell growth. Doing so risks cancer.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Animals fed GMO foods showed organ lesions, altered liver and pancreas cells, changed enzyme levels, and other disturbing mutations.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">New drugs require safety evaluations. GMO foods undergo no human clinical trials. The only published human feeding experiment was disturbing.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It showed consumed GMO genetic material continues functioning intestinally. Doing so risks super diseases. They&#8217;re resistant to antibiotics.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">If the gene creating GMO corn Bt-toxin transfers, intestinal bacteria could become living pesticide factories.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Recent studies show GMO corn damages liver and kidneys. Monsanto&#8217;s Roundup herbicide causes birth defects. GMO soy consumption risks sterility.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Everyone deserves safe foods and ingredients. October 12 is &#8220;March Against Monsanto&#8221; day. Millions in over 50 countries are participating.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">An MAM<a href=\"http:\/\/www.march-against-monsanto.com\/p\/press-release.html\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\"> press release<\/span><\/a> states:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Millions once again are marching. &nbsp;They&#8217;re &#8220;calling for the permanent boycott of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and other harmful agro-chemicals.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Currently, marches will occur on six continents, in 52 countries, with events in over 400 cities.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;In the US, solidarity marches are slated (for) 47 states.&#8221; MAM lists <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheet\/ccc?key=0Atd7eCNIJhBFdEloSE5aWXF3SENLODVsOUpQNTRCRmc&amp;usp=sharing#gid=5\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\">global events<\/span><\/a>.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">US ones are ongoing in dozens of large and small cities nationwide. So are Canadian marches. Get out and join one.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Tami Monroe Canal founded MAM. She did so to protect her two daughters, saying:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Monsanto&#8217;s predatory business and corporate agricultural practices threatens their generation&#8217;s health, fertility and longevity.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;MAM supports a sustainable food production system. We must act now to stop GMOs and harmful pesticides.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">GMO foods and ingredients harm human health. Longterm, independent, peer-reviewed studies weren&#8217;t conducted before introducing them for human and animal consumption.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">In America, Monsanto executives control FDA and EPA policy. Millions were spent obstructing labeling attempts.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Adverse research results are suppressed. Monsanto Protection Act legislation circumvents judicial decisions.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">If courts rule GMOs unsafe, Monsanto&#8217;s free to ignore them. So is the Secretary of Agriculture.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">The law permits &#8220;continued cultivation, commercialization, and other specifically enumerated activities.&#8221; It does so regardless of potential harm to human health.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Scientifically established risks include (but aren&#8217;t limited to) organ damage, sterility, infant mortality, birth defects, auto-immune conditions, allergies and susceptibility to cancer.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Despite partially or entirely banning GMOs in 10 European countries, Japan and elsewhere, factory farm animals globally consume them.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Biotechnology isn&#8217;t the answer to world hunger. GMOs cause soil infertility, mono-cropping, loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction, and beehives collapsing.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #1255cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\"><span style=\"color: black;\">A 2003 &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.i-sis.org.uk\/TheCaseforAGM-FreeSustainableWorld.php\">Case for A GM-Free Sustainable World<\/a>&#8221; said:<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(1) GMOs &#8220;failed to deliver promised benefits.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(2) They pose escalating farm problems.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(3) They&#8217;re responsible for extensive transgenic contamination.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(4) They&#8217;re unsafe to eat.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(5) &#8220;GM food raises serious safety concerns.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(6) &#8220;Dangerous gene products are incorporated into crops.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(7) &#8220;Terminator crops spread male sterility.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(8) &#8220;Broad-spectrum herbicides (are) highly toxic to humans and other species.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(9) &#8220;Genetic engineering creates super-viruses.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(10) &#8220;Transgenic DNA in food&#8221; ends up in soil bacteria and human intestines.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(11) Transgenic DNA is linked to cancer.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(12) The &#8220;CaMV 35S promoter (is prone to) horizontal gene transfer and recombination.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">(13) Misrepresentation and scientific evidence suppression defines agribusiness practice.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">A 2013 &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.i-sis.org.uk\/Ban_GMOs_Now.php\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\">Ban GMOs Now<\/span><\/a>&#8221; report states:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">GMO proliferation &#8220;needs to be reversed as quickly as possible, particularly as GM agriculture is failing on all counts.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;That can only be achieved by a ban on GMOs, an action already taken by countries and local communities around the world.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;We need to join forces with them, to put an end to the GM corporate empire.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">GMO agriculture assures disaster. People deserve safe foods and ingredients.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Future generations will not forgive us if we do not stop the GM takeover now.&#8221; Compelling evidence explains why.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; min-height: 22px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">A Final Comment<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">The World Food Prize is called &#8220;the foremost international award recognizing achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It &#8220;emphasizes the importance of a nutritious and sustainable food supply for all people.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It &#8220;honor(s) those who have worked successfully for this goal.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Three 2013 recipients were chosen. They include Monsanto executive vice president Robert Fraley, biotech giant Syngenta founder Mary Dell Chilton, and European Federation of Biotechnology president Marc Van Montagu.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Entrepreneur John Ruan sponsored the World Food Prize. His son (John III) succeeded him as chairman. Former State Department official Kenneth M. Quinn serves as president.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Perhaps they believe &#8220;nutritious and sustainable food&#8221; doesn&#8217;t have to be safe. Maybe they think poisoning people for profit is OK.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">His new book is titled &#8220;Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anti-Monsanto Activismby Stephen LendmanMonsanto perhaps is the world&#8217;s most hated corporation. Considering the competition, it&#8217;s not easy taking top honors.GMO foods and ingredients are toxic. They&#8217;re unsafe to eat. They&#8217;re hazardous to human health. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,461],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-83957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news","7":"category-editorials"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}