A Cancer on Society: Monsanto claims right not to speak about Roundup

SOTT | Apr 29, 2018 | Alfonso Saldaña & Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap

Common Dreams - Monsanto doesn't want the world to know their product is labeled a "probable carcinogen."

It's no secret that Monsanto Corporation's trademarked pesticide Ready Roundup has become one of the most widely used herbicides in agriculture since its introduction in the mid-1970s. What might be a surprise to most is that, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), glyphosate, the principal ingredient in the herbicide, is a "probable carcinogen." Acting to protect its public, as governments should do, the State of California required that food labels indicate the presence of glyphosate. Problem sorta solved... except for Monsanto's ill-gotten and ill-considered constitutional rights.

Obviously, Monsanto doesn't want the world to know that it is highly likely their product is a carcinogen, so Monsanto took California to court - and won. Despite the IARC's findings, a U.S. District Judge has temporarily suspended the labeling of food products that contain traces of the herbicide, because it violates Monsanto's First Amendment "right not to speak".

"We are pleased Judge Shubb granted our request," said Chandler Goule, the chief executive officer for the National Assn. of Wheat Growers after the ruling. Goule went on to say that this is the first step in preventing California environmental officials "from forcing farmers, growers, and manufacturers to place false and misleading labels on agricultural products."

Back in 2015, when the WHO brought together 17 oncology experts from 11 countries to review the long-suspected link between glyphosate and kidney disease in farm workers, they concluded and published, that glyphosate is a "probable carcinogen." However, the WHO conclusion stirred an international controversy: European pesticide regulators and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleged that contrary evidence was ignored or omitted.

It should come as no surprise that Monsanto also rejected the WHO's findings, which predicted the IARC would find carcinogens in its weed killer. Reminiscent of Big Tobacco and Big Oil companies' tactics, they set in motion a plan to discredit the international agency's study in order to continue selling their dangerous product. And thanks to its corporate constitutional rights and deep pockets, Monsanto found a willing shill in climate-change-denier and, ironically, the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas).

Throughout his 32 years in Congress, Rep. Smith has received large monetary contributions from fossil fuel, automobile, and pharmaceutical/health industries, including Monsanto. Rep. Smith lashed out against the IARC during a hearing last February, accusing it of conducting "cherry-picked science" and even threatening retaliation by cutting off the U.S. contribution to the international agency. Such biased behavior has been a constant throughout his 5-year tenure as the science committee chairman, while Rep. Smith has made it his personal mission to relentlessly attack the integrity of individual scientists and the scientific community at large.

It is outrageous for an elected official to willingly jeopardize his constituents' health and safety to protect Monsanto's profits. Citizen backlash exploded; thousands expressed their anger online as a petition to tell Congress not to defund cancer research had reached over 42,800 signatures. After 16 terms of loyally supporting his campaign contributors, Smith announced last year that he won't seek re-election when his term ends in 2018.

The congressman's departure may be good riddance, but the root problem does not lie with any individual political figure or party. It lies with the Supreme Court's interpretation of constitutional "personhood." As long as we fail to fix the Constitution by establishing once and for all that human beings, not corporations like Monsanto, are entitled to constitutional rights, and that political money is not free speech, more corporate-funded shills will ascend to power to assert corporate interests over environmental sustainability and human wellbeing.

To prevent this cancerous process from metastasizing, take action now! Join the hundreds of organizations and over 450,000 individuals all across the nation working with the Move to Amend to pass the We the People Amendment. It is the only amendment bill before Congress that will address both doctrines undermining democratic self-governance: money as speech and corporate constitutional rights. It's high time to demand government serves We the People, not corporate donors. Sign the petition at: MoveToAmend.org/motion.

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)

Oil & gas execs ‘pressured’ Oklahoma geologists not to reveal fracking-quakes link

Reuters / Jim Urquhart

RT | Mar 5, 2015

Newly-obtained emails reveal that Oklahoma geologists were pressured by oil industry big-shots not to push on with their assessments of possible links between earthquakes in the state and hydraulic fracturing industry, most often referred to as fracking.

More than a year since a sharp spike in earthquakes in the region, which coincided with fracking for oil and gas, the Oklahoma Geological Survey say there might be a possible link. The rise resulted in magnitude 3 earthquakes almost twice daily on average – three times as many as in disaster-prone California.

But after the body issued a joint statement with the USGS in October 2013, saying that "activities such as wastewater disposal" could be a “contributing factor to the increase in earthquakes,” oil execs started to panic, according to newly-obtained emails by EnergyWire.

This allegedly led to the OGS avoiding mentioning that the lion’s share of earthquakes in the region was man-made. The silence has lasted since 2010 and was apparently due to pressure not to disclose the findings.

OGS geologist at the University of Oklahoma, Austin Holland, was one of the scientists aware of the link, but earlier did not wish to discuss it for lack of direct scientific proof.

It now turns out he was later being influenced by oil executives with a vested interest in the continuation of fracking in the area, according to the obtained emails.

“Researchers in Oklahoma, notably Austin Holland… have repeatedly said the increase in seismic activity cannot be fully explained by man-made causes,” Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (OIPA) President Mike Terry said in a 2013 statement, pointing to Holland’s earlier scientific skepticism.

That statement coincided with Holland’s research, which found disturbing data from the southern town of Marietta, but stopped short of wholeheartedly acknowledging the fracking and earthquake link.

But when the OGS cautiously joined the USGS assessment in admitting that there was a relationship between fracking and growing seismic risks, Austin Holland was called into meetings with his boss at the university, President David Boren, and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC). He spoke with Jack Stark of the OCC, then also vice president of exploration at Continental Resources.

The OCC is the main regulatory body for oil and gas in the state.

Reuters / Gareth Fuller

Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm – the University of Oklahoma’s leading financial donor – started getting really interested in the findings around that time. Hamm, who was Mitt Romney’s energy adviser, is not a believer in the relationship between seismic activity and the oil and gas industry.

The joint statement by OGS/USGS aroused fear in the oil execs, as Holland recounted in one of the emails from 2013.

He was trying to explain to Continental and the OCC that his input only benefited the USGS assessment, but that "Continental does not feel induced seismicity is an issue and they are nervous about any dialog about the subject," as he wrote to his superiors at the university.

"They are in the denial phase that this is a possibility,” he wrote of the execs.

One of the people also dissatisfied with the Oklahoma geologists partnering up with the USGS was Patrice Doubles, the OCC commissioner. At the time, she was running for Congress and got more campaign funds from Continental than almost any other senator. That included money from Hamm.

As Holland explained in the email, Douglas said that she wished to “of course, protect the safety of Oklahomans, but also balance that with industry in the state.”

Earlier this year, in the Washington Post, Holland did admit that higher-ups were trying to influence his work – specifically, Hamm. In fact, according to a piece by fellow geologist Bob Jackman, Holland told him at the time: “you don’t understand – Harold Hamm and others will not allow me to say certain things.”

Holland later tried to downplay Jackman’s quote to EnergyWire, but Jackman later said he had written down Holland’s confession word for word immediately after the conversation.

A few other geologists have spoken out about the relationship between Hunton dewatering operations and a rise in earthquakes in the vicinity of Oklahoma City. They have also been warning that a surge in smaller quakes could increase the likelihood of greater ones.

Unlike other states where fracking is also commonplace, Oklahoma did little in the way of caps or regulations or shutdowns. Instead, reports emerged that state authorities limited such powers to information-gathering missions.

According to EnergeyWire, the view on Oklahoma having fracking-related earthquakes is shared by many academic and federal seismologists.

These new revelations come on the heels of fresh data from Oklahoma that has the US Geological Survey pointing to a clear scientific link between quakes and fracking. 

Oklahoma’s earthquake problem is getting worse

The Extinction Protocol | Feb 6, 2015

February 2015 – OKLAHOMA - A lawsuit claims that Oklahoma’s great increase in earthquake activity has been caused by pumping waste from drilling operations back underground. The suit involves the largest measured quake in the history of the state, a 5.6 tremor that happened in Prague, east of Oklahoma City in November 2011. As the volume of drilling waste pumped underground has grown, the number of earthquakes with magnitude 3 or higher has increased. In particular, as the drilling has intensified along the northern border, the quakes have followed. The Prague 5.6 magnitude quake in 2011 had one 4.8 magnitude foreshock and one 4.8 magnitude aftershock.

The Prague 5.6 magnitude quake had one 4.8 magnitude foreshock and one 4.8 magnitude aftershock. Altogether there were 63 quakes of magnitude 3 or higher, concentrated mostly in the center of the state, where the 860 million barrels of waste pumping was centered. Drilling activity increased in northern Oklahoma but the 34 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater remained concentrated in the center of the state. Waste pumping increased to more than 1.2 billion barrels, with a big increase in the north. Earthquakes surged with 106 magnitude 3 or greater, including a string of quakes in the north of the state, where waste pumping also increased as the statewide volume rose to more than 1.5 billion barrels. The rate of quakes multiplied with 567 jolts at least magnitude 3 with the heaviest concentration in the northern end of the state.  Waste-pumping data for 2014 is not yet available. –Washington Post

 

Olive tree-killing bacteria may spread across Europe

Reuters / Eric Gaillard

RT | Feb 28, 2015

A bacteria affecting olive trees in Italy may soon spread to other olive oil-producing countries of southern Europe, industry officials warn. The blight came from the Americas and is aggravating an already bad harvest for Italian olive growers.

The bacteria, called Xylella fastidiosa, or olive leaf scorch, have affected thousands of trees in Italy's southernmost Apulia region. The microbe hampers fluid movement in affected plants, making their leaves and branches dry out and die. Insects spread the disease to new plants.

According to the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa), the problem already affecting Italy may soon spread to other EU nations, unless contamination procedures are implemented. But Italian olive growers say the government will not allocate money to tackle the problem.

"If it expands its range further, the entire Mediterranean basin risks being contaminated," Giovanni Melcarne, the president of an oil-producing consortium in Otranto, was quoted by The Telegraph as saying on Friday.

Since the bacterium was first detected in Italy in September 2013, it has spread dramatically from 8,000 hectares to 230,000 hectares. Olive trees as old as 1,000 years, which are considered a national heritage in Italy, are affected.

There is no cure for the disease and combatting it has a cost both in monetary terms and in terms of environmental damage. Stopping the aphid carriers from traveling to new areas requires creating wide stripes of ploughed soil treated with insecticides around the contaminated areas.

Reuters / Jon Nazca

The spread of the bacterium is facilitated by Italy's long-time tradition of planting olive trees along the roads, which now gives the infection ready routes.

“There is serious concern that this disease could spread from the Apulia region as it has been increasing in the last few months,” Enrico Brivio, a European Commission spokesman, told the Guardian. “We will evaluate the situation and decide if additional measures are necessary at a standing committee meeting on the 19-20 January.”

The Xylella outbreak coincides with a particularly bad year for Italian olive growers last year. An unusually cold and wet summer meant that olive trees lost many buds. And those that managed to produce olives were attacked by olive fly, which lays its larvae in the olives.

"It's a disaster of Biblical proportions," Johnny Madge, a British producer who has been making olive oil in the Sabine Hills region, north of Rome, told the Telegraph. "In this region, production will be almost zero."

The harvest was the worst in decades, down 40 to 50 percent. With Italy and Spain accounting for some 70 percent of Europe's olive output, industry organizations warn of an imminent price hike.

Emergency Action To Stop GE Trees

Popular Resistance | Mar 1, 2015 |

On THURSDAY 5 March 2015, CTNBio, the agency that regulates GMOs in Brazil, will decide on an industry request to legalize the commercial development of genetically engineered eucalyptus trees.
CTNBio may approve this commercial release of genetically engineered (GE) eucalyptus.

That is, UNLESS there’s enough pressure, both nationally and globally, to change their mind.
If this request is approved, it will be an unprecedented decision, with devastating social and environmental impacts not only for Brazil but around the world.

In the US, a similar request to the USDA from GE tree company ArborGen to legalize their GE eucalyptus trees is currently pending, and doubtless the US will be paying close attention to this decision in Brazil.

We need you to help stop this disaster!

We are mobilizing an Emergency Day of Action to STOP GE Trees NEXT TUESDAY, March 3^rd and we need your help to make it a success!
 
Here’s how you can take part on Tuesday:  

Go to the Brazilian Embassy or Consulate nearest to you (see list of locations at the bottom of this post).

Bring signs, banners and some friends. Use these simple slogans (please use both English and Portuguese):

Brazil: No GMO Trees! / Brasil: Não às árvores transgênicas!

Brazil: STOP GMO Trees! / Brasil: Parem as árvores transgênicas!

Take some photos of you and your group with signs and banners in front of the Embassy or Consulate and send them to us by 2 PM EST (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday. This is crucial! We’ll include what we get in our press release on the action and any other media we produce.

Send those photos to our media coordinator, Kip, at either kip@stopgetrees.org OR media@stopgetrees.org by Tuesday, March 3rd at 2 PM EST (19:00GMT).

Please print this protest letter, adding your or your group’s name, and hand it to the receptionist at the Embassy or Consulate where you are.

And Tweet your photos and updates from your awesome action using the hashtag #stopgetrees.
(Please let us know if you will take part by emailing globalecology@gmavt.net)

Click here for the full list of Brazilian Embassies and Consulates

Brazilian Embassies and Consulates in the US and Canada:

USA

Brazilian Embassy in Washington
3006 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
(+1) 202 238 2700
(+1) 202 238 2827
http://washington.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/

Brazilian Consulate General in Atlanta
3500 Lenox Road, Suite 800
One Alliance Center
Atlanta, Georgia 30326
(+1) (404) 949-2400
info@atlantaconsulatebrazil.org
atlanta.itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Consulate General in Chicago
401 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1850
Chicago, Illinois 60611
(+1) (312) 464 0244
central.chicago@itamaraty.gov.br
chicago.itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Consulate General in Hartford
One Constitution Plaza, ground floor
Hartford, Connecticut 06103
(+1) (860) 760 3100
(+1) (860) 760 3139
hartford.itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Consulate General in Houston
Park Tower North
1233 West Loop South, Suite 1150
Houston, Texas 77027
(+1) (281) 384 4966
cg.houston@itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Consulate General in Los Angeles
8484 Wilshire Boulevard, suite 300
Beverly Hills
Los Angeles, California 90211
(+1) (323) 651 2664
(+1) (323) 651 1274
losangeles.itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Consulate General in Miami
80 SW 8th Street, 26th floor
Miami, Florida 33130-3004
(+1) (305) 285 6200
miami.itamaraty.gov.br
  
Brazilian Consulate General in New York
1185 Avenue of the Americas, 21st floor
New York, New York 10036
(+1) (917) 777 7777
novayork.itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Consulate General in San Francisco
300 Montgomery Street, suite 300
San Francisco, California 94104
(+1) (415) 981 8170
(+1) (415) 986 4625
saofrancisco.itamaraty.gov.br

HONORARIES:

Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Fort Lauderdale
2385 N.W. Executive Center Drive, Suite 100
Boca Raton, Florida 33431 , United States
(+1) (561) 210-7192

Honarary Consulate in Seattle
World Trade Center West Building
2200 Alaskan Way, Suite 450
Seattle, WA 98121

Brazilian Consulate in Philadelphia
5415 N. Lawrence Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19120
Mr Paul Thomas Johnson, Consul
(+1) (215) 275-6890

Brazil Honorary Consulate in Salt Lake City
180 S 300 West, Suite 130
Salt Lake City, UT  84101
Gary Neeleman
Honorary Consul of Brazil
801.363.4936

Brazilian Consulate in San Diego
8047 Caminito Mallorca
La Jolla, California 92037
(+1) (858) 453-8383

Brazilian Consulate General in Phoenix
1322 E. Louis Way
Tempe, Arizona 85284
(+1) 480.656.0206
Caio Pagano, Consul General

Consulate General of Brazil in Norfolk
500 E Plume Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
(757) 627-6286
  
Brazilian Consulate in New Orleans
365 Canal Street, Suite 1600
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
Mr David Paul Schulingkamp
(504) 561-6206

Brazilian Consulate in Memphis
1256 N. McLean Blvd.
Memphis, Tennessee 38108
Mr Edson P. Peredo, Consul
(+1) (901) 272-6505

Brazilian Consulate in Las Vegas
7205 Madonna Drive
Las Vegas, Nevada 89156
(+1) (702) 350 2999
Mr Luis Antonio de Souza e Silva

Brazilian Consulate in Honolulu
3056 Kalakaua Ave #7W
Honolulu, Hawaii
(+1) (808) 235-0571
Eric Guimaraes Crispin
CANADA

Brazilian Consulate General in Vancouver
2020-666 Burrard Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 2X8
(+1) (604) 696 5311
(+1) (604) 696 5366
vancouver.itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Consulate General in Toronto
77 Bloor Street West, Suite 1109
Toronto, Ontario M5S 1M2
(+1) (416) 922 2503
(+1) (416) 922 1832
toronto.itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Embassy in Ottawa 
450 Wilbrod Street, Ottawa
Ontario K1N 6M8
(+1) 613 237 1090
ottawa.itamaraty.gov.br

Brazilian Consulate General in Montreal
1 Wood Ave
Westmount, Quebec
(+1) (514) 499 0968
montreal.itamaraty.gov.br

Click here for the full list of Brazilian Embassies and Consulates

Busted! Fukushima Operator Concealed Radioactive Leak for Nearly a Year

© AP Photo/ Toshiaki Shimizu

Sputnik | Feb 26, 2015

Tokyo Electric Power Co., TEPCO, has been slammed by fishermen, for knowingly allowing radioactive substances to flow freely into the sea for ten months.

Operators of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant admitted that a drainage ditch allowed highly-contaminated water to flow into the sea, and that the leak was first detected back in May 2014.
Fishermen were shocked to hear such confession, voicing disappointment in the company that has been criticized for the cleanup of the Fukushima disaster that happened four years ago.

"I don't understand why you (TEPCO) kept silent about the leakage even though you knew about it. Fishery operators are absolutely shocked," Masakazu Yabuki, chief of the Iwaki fisheries cooperative said.

© AP Photo/ Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Underground water is being released into the ocean through a piping at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant has begun releasing groundwater from the least contaminated areas of the facility into the ocean so it does not run into contaminated areas and create more toxic water amid storage space limitations.

A TEPCO officials justified the cover-up saying the company found out during an investigation.

"This was part of an ongoing investigation in which we discovered a water puddle with high levels of radiation on top of the Reactor No. 2 building, and because this also happens to be one of the sources for this drainage system, we decided to report everything all at once."

A company spokesperson added that it did not disclosed the leak because samples from ocean water surrounding the area showed no substantial spikes of hazardous material.

TEPCO had to get permission from the fishermen to dispose of groundwater in the surrounding ocean.

In Sept. 2013, when Tokyo was announced to be the host country for 2020 Summer Olympics, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised the International Olympic Committee that all radiation leaks at the tsunami-ravaged plant were “under control.”

The Japanese government also announced that TEPCO would be the main sponsor of the 2020 Olympics.

Meanwhile, TEPCO maintains that the contaminated water that has been freely leaking into the Pacific Ocean does not violate regulations and the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has not detected a spike in the level of toxins.

In March 2011, the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan was hit by a massive earthquake-triggered tsunami that led to meltdown of three of the plant’s six nuclear reactions. Four people were killed, 37 had physical injuries and two were taken to the hospital for radiation burns. The entire death toll from the earthquake and tsunami is estimated to be around 20,000.

Opportunity Epidemic: The Silent War On Trees (Redux)

gail zawacki | Feb 20, 2015

Ozone is invisible but highly toxic air pollution. As the background level increases, trees that absorb it are poisoned and become more susceptible to insects, disease and fungus. Epidemic attacks are causing forests to decline around the world.


More info at WarOnTrees.blogspot.com

Why Are Grasslands Important to Your Health and the Environment?

Mercola | Feb 18, 2015

http://www.mercola.com/infographics/g... Watch this special video by Mercola.com and discover important grassland facts and the reason why their devastation must be stopped.

German govt under pressure to legalize fracking, critics call on people to protest

Reuters/Axel Schmidt

RT | Feb 15, 2015

Germany has proposed a draft law to allow commercial shale gas fracking, overturning a moratorium that has been in place for the last two years.

The proposal has drawn fire from environmentalists who have urged people to protest before the exploration begins.

The government has been under pressure from the energy industry lobby to allow fracking (drilling for gas using water, sand and chemicals under high pressure through drill holes to prop open shale rock) citing rising energy costs in Germany and cheaper gas in the US, due to fracking's popularity in North America.

Commercial fracking for shale gas and coal bed methane would be banned at levels below 3,000 meters, but allowed for exploration at shallower levels, subject to the assessment of the expert panel, according to the Guardian. The draft law would reportedly affect only hydraulic fracturing for shale oil and tight gas in water protection and spring healing zones.
 
“It is important to have a legal framework for hydraulic fracturing as until now there has been no legislation on the subject,” the president of Germany’s federal environment agency (UBA), Maria Krautzberger, told the Guardian.
 
“We have had a voluntary agreement with the big companies that there would be no fracking but if a company like Exxon wanted, they might do it anyway as there is no way to forbid it,” she said, adding that this is “a progressive step forward.”

Anti-fracking groups and environmentalists claim that the panel is not going to be independent, however, with a number of the government experts belonging to institutions that signed the Hanover Declaration promoting exploration of shale gas.
 
"You don’t need a panel to tell you that shale gas is dangerous. We can see the problems with water pollution, earthquakes and methane emissions. We need people to protest about it before the exploration begins,” José Bové, the French Green MEP, said.

Germany is estimated to have up to 2.3 trillion cubic meters of shale gas reserves. Under the current fracking ban, there has been a decline in domestic production. If fracking is allowed, domestic natural gas production could go up, with fuel and electricity prices going down in Germany, which has some of the highest electricity prices in the EU.

A vote on the proposed draft in the Bundestag will take place in May. If passed into law, fracking could resume in Germany in the near future.

200 pilot whales stranded at Farewell Spit

Whales stranded on Farewell Spit in
January last year. Photo / Jo Richards

The New Zealand Herald | Feb 13, 2015 | John Weekes

More stranded pilot whales are expected to die as weather conditions and nightfall hamper efforts to save 174 pilot whales that ran into trouble today.

The whales were stranded on Farewell Spit at Golden Bay, near Nelson.

Andrew Lamason of the Department of Conservation (DoC) said up to 500 volunteers could be needed to help get the whales back in the water tomorrow.

Initial estimates of 30 stranded pilot whales rose today to 60, then 143, and finally 198.

Mr Lamason said of those, two dozen had died by 6.30pm and he expected that number to rise.

The Department was scaling down the rescue operation as night approached.

"We can't have people overnight in the water with whales. It's just far too dangerous," Mr Lamason said.

To have a good chance of survival, stranded whales needed overcast or rainy conditions, but Farewell Spit had experienced dry, sunny conditions today.

"It hasn't been a great day to be a stranded whale," Mr Lamason said. "This is a big stranding. It's a real challenge."

He said people had to brace themselves for the unpleasant possibility the pilot whales would have to be euthanised, but rescuers were a long way from giving up on the animals.

"We'll just keep on trying."

The high tide tomorrow evening just before dusk would be a good chance to refloat the stranded pod, he said.

He said most pilot whales in the pod, which included adults and juveniles, were probably closely related.

"It's like a hapu or a village," he said. "It's a whole mixed family group."

Mr Lamason said the geography of Golden Bay meant it was often the site of strandings.

"It's a big, shallow hook. Things come in, they get disoriented, and unfortunately we end up with a lot of dead whales."

Mr Lamason said local iwi would perform karakia on the dead pilot whales.

After that, the creatures would be tethered at mid-tide and nature would "take its course" as happened when three stranded sperm whales were towed to another part of Farewell Spit to decay away from the public in November.

Darren Grover, Project Jonah general manager, was this evening arriving at the site of the stranding.

"We'll be mobilising our supporters from the South Island and ...hopefully from the Wellington region as well."

The whales were about 5-6km east of Triangle Flat at the Spit's western end.

The cause of strandings remained a mystery.

DoC said it was plausible pilot whales' echo-location was not well-suited to shallow, gently sloping waters as they usually preferred steep areas such as continental shelf edges.

"Another theory points to pilot whales' highly sociable behaviour - when one whale loses its way and strands, its pod mates may swim to its aid," the Department said on its website.

Pilot whales are oceanic dolphins and include two species -- long-finned and short-finned.

Mr Lamason said people who wanted to help the pilot whales should arrive at Triangle Flat from 8am to 3pm tomorrow.

He said people should bring wet weather gear, sunscreen, food and water. DoC was installing portable toilets at Triangle Flat.

Utility commissioner's "smart" meter corruption, negligence, jail-time?

Take Back Your Power | Feb 13, 2015

Evidence has now been made public of illegal actions and collusion between former California Public Utilities Commission president Michael Peevey and utility PG&E, as criminal investigations continue.


Story: http://www.takebackyourpower.net/news...

RELATED:

Official Trailer: Take Back Your Power (2014 Edition)

One in TEN Cell Phone Antenna Sites Violates Gov’t Limit on Excessive EMF Radiation

TruthStream Media | Feb 5, 2015 | Melissa Melton

image

Did you know there are over 2.3 million cell towers and antennas blanketing the United States right now?

That’s a lot of electromagnetic frequency right there.

While some people, including myself, have pointed out that it’s ridiculous to find a giant cell tower erected literally on an elementary school basketball court right next to the playground or placing them directly on school rooftops, this is becoming more and more common to the point there are so many towers and antennas everywhere, they are beginning to blend in with the scenery as if having this many of these things is just natural now.

Pretty soon, no matter where you go in this country, you’ll be within mere feet of at least one cell tower or antenna (but likely many more).

Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, a team of six engineers evaluated more than 5,000 of these cites and found that one in ten is violating the rules on excessive radiation.

Federal rules require carriers to use barricades, signs and training to protect people from excessive radio-frequency radiation, the waves of electric and magnetic power that carry signals. The power isn’t considered harmful by the time it reaches the street, but it can be a risk for workers and residents standing directly in front of an antenna.

One in 10 sites violates the rules, according to six engineers who examined more than 5,000 sites during safety audits for carriers and local municipalities, underscoring a safety lapse in the network that makes cellphones hum, at a time when the health effects of antennas are being debated world-wide.

Putting aside the argument about what megacorporations that want to sell you stuff will tell you is and isn’t harmful, this is insane.

We are all being exposed to this more and more every day.

Oh, and apparently the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has only issued TWO — that’s two — citations to cell carriers since adopting these limits nearly twenty years ago way back in 1996.

Why? Because, “the FCC says it lacks resources to monitor each antenna.”

This, engineer Marvin Wessel told WSJ, is like having speed limit signs but no police to enforce them… meaning it’s POINTLESS to even have radiation limits if no one is monitoring that these companies are adhering to them. The whole set up requires an awful lot of trust in communications companies who have already demonstrated through Snowden leaks that they don’t really care about their customers’ rights at all.

So the FCC doesn’t have the proper resources to actually hold cell phone companies accountable if their towers and antennas are emitting harmful radiation levels well above federal limits, but said companies are allowed to just continue to blanket our nation with them at an alarming pace anyway???

Makes sense, right?

Used to be antennas were only on towers that are easily visually recognizable. Nowadays these antennas can be hidden, painted to blend into the background and people might not even realize they’re hanging out near one. This is what Wessel is talking about, again via WSJ:

On a sweltering June day in Phoenix, Mr. Wessel strolled through a residential area near Echo Canyon Park and spotted lawn chairs near a T-Mobile US Inc. cellular antenna painted brown to match a fence. His monitor showed emissions well above safety limits.

After being alerted by The Wall Street Journal, T-Mobile added warning signs and roped off a patch in front of the antenna with a chain. “The safety of the public, our customers and our employees is a responsibility that all of us here at T-Mobile take very seriously,” said a T-Mobile spokeswoman.

So why is this an issue?

At very high levels, radio-frequency radiation can cook human tissue, the FCC said, potentially causing cataracts and temporary sterility and other health issues.

To buffer people from these “thermal” effects, the FCC set two limits for how much RF people can absorb—one for the general public, and an “occupational” limit five times higher for people trained to work near antennas. The higher level is still 10 times below the thermal level.

Carriers have to restrict access near antennas that are above the limits. Workers and others who venture into hot zones—generally up to 20 feet in front of an antenna—must be trained and have RF monitors.

Realize this man said one in TEN of these locations is OUT OF COMPLIANCE regard to EMF radiation, emitting levels well beyond FCC limits for public safety and health.

Now back to the fact that we have over 2.3 million of these all over the country and counting…

Your body also has electromagnetic fields, but somehow we’re supposed to believe these artificial EMF emitters surrounding us aren’t affecting us every single day and somehow disturbing the growth of cells and the flow of information between our cells?

The BioInitiative Working Group put out a report in 2007 which concluded the existing public safety standards are inadequate anyway. Evidence has shown EMF:

• Affects gene and protein expression (Transcriptomic and Proteomic Research)
• Has genotoxic effects – RFR and ELF DNA damage
• Induces stress response (Stress Proteins)
• Affects immune function
• Affects Neurology and behavior
• Causes childhood cancers (Leukemia)
• Impacts melatonin production
• Promotes breast cancer (Melatonin links in laboratory and cell studies)
• Contributes to Alzheimer’s Disease

Other studies link EMFs to:

• Enzyme changes that affect DNA and cell growth which can result in cancer and birth defects
• Fetal abnormalities, likely caused by enzyme changes
• Gene expression changes, which creates stress on your body and even result in cancer
• Changed metabolism and increased cell growth
• Increased production of stress proteins within cells
• Chronic stress, which can lead to heart conditions among others
• Neuro-hormone changes, which can result in memory loss and impaired brain function

The bottom line?

We are basically living in an open air science experiment on so many fronts in this country and cell phone towers are definitely one of them. We have no idea how this is going to look even a decade or two from now, especially for the poor people who work for cell phone companies who are coming into direct, close contact with these things on a daily basis.

If you live in an urban, suburban or even semi-rural area, you will probably be pretty surprised at just how many towers and antenna are humming all around you right now. They are installing towers and antennas on school rooftops, in church steeples, on our municipal water towers, and in everything from fake trees to fake cement blocks on buildings that are meant to blend in with the rest of the building materials. They are no longer as obvious as they used to be, and thus, no longer as easy to avoid.

Do a search for your address at Antenna Search.com. You might be surprised how many of these things live near you.

Originally posted at The Daily Sheeple

Smart Meters—Not so Smart.“I’ve Never Been so Sick in my Life”

Global Research | Feb 2, 2015 | Amy Worthington

How Dangerous and Expensive Became “Smart” An Exposé of the “Smart Grid”

Electric “smart” meters were installed in Cindy deBac’s Scottsdale, Arizona, neighborhood in 2012. 

She recalls the day a new meter was mounted on her home as a sort of digital Pearl Harbor attack. “I’ve never been so sick in my life,” she says. “Nausea, a crushing migraine headache, and painful heart palpitations laid me low right away.”

Healthy and exuberant before the installation, deBac became unable to sleep normally. She soon became exhausted and tearfully anxious as she struggled with rashes and a chronically racing heart. For respite she spent nights away in her car. One of her dogs died of cancer within six months of the meter’s installation and the other developed large tumors. Today Cindy leads a global educational crusade to warn others about the myriad devastating health effects that electromagnetic radiation can unleash.

Across the U.S. installers continue to replace comparatively safe analog (mechanical) utility meters with digital “smart” meters for electrical, gas and water services. Most of the new meters are wireless two-way transmitters that pulse signals to communicate continuously between your home, school, or workplace and utility companies miles away. The new meters are part of a nationwide project dubbed Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Most folks call this evolving make-over the “smart grid.”

The AMI “smart” meter below records electrical consumption data and sends the information wirelessly to energy system managers. “Smart” meters can be programmed to read and transmit data monthly, or up to every fifteen seconds. Data may be relayed by systems similar to mobile phones or Wi-Fi. Or information may be relayed via fiber optics (thin, transparent cables that carry signals by pulsing light). Of these methods, fiber optics may offer the safest transmission.

AMI is nested within the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, and the Obama Administration has shoveled an estimated eleven billion dollars into incentive programs for utilities that participate. “Smart” grid advocates insist that the new two-way meters will reduce national energy consumption and allow consumers to make better choices about their energy needs.

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are among federal heavyweights behind the thundering AMI rollout. Several universities and corporations stand to profit hugely by providing AMI equipment, software and expertise. These include General Electric, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Siemens, Toshiba, Microsoft, Cisco, Verizon, Google, Itron and Tantalus.

With a financial and political engine of this magnitude, the AMI meter replacement project has moved at lightning speed. According to the Institute for Electric Efficiency (IEE), nearly 40 percent of U.S. households had an electric “smart” meter installed by August 2013. A total of sixty-five million “smart” meters are projected to be installed by 2015, covering more than half of all U.S. households.1 Among states hit hardest so far have been Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Vermont, Florida, Georgia and Alabama.

Read more..

Glyphosate & Honeybees, interview with Don Huber 2014

The Institute for Responsible Technology | Feb 2, 2015

Jeffrey Smith talks to Don Huber about the effects of glyphosate and the dwindling bee population.

Outrage over US secret approval of GM trees

GM Watch | Jan 30, 2015

Loblolly pine pollen is known to travel for hundreds of miles

EXCERPT: In 2013, when the USDA called for public comments on another ArborGen request to commercialize a GE eucalyptus tree (a decision still pending), they received comments at the rate of 10,000 to one opposing the industry request. By simply refusing to regulate this new GE pine, the USDA has cut the public out of the process completely.

Outrage over US secret approval of genetically engineered trees

The International Campaign to STOP GE Trees, Dogwood Alliance & Biofuelwatch
Global Justice Ecology Project, 29 Jan 2015
http://globaljusticeecology.org/outrage-us-secret-approval-genetically-engineered-trees/

* Groups Condemn US for Bowing to Industry, Ignoring Widespread Public Opposition
Groups from around the world[1] today joined together to denounce the US government for allowing the first genetically engineered tree, a loblolly pine, to be legalized with no government or public oversight, with no assessment of their risks to the public or the environment, and without regard to overwhelming public opposition to GE trees.

A secret letter from the USDA to GE tree company ArborGen[2], dated last August, was recently exposed by scientist Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Center for Food Safety.[3] In this letter, the USDA made the unprecedented decision to allow ArborGen to pursue unregulated commercial cultivation of a loblolly pine genetically engineered for altered wood composition. These trees could be planted anywhere in the US, without public knowledge or access to information about them.

Gurian-Sherman argues the USDA “is deliberately thumbing its nose at the public” with this decision, pointing out that this is probably the biggest environmental regulatory change in the US since the early 1990s.[4]

Loblolly pines are native across 14 states throughout the US Southeast, and are grown in plantations around the world. Their pollen is known to travel for hundreds of miles.

“If these GE loblolly pines are released on a large scale in the US, there will be no way to stop them from cross contaminating native loblolly pines,” said biologist Dr. Rachel Smolker of Biofuelwatch. “This is deliberate, irreversible and completely irresponsible contamination of the environment with unknown and possibly devastating consequences. Forest ecosystems are barely understood, and the introduction of trees with genes for modified wood characteristics could have all manner of negative impacts on soils, fungi, insects, wildlife, songbirds, and public health. And all this for short term commercial profit.”

Many are also worried about the international implications of this USDA decision. Winnie Overbeek, International Coordinator of the Uruguay-based World Rainforest Movement states, “We are greatly concerned that these unregulated GE pines could be shipped to Brazil or other countries without public, or maybe even government, knowledge, further promoting the expansion of industrial tree plantations in the Global South. This contributes to deforestation and affects indigenous and peasant communities worldwide who depend on forests for survival.”

Global Justice Ecology Project’s Ruddy Turnstone from Florida remarks, “ArborGen and the government may think they have won this round, but there is already a huge anti-GMO movement. There are also forest protection groups, Indigenous Peoples, birders, foresters, scientists, parents, hikers, and many others who do not want the forests contaminated by GE trees. A great many of them will take action to ensure these trees are never planted.”

In 2013, when the USDA called for public comments on another ArborGen request to commercialize a GE Eucalyptus tree (a decision still pending), they received comments at the rate of 10,000 to one opposing the industry request. By simply refusing to regulate this new GE pine, the USDA has cut the public out of the process completely.  In 2013, a conference on Tree Biotechnology in Asheville, NC was disrupted for its entire 5 days by anti-GE tree activists, and there were multiple arrests.

The Campaign to STOP GE Trees is an international alliance of organizations mobilized to protect forests and biodiversity and to support communities threatened by the dangerous release of genetically engineered trees into the environment.

Contacts

Anne Petermann, Coordinator, Campaign to STOP GE Trees:  +1.716.931.5833 (office), +1.716.364.1188 (mobile), globalecology@gmavt.net

Jay Burney, Media Coordinator, Campaign to STOP GE Trees: +1.716.931.5833 (office), +1.716.867.4080 (mobile), jay@stopgetrees.org

Notes

[1] The Campaign to STOP GE Trees includes: Biofuelwatch (US & UK), Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, EcoNexus (Europe), Friends of the Earth (Melbourne, Australia), Global Justice Ecology Project (Int’l), Indigenous Environmental Network (North America),World Rainforest Movement (Int’l). Dogwood Alliance is based in North Carolina.

[2] A letter dated 28 August 2014 from Michael Firko, Assistant Director of the US Department of Agriculture’s Biotechnology Regulatory Services, to GE tree company ArborGen agreed with ArborGen’s position that their GE loblolly pine did not need to be regulated. This letter was only made public on 13 January 2014.

ArborGen is jointly owned by multinational timber companies International Paper (US), MeadWestvaco (US) and Rubicon (NZ). Most of ArborGen’s executive staff comes from Monsanto. ArborGen attempted to offer an initial public offering of its stock in 2010.  They cancelled at the last minute and records show they lost almost $15 million that year. Stock value of parent company Rubicon was significantly decreased.

[3] Center for Food Safety, New Genetically Engineered Tree To Avoid Federal Oversight Completely

[4] Doug Gurian-Sherman, The Next Phase of Genetic Engineering: A Flood of New Crops Evading Environmental Regulation

Millions of GMO mosquitoes may be released in Florida neighborhood

Reuters / Ricardo Rojas

RT | Jan 26, 2015

Pointing to climate change and the rise of tropical diseases, British researchers hope to sell their idea of releasing millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. Almost 140,000 people have signed a petition against the plan.

For many years, the neighborhoods of the Florida Keys have been sprayed with insecticides to ward off a host of bugs, including perhaps the mother of all pests, the mosquito. Over time, however, Aedes aegypti, a mosquito that can spread the dengue fever, chikungunya, and yellow fever viruses has built up resistance to many of the insecticides used to kill them.

The rising risk of a mosquito infestation and disease outbreak presents an opportunity for one British firm, Oxitec, which has developed a method for breeding Aedes aegypti that kills mosquito larvae, AP reported.
According to Oxitec’s website, the process involves injecting a “lethal gene” into either the male sperm or female egg that eventually kills the offspring.

Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform, presented some of the unintended consequences of releasing millions of mutant mosquitos into the Florida Keys. For example, would the more virulent Asian tiger mosquito, which is also a carrier of dengue, “fill the void” left by a drop in Aedes aegypti populations? Or will the dengue virus mutate and become even more deadly?

@whatwakeup

The group calls efforts to introduce genetically modified mosquitos a “radical approach” since dengue fever has been absent from Key West since 2010. The group says this “indicates the current methods of control and public education are working.”

Oxitec says only non-biting male mosquitoes would be released, while attempting to assure the public that no genetically modified DNA would enter the bloodstream in the event of a bite from an overlooked female specimen.

Experts, however, question the claims.

"I think the science is fine, they definitely can kill mosquitoes, but the GMO issue still sticks as something of a thorny issue for the general public," Phil Lounibos, a researcher at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, told AP.

"I'm on their side, in that consequences are highly unlikely. But to say that there's no genetically modified DNA that might get into a human, that's kind of a gray matter."

Oxitec spokeswoman Chris Creese said the experiment will be similar in size to one held in 2012 in the Cayman Islands, where 3.3 million genetically modified mosquitoes were set loose over a six- month period, resulting in the elimination of 96 percent of the targeted insects, AP quoted.

Critics say the British firm failed to notify residents about the possibility of being bitten by a few females overlooked by the researchers.

As more people question anything genetically modified, especially something that has the potential to suck their blood, resistance to the idea is growing. Already, almost 140,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to halt the experiment.

FDA spokeswoman Theresa Eisenman said no experiments with the modified bugs will be permitted until the agency has "thoroughly reviewed all the necessary information."

Marilyn Smith, a Florida Keys resident, wasn't sold on the plan following Oxitec's presentation at a public meeting. Smith asked "why are we being used as the experiment, the guinea pigs, just to see what happens," AP quoted her as saying.

Oxitec has a laboratory in Marathon, a Key West town of just over 10,000 people, and hopes to start releasing mosquitoes in the Key West region this spring.

Kansas Officials Admit "Strong Correlation" Between Quakes & Fracking

Zero Hedge | Jan 21, 2015 | Tyler Durden

“If the government and the Kansas Corporation Commission care about the people of Kansas and the damages, they will order a moratorium,” exclaims Joe Spease, chairman of the Kansas Sierra Club's fracking committee following a report from Kansas officials, who have been reluctant to link the mysterious earthquakes in south central Kansas to fracking, admitted last week that "we can say there is a strong correlation between the disposal of saltwater and the earthquakes."


As LJWorld reports, it's the first time state officials have so clearly stated the likely cause of the earthquakes, which are afflicting a region where fracking is widely used, as Rick Miller, a geophysicist and senior scientist for the Kansas Geological Survey, said he believes the injection of fracking chemicals into the earth has been a catalyst for the quakes.

During hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” for short, operators use a mixture of saltwater and chemicals to break tight underground rock formations to release oil and gas. To get rid of the water after the fracking process, operators inject the water deep into disposal wells.

Naming the cause of the earthquakes is, in part, a matter of semantics. Questions have long been raised about whether fracking activity is causing the earthquakes, and officials in other states have concluded that it has. But Kansas officials consider the waste water disposal a separate process, and so have not considered the fracking itself to be the key factor in the quakes.

At issue now is what, if any, action to take. The state’s Sierra Club chapter wants Kansas to follow in the steps of New York, New Hampshire, Maryland and numerous local governments nationwide and call a moratorium on fracking. Others, including Lawrence Rep. Tom Sloan, ask where the nation will get energy if the option is off limits.

...

“He is not being sincere,” said Joe Spease, chairman of the Kansas Sierra Club's fracking committee and owner of a renewable energy company in Overland Park.

“It is so ridiculous, this issue of semantics,” Spease said. “There are millions of dollars in property damages happening, and we have our scientists playing word games.”

The Kansas Sierra Club supports a bill, not yet introduced, to impose a moratorium on fracking to give the oil and gas industry time to develop a solution to the saltwater disposal issue, Spease said.

“If the government and the Kansas Corporation Commission care about the people of Kansas and the damages, they will order a moratorium,” Spease said. “If they only care about the profits of the oil and gas (industry), it will be business as usual. I hope that is not the case.”

As RT reports, this is not the first linkage...

According to a team of scientists working under Duke University geochemistry professor Avner Vengosh, wastewater associated with fracking sites contains large amounts of ammonium and iodide, which may in turn encourage the formation of certain carcinogenic byproducts.

“We were not aware that they existed in oil and gas waste products,” Vengosh told ThinkProgress. “Until now, no one was aware — no one was monitoring for those contaminants.”

“The relatively high frequency of spills associated with the intensity of shale gas development and reports of an overall increase of the salinity in watersheds associated with hydraulic fracturing activities, combined with data presented in this study, suggest that the release of [oil and gas wastewater] to the environment is one of the major risks associated with the development of hydraulic fracturing,” the study reads. “Our findings indicate that discharge and accidental spills of [oil and gas wastewater] to waterways pose risks to both human health and the environment.”

As RT reported previously, a separate study published earlier this month determined that fracking in an Ohio community caused 77 earthquakes during a span of just a few days last March.

Ironically, two days after the paper published its report, four small quakes occurred in the southern part of the state and through neighboring Oklahoma.

Of course - only one thing matters...

State Rep. Tom Sloan, a Lawrence Republican who has served on several Federal Energy Regulatory Commission committees and task forces, said a moratorium would hurt the economy.

“How do you draw the line?” he asked.

“If you don’t allow fracking, you will shut down the entire industry,” he said.

*  *  *