Vaccinated Farmed Fish Have Side Effects

Natural Blaze | Mar 5, 2015 | Catherine J. Frompovich

Be forewarned, please, that this will not be very pleasant reading, especially if readers eat farm-raised fish and, in particular, salmon, a highly-farm-raised fish. “Wild-caught” need not apply.

During my years of research, I’ve come across all sorts of information, studies, and papers relating to animal vaccines, but this one sort of “takes the cake,” in my opinion. Farmed fish are vaccinated because, according to the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NSVS),

Modern fish farming is highly industrialized and relies heavily upon effective vaccines to minimize losses caused by infectious diseases. [1]

Want to know how to vaccinate a fish?

Please see slide 4 of the 28-slide presentation, “Side-effects of vaccination: an example of the conflict between guidelines and real life.” 

It looks like a PowerPoint presentation made by Trygve T. Poppe and Gunvor Knudsen of the NSVS.

However, before I go any further about fish vaccinations, readers ought to know that there’s a 404-page book detailing the science of fish vaccinations titled—what else but—“Fish Vaccination,” May 2014 published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The book obviously is a guide to sustainable bio-production, disease prevention to reduce losses by employing the use of antimicrobials and vaccinations, which are considered effective in stimulating the immune system of fish.

Did anyone ask the fish? That may sound like an unlikely and stupid question, but in the NSVS PowerPoint presentation, slide 10 states,

Over the years fish farmers in Norway (and strangly [sic] enough to a very limited extent in other countries) have experienced severe and unacceptable side-effects in vaccinated fish.

[Hmmm! I could have told them to expect that; it’s a no brainer!] [CJF emphasis added]

There’s a photograph of a fish carcass with some sort of black “diseased-like” flesh inside the abdominal cavity. Check it out for yourself here (No. 12) .

The two slides following No. 12 show other fish health problems such as generalized granulomatous peritonitis and abdominal lesions affecting internal organs that often have heavy melanization, meaning causing tissue to turn dark or black.

Something I find rather interesting, and bordering on empathetic, is the remark on slide 15 that vaccines save fish lives [sounds familiar] from acute death from bacterial infections, but some fish are sentenced to “life-long suffering due to severe pathological lesions in internal organs.” If that happens to fish from vaccines, what, if anything, happens to human vaccinees’ organs?

But, the real “kicker” is the remark on another slide about their having no consensus about pain perception in fish! Interestingly, though, there is a caveat that’s added, “…but anorexia and retarded growth are good indicators.” Anorexia in fish! Retarded growth too! Hmmm. Can autism occur in fish?

A fish liver granuloma [nodular inflammation in tissue] with multinucleated giant cell is featured on slide 16.

Slide 18 features the inside cavity of a fish that has to be seen – really – to believe, and people eat vaccinated farmed fish! Or, hopefully, diseased fish never make it to market. But, what if their diseased organs are removed—are those fish marketed? I wonder, “What will happen with vaccinated GMO fish?”

Candidly, the PP presentation reports that the magnitude and significance of fish disease cases are unknown and “certainly underreported” [probably just like human vaccine damage] “as most cases have been closed in agreement between the fish farmers and the vaccine manufacturer. This is confirmed by The Norwegian Medicines Agency (NMA).” Since the fish obviously don’t have legal rights, this sounds familiar and probably similar to what apparently goes on at the U.S. Vaccine Court, in my opinion.

Slide 20 has a chart of “Reported side-effects from fish veterinarians to Norwegian Medicines Agency, 1996 to 2004.” Not knowing how to interpret that chart correctly, I wouldn’t want to take a guess since I was not in the audience to hear the presenters’ interpretation. However, following that on the very next chart, we read two rather disconcerting statements, I think:

1. Is this an example of testing where results obtained in experiments are far from what happens in real life? [Again, human vaccine tests are fudged; we know that from some whistleblowers [6] and a federal court case [5].]
2. Possible problems are not addressed well enough prior to release of the products [vaccines]

Whereas, on another slide (22) this most pointed of questions appears:

How can this happen as long as these vaccines are approved by NMA following their testing protocols (since 2001)? [That seems like vaccine adverse event history just repeating itself when human vaccines are used, especially in the USA as the VAERS reports indicate.] [CJF emphasis added]

Apparently, a similar question can – and should be – asked regarding human vaccines and the testing/approval process.

At one point, slide 25, this blunt and self-searching question is asked about vaccines for fish:

Should we INCREASE the number of experimental fish for vaccine testing prior to release in order to reduce the number of side-effects? (or how should we REFINE present testing?)

It would seem that the NSVS scientists have more concern about fish than the U.S. FDA has about vaccines harming children. With all the complaints about the HPV vaccines causing harms, even deaths, to teenage girls, the FDA apparently is not asking any questions!

Now, we get down to what, for me, was the “nitty-gritty” of the fish’s health issues:

1. They were concerned about animal welfare and the “quality of life” for the fish prior to slaughter.
2. That the side-effects from vaccines in fish were still occurring after 12 years of extensive use of vaccines, and people were eating vaccinated fish!
3. They want to find ways to refine present testing to reduce side-effects! So, they realize that side effects still go on after 12 years, and continue to use vaccines. Duh!

I think I know how they can reduce all those vaccine side effects. Eliminate the vaccines; take the fish out of farms, tanks, and pens and let fish be fish! What’s happening with “farmed” fish confirms what happens when corporate-food-production ‘innovates’ on the way in which Nature intends for food production: free roaming; not-confined in close quarters thereby promoting infectious diseases from exposure to filth; and not being subjected to chemical intervention from feed or vaccines.

Vaccines for Other Animals

Other corporate-food-producers, e.g., egg production and chickens, are notorious for cramped quarters, even stacked cages for egg-laying hens, plus supplemented GMO feed ‘enhanced’ with antibiotics and other chemicals for faster growth, or for earlier harvesting than would be normal naturally. Merck & Company produces vaccines for chickens, turkeys, and ducks. (Source)

Feed lots for cattle are another example of stress on animals grown for food. Stress in any form enables or promotes animals from all genres to produce stress-related hormones. Humans produce certain hormones like cortisol and epinephrine. Furthermore, cortisol is also produced by cattle! [2] Some researchers contend that animals in fear, or under stress, produce excess adrenalin, cortisol-like excretions and steroid-like hormones, which are secreted into their tissues and have been found in their meat served to research lab animals. Here’s the “Beef cattle herd health vaccination schedule.”

In the above information about fish vaccine adverse effects, it is interesting to learn that two veterinary scientists seem concerned about “quality of life” for fish prior to slaughter.

Animal vaccines for pets have been responsible for tumor growths at injection sites, especially in cats. [3, 4] That’s why veterinarians recommend vaccinating on cats’ limbs, so the limbs can be amputated, if need be.

Vaccines are BIG business for both humans and animals, too. Here are just a few animal vaccination schedules:

The Chicken Vet – Vaccination
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/vaccination/index.aspx

Cattle Vaccines and Their Use
http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/Beef%20Cattle%20Handbook/Vaccines_Cattle.pdf

Vaccination Schedule for Goats and Sheep
http://www.valleyvet.com/library/sheep_vaccine.html

Vaccination Schedule for Pigs
http://animals.pawnation.com/vaccination-schedule-pigs-2248.html

Caring for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and Ferrets
http://www.vetwest.com.au/pet-library/caring-for-rabbits-guinea-pigs-and-ferrets

Vaccinations for Adult Horses
http://www.aaep.org/custdocs/adultvaccinationchart.pdf

Overview of Vaccination for Exotic Mammals
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/exotic_and_laboratory_animals/vaccination_of_exotic_mammals/overview_of_vaccination_of_exotic_mammals.html

Preventive Medicine for Zoo Animals

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/exotic_and_laboratory_animals/zoo_animals/preventive_medicine_for_zoo_animals.html

So, what’s in your meat or fish?

References:

[1] http://oslovet.norecopa.no/gardermoen/2405poppe.pdf
[2] http://www.dairyco.org.uk/technical-information/animal-health-welfare/mastitis/symptoms-of-mastitis/stress-health-and-productivity/#.VPhd8hQ5D9I
[3] http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/cancer/c_ct_vaccine_sarcoma
[4] https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Reference/Pages/rbbroch.aspx
[5] http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/06/27/47851.htm
[6] http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/obama-grants-immunity-to-cdc-whistleblower-on-measles-vaccine-link-to-autism/

Resources:

Vaccines for fish in acquaculture

http://www.aqualifeservices.com/services/fish-vaccination/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15757476
http://www.thefishsite.com/articles/150/vaccines-for-fish-in-aquaculture/

Vaccine Associated Fibrosarcoma

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=526
http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/aadap/INAD%20Workshop%20Files/Workshop%202011%20Bozeman
/Presentations/Wednesday/Wed%20PM/Mitchell_Fish%20vaccine%20status%20AADAP%20August%202011.pdf

Image source

Catherine retired from researching and writing, but felt compelled to write this article. 

Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.

Catherine’s latest book, published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Don’t Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com.

Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective & Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook.

Two of Catherine’s more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008)

Manatees moving out of Florida waters west along Gulf coast

© AP/ Wilfredo Lee
In this May 15, 2014 photo. a manatee sticks its head
out of the water at Miami Seaquarium in Miami. As
manatees recover in Florida, their U.S. home base,
more and more seem to be showing up
farther west along the Gulf of Mexico.

SOTT | Jan 11, 2015 | Janet McConnaughey

As manatees recover in Florida, their U.S. home base, more and more seem to be showing up farther west along the Gulf of Mexico.

A total of seven stranded manatees had been reported along the Alabama coast before 2007, when a network to report strandings and sightings was created. Since then, "we've responded to dozens" of strandings, said Ruth Carmichael, head of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab's Manatee Sighting Network for Alabama and Mississippi.

"I think things are changing, in the manatee population and in the environment," she said Tuesday. She said scientists know there are more of the big, gentle marine mammals than there used to be. "But habitat is stable or declining. Animals are being forced to do something. The natural thing would be to spread out."

In hope of gathering enough data to learn whether her impression is accurate, she's now working with people in Louisiana and Texas to expand the network - "as far as I know, the only manatee sighting network in the country" - to those states.

"We see more animals coming here, staying longer, going farther west. We want to be prepared," Carmichael said.

Read more..

Spy drones expose factory farming's disgusting environmental devastation they don't want us to know about

© Natural News

Natural News | Dec 20, 2014 | Kali Sinclair

We've known the horrific conditions animals endure when raised in factory farms. One could only hope we have all seen some footage that shows chickens, cows, or pigs crammed into tiny spaces so filled that the animals cannot turn around or lay down. One thing we haven't seen until now are the cesspools created by factory farming.

Mark Devries, director of the documentary Speciesism, the Movie, explores the cultural belief that "our species is more important than the rest." His exposure of factory farming as "one of the greatest evils in our history" should give us pause. After all, animal cruelty laws are widely upheld when it comes to the treatment of cats, dogs, and horses. For some reason they don't apply to factory raised animals.

Factory farms are tucked away and hidden from prying eyes. In his film, Mark crawls through bushes, flies over factory farms, and even uses a drone to videotape the landscape. In a clip (see video below) his drone reveals a cesspool the size of three football fields. The cesspool is simply a giant trench filled to the brim with pig feces and urine. The metal buildings beside the cesspool hold pigs crammed nose to tail. Waste is flushed under each building to the cesspools and then sprayed into the air.

Now here's the interesting part. The animal waste is not pumped into a treatment facility. It is not pumped into a septic tank. It is not treated in any way. It is sprayed into the air.

From there, where does it go? While giant factory farms make an effort to hide away in rural settings, they still have neighbors. Their practice of spraying waste into the air causes it to drift onto their neighbors' property. The odor alone is unimaginable. At times, it rain animal feces onto the neighbors' yards and houses. Asthma rates, especially for children, are high. Runoff from factory farms contaminates waterways and groundwater.

Animals raised under these conditions are highly susceptible to disease. Initial reports regarding the Swine flu epidemic identified patient zero as a child who lived near a factory farm, but these reports were quickly squashed.

If you need a more reasons to stay away from factory farmed meat, check out, Food for Naught.

Sources:

http://speciesismthemovie.com

http://factoryfarmdrones.com

About the author:

Kali Sinclair is a copywriter for Green Lifestyle Market, and a lead editor for Organic Lifestyle Magazine. Kali was very sick with autoimmune disease and realized that conventional medicine was not working for her. She has been restoring her health by natural means and is interested in topics including natural health, environmental issues, and human rights.

With Help From USDA, Factory Farms 'Masquerading' Products as Organic

This flyover shot taken during Cornucopia Institute's investigation
shows Herbruck’s farm in Saranac, Michigan, which holds 85,000
hens per building and none outdoors. (Photo: Cornucopia Institute)

Common Dreams | Dec 11, 2014 | Nadia Prupis

Cornucopia Institute sues 14 industrial farms over alleged fraud, mistreatment of animals

More than a dozen factory farms producing dairy and meat products for stores nationwide engaged in widespread organic fraud for years as the USDA stood idly by, an agriculture industry watchdog said on Thursday.

A months-long investigation by the Cornucopia Institute discovered that 14 farms around the country producing so-called organic products have been defying USDA regulations, keeping animals tightly packed in facilities with no real access to the outdoors, while federal management routinely ignored pressure to investigate conditions.

The institute filed suit against those farms on Thursday and called on the USDA to remove the industry management body, the National Organic Program.

Organic fraud is "unconscionable," said Mark A. Kastel, Cornucopia senior farm policy analyst. "The job of the USDA is to oversee the certifiers and ensure that they are doing their job. It is quite possible that, in this case, there could have been a conspiracy and/or negligence that the certifier was responsible for."

After what the Cornucopia Institute called "years of inaction" by the USDA, the watchdog group conducted an independent investigation into the conditions of a number of farms currently creating products for labels that market themselves as humane, environmentally conscious, and economically fair.

None of them passed muster.

Current organic rules dictate that animals designated as organic must have their "health and natural behavior" accommodated, allowing cows to graze and chickens to roam. Among the farms named in Cornucopia Institute's lawsuit is Horizon Dairy, a grocery store staple that depicts a happy, animated cow as its logo; but aerial photographs taken during Cornucopia's investigation show that Horizon farms, as well as the "vast majority" of large-scale farms that label themselves organic, "had 100% of their animals confined in giant buildings or feedlots," conditions which violate federal standards for organic farms, the institute says.

Other well-known brands whose dairies failed to measure up in Cornucopia's investigation were Herbruck's and Organic Valley.

"The federal organic regulations make it very clear that all organic livestock must have access to the outdoors and that ruminants, like dairy cows, must have access to pasture," Kastel said.

With the organic industry expanding in response to increased desire for more natural products and humane treatment of animals, consumers are likely to feel deceived to learn of the real conditions on those farms, Kastel added. "Shoppers, who passionately support the ideals and values represented by the organic label, understandably feel betrayed when they see photos of these massive CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) masquerading as organic."

This is not the first time that Horizon, or other brands named in the suit, have been in trouble for skirting regulations. Some of its largest dairy providers are still being investigated by the USDA for "improprieties."

But federal oversight is still inadequate, often taking years to respond to complaints and review appeals from dairies that continue operating illegally in the interim, Cornucopia says—actions which diminish profits for legitimate farms nearby.

"The inaction by the USDA places thousands of ethical family-scale farmers, who are competing with a couple of dozen giant dairies, at a competitive disadvantage,” said Kevin Engelbert, an organic dairy farmer and former member of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), a citizen advisory panel. "Allowing these illegal dairies to continue to operate is a travesty and significantly undercuts the supply-demand dynamic that should be rewarding farmers in the marketplace and providing a decent living for our families."

The criticism against the USDA does not stop at inaction against illegal operators. The agency also restricted the oversight responsibilities of the NOSB and weakened rules for the use of synthetic ingredients in organic food production, Cornucopia says.

Many of those farms are denying that any impropriety exists. "A single photo doesn’t really tell us anything about a farm and its practices," Sonja Tuitele, a spokesperson for Aurora Organic Dairy, told the Washington Post. "Our records do indicate that all of our lactating cows at the Coldwater facility were grazing on pastures on May 17^th. Since we don’t know what time of day this photo was taken, we can only assume this photo was taken outside of their daily grazing hours."

Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides and member of the NOSB, called the current situation "untenable."

He added, "Someone needs to take responsibility for the divide in this industry which has begun seriously undercutting the credibility of the organic label and the livelihoods of ethical organic farmers."

SHOCKING: Exposing the biggest secret of the Cage Age

Compassion in World Farming | Oct 6, 2014

During the summer of 2014, Compassion in World Farming’s Investigation Unit went undercover to visit 16 rabbit factory farms in 5 countries – Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Poland and Cyprus.

What they found is the unknown face of factory farming: millions of animals stuck in the Cage Age…

This is 2014. We do not live in the dark ages. It is high time we evolved past such cruelty and put a stop to the, frankly, medieval practice of keeping farm animals behind bars.

Help us end the Cage Age: http://goo.gl/8btRa4

Scientist vs. Organic Advocate Debate GMO Safety

Breaking the Set | Sep 18, 2014

Abby Martin features a debate on GMOs between Alexis Baden-Mayer, Political Director of the Organic Consumers Association and Dr. Kevin Folta, a Professor of Horticultural Sciences at the University of Florida, covering everything from the safety of GM food to whether there should be mandatory GMO labelling.

A birds-eye view of the bird scorching Ivanpah solar electric power plant

WattsUpWithThat | Aug 19, 2014 | Anthony Watts

At the start of the weekend, and quite by accident, I found myself aloft and looking directly into the glare of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. I can tell you that not only does it roast birds in mid-air, it certainly seems to be a hazard to aviation. First, a story today from AP, via my local newspaper. Photos follow.

Emerging desert solar plants scorch birds in midair-Chico Enterprise-Record

IVANPAH DRY LAKE (AP) >> Workers at a state-of-the-art solar plant in the Mojave Desert have a name for birds that fly through the plant’s concentrated sun rays — “streamers,” for the smoke plume that comes from birds that ignite in midair.

Federal wildlife investigators who visited the BrightSource Energy plant last year and watched as birds burned and fell, reporting an average of one “streamer” every two minutes, are urging California officials to halt the operator’s application to build a still-bigger version.

The investigators want the halt until the full extent of the deaths can be assessed. Estimates per year now range from a low of about a thousand by BrightSource to 28,000 by an expert for the Center for Biological Diversity environmental group.

The deaths are “alarming. It’s hard to say whether that’s the location or the technology,” said Garry George, renewable-energy director for the California chapter of the Audubon Society. “There needs to be some caution.”

The bird kills mark the latest instance in which the quest for clean energy sometimes has inadvertent environmental harm. Solar farms have been criticized for their impacts on desert tortoises, and wind farms have killed birds, including numerous raptors.

“We take this issue very seriously,” said Jeff Holland, a spokesman for NRG Solar of Carlsbad, the second of the three companies behind the plant. The third, Google, deferred comment to its partners.

Read more..

Can Private Drones be Used to Counter “Ag-Gag” Laws in 7 States?

(photo: Will Porter)

ALLGOV | Jul 22, 2014 | Noel Brinkerhoff, Steve Straehley

An investigative journalist has decided that if state laws prevent him from documenting evidence of wrongdoing inside factory farms, he’ll take to the air to see what’s going on.

Using the online fundraising website Kickstarter, journalist Will Potter managed to raise $75,000 to purchase multiple drones for aerial surveillance of large livestock facilities.

Potter told NPR’s The Salt that the move was necessary since seven states have adopted “ag-gag” bills that outlaw the collecting of images inside such operations that reveal neglect or abuse.

“I was primarily motivated by what’s happening outside of those closed doors, but is still invisible and hidden from the public spotlight,” he said. “In particular, I was motivated by seeing these aerial photographs and satellite imagery of farm pollution, of waste lagoons, of sprawling industrial operations.”

Potter says that with the images he gets from the drone, he’ll create a documentary about ag-gag laws and factory farming and publish an e-book.

Industry officials were not pleased to learn of Potter’s drone plans, which some say will be used by animal rights activists to further taint corporate-owned farms. One spokeswoman even took a shot at Potter’s campaign rather than attempt to defend the abuse that often happens on such farms. “It’s even more unfortunate that people contribute to campaigns like this on Kickstarter instead of investing in any of the other myriad of worthy causes—including working to end hunger,” said Emily Meredith of the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

Still others have made veiled threats to shoot down the drones if they’re spotted near agricultural operations. “Those things better not be coming over during duck season because there are hunters out there that might look up and mistake that drone for a duck,” Chuck Jolley, a meat industry veteran, told Harvest Public Media.

Whether Potter will get away with running his Anti-Ag-Gag Air Force is another question. Clemens Kochinke, an attorney who writes the Drone Law blog, says the law is unclear about monitoring agricultural operations and whether Potter’s First Amendment rights might trump other concerns.

Potter isn’t the first animal-rights activist to take to the air. PETA has launched drones to “stalk” hunters suspected of illegal activities.

To Learn More:

Deploying Drones to Get an Overview of Factory Farms (by Peggy Lowe, National Public Radio)

Drone on the Farm: An Aerial Exposé (Kickstarter)

Idaho Bill Criminalizing Videotaping of Agricultural Operations Targets Opponents of Animal Abuse (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Animal Rights Groups Sue Utah over Law Criminalizing Undercover Photography of Farm Abuse (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)

How Military Exercises Are Killing Millions of Sea Creatures Every Year | Brainwash Update

Breaking the Set | Jun 26, 2014 | CHANNEL

Abby Martin goes over the effect war games have on the environment, citing the US and China engaging in the world's largest naval exercise, as well as how the use of sonar testing harming millions of marine mammals.

This Journalist is Launching Drones to Expose Factory Farm Abuse | Interview with Will Potter

Breaking the Set | Jun 19, 2014 | CHANNEL

Monsanto Indoctrinating Kids At the Zoo

© TruthStream Media

TruthStream Media | Jun 18, 2014 |Melissa Melton / Aaron Dykes

Melissa and I visited the St. Louis Zoo, in Monsanto’s hometown, and found that they and other leading corporate donors were actively “educating” children, families and groups about the natural world, including the causes of bee colony collapse and the rapid mass disappearances of Monarch butterfly populations.



We passed by the Monsanto Lecture Hall, Monsanto Education Center and went inside the Monsanto Insectarium… I guess the conquerors always celebrate the things they dominate and destroy, putting their fleeting beauty and grace on full display.

The saturated propaganda and overt corporatism could not be missed… Melissa kept wondering if there was anything in this town Monsanto hadn’t bought.

Pesticide Companies Use Clever Loophole to Avoid Regulation of Genetically Modified Grass

Scotts Co. scientist Bob Harriman
looks over genetically e
ngineered grass (AP Photo)

ALLGOV | May 28, 2014 | Noel Brinkerhoff

The biotechnology industry has found another use for pesticide-resistant gene technology by putting it in grass seeds, and in the process, completely avoided federal regulation of this new genetically engineered (GE) product.

Soon, lawns and farms across America could consist of Scotts Roundup-Ready Kentucky Bluegrass (whether people want it or not), designed to withstand “massive amounts of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide,” according to EcoWatch.

Monsanto and Scotts managed to get their GE grass on the market without approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) due to loopholes in federal law.

Ordinarily, GE crops come under federal regulation as long as they contain genetic material from “plant pests”—the beings that the gene manipulation are designed to resist.

But Scotts decided to use DNA from other plants in creating the new kind of Kentucky bluegrass, along with other techniques that avoided triggering the USDA to step in and require testing, as well as its approval, before the grass could be sold to consumers.

EcoWatch’s Charlotte Warren and Ronnie Cummins warn that because of bluegrass’ light pollen, the grass can easily spread to neighboring properties. Once it does, the GE version will genetically merge with existing grasses—including organic ones that farmers rely on to produce organic meat, for example.

“As these seeds spread and more and more grass takes up that genetic trait, we’ll find organic farmers who want to grass feed their beef, can’t do it because their grass is genetically modified, which is prohibited in organic standards,” Bill Duesing of the Northeast Organic Farming Association wrote for CT News Junkie. “GMOs are pollution with a life of its own.”

Warren and Cummins noted that research has shown that GE grass eaten by animals has a “devastating impact” on their health, whether they be “prized horses” or cattle raised for the meat market. The journalists also predict that the use of GE grass will lead to increased use of the widely used herbicide Roundup, which contains the ingredient glyphosate, said to cause numerous diseases, from Parkinson’s to cancer.

Bureau of Land Management Terrorists Are Engaged In Widespread Cruelty To Animals

© unknown

BlackListed News | Apr 20, 2014 | Lee Rogers

The Bureau of Land Management not only has involved itself in a domestic terrorist operation against rancher Cliven Bundy but they appear to be involved in widespread cruelty to animals. During the BLM's terrorist actions, they killed cattle for no reason, separated young calves from their mothers and even sabotaged equipment that the animals relied upon for water.  Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore has posted several photos documenting the BLM's inhumane treatment of these animals.

Now due to their failure to properly manage the horse population in Wyoming they are sending wild horses to Canadian slaughterhouses.  These horses are actually protected from slaughter by United States law but a terrorist organization like the BLM does not care about the law.  Simply put, they think they are above the law.

Could it be any more obvious that the BLM is not a good steward of the land and wildlife?  More specifically the BLM is an institution of corruption and evil.

From Western Journalism:

The Bureau of Land Management is clearly having an image problem. As the outrage over its intimidating show of force during last week’s showdown at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada proved, the federal agency is now caught up in a controversy originating in Wyoming.

According to recent reports, agents herded a large group of wild horses in the state before ceding control of the majestic animals to state authorities. At that point, Wyoming officials sold them off to a slaughterhouse in Canada.

Obviously, this development outraged countless advocates already incensed by accusations that BLM officers gunned down multiple cows at the Bundy Ranch.

Paula Todd King, a wild horse advocate with Colorado’s Cloud Foundation, said it would have taken “very little to do this in a more effective way so that horses are not just sent off to slaughter indiscriminately.”

Though wild horses, which have roamed throughout the American West for hundreds of years, are protected by federal law, the BLM contends these animals do not qualify for such protection. Instead, agency spokesperson Sarah Beckwith contends they are strays descended from rodeo horses from four decades ago.

King, however, wondered how such a distinction is made.

“How long does a horse have to live wild and free before it’s considered wild?” she asked.

Fourth Anniversary of Gulf Oil Spill: Wildlife Is Still Suffering from Toxic Cover Up

© Daily Bail

Washington's Blog | Apr 13, 2014 |

BP and the Government Decided to Temporarily Hide the Oil by Sinking It with Toxic Chemicals … The Gulf Ecosystem Is Now Paying the Price 

As we noted at the time, and on the first (and here), second and third anniversaries of BP’s Gulf oil spill, BP and the government made the spill much worse by dumping toxic dispersant in the water in an attempt to to sink – and so temporarily hide – the oil.

In addition, adding dispersant makes oil 52 times more toxic than it would normally be.

EPA whistleblowers tried to warn us…

Gulf toxicologist Susan Shaw told us last year:

Covering up the [Gulf] oil spill with Corexit was a deadly action … what happened in the Gulf was a political act, an act of cowardice and greed.

(60 Minutes did a fantastic exposé on the whole shenanigan.)

And the cover up went beyond adding toxic dispersant.  BP and the government went so far as hiding dead animals and keeping scientists and reporters away from the spill so they couldn’t document what was really happening.

As the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) notes in a new report, the wildlife is still suffering from this toxic cover up.

NWF reports:

Some 900 bottlenose dolphins of all ages—the vast majority of them dead—have been reported stranded in the northern Gulf between April 2010 and March 2014. In 2013, bottlenose dolphins were found dead or stranded at more than three times average rates before the spill. In 2011, dead infant or stillborn dolphins were found at nearly seven times the historical average and these strandings have remained higher than normal in subsequent years. NOAA has been investigating this ongoing wave of bottlenose dolphin strandings across the northern Gulf of Mexico since February 2010, before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. This is the longest period of above-average strandings in the past two decades and it includes the greatest number of stranded dolphins ever found in the Gulf of Mexico. In December 2013, NOAA published results of a study looking at the health of dolphins in a heavily-oiled section of the Louisiana coast. This researchers found strong evidence that the ill health of the dolphins in Louisiana’s Barataria Bay was related to oil exposure.

***

Dolphins in Barataria Bay showed evidence of adrenal problems, as has been previously reported in mammals exposed to oil.4 Barataria Bay dolphins also were five times more likely than dolphins from unoiled areas to have moderate-to-severe lung disease. Nearly half the dolphins studied were very ill; 17% of the dolphins were not expected to survive. The study concludes that health effects seen in Barataria Bay dolphins are significant and likely will lead to reduced survival and ability to reproduce.

NWF found many other species have also been harmed by the dispersant-oil mixture:

Roughly 500 stranded sea turtles have been found in the area affected by the spill every year from 2011 to 2013. This is a dramatic increase over the numbers found before the disaster. Other teams of scientists have reported negative impacts of oil on a number of species of fish, including tuna red snapper and mahi-mahi. As we have learned from previous spills far smaller than the 2010 event, it has taken years to understand the full effects on the environment. In some cases, recovery is not complete even decades later. Twenty-five years after the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, clams, mussels, and killer whales are still considered “recovering,” and the Pacific herring population, commercially harvested before the spill, is showing few signs of recovery. [One of the main ingredients in Corexit - 2-butoxyethanol - was also used in the Valdez spill] … the full scope of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on the Gulf ecosystem will likely unfold for years or even decades to come.

***

The Atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the largest fish in the Gulf, reaching average lengths of 6.5 feet and weighing about 550 lbs. A single fish can sell for tens of thousands of dollars.… The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded while the April-May breeding season in the northern Gulf was underway. In 2011, NOAA researchers estimated that as many as 20% of larval fish could have been exposed to oil, with a potential reduction in future populations of about 4%.

***

A more recent study shows that a chemical in oil from the spill can cause irregular heartbeats in bluefin and yellowfin tuna that can lead to heart attacks, or even death. The effects are believed to be particularly problematic for fish embryos and larvae, as heartbeat changes could affect development of other organs. The researchers suggest that other vertebrate species in the Gulf of Mexico could have been similarly affected. Scientists found that four additional species of large predatory fish—blackfin tuna, blue marlin, mahi-mahi and sailfish—all had fewer larvae in the year of the oil spill than any of the three previous years.

***

The Deepwater Horizon spill occurred during the blue crab spawning season, when female crabs were migrating out of estuaries into deeper waters of the Gulf to release their eggs.
***

[Reports indicate problems with crabs.] Blue crabs provide evidence of oil tainting Gulf food web. 2. Alabama Local News. 2013. Blue crab stock declines are concern for Gulf Coast fishermen. 3. Houma Today. 2013. Locals say blue crab catches plummeting. 4. Louisiana Seafood News. 2013. Lack of Crabs in Pontchartrain Basin Leads to Unanswered Questions. 5. Tampa Bay Times. 2013. Gulf oil spill’s effects still have seafood industry nervous. 6. Presentation at the 2014 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference. The Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Blue Crab Megalopal Settlement: A Field Study.

***

Marine life associated with the deep sea corals also showed visible signs of impact from the oil. In a laboratory study, coral larvae that had been exposed to oil, a chemical dispersant, and an oil/ dispersant mixture all had lower survival rates than the control larvae in clean seawater.

***

According to a recently published federal report, oyster eggs, sperm and larvae were exposed to oil and dispersants during the 2010 oil spill. Oil compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be lethal to oyster

***

In the fall of 2010, even after the Macondo well was capped, oyster larvae were rare or absent in many of the water samples collected across the northern Gulf of Mexico.

***

There are nearly 1000 known species of foraminifera in the Gulf of Mexico. These small marine creatures form part of the base of the marine food web, serving as a food source for marine snails, sand dollars and fish. Previous research has shown that these sediment-dwelling microorganisms are sensitive to oil damage. Rapid accumulation of oiled sediment on parts of the Gulf floor between late 2010 and early 2011 contributed to a dramatic die-off of foraminifera. Researchers found a significant difference in community structure and abundance during and after the Deepwater Horizon event at sites located from 100-1200 meters deep in the Desoto Canyon, nearly 100 kilometers south-southwest of Pensacola, Florida. Deep sea foraminifera had not recovered in diversity a year and a half after the spill.

***

Killifish, also known as bull minnows or cockahoe, are prized bait fish and play an important role in the Gulf food web..…This species has been extensively studied in the aftermath of the disaster because of its abundance and its sensitivity to pollution. Oil exposure can alter the killifish’s cellular function in ways that are predictive of developmental abnormalities, decreased hatching success and decreased embryo and larval survival. In 2011, Louisiana State University researchers compared the gill tissue of killifish in an oiled marsh to those in an oil-free marsh. Killifish residing in oiled marshes showed evidence of effects even at low levels of oil exposure which could be significant enough to have an impact at a population level. Additional research has found that four common species of marsh fish, including the Gulf killifish, seem to be avoiding oiled areas. These behaviors, even at small scales, could be significant within marsh communities, leading to changes in food web dynamics.

***

In the aftermath of the spill, a number of fish, including red snapper, caught in Gulf waters between eastern Louisiana and western Florida had unusual lesions or rotting fins. University of South Florida researchers examined red snapper and other fish and determined that their livers contained oil compounds that had a strong “pattern coherence” to oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill.… An analysis of snapper populations in the Gulf that was done between 2011 and 2013 showed an unusual lack of younger snapper. Further research found a significant decline in snapper and other reef fish after the spill. Small plankton-eating fish, such as damselfishes and cardinalfishes, declined most dramatically but red snapper and other larger reef fish also declined.

***

Seaside sparrows live only in coastal marshes, where they are common year-round residents. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill remains in some marshes, putting seaside sparrows at continued risk from direct oiling, contaminated or reduced food supplies, and continued habitat loss. In 2012 and 2013, seaside sparrows in Louisiana salt marshes were found to have reductions in both overall abundance and likelihood to fledge from the nest. Because these birds are not aquatic, exposure to oil would likely come from incidental contact on the shore or from eating oil or bugs and other creatures that have oil in their systems. Other studies have shown a significant decrease in the insect population in oiled marshes, which could be reducing prey availability for seaside sparrows.

***

Roughly 700 sperm whales live year-round in the Gulf’s deep waters off the continental shelf…. A researcher at the University of Southern Maine has found higher levels of DNA-damaging metals such as chromium and nickel in sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico compared to sperm whales elsewhere in the world. These metals are present in oil from the spill. Whales closest to the well’s blowout showed the highest levels.

Nothing has changed … indeed, the U.S. has let BP back into the Gulf.  And BP is going to drill even deeper … with an even greater potential for disaster.

It’s not just BP … or the Gulf.  Giant banking and energy companies and the government have a habit of covering up disasters – including not only oil spills, but everything from nuclear accidents to  financial problems – instead of actually fixing the problems so that they won’t happen again.

Despicable: Funding shortage leaves Ukraine's zoo animals facing starvation

The hippopotamus at the city zoo in Kharkov
(Reuters / Leonid Litvin)

RT | Apr 9, 2014

Zoos across Ukraine are experiencing the fallout after the coup in Ukraine ousted President Viktor Yanukovich. Worried staff say the animals face starvation unless funds are immediately provided to buy food.

The zoo in Nikolaev is one of the country’s oldest and has survived two world wars, but the latest political crisis in Ukraine could see it closing. It is not just the animals that are in danger. The zoo also desperately needs money in order to pay the costs of running the establishment.

According to Barbara Wiseman, president of the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization, which is an international non-profit conservation and environmental body, “there are close to 5,735 animals on the brink.” She has been launching a campaign to raise funds from around the world to help the stricken animals, after learning of their fate from South African animal lover Lionel de Lange, who is based in Ukraine.

The organization is trying to rescue over 8,000 animals in total by providing the necessary food and medical supplies to several Ukrainian zoos.

“We have raised enough funds to cover the last two weeks of needed food and medical supplies and have enough food for one more week,” Wiseman said. “The zoo will not have the resources to take care of the animals’ food needs until the end of April when the weather gets warmer and the [income] from zoo attendance [rises].”

The zoo has made an appeal to the public for help, with ticket sales helping to bring in just over $20,000, while the people of Nikolaev, which is in the south of the country, also brought food with them to give to the animals.

Ostriches kept within an enclosure on the grounds of the Mezhyhirya
residence of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich in the village Novi Petrivtsi,
outside Kiev February 22, 2014. (Reuters / Konstantin Chernichkin)

Nikolaev zoo is not the only attraction to have suffered. Kharkov zoo also faced similar problems, "our animals are not fighting for power, they do not share anyone's political views, they just want to live", the zoo said in a statement in March, AFP reported. With no help forthcoming from the coup-appointed government, the residents of Kharkov took matters into their own hands.

Worried locals advertised the zoo’s plight and the public responded. In just three days, the zoo attracted 77,603 visitors and managed to raise almost $125,000 through ticket sales and donations from abroad, the zoo said on its website.

"We sincerely thank everyone who helped the zoo during these difficult days. To our call of ‘Save the Kharkov zoo!’ it seems like the entire city responded. This weekend our zoo saw huge lines for tickets, tons of food, and lots of positive emotions. People of all ages and professions kindly showed up to support the zoo,” the zoo’s website said after seeing a significant rise in visitors between March 8 and 10.

However, the zoo still faces substantial financial difficulties. On March 20, its website stated it still needed to find in the region of $110,000 to pay for utilities such as electricity and gas.

The animals at Viktor Yanukovich’s personal zoo are also facing starvation, according to NTD television. When the ousted president fled the country, he left no means of supporting over 2,000 animals at his estate, with most of his support staff also leaving. One of the only people to show an interest in caring for the animals was Sergey Grigoryev, who used to work at the Kiev zoo.

Using social media, he managed to mobilize more than 100 people, who are giving up their free time to work at the zoo. However supplies are low and Grigoryev believes they only have enough food and vitamins to last the animals until the end of this week.

He says the volunteers are trying to find them new homes, but Kiev zoo does not want to take in any new animals at the moment. Talks with other zoos across the country are continuing.

BP to Blame for Exxon Valdez: Environmental Disaster 25 Years Later | Interview with Greg Palast

Greg Palast
© RT

BreakingtheSet | Mar 24, 2014 | CHANNEL

Abby Martin features an exclusive interview with investigative journalist, Greg Palast, discussing his article on TruthDig which exposes the extent of BP's culpability in the Exxon Valdez oil spill 25 years ago, specifically for not providing adequate safety equipment, a criminal offense which was repeated in the 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill.

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Idaho Lawmakers Green-Light Legislation to 'Wipe Out' Wolves

A gray wolf. (Photo: Tracy Brooks/USFWS)

Common Dreams | Mar 21, 2014 | Andrea Germanos

Legislation "has put a black eye on decades of tireless work to return wolves to the American landscape."

Wildlife advocates are decrying legislation they say will "wipe out as many wolves as legally possible in Idaho."

Signed by state lawmakers on Thursday, it is expected to get the signature of Governor C. L. "Butch" Otter, who in 2007 said he would "bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself," if gray wolves lost Endangered Species Act protection.

The legislation sets aside $400,000 for a board "to provide funds for the management and control of depredating wolves in Idaho."

In the words of Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer at the Center for Biological Diversity, the legislation's goal is "to wipe out as many wolves as legally possible in Idaho," and said the state "has put a black eye on decades of tireless work to return wolves to the American landscape."

"Political leaders in Idaho would love nothing more than to eradicate Idaho’s wolves and return to a century-old mindset where big predators are viewed as evil and expendable," Weiss's statement continued. "The new state wolf board, sadly, reflects that attitude."

Meanwhile, a group of over 70 congressmen sent a letter this week to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, asking that a proposal to delist the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list be rescinded because it is not based on the best available science.

* * *

Weiss offers more background on the plight of the wolves in this video from the Center for Biological Diversity:

More Than Three-Quarters of Soybeans, Corn and Cotton Grown in U.S. are Genetically Engineered

Rootworms on corn
(photo: Marlin E. Rice,
Iowa State University)

ALLGOV | Mar 20, 2014 | Noel Brinkerhoff

New agricultural figures out of Washington show that genetically engineered crops now overwhelmingly dominate the yields of America’s production of soybeans, corn and cotton. But the industry’s embrace of what critics call “frankencrops” has already started to backfire for at least one of these staples.

First the numbers: crops modified by scientists to be herbicide-tolerant (HT) are now just about everywhere on U.S. farms.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that 93% of all soybeans in the country were the HT variety as of last year. HT cotton comprised 82% of that crop in 2013, while HT corn dominated 85% of that crop’s acreage last year.

Another type of modified corn contains the gene from the soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), which makes the plant toxic to certain pests, like the rootworm. Going with Bt corn allowed farmers to use less insecticide, reduce costs and curtail environmental pollution. That’s why Bt corn became so popular, making up 76% of all corn acreage in 2013.

But many scientists warned after the Bt modification was introduced that insects weren’t going to just go away and not munch on these plants anymore. Nature, after all, is big on adaptation, and that’s what the rootworm has done.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says rootworms have developed a resistance to the Bt gene—which means they can go back to eating modified corn.

“Unless management practices change, it’s only going to get worse,” Aaron Gassmann, an Iowa State University entomologist and coauthor of the study, told Wired. “There needs to be a fundamental change in how the technology is used.”

In the meantime, farmers confronted with Bt-resistance rootworms will have only one choice to protect their corn crop—spray more pesticides, which Bt corn was supposed to mitigate.

Livestock Mistreated with GMO Feed

Project Censored | Mar 14, 2014 |

Animal rights activists addressing the abuses of CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) often focus on the more obvious ways animals are distressed. Yet some researchers point to a less-understood aspect of livestock mistreatment: force-fed monoculture diets of genetically modified corn and soy that is often drenched in the chemical glyphosate, the Monsanto Corporation’s key chemical commodity.

As a result of this nutritional regime calves are born with enlarged joints and limb deformities, inhibiting their mobility. Piglets have such rapidly deteriorating health that they start breaking down their own tissues and organs – essentially self-cannibalizing—to continue living. Many animals suffer from fragile bones that easily crack. Dairy cows develop mastitis, a painful udder infection. Beef cattle develop liver abscesses and a severe condition called “twisted gut.”

These are the observations of Dr. Art Dunham, an Iowa veterinarian. Dunham’s daughter, Leah Dunham, used her father’s notes to write America’s Two-Headed Pig. In it she argues that animal misery might be more readily addressed through a non-GMO diet versus the broader project of overhauling the entire CAFO-based system.

Their findings are especially prescient since the symptoms observed in animals often resemble many of the chronic, and increasingly prevalent, health problems afflicting humans today: Gastrointestinal disorders, ravaged organs, infertility, declining immune systems, and lingering depression.

Many consumers are alarmed by news reports highlighting outbreaks of food-borne illnesses. Yet most are also unaware that industrial GMO crops are “damaging our health in other, far more insidious ways – among them, by damaging the health of animals raised for food,” Leah Dunham contends.

Source: Katherine Paul, “Torturing Animals with GMOs.” CounterPunch, August 9, 2013, http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/09/torturing-animals-with-gmos/.

Student Researcher: Nicholas Saraceno (Florida Atlantic University)

Faculty Evaluator: James F. Tracy (Florida Atlantic University)

Study: Sick dolphins a year after oil spill

© New York Times

Study: Sick dolphins a year after oil spill
Dec 18, 2013 | Phys.org | Janet Mcconnaughey

A study assessing damage from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill said dolphins in a heavily oiled Louisiana bay were in bad shape a year later, with lung damage consistent with exposure to oil.

Government, academic and other researchers made comprehensive check-ups on 29 dolphins in Barataria Bay in August 2011 as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment—a federal process to determine damage and how to repair it.

Their study was published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. It said nearly half the dolphins examined were in guarded, poor or grave condition. That compared to one out of 15 caught for comparison in Sarasota Bay, Fla.

Federal scientist Lori Schwacke says she has never seen such a large percentage of very sick dolphins.