6,000 studies show GMO corn is environmentally safe and healthy for consumers

[packman]

The analysis, which was not limited to studies conducted in the U.S. and Canada, showed that GMO corn varieties have increased crop yields worldwide 5.6 to 24.5 percent when compared to non-GMO varieties. They also found that GM corn crops had significantly fewer (up to 36.5 percent less, depending on the species) mycotoxins — toxic chemical byproducts of crop colonization

There have been, for a variety of largely unscientific reasons, serious concern surrounding the effects of GMOs on human health. This analysis confirms that not only do GMOs pose no risk to human health, but also that they actually could have a substantive positive impact on it.

Mycotoxins, chemicals produced by fungi, are both toxic and carcinogenic to humans and animals. A significant percentage of non-GM and organic corn contain small amounts of mycotoxins. These chemicals are often removed by cleaning in developing countries, but the risk still exists.

GM corn has substantially fewer mycotoxins because the plants are modified to experience less crop damage from insects. Insects weaken a plant’s immune system and make it more susceptible to developing the fungi that produce mycotoxins.

In their analysis, the researchers stated that this study allows us “to draw unequivocal conclusions, helping to increase public confidence in food produced with genetically modified plants.”

https://futurism.com/two-decades-scientists-gmos-corn-good-seriously/

[kimbutgar]

1. Let me guess study paid for by Monsanto?

[packman]

2. Nope - two decades, 6,000 studies

expand, read the article

Is it possible that - Monsanto is perhaps an evil, heartless corporation - but GMO corn isn't the devil but Monsanto is?

[womanofthehills]

16. This website is connected to Monsanto

Last edited Sat Feb 24, 2018, 03:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Look at the bottom of this article. It says Genetic Literacy Project, Scientific Reports

Jon Entine, executive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, is a central player in Monsanto and the agrichemical industry’s public relations efforts to promote genetically engineered foods and pesticides and discredit critics. Monsanto listed Genetic Literacy Project as a “Tier 2 Industry Partner” in its confidential PR plan to “orchestrate outcry” against the International Agency for Research on Cancer for its glyphosate cancer designation.

https://usrtk.org/hall-of-shame/jon-entine-the-chemical-industrys-master-messenger/

[Exotica]

73. you might find this news troubling

Monsanto demands Avaaz hands over all of its campaign data

Subpoena could see the campaign group forced to release huge amounts of internal communications including the email addresses of four million people who have signed online petitions

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/23/monsanto-demands-avaaz-hands-over-all-of-its-campaign-data

A US court will today hear a request from Monsanto for access to a huge batch of internal communications by Avaaz, in a move that the campaign group says could have grave repercussions for online activism and data privacy.

Monsanto is seeking the release of all lobby documents, emails, correspondence and notes “without limitation”, where the firm or its herbicide ingredient glyphosate have been mentioned. Avaaz says this would include personal information about its employees, as well as the email addresses of more than four million signatories to petitions against Monsanto’s GM and glyphosate policies.

Emma Ruby-Sachs, the group’s deputy director told the Guardian that if it was successful, Monsanto’s suit would have a “chilling effect” on the group’s activism. “Our staff are already unsure about what to write down – and what not to write down,” she said. “Our partners are nervous that anything they say to us could be turned over.

“Our members are writing to us saying that they’re afraid their data will be handed over. We are doing our best not to let it slow us down but at the end of the day, there is now this scary cloud hanging over our organisation.”

snip

[womanofthehills]

81. Wow! Thanks for the info - a new low for Monsanto - going after activists

I found a link on where to donate to help Avaaz.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_avaaz_loc/?slideshow

[lunasun]

84. That would be world wide then since it is an international organization ? Check out recent signers

on the lower right
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/monsanto_dicamba_loc/

[Exotica]

89. I suppose it would involve people globally

It is US based though

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avaaz

Avaaz.org was co-founded by Res Publica, a "community of public sector professionals dedicated to promoting good governance, civic virtue and deliberative democracy," and MoveOn.org, an American non-profit progressive public policy advocacy group.It was also supported by Service Employees International Union, a founding partner.

[scarytomcat]

118. I would like to explain some things

These studies are comparing apples and oranges. Pro GMO advocates like to tell you that all our food is genetically altered and that is true but up until recently it was done by cross breeding and cross pollination. Now when they talk about GMOs it is about gene splicing where they insert a gene into another organism that can not be done by natural means. Corn is not having sex with cows.They insert a bovine gene into a corn plant so round-up will not kill it. This is not natural in any way. So when they mix statistics from natural methods with these it is misleading. Monsanto and seed sellers are try to control what is planted in the fields. They are are against organic farming and seed saving which are good for the land and promoting single seed lines(limiting diversity) and increased pesticide and herbicide use which are lowering soil quality and leading to more more fertilizer being put down. In the long run they are destroying the soil. Farmers used to save seeds and there was a great diversity of seeds to choice from. There statistics of increased productivity are very misleading they are mixing numbers from natural breeding for say drought hardy, disease and pest resistant varieties with gene spliced crops. I personally want to know if there is cow in the corn. An other thing that is being done is the wheat is soaked with round-up at the end to make it dry faster and can be harvested weeks sooner. Most wheat now that is not organic is soaked with round-up not something I want to eat. These companies and huge Agra business farms are poisoning us and giving us food with less nutrients. These studies are very misleading and put out by people trying to confusing the issues for monetary gain. This is why they are trying to blur the line between organic and GMO, all natural and loaded with chemicals. Much of the processed food is filed with junk if people knew they would not buy or eat any of this poison. It is time to demand truth in labeling and more organically raised food.

[womanofthehills]

18. Article by Monsanto Shill

Last edited Sat Feb 24, 2018, 04:23 PM - Edit history (1)

[Major Nikon]

39. Good luck trying to impeach the journal Nature

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-21284-2

[womanofthehills]

172. Sounds like Monsanto is having some big problems in Europe plus US cancer lawsuits

Monsanto’s Roundup Faces European Politics and U.S. Lawsuits over cancer cases

Monsanto’s flagship weed killer, Roundup, has had a tough year. And it could get worse.

With Roundup at the center of a federal case in the United States over claims that it causes cancer, European Union officials will meet in Brussels on Thursday as they weigh whether to allow the continued use of products that contain Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, in its 28 nations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/business/monsanto-roundup-europe.html

[Major Nikon]

174. Diversion noted

I pointed out the source you tried to impeach originates from the most respected academic authority on earth and rather than address or even acknowledge reality, you simply change the subject as if this somehow constitutes a coherent reply.

[womanofthehills]

177. Give me a break !! - Monsanto Ghost Writers wrote all the research

and paid academics to claim it was their research. Independent studies can not be done because Monsanto owns the seeds and will not let them be used for independent studies.

The court documents included Monsanto’s internal emails and email traffic between the company and federal regulators. The records suggested that Monsanto had ghostwritten research that was later attributed to academics and indicated that a senior official at the Environmental Protection Agency had worked to quash a review of Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, that was to have been conducted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/business/monsanto-roundup-safety-lawsuit.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

[Major Nikon]

179. Are you actually claiming Monsanto influenced the Nature study from the OP?

That's like a Twightlight Zone level conspiracy theory.

[womanofthehills]

191. OF COURSE, MONSANTO HAS KNOWN FROM 1983 about the TUMORS & it's all coming out now

Lawyers for the 1000 people in cancer lawsuits against Monsanto are uncovering coverups of studies starting in 1983 .

Of Mice, Monsanto And A Mysterious Tumor

The two-year study ran from 1980-1982 and involved 400 mice divided into groups of 50 males and 50 females that were administered three different doses of the weed killer or received no glyphosate at all for observation as a control group. The study was conducted for Monsanto to submit to regulators. But unfortunately for Monsanto, some mice exposed to glyphosate developed tumors at statistically significant rates, with no tumors at all in non-dosed mice.

A February 1984 memo from Environmental Protection Agency toxicologist William Dykstra stated the findings definitively: “Review of the mouse oncogenicity study indicates that glyphosate is oncogenic, producing renal tubule adenomas, a rare tumor, in a dose-related manner.” Researchers found these increased incidences of the kidney tumors in mice exposed to glyphosate worrisome because while adenomas are generally benign, they have the potential to become malignant, and even in noncancerous stages they have the potential to be harmful to other organs. Monsanto discounted the findings, arguing that the tumors were “unrelated to treatment” and showing false positives, and the company provided additional data to try to convince the EPA to discount the tumors.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/of-mice-monsanto-and-a-mysterious-tumor_us_5939717fe4b014ae8c69de40

[Major Nikon]

195. Sure, the OWA also says vaccines cause autism and 9/11 was an inside job

So it's not surprising you'd also believe their other batshit crazy conspiracy theories.

[fierywoman]

3. So -- no huitlacoche from this corn? Bummer.

[petronius]

55. Well, I've learned something new today!

Never heard of that particular delicacy before...

[fierywoman]

56. OMG! Delish mushrooms! Used to eat them in Mexico City in crepes.

[petronius]

59. I'll keep my eyes open and my tastebuds ready for

something new, then...

[fierywoman]

60. Major yum!

[gratuitous]

4. That's nice; I'd still like it labeled

And, should I so desire, choose a food product that doesn't contain genetic material from other species.

[USALiberal]

7. I agree, at least let people know. Nt

[Major Nikon]

40. All food products contain genetic material from other species

[X_Digger]

49. Such a food doesn't exist. Such is the nature of life on planet earth. n/t

[PatSeg]

5. It is the glyphosate consumers are concerned about

not necessarily the GMOs.

[womanofthehills]

15. Right - You never see GMO's without Roundup (glyphosate) or Dicamba

Besides if you look up this website it goes back to Genetic Literacy Project and Monsanto.

[PatSeg]

19. "Genetic Literacy Project"

Something about that title is absolutely hysterical!

Hi there, good to see you!

[womanofthehills]

24. Catchy name :-)

HI, good to see you too!

Genetic Literacy Project

A GMO lobbying outfit funded by Monsanto, the “Genetic Literacy Project” is run by its Executive Director, the infamous Jon Entine, the world’s leading biotech shill and character assassination operative. Sporting financial ties to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, (1) Entine is a media-savvy corporate propagandist (2) and pseudo-journalist who uses the Genetic Literacy Project (GLP) website to front the opinions and positions of chemical-agriculture corporations while pretending to be an independent journalist. Entine also plays a key role in another industry front group known as the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH)(4), which is another thinly-veiled corporate front group that Sourcewatch has labeled as an environmental hazard apologist group that accepts funding from Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Kellogg, General Mills, and the American Beverage Association. The Genetic Literacy Project knowingly and repeatedly publishes false information about GMOs in their never-ending attempt to brainwash consumers into thinking genetically modified food crops are not a major detriment to human health and the environment. The GLP website participates in revenge journalism and character assassination attempts for any person or group that criticizes GMOs and chemical agriculture practices. Jon Entine has no science background to speak of, but enlists the help of public scientists, academics and “sell out” journalists, like himself, who will say and write anything Monsanto suggests, as revealed in thousands of emails recently dredged up by the U.S. Right to Know group via their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests available right here. (3)

http://www.truthwiki.org/genetic-literacy-project/

[PatSeg]

26. Sounds like something

Frank Luntz would come up with. Should be called "GMO Propaganda Project" - GPP, kind of catchy.

[Major Nikon]

41. Sure, straight from the Kook-de-la-creme, Mike Adams, AKA Natural News

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TruthWiki

[womanofthehills]

50. Why are you protecting a sick Republican - Jon Entine??????????

who says SCIENCE PROVES FRACKING IS SAFE , AND he doesn't even believe in global warming. What's with supporting these right wing guys?

[Major Nikon]

54. On what planet does calling bullshit on your sourceprotecting anyone?

You do get that your favorite source, Mike Adams, is crazier than a shithouse rat AND a right wing AGW denialist, yes?

Please tell me you are not so far gone that you can’t follow the proof you’ve been given countless times.

[womanofthehills]

66. All your sources are Republican sites

[Major Nikon]

68. Name one. Ive already named several of yours that are.

Bullshit has been called.

[womanofthehills]

74. At the bottom of the OP article it says References: Genetic Literacy Project, Scientific Reports

Jon Entine and Genetic Literacy Project Spin Chemical Industry PR


Jon Entine, executive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, is a central player in Monsanto and the agrichemical industry’s public relations efforts to promote genetically engineered foods and pesticides and discredit critics. Monsanto listed Genetic Literacy Project as a “Tier 2 Industry Partner” in its confidential PR plan to “orchestrate outcry” against the International Agency for Research on Cancer for its glyphosate cancer designation.

Entine portrays himself as a science journalist and an objective authority on science. But the evidence shows that he is a longtime public relations operative with deep ties to the chemical industry, including undisclosed industry funding. His work features the defense of GMOs, pesticides, industrial chemicals, the oil industry, fracking and nuclear power.

https://usrtk.org/hall-of-shame/jon-entine-the-chemical-industrys-master-messenger/

[Major Nikon]

78. Sure, and vaccines cause autism

Which is other nonsense the OCA (and you) have claimed.

Meanwhile you can’t explain why you continue to use rightwing nutbags like Mike Adams as sources.

[womanofthehills]

85. Sure, and hey I know you really hate "Mom's Across America"- (what would mom's know??)

Mom's Across America is using independent labs to test US food for glyphosate levels - because Trump sure as hell isn't letting the government testing go forward.

Got Monsanto's Glyphosate in Your Lunch?

New test results show the presence of Glyphosate, a proven neurotoxin and the declared active chemical in Monsanto’s Roundup, to be contaminating more and more American foods, many considered fit for a “healthy” lunch. Instead, we are finding that these foods are likely contributing to poor mental and physical health.

Batch testing of popular almond milk (1), vegetarian burgers (2), and various breads (3), including organic, gluten free and whole wheat breads, revealed up to 140.98 ppb. Individual brand testing of Skippy’s “100% Natural” peanut butter and Lipton’s “100% Natural” Mint and Green tea up to 208.29 ppb of glyphosate herbicides.

Bread: Glyphosate herbicide were also found in all four batch tests of bread, separated into groups of conventional gluten free (3), organic (5), conventional white (7 samples), conventional whole wheat (6). Results ranged from an average of 6.47 ppb of effective glyphosate in gluten free, 12.24 ppb in organic, 14.13 in conventional white bread and 140.98 ppb in conventional whole wheat bread. These results are directly contrary to what nutritionists and the media has been promoting - which is that whole wheat breads are healthier than white breads. This would be true if they were not sprayed with glyphosate. Now we know conventional whole wheat bread is likely to have much higher levels of glyphosate residues due to the fact that glyphosate is sprayed on wheat as a drying agent and the hulls on whole wheat would retain those residues. The processing of white bread means that the hulls, and therefore much of the glyphosate residues, would be removed. The contamination of organic bread is also of great concern. This could be happening through irrigation water, rain, or air. Reports of fraudulent organic labeling from imports has also been reported, confirming the call for increased funding for organic farming on American soil.

http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/got_monsanto_s_glyphosate_in_your_lunch?utm_campaign=news_update&utm_medium=email&utm_source=yesmaam

[Major Nikon]

98. GMO causes autism!

The yuks just write themselves.

[womanofthehills]

125. Actually, there is speculation that TOXINS might contribute to autism

You have let it be known many times that you dislike this MIT professor but I think this video is really interesting - she says glyphosate is an amino acid and might be taken up by the body as glycine. The chemical industry has tried to discredit her big time.

VERY SCARY - GLYPHOSATE MIGHT BE SUBSTITUTING FOR GLYCINE BY MISTAKE IN PROTEIN SYSTHESIS -

[Major Nikon]

142. I think it's more interesting you'd promote batshit crazy anti-vax sources

[womanofthehills]

147. Actually, childhood vaccines are very safe right now because they have been around a long time

and have been perfected. It's the flu vaccines (which only have months to be perfected) that seem to have the most side effects in recent years. Side effects going up every year. If you look at the stats from the governments National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, most of the vaccine injuries now are from the flu vaccines and most of the vaccine injury compensation settlements are for Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The total amount paid for vaccine injury increases each year. Including attorneys fees for 2015 it was [$225,066,076.51 and in 2016 it was $251,772,302.50. In 2017 amount jumped to $3,560,341,200.85

https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/hrsa/vaccine-compensation/monthly-website-stats-2-01-18.pdf

Why are the payments for vaccine injury going up instead of down? Something is not right.

[Major Nikon]

148. I suggest you peddle your anti-vax nonsense elsewhere

Because I'm really just not that interested and you're wasting your time.

[womanofthehills]

150. Actually, I'm quoting my stats from US Dept of Health & Human Resources

Hello, a small percentage of people do get injured by vaccines and that's why the government has a compensation program. However, one would hope the vaccines injuries would be decreasing, not increasing. Big Pharma needs to work on this. Big Pharma did a very bad job this year with their flu vaccine that did not stop most people from getting the flu. More research is definitely needed.

[Major Nikon]

151. You are fear mongering. That's how anti-vaxxers operate

You do this blatantly while promoting the worst sort of far right anti-vax loons like Mike Fucking Adams and then expect people to believe you aren't an anti-vaxxer.

[womanofthehills]

175. Looks like the New York Times has LOTS OF ARTICLES ON MONSANTO'S SLEAZY TACTICS

Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

The reputation of Roundup, whose active ingredient is the world’s most widely used weed killer, took court unsealed documents a hit on Tuesday when a federal raising questions about its safety and the research practices of its manufacturer, the chemical giant Monsanto.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/business/monsanto-roundup-safety-lawsuit.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

-------
Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops

LONDON — The controversy over genetically modified crops has long focused on largely unsubstantiated fears that they are unsafe to eat.

But an extensive examination by The New York Times indicates that the debate has missed a more basic problem — genetic modification in the United States and Canada has not accelerated increases in crop yields or led to an overall reduction in the use of chemical pesticides.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/business/gmo-promise-falls-short.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article

-------------

Monsanto Whistle-Blower: $22 Million Richer, but Not Satisfied

So says the man who recently received $22 million after bringing to light multiyear accounting violations at Monsanto, the agribusiness and chemicals giant. Even though his is the second-largest award issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission under its five-year-old program to encourage whistle-blowers to come forward (after a $30 million award in September 2014), it feels, he told me, like something of a hollow victory.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/business/for-monsanto-whistle-blower-a-22-million-award-that-fell-short.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article

[Major Nikon]

176. Diversion noted

[womanofthehills]

178. Here is another diversion for you..... so many diversions.........

California cracks down on herbicide Roundup as lawsuits abound

The use of glyphosate has grown exponentially in the past two decades. The chemical has found its way into the food chain — and into people’s bodies. A study published this week in the medical journal JAMA showed that the number of Southern California adults who tested positive for glyphosate in their urine rose dramatically from 1993 to 2016, as did the amount of the chemical in those who excreted it.

In July, California added glyphosate to its list of cancer-causing chemicals under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. The act, also known as Proposition 65, requires businesses to warn consumers if their products or facilities contain potentially unsafe amounts of any toxic substances known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.

And you don’t need to live next to farm fields to be exposed to it, said Dr. Paul Winchester, a clinical professor of neonatology at Indiana University School of Medicine and medical director of the neonatal unit at Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indianapolis. “It turns out it’s in almost every [non-organic] food.”

(glyphosate is so pervasive in our environment it is now also showing up in organic food too - just in smaller amounts)

https://www.dailynews.com/2017/10/26/california-cracks-down-on-herbicide-roundup-as-lawsuits-abound/

[Major Nikon]

180. Don't forget coffee and soda pop

http://www.newsweek.com/heres-why-everything-gives-you-cancer-california-798750

[womanofthehills]

121. So you won't answer on "your guy" Jon Entine - need another article on him

Jon Entine and Genetic Literacy Project Spin Chemical Industry PR

Jon Entine, executive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, is a central player in Monsanto and the agrichemical industry’s public relations efforts to promote genetically engineered foods and pesticides and discredit critics. Monsanto listed Genetic Literacy Project as a “Tier 2 Industry Partner” in its confidential PR plan to “orchestrate outcry” against the International Agency for Research on Cancer for its glyphosate cancer designation.

Entine portrays himself as a science journalist and an objective authority on science. But the evidence shows that he is a longtime public relations operative with deep ties to the chemical industry,

including undisclosed industry funding. His work features the defense of GMOs, pesticides, industrial chemicals, the oil industry, fracking and nuclear power.

Ties to Monsanto

Entine founded ESG MediaMetrics, a communications firm whose clients included Monsanto and the Vinyl Institute.

https://usrtk.org/hall-of-shame/jon-entine-the-chemical-industrys-master-messenger/

[womanofthehills]

127. Mike Adams did not write the article I quoted

[Major Nikon]

141. Mike Fucking Adams, woo monger and Trump fan, owns the source you are floating as legitimate

He is an AIDS denialist, a AGW denialist, a birther, a wingnut, and crazy as a shithouse rat.

Kinda funny how you'd pretend other people use "right wing sources" (you know like Wikipedia) when you try to pass off his garbage as legitimate.

https://www.naturalnews.com/056117_Hillary_Clinton_criminal_charges_President_Trump.html

[Nailzberg]

197. Its a cesspool of conspiracry theory and anti-liberal hate. The contributors are batshit crazy.

"98% of mass shootings occur in “gun-free zones” … why do gun control loonies refuse to protect their own children?"
https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-02-26-98-of-mass-shootings-occur-in-gun-free-zones.html


I'm just doing the one link. But they have a search tool, anyone who thinks its a legitimate source should go check out the bullshit its spreading.

"San Francisco now the MURDER sanctuary city for America… illegals free to shoot American citizens with impunity"
"Meddling globalist George Soros named as the puppet master behind student gun control push"
"A NEW LOW, even for CNN: Exploiting dead and traumatized children to push a radical left-wing anti-gun agenda"
"It’s all THEATER: Florida high school shooting survivor caught on video rehearsing scripted lines, coached by camera man"
"BOMBSHELL: Florida mass shooting was ALLOWED to happen: Four deputies stood down, led by egomaniacal sheriff exposed as an anti-gun Democrat operative seeking fame"

[Major Nikon]

198. Most of the contribution comes from Mike Fucking Adams himself

He also fakes identities and speaks of himself in the 3rd person. Basically he's an even crazier version of Alex Jones with a particular bent against agricultural technology.

Occasionally people on DU regurgitate his nonsense as if it has the slightest legitimacy. Most do so out of ignorance of who he really is. Some reference him repeatedly even after they know, which kinda makes you go, hmmmm. Despite being a rabid wingnut, he seems to have a pretty good cult following and is to GMO as Andrew Wakefield is to the anti-vaxxers. There's also a lot of intersection between those two groups.

[sl8]

45. Do you find truthwiki.org to be very credible?

They certainly have some interesting theories about one Barack Hussein Obama.

From http://www.truthwiki.org/barack-hussein-obama-44th-president-usa/#section-9

...
Obama attempted a Soviet-style overthrow of the United States

Thanks to Obama having the mass media in his “back pocket” for 8 years, the left-wing media achieved 3 out of the 4 steps needed to literally destroy the American way of life (10) and invoke a socialist, big government regime that would have run the country communist-style for decades to come. Utilizing scripted stories via CNN, MSNBC, Hollywood, WashPo, NYT, Boston Globe, LA Times, Politifact, Forbes, Snopes, Hollywood, Disney, and certain paid, shill academics and “journo-terrorists,” Obama was able to brainwash tens of millions of Americans into believing that government handouts (mainly welfare and food stamps and sick care coverage) were the answers to easy living and democracy, even though it was the beginning of the end of the Bill of Rights, freedom of religion, freedom of press, and so many other inherent Constitutional rights.

With the help of globalists like Bill Gates and George Soros, Obama was funding the complete dismantling of American middle class lives and businesses, while widening the gap between the filthy rich and the poor. Political correctness became a disease, “tolerance” meant intolerance, and the dreaded “snowflake” mentality became an epidemic that is still crippling millions of Americans from leading normal lives since the major election upset by Trump over Hillary Clinton.

...

Climate change?
http://www.truthwiki.org/climate-change-global-warming/

[Major Nikon]

48. Mike Adams, right wing nutbag

Basically the Alex Jones of snakeoil salesmen. She also trots out Mercola and FoodBabe as legitimate sources.

[womanofthehills]

51. and you seem to find right wing websites like the OP credible

here are some other sites - do you have a problem with Alternet?

Election 2016
USA Today Fail: Trump Science Article Written by Corporate Front Group
The American Council on Science and Health secretly receives funding from corporations.

USA Today fell to a new low in science and election coverage recently with a column speculating about presidential candidate Donald Trump’s science agenda, written by two members of a corporate front group that was not identified as a corporate front group.

The column, “Would President Trump Be a Science Guy?”, was authored by Hank Campbell and Alex Berezow of the American Council on Science and Health, a group that promotes various corporate agendas via its science commentaries while secretly receiving significant funding from corporations, according to leaked documents reported by Mother Jones.

ACSH has made many indefensible and incorrect statements about science over the years – for example, the group has claimed there is no scientific consensus on global warming, that “fracking doesn’t pollute water or air,” and that “there is no evidence” that the chemical BPA is harmful to health.

A paper trail further suggests that ACSH works quid pro quo for its corporate funders. In one email from 2009, ACSH staff solicited a $100,000 donation from chemical giant Syngenta to produce a paper and “consumer friendly booklet” about pesticide exposures to help defend Syngenta’s pesticide atrazine. The donation was to be “separate and distinct from general operating support that Syngenta has been so generously providing over the years,” according to the email.
In 2011, ACSH released a book written by Jon Entine, along with an abbreviated position paper, about the public’s “irrational fear of chemicals,” featuring atrazine as a primary focus.

https://www.alternet.org/election-2016/trump-science-article-corporate-front-group

[Major Nikon]

58. Thanks for the update from USRTK, front group for anti-vax OCA

The OCA frequently reposts articles from woo-pushers and conspiracy theorists such as Joseph Mercola, NaturalNews, and Alex Jones on subjects such as water fluoridation,[8] food irradiation,[9] 9/11 conspiracy theories[10], raw milk,[11] vaccines,[12] homeopathy,[13] nuclear power,[14] and more. Predictably, their position on all of those subjects is in line with appeals to nature and contrary to the scientific consensus. They have a long history of using fearmongering and pseudoscience to push their agenda of converting the world to organic agriculture. Anyone who disagrees with them is labeled a shill.

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Organic_Consumers_Association

[womanofthehills]

75. Thanks for your updates from far right sites

[Major Nikon]

80. OK so now Rationalwiki is a far right site, but Mike Adams isnt

[Major Nikon]

187. "Stacy Malkan is co-director of U.S. Right to Know"

As I've already pointed out USRTK is a front group for anti-vax and conspiracy theory nutbag organization OCA.

Kinda funny how virtually all your sources trace back to the same small group of nutbags. Amazing how you are so "adept" at tracing out sources, yet can't seem to make even the simplest connections to nutbaggery even after it's been pointed out.

[womanofthehills]

126. I also posted other links on Jon Entine who is connected to the OP POST

In this case, truthwiki was right on about Jon Entine - who has had Monsanto as his client.

[sl8]

158. Connected how?

How is he connected either Futurism or the cited study?

Why so much interest in this Jon Entine? Did he have some influence on the study?

[womanofthehills]

162. The article says it's based on refererences from the Genetic Literacy Project

Here is the OP Link - https://futurism.com/two-decades-scientists-gmos-corn-good-seriously/

At the bottom of the article it says: References: Genetic Literacy Project, Scientific Reports

Jon Entine runs the Genetic Literacy Project and is a Visiting Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute which is a neoconservative think tank.


Where are these 6000 studies and who did them? Can't seem to find them anywhere on the net. First of all it's almost impossible to do an independent study on GMO's because Monsanto will not give you the seeds to do the study and secondly, they insist, you give them the results of the study before they allow you to publish it. The researchers at universities will not touch doing studies on Roundup because it would be devistating for their careers. Look at how they tried to do in Seralini for speaking up.

As for the universities that Folta claimed were happy to help independent researchers with GMO studies, Vlieger found just the opposite. He had approached researchers, funding in hand, at several universities asking them to carry out studies on GM crops and the glyphosate herbicide that most GM crops are engineered to tolerate. But the researchers were unwilling even to consider delving into such questions. Vlieger said,“The reaction was the same every time. They told us it would be ‘very unhealthy’ for the career of any researcher to get involved with any research that may shed negative light on a GM crop or glyphosate.”13

It is clear from these accounts that relationships between GM seed companies and universities are a restrictive rather than a liberating influence on independent research. It is unlikely that any university would risk upsetting the GM seed companies that provide it with an ongoing source of research funding by facilitating critical research on their products.

http://earthopensource.org/gmomythsandtruths/sample-page/2-science-regulation/2-2-myth-independent-studies-confirm-gm-foods-crops-safe/

[sl8]

163. Regarding the references

As far as I can tell, the attribution for Genetic Literacy Project applies to two sentences:

...
Perhaps some of this distrust will be put to rest with the emergence of a a new meta-analysis that shows GM corn increases crop yields and provides significant health benefits.
...
Some are already calling this meta-analysis the “final chapter” in the GMO debate.
...

Do you see anything else from Genetic Literacy Project in the article?

[Major Nikon]

189. I noticed how you got obfuscation instead of an answer to your question

[sl8]

164. Regarding "over 6,000 peer-reviewed studies"

I think that number is a little misleading. They started with 6,006 studies and then narrowed it down to 76 studies for analysis.

From the study, at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-21284-2

...

Composition of the database
The first step of the selection procedure yielded 6,006 publications. The subsequent refinement, by adopting the stringent criteria above described, gave 32, 5, 32 and 10 eligible publications, covering, respectively, the following categories: grain yield and quality, TOs, NTOs (non-target organisms), and biogeochemical cycles (e.g. lignin content in stalks and leaves, stalk mass loss and biomass loss, CO2 emission) (Supplementary 1 Tables 1–5).

...

Composition of the database
To date, a considerable number of scientific articles on GE maize is present in the literature (6,006 publications examined). However, on the basis of the criteria adopted for data selection, only 76 publications were eligible for the meta-analyses.

...

Much more at link.

The studies are listed in Supplementary 1, which is available online:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-21284-2#Sec18

[womanofthehills]

173. Court documents suggest Monsanto had GHOST WRITTEN RESEARCH and attributed it to academics

so 6,000 documents probably ghost written by Monsanto with the EPA in on it. That makes me feel confident about the safety of our foods.

The court documents included Monsanto’s internal emails and email traffic between the company and federal regulators. The records suggested that Monsanto had ghostwritten research that was later attributed to academics and indicated that a senior official at the Environmental Protection Agency had worked to quash a review of Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, that was to have been conducted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The documents also revealed that there was some disagreement within the E.P.A. over its own safety assessment.

The files were unsealed by Judge Vince Chhabria, who is presiding over litigation brought by people who claim to have developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a result of exposure to glyphosate. The litigation was touched off by a determination made nearly two years ago by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization, that glyphosate was a probable carcinogen, citing research linking it to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/business/monsanto-roundup-safety-lawsuit.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

[Major Nikon]

186. Kinda funny how your own sources trace back to the same group of loons

Jon Entine wrote some articles the AEI republished and received money from someone who received money from someone else who received money from Monsanto! And who do we have to thank for this incontrovertible money trail that leads directly (more or less) straight up Monsanto's ass? Why it's none other than Earthopensource and Mike Fucking Adams. Meanwhile EarthOpenSource was founded by Maharishi-cult John Fagan who directly profits from anti-GM propaganda. The group employs several people who have ties back to Seralini's organic and assorted snake oil sales organizations.

Kinda funny how you are so good at ferreting out the most remote associations of Jon Entine yet you routinely ignore the dubious connections to the batshit crazy of your own sources, even when it's been pointed out numerous times. You are still defending the batshit crazy Mike Fucking Adams after parroting out his nonsense.

[airmid]

106. We literally have to buy drinking water on our property due to the use of agrochemicals that

have contaminated our water. Monsanto has been king in the area I live. This is where they planted their first test fields of GMO and doused it with their pesticides. As long as GMO's have the need to be grown with such chemicals, it's is poison as far as I am concerned. Maybe they will decide to study the cancer cluster that exists in this area as well, but doubt it.

[PatSeg]

113. That is awful

Do you live in a rural area?

This company has a horrible track record that goes back decades. They are right up there with the tobacco industry and every bit as evil and dangerous. Unfortunately, they are also very powerful and can afford the best lawyers, as well as politicians. I am disgusted when people come on here and defend them.

[airmid]

154. Yes, we are very rural. We installed two 500 gallon tanks for drinking, cooking, and

bathing. We have tried to get something done about this for years with no luck. I have installed a graywater system as well as a creative method of saving rainwater for our chickens and goats.. It took yrs of finding the right spot to grow veg. Our only saving grace is the old growth forest has not been affected to badly. We still have stand of ginseng and other native endangered plants. Everyone else around has either sold out and left, or are stuck in contracts with Monsanto.

I have other huge issues with the Herbicide/Pesticide companies...they are destroying seed diversity. I used to grow heirloom corn. I can no longer do that.

[PatSeg]

159. I have so sorry to hear what you've gone through

It reminds me of stories I've heard about farmers affected by fracking. So the company who is going to "feed the world" is going to destroy our water supplies and soil in the process. It all paints a very dismal picture of a future dystopian world, where the soil is depleted and poisoned, and potable water is a premium. A world run over by super weeds and insects resistant to the poisons that helped create them.

[womanofthehills]

170. OMG! That is so bad. I had to fight Kinder Morgan bringing a CO2 pipeline across my land

Lucky for me, when the price of oil dropped, they aborted the project. It's horrible when big corporations invade our lives.

Here are some internal Monsanto emails ........

“If somebody came to me and said they wanted to test Roundup I know how I would react — with serious concern,” one Monsanto scientist wrote in an internal email in 2001.

In a 2003 email, a different Monsanto executive tells others, “You cannot say that Roundup is not a carcinogen … we have not done the necessary testing on the formulation to make that statement.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/business/monsantos-sway-over-research-is-seen-in-disclosed-emails.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article

[genxlib]

6. This may not go over well here

This is one of the only policy discussions where my wife and I disagree.

She is anti-GMO and I am generally pro GMO. We do argue about this one.

For me GMO is a tool and the morality of it boils down to what you do with it.

Modifying for more yield to feed hungry - good. Modifying to patent and restrict usage - bad

Modifying to reduce dependency on chemicals- good. Modifying to allow vastly more chemicals to be used - bad.

I am wary of the advancements and motivations but it has tremendous benefits if properly executed.

[packman]

9. Agree - Like most things in life

two sides to a coin

[Blue_true]

10. I really don't have an issue with GMO stuff if it is properly labeled.

And the use path is monitored. I don't knowingly eat GMO stuff that I know of.

I don't understand the "No GMO" label on stuff unless the fruit or vegetables grown as the base ingredients of the stuff are sample tested by a lab. Bees may get affected by GMO plants, but unless they die immediately, they will likely pollinate non GMO plants, the change shows up in the next generation when seeds are used for new plants. The only way to be no GMO certain is to buy and sample lab test seeds, and isolate the plants grown from those seeds from bees and wind, and use artificial pollinators that are certified clean to pollinate plants to produce vegetables and fruit.

[genxlib]

22. No argument

No matter what my position on GMOs, I believe in proper labeling so people can decide for themselves.

[womanofthehills]

76. All the US honey tested has glyphosate according to the FDA - so the bees are screwed & so are we

FDA Finds Monsanto’s Weed Killer In U.S. Honey

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html

[Major Nikon]

105. Parts per billion

1 penny in 10 million dollars
1 second in 32 years
1 foot of a trip to the moon
1 blade of grass on a football field
1 drop of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool

[mythology]

91. Literally everything you eat is genetically modified

Some by nature, some by farmers and some by scientists. But it is all modified. Whether it's breeding cows to produce more milk, or chicken to be plumper, or Mendel discovering dominant and recessive genes by playing with peas or a scientist in a lab today.

[Major Nikon]

102. Guess what happens when something isn't genetically modified

You get exactly the same thing. Genetic modification occurs naturally and is synonymous with evolution. Humans figured out how to control that process thousands of years ago and modern civilization would be impossible without it.

[Blue_true]

124. I few years back, I did a trick with tomatoe seeds.

I started out by buying plants from a natural foods-organic store. I numbered each bush and when tomatoes came, measured all output from bush and recorded the appearance of the fruit. Then, I selected only the most beautiful tomatoes from the highest yielding plants to harvest seeds from. Even after harvesting the seeds, I sorted the seeds of each plant and selected only the most robust seeds for the following season planting. Needless to say, the next season, I got giant tomatoes off loaded down bushes, but the interesting thing is that the high yields were proportional to the yield of the original plants that the seeds came from, but higher yielding with giant plants.

[nolabels]

156. But some people like medium sized cherry tomatoes

Just kidding

I hope you had fun growing them because to me it does sound like fun.

[Blue_true]

161. I loved growing sauce tomatoes. So the larger and more flavor, the better. nt

[Phoenix61]

8. The problem with GMO corn isn't the corn

It's that is was modified to survive Roundup. Then there's the impact it has on developing countries because they have to keep buying seed corn. Increasing crop yield can lead to soil erosion and increasing desertification. Increased yield also requires increased irrigation which can lead to downstream water shortages. Monsanto would like us to believe they are working in our best interests but their sole goal is to maximize profits.

[Blue_true]

11. A lot of GMO crops are draught resistant and require less water

for an equivalent yield. The GMO stuff cuts both ways, that is why I judge based upon the purpose of the GMO seed, if the goal is to feed hungry people then ok, if the purpose is to make farmers rich, then no.

[GulfCoast66]

12. I do not mind farmers getting rich. I know several

But I have a huge problem when any technology like GMO is used to make Multinational corporations rich at the expense of farmers.

Like mentioned earlier in the thread. It is not the technology but how it is used.

[womanofthehills]

14. There are many studies done that food does not have to be GMO to feed hungry people

So many countries in the world have outlawed GMO and they are all feeding their people.

[Cha]

57. "6,000 studies.."!! And, yet I still

stay the **** away from it.. always have always will.

Don't appreciate anyone trying to push it on me, either.. You?

Womanofthehills

[womanofthehills]

149. Hi Cha - I also stay the ****away from it - big time.

Try to eat only organic and will not touch beef that is not grass fed. I have my own chickens who also only eat organic.

[womanofthehills]

35. Not true, Blue_true - some GMO crops are water thirsty

Prof Moseley points to the example of GM Bt cotton in India, where the 65% of farmers who rely on rain for irrigation found low returns from this GM crop, which is notorious for being water-thirsty. In Maharashtra state, farmers who took out loans to buy expensive GM seeds and the accompanying inputs fell into debt, with the result that “Following four consecutive years of low rainfall, this area emerged in 2015 as India's epicenter of farmer suicides.”

Incidentally, the statement in the article that GM allows for “more productive crops” is not supported by evidence, if we take “productive” to refer to yield. The report on GM crops published in 2016 by the US National Academies of Sciences concluded, “The nation-wide data on maize, cotton, or soybean in the United States do not show a significant signature of genetic-engineering technology on the rate of yield increase.”

http://www.gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/17740-why-gmos-won-t-feed-the-hungry-of-the-world-but-agroecology-can

[womanofthehills]

17. Almost everything we now eat has a trace of Roundup

How sick is that.

[Farmer-Rick]

29. Yes, so right

The corn is Not modified to be more productive or bigger. It's modified to accept Round Up being poured all over it while everything around it dies. Now tell me how healthy drinking or eating Round Up is for you.

It's not the genetic manipulation that's the problem, it's the chemicals and constant water used.

I've tried to grow this corn using organic methods and it is plagued by every worm and bug around. It has to have constant water and high nitrogen. It is easily pushed out by weeds and needs to be pampered. Without all the chemicals used on it, it produced half the amount produced by organic seed corn. And you can't reseed it without getting sued by Monsanto. And it contaminated my organic corn so that I had to start over with clean seeds.

[Phoenix61]

31. Thanks so much for sharing

I took a screen shot so I'll have this info on hand when dealing with some of my uninformed friends.

[Farmer-Rick]

32. I hope it helps.

Last edited Fri Feb 23, 2018, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)

I made the mistake of using Round Up ready seed. I have since found out they have BT and a drought tolerant seed corn too. And the price has gone up. But I think I'll stick with my organic seeds. At least I get free seeds out of it.

[lunasun]

83. Well you asked ...tell me how healthy drinking roundup is for you

Listen to this guy walk his way back out of the room

[Farmer-Rick]

87. Oh my god, I've never seen that, how funny

Really Round Up is safe for humans? It will kill your kidneys. Combined with hard water and heat and it was wiping out entire villages in Asia.

He's not stupid? If it's safe for humans why not drink it?

[lunasun]

90. Even a lobbyist will only go so far with the bullshit they shill. Ain't enuf $$$ to really drink it

At one point he claimed you could drink a gallon of it without harm
But him? Wouldn't drink one glass
Oh he meant others could drink it not him
Most of these wealthy lobbyist don't even eat the shit they shill to common folk and farmers let alone one of them ever put the pure liquid to thier lips. But they will all tell you "Why it is safe enough to drink! " That is one of thier std scripted lines just don't ever call them on it or they may get mad and call you a jerk

[Major Nikon]

104. Why not drink urine?

Drinking your own urine only becomes problematicly toxic after the third or so trip through your kidneys, so why don't you drink your own urine?

The toxicity of glyphosate isn't a big mystery. It's measured on the LD-50 scale and is about half as toxic as salt and household vinegar, both of which are routinely used for culinary purposes.

[Major Nikon]

100. Less than saline

https://www.gardenmyths.com/homemade-weed-killer-roundup-vs-vinegar-vs-salt/

[Major Nikon]

103. I'm sorry but this sounds like a bunch of nonsense

European Corn Borer infestations are of exactly zero concern to farmers who use GMO, but routinely wipe out so-called organic crops despite far higher usage of much more invasive controls.

Furthermore the vast majority of so-called organic corn comes from F1 hybrid seed that is most certainly virtually sterile and cannot be reused to any reasonable degree. The exception is heirloom varietals which have a number of problems associated with large scale production, not the least of which is disease and insect restistance, which is why they aren't well suited to commercial production.

[Major Nikon]

42. Even without GMO that is true

Well before GMO about 95% of the corn produced for human consumption was hybrid, meaning the seed couldn’t be reused. Increasing crop yield means less farmland used and less erosion.

[womanofthehills]

13. Futurism.com connected to Genetic Literacy Project -THIS IS MONSANTO PROPAGANDA

and Kevin Folta - it's all funded by Monsanto

https://usrtk.org/tag/genetic-literacy-project/

Kevin Folta, Ph.D., professor and chairman of the Horticulture Sciences Department at University of Florida, has provided inaccurate information and engaged in misleading activities in his efforts to promote genetically engineered foods and pesticides.

His recent lawsuit against The New York Times is the latest in a long line of examples of Dr. Folta’s misleading and deceptive communications.

[Major Nikon]

43. USRTK was founded by anti-vax group OCA

Kinda funny how you consistently try to impeach sources using info from the worst sort of anti-science nutbags.

[Major Nikon]

46. The anti-GM lobby appears to be taking a page out of the Climategate playbook

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/09/gm-opponents-are-science-deniers

[Archae]

20. Unfortunately, there still are far too many hysterics and con artists...

Like "Natural News" and Jeffrey Smith.

"GMO's iz BAD cuz we sez so!"

[womanofthehills]

21. Well you might think it's ok - but many counties and scientists don't

and worse than just being GMO, is we are eating glyphosate with almost every bite we take.

No scientific consensus on GMO safety

A broad community of independent scientific researchers and scholars challenges recent claims of a consensus over the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In the following joint statement, the claimed consensus is shown to be an artificial construct that has been falsely perpetuated through diverse fora. Irrespective of contradictory evidence in the refereed literature, as documented below, the claim that there is now a consensus on the safety of GMOs continues to be widely and often uncritically aired.

Decisions on the future of our food and agriculture should not be based on misleading and misrepresentative claims by an internal circle of likeminded stakeholders that a ‘scientific consensus’ exists on GMO safety.

https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-014-0034-1

[Major Nikon]

44. The author works for Junk-Science extraordinare Seralini

[womanofthehills]

119. Seralini Receives Whistleblower Award

of course you would not like hime.

Whistleblower award goes to Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini

Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini will tomorrow be honoured with the 2015 Whistleblower Award by the Federation of German Scientists (VDW) and the German Section of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (“IALANA”).

Prof Séralini will receive the award in recognition of his research demonstrating the toxic effects of Roundup herbicide on rats when administered at a low environmentally relevant dose over a long-term period. After the research was published, Prof Seralini was attacked in what the VDW and IALANA call “a vehement campaign by ‘interested circles’ from the chemical industry” as well as from the UK Science Media Centre. This smear campaign led to the retraction of his team’s paper by the first journal that published it. But Prof Seralini and his team fought back, countering the scientific arguments raised against their research and republishing their paper in another journal.

http://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/16458-whistleblower-award-goes-to-prof-gilles-eric-seralini

[Major Nikon]

140. Woo monger

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gilles-Eric_S%C3%A9ralini

[womanofthehills]

152. Sralini Paper Damning GMO Roundup Ready Corn REPUBLISHED

The study by Gilles-Eric Séralini et al., Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize, which found massive tumors, kidney and liver damage in rats on a GMO Roundup-Ready maize diet, has been republished in the Springer open source journal Environmental Sciences Europe (ESEU, 2014, 26:14). The ESEU journal editor gave the following reason for republishing Seralini's study:“To support rational scientific debate rather than to censor it.”

IT IS NOW BEING REPUBLISHED IN SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AFTER BEING SQUASHED BY COMMERCIAL PRESSURE

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/06/25/1309486/-S-ralini-Paper-Damning-GMO-Roundup-Ready-Corn-Republished

[Major Nikon]

160. Which just proves you can get junk science published when you pay to have it done

Meanwhile his research can’t be duplicated by actual ethical scientists and published in respected journals. Also meanwhile Séralini keeps getting paid by Big-Organic®.

So you can keep pretending he’s a legitimate source if you wish, but it just ain’t that hard to follow the money.

[womanofthehills]

169. Monsanto's own scientists secret memos - SCARY

Monsanto Emails Raise Issue of Influencing Research on Roundup Weed Killer

Documents released Tuesday in a lawsuit against Monsanto raised new questions about the company’s efforts to influence the news media and scientific research and revealed internal debate over the safety of its highest-profile product, the weed killer Roundup.

“If somebody came to me and said they wanted to test Roundup I know how I would react — with serious concern,” one Monsanto scientist wrote in an internal email in 2001

.

In a 2002 email, a Monsanto executive said, “What I’ve been hearing from you is that this continues to be the case with these studies — Glyphosate is O.K. but the formulated product (and thus the surfactant) does the damage.”

In a 2003 email, a different Monsanto executive tells others, “You cannot say that Roundup is not a carcinogen … we have not done the necessary testing on the formulation to make that statement.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/business/monsantos-sway-over-research-is-seen-in-disclosed-emails.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article

[Major Nikon]

171. So you are a fan of Seralini, but fear industry manipulating research

[womanofthehills]

181. It was the chemical industry that went after Seralini - not the scientists

[Major Nikon]

183. Right...

Because as we all know the plethora of scientists who questioned Seralini's obvious bullshit were all secretly working for the Illuminati, or was it the New World Order?

Mike Fucking Adams said so, and so it must be.

[womanofthehills]

23. And - GM Crops Now Banned in 38 Countries Worldwide

Thirty eight (38) countries worldwide have officially banned the cultivation of GM crops and only 28 actually grow GM crops (most of which grow under 500 thousand hectares). The picture painted by the Biotech industry and the U.S. government that GM crops have been accepted by the majority of countries worldwide is therefore quite obviously wrong.

In fact many countries have recently started to put in place regulations to protect their population and environment from the environmental and health damage caused by GM crops.

Official GM CROP CULTIVATION BANS:

Africa (2)

The picture on GM cultivation bans across Africa is not clear due to the current pressure being put on many African governments by the Biotech industry and the Gates Foundation to lift long-standing bans on the import of unmilled GMO seeds or unmilled GMO food aid, however two countries do still have full legal bans on GM crop cultivation:

Algeria (since 2000)

Madagascar (since 2002)

Asia (4)

Turkey,

Kyrgyzstan

Bhutan

Saudi Arabia

Americas (4)

Belize

Peru

Ecuador

Venezuela

Europe (28)

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Germany

France

The Netherlands

Malta

Cyprus

Greece

Bulgaria

Russia

Serbia

Croatia

Italy

Denmark

Hungary

Moldova

Latvia

Lithuania

Austria

Poland

Slovenia

Azerbaijan

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Luxembourg

Ukraine (although there is massive GM contamination in the country)

https://sustainablepulse.com/2015/10/22/gm-crops-now-banned-in-36-countries-worldwide-sustainable-pulse-research/#.WpBuKIJG3UY

[CentralMass]

69. They are clearly blasphemous science haters. ;-)

[Nailzberg]

137. This is our version of climate change denialism.

No amount of evidence will suffice. It won't be looked at. The goalposts get moved, or the shill card gets played. Quality evidence and published studies get drowned out with Natural News and Food Babe articles.

Once folks become emotionally attached to the argument, they're unlikely to accept evidence that suggests anything else. I won't try anymore. I'm just going to keep supporting scientists running for office.

[Adrahil]

25. DU loves technical experts.... except...

when it gores their personal Ox.

[handmade34]

27. GMO can be OK

excessive mandatory chemicals are not

[Vinca]

28. Then it should be no big deal to label products made with GMO corn.

Let the consumers decide.

[FarCenter]

33. Essentially all products are made with GMO corn or other GMO plants, e.g. soybeans.

Corn is converted into oils, starches, sweeteners, etc. that are widely used in producing food.

Essentially all the reasonably priced grocery store products would carry a GMO label.

[womanofthehills]

36. Good reason to eat organic even thought organic still has small levels of glyphosate from

contamination of streams, drift, etc. Also, a good reason to eat non processed food.

[DBoon]

30. People have the right to choose non-GMO foods if they wish

even if the scientific evidence says there is no harm in consuming them.

Foods are labeled "Kosher" to accommodate consumer preferences after all.

[Major Nikon]

47. Youre comparing a voluntary labeling scheme to one that is not

Imagine a requirement for organic food crops to carry a “fertilized with animal feces” label that was promoted and funded by non-organic trade groups having a monetary interest in a smear campaign against their competitors.

[CentralMass]

70. The pro GMO crowd really seems to fear labeling. What is the issue ? You can load up with GMO

products without straining yourself looking for them.

[Major Nikon]

72. I just explained what the issue is

If you don’t understand what I wrote, you should ask relevant questions rather than resorting to smear.

[CentralMass]

77. You are far to defensive, that was hardly a smear and your reply on labeling seems like a dodge .

Force organic growers to label what they used for fertizer and if they sleep in the nude or not. That is fine. Many us feel the crops that have had artificial genetic modification should be labelled. .

[Major Nikon]

82. If I claimed you are a big-organic shill would that be a smear?

Forcing GMO labeling increases the cost of my food with zero useful information. If you want to pay more for non-GMO certification you have lots of options for doing so.

[CentralMass]

86. You are bandying around smears. A related article.

http://consumersunion.org/2016/02/cost-of-labeling-genetically-engineered-food-will-be-minimal/

" They’re at it again. Opponents of labeling foods containing genetically engineered (GE) ingredients are citing a new study—this time by the Corn Refiners Association—to suggest that mandatory GE food labeling would boost a typical family of four’s spending by an average of $1,050 per year. Count us as skeptical.

This new study—like previous industry-funded studies such as the one released last year by a Cornell University professor—makes a number of unreasonable assumptions to come up with the supposedly large cost of labeling GE foods, including that companies will reformulate all their products to remove GE ingredients. The assumptions are so tenuous that the Washington Post Fact Checker column gave the Cornell study a rating of three out of a possible four “Pinocchios” (“mostly false,” with significant factual error or obvious contradiction). The same could be said for the Corn Refiners study, since it makes the same basic assumption.

Such exorbitant estimates are directly contradicted by the recent announcement by Campbell Soup Company. Last month, Campbell’s announced that it will label its food products for the presence of GE ingredients, and support federal mandatory labeling of GE foods. A spokesperson said at the time that “there will be no price increase as a result of Vermont or national GMO labeling for Campbell products.”

The argument that mandated label changes will cost consumers large sums of money has been made before. Some claimed that the Nutrition Facts label, required by a 1990 law, would drastically increase the price of food. But as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) noted at that time, the agency did not consider reformulation costs in its analysis of the cost of nutrition labeling, as “they depend on marketing decisions and are impossible to predict. Moreover, they do not result directly from these proposed rules.” More recently, Campbell’s chief executive noted to the New York Times that the adoption of the Nutrition Facts label did not significantly raise costs.

In contrast to industry’s unrealistic estimates, an analysis of existing studies of the cost of labeling commissioned by Consumers Union and conducted by the independent economic research firm ECONorthwest found that the median cost that might be passed on to consumers was just $2.30 per person annually, less than a penny a day. This figure takes into account one-time implementation expenses, so the longer-term annual cost per person after could be even lower.

Regardless of exact figures, the bottom line is clear: the cost of GE food labeling would be minimal. It’s time for the entire food industry to stop misrepresenting the facts, follow Campbell’s lead, and work with us to establish a national, mandatory, on-package "

[Major Nikon]

97. Bullshit

You are pretending I referenced some $1000 figure, when clearly I did not. Your blatantly obvious strawman argument then goes on to reference a very poorly sourced consumer union reference which contains exactly zero methodology, unlike the argument they are very poorly trying to counter.

But let's pretend for a moment that the laughably amateur figure of $2.30 per year figure was even remotely accurate. Why should I wish to spend even 1 cent on something which offers exactly zero benefit? Your obviously highly biased source conveniently neglects to provide any of that information.

[CentralMass]

167. You are really wound up and you seem to know all and refute any article or opinion that doesn't

agreewith yours.. You also seem angry.

[Major Nikon]

168. Since we are now discussing tactics....

First you attributed fear to anyone who disagreed with you, and now you are trying to pretend I'm angry for not sharing your opinion. I could probably guess why, but frankly I find such tactics rather childish and not really worthy of further consideration. Feel free to continue to play those games, but you'll have to do so without me.

Cheers!

[NutmegYankee]

34. There is nothing wrong with GMO crops.

I’m not a fan of patents and pesticides, but GMO for superior disease resistance or to add nutrients is perfectly fine.

[womanofthehills]

37. So you have no problem consuming glyphosate with every bite?

[NutmegYankee]

38. Not every GMO involves resistance to glyphosate.

In fact a new eggplant GMO recently released for use in Bangladesh resulted in significant reductions in pesticide use since they bred a gene from the BT bacteria strain into the plant. BT is widely used as an organic pesticide.

There are GMO projects to add resistance to diseases also out there.

[womanofthehills]

67. Every GMO in America does use glyphosate also most conventional food is now sprayed with it too -

Last edited Mon Feb 26, 2018, 03:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Main GMO crops - corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, squash, papaya and sugar beets. However, there are high levels on many non GMO crops - especially nuts - almonds and peanuts are very high; oatmeal, beans, lentils, and wheat are also high. Glyphosate is also heavily used on avocados and grapes. Wheat and grains (esp. in northern states) are sprayed a few days before harvest to help dry them out. Eggs are high because of the high levels of Roundup in chicken feed. And it goes on and on...........

Eat up my friend......... actually, although the US does not test for glyphosate levels on our food ( it tests for all other lesser used pesticides), Canada does and the CFIC has reported one third of all Canadian food has levels of glyphosate. In Canadian testing , the highest glyphosate levels were in grains, peas, beans, and lentals - next highest was fresh fruits and vegetables.

[NutmegYankee]

79. False.

There are thousands of approved GMOs with insect resistance, product quality, agronomic improvements, etc per the USDA, with multiple companies releasing products.

Glysophate is associated with a herbicide resistant variety produced (and patented) by Monsanto. While in high use, it is hardly the only GMO out there.

[womanofthehills]

88. But the BIG ones are Roundup Ready soybeans and Roundup Ready corn

[NutmegYankee]

93. True.

And those products get doused with Roundup (Glysophate). At the same time, non-GMO commercial food crops get doused in pesticides and fungicides that are considered far more dangerous to human health.

All of which goes back to my original point - Genetically Modified Organisms are not themselves a bad thing. Introducing more nutrition, drought resistance, or insect/disease resistance into food commodities is not in and of itself a bad thing. And the body is not in danger from these changes - your digestive track just breaks down the new proteins/compounds like it does the rest of the plant. And frankly, if we are to survive global climate change with 9 Billion hungry mouths to feed, we're going to need GMOs. To not do so is to accept famine.

I understand the concern with Monsanto and it's licensing agreements, but also haven't seen a US case where a farmer was successfully sued for incidental contamination. The legal bar is far too high. Even the Canadian case resulted in no financial penalty. Also, patents only last 20 years from filing. After expiration, the GMO seed can be saved and used by anyone. On the saving seed front, much of the US market uses F1 hybrids already, meaning the saved seed would produce a parent and not have the same traits. So most farmers are buying from seed companies anyway.

[Major Nikon]

99. The patent ran out on glysophate some time ago

Monsanto is far from the only manufacturer. Not to mention the chemophobia surrounding it is manufactured nonsense by those who peddle pseudoscience like Mike Adams, Mercola, Food Babe, Seralini, and other assorted cranks who are making large sums of money from selling so-called "natural" products that are the modern equivalent of snake oil.

[flyingfysh]

52. There is one big problem with GMO corn to consider

I have no reason to believe there are any ill effects from eating GMO corn, but there is another issue: Monsanto's behavior.

If a field is planted with GMO corn, then some of the pollen will drift away to neighboring fields planted with non-GMO corn. Then tests show that those farmers are also raising some corn with GMO genes. The farmers get sued by Monsanto, and lose in court. I have heard reports of this happening several times, but don't have any particular examples at the moment.

[Major Nikon]

61. Theres only one example

And not exactly a very good one.

In 1997, Percy Schmeiser found Monsanto's genetically modified “Roundup Ready Canola” plants growing near his farm. He testified that he sprayed his nearby field and found that much of the crop survived, meaning it was also Roundup Ready.[2] He testified that he then harvested that crop, saved it separately from his other harvest, and intentionally planted it in 1998.[2] Monsanto approached him to pay a license fee for using Monsanto's patented technology without a license. Schmeiser refused, claiming that the actual seed was his because it was grown on his land, and so Monsanto sued Schmeiser for patent infringement on August 6, 1998.[2]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Schmeiser

[regnaD kciN]

65. That, essentially, is my biggest concern...

...turning a common foodstuff into something that can be licensed by a multinational corporation. You want to grow wheat, or corn, or whatever? You've got to pay AgraCorp a hefty fee every year for the "privilege" from now on...and there is no alternative.

[appleannie1943]

53. I will still plant my garden with normal seeds.

There are still a few seed companies that sell them. And since I have to pay more for pure seeds, I have started saving seeds from the plants themselves. I don't use chemicals on any of the plants and that is the way I prefer it.

[Major Nikon]

64. No seed company sells GMO seeds to consumers

They are only available to commercial growers.

If some company is charging you more for “GMO free” seeds, you are getting ripped off.

[NutmegYankee]

94. There are no seed companies selling GMOs to backyard gardeners

Trust me, if one could sell me a Pink Brandywine Tomato modified with tolerance to bacteria, fungus, and insects, I'd buy it.

Most seeds sold are F1 Hybrids, which means the pollen of two parents were crossed to produce a specific offspring. F1 hybrids are not true to seed, meaning they will produce their parents and not themselves. This differs from the "heirloom" or "open pollinated" varieties that are true to seed.

I grow both hybrids and heirlooms. The F1s often have better disease resistance while the heirlooms just taste better.

[GulfCoast66]

111. I had to chuckle

I have 3 large tomato plants yielding like crazy. One is an heirloom to treat myself every couple of days to the best tomato taste in the world. 2 are Better Boys so I can get enough yield to freeze for the summer.

In Central Florida this is our gardening time.

Trying to feed the world without utilizing all the advantages of modern science means poor people in other countries starve.

Think I will have a BLT for supper.

[NutmegYankee]

114. I have 3 growing in a tent under LEDs.

I'm about to try the first to ripen, called Dwarf Crimson Sockeye followed by another variety called Wherokowhai. Once they are done yielding (next month), I'll clean up and sterilize and prepare for starting the spring seedlings.

[GulfCoast66]

115. Thats hard core gardening!

We actually got below freezing 2 times this year and had several frosts. I build a pvc frame around the plants(we grow them in whiskey half barrels). Covered the frame with frost cloth and put 2 incandescent work lights under it for heat. They made it through fine which is why I have very large vines in February. It is in the mid80’s now and they are kicking butt.

Have a nice weekend

[NutmegYankee]

116. It gets me through the blah of winter.

I have the tomatoes in the Tomato Success Kits from Gardeners Supply Company. I bought one of those 4x4x7' grow tents, popular among a different variety of indoor gardener, and set up LEDs to keep the cost reasonable. The whole set up is down in the basement, which stays around 60F unheated, though the lights warm the tent up to the 70s.

In the spring I'll use Wall 'O Waters to get a jump on the season and protect from late frosts, which can hit as late as the third week of May. After that it's a race to beat the first frost, usually early Oct. For long season tomatoes like Brandywines, I get maybe 4 good weeks of full production.

[Blue_true]

130. I grew tomatoes but stopped.

I only grew by natural seasons for my north central Florida area. I am starting to jones about starting to grow tomatoes and basil again as a hobby. I like your method of dealing with the little cold weather that we have in Florida, so that I can grow year round.

When I was really into it, I got Roma tomatoe seeds from Italy and Oxheart seeds from Portugal. I bought my basil seeds from an organic seed shop that shipped them from somewhere in Maine. I loved selective selection of seeds to produce robust fruit and yield. But after a while, other things began to consume all of my time.

[GulfCoast66]

132. I build the frame and left it..its still up.

I just had to put the cloth over it and weigh them down with bricks. And run the extension cord and mechanics lights. Both after work prior to the cold night.

What counry you in? South Lake here.

[Blue_true]

133. North Marion, toward Gainesville. nt

[womanofthehills]

120. I have 5 large heirloom cherry tomatoes growing in my south windows

they now almost reach the ceiling. I'm in New Mexico and the south side of my house (passive solar) is just about all windows. Cherry tomatoes do really well indoors in the winter. in the summer, when I plant outside I have to basically have everything in cages or all will be eaten by bunnies, squirrels, mice, etc. I live in the country.

[GulfCoast66]

122. Cherry tomatos do rock. Probably out yield all others

In Florida we do not even try in the summer. Too warm at night to set the fruit and blossom end rot from all the rain no matter how much calcium you add.

[Blue_true]

131. To ward away snakes, rabbits, squirrels.

I put needle holes in the bottom of capped plastic bottles and positioned the bottles on stakes around the garden. I taped cloth over the needle holes and made sure the cloth ran to and touched the ground. I then filled each bottle with coyote urine that I bought online, then capped the bottle. As long as the cloth had the urine scent, nothing came around. I live in Florida, the last thing that I wanted was to have rattlesnakes coming into the garden to hunt for rodents, the urine kept the rodents and the snakes away.

[Blue_true]

128. Some suggestions.

I grew tomatoes for fun. I have some suggestions:

First, harvest your own seeds from one of your top tomatoes, it feels bad to do that instead of eat it, but it works out long term. Rinse and sun dry the seeds, then sort them to select only the most robust looking seeds, store and label them, they will be your seed stock.

Preparation of land: I live in Florida, most of our sand is sandy. I conclude that you live in southern New England, you should have dense, rocky soil. If you work peat into your soil, that loosen it and makes it drain better, the more peat used, the looser the soil becomes. Before you plant, treat your soil with a solution of water and an organic fungicide that is extracted from a plant native to India, sorry, but I have forgotten the name, but if you go to stores that sell organic garden products, you can find the fungicide, it is good for pre treating your soil to kill bad root fungi, and good for eliminating worms that eat your plant leaves, spray the plants and the ground every four weeks until bees start coming around, then only spray the ground. I used three caps of the stuff per gallon of water, that worked beautifully for me.

Pest Control:
I used coyote urine to ward away pests like rabbits and squirrels.

Your plants should become bee magnets because they will be healthy with lots of flowers.

[NutmegYankee]

135. I grow in raised beds as my yard has some slope to it.

The raised beds are almost like a terrace, but with prime garden soil mixes on top of the native soil. The native soil is a fine sandy loam called Charlton soil and other than being devoid of organics and nutrients, is a decent for agriculture. It gets very stony about 1 foot down.

Are you thinking of Neem oil? I usually treat with Copper fungicide. Last year, it was a very cool and wet May, June, and July, so I also used Macozeb as the early blight was getting worse.

As for bees, I have several perennial gardens with cat mint, salvia, butterfly bushes, etc I also plant borage in my garden, usually near the squash. And the lawn has white clover spread throughout it intentionally.

[Blue_true]

136. Yes, Neem Oil.

Seem that you do companion plant gardening. I admit that I was not nearly deep into that aspect of gardening. Basil is as far as I went, because I like basil.

[pnwmom]

62. Fine. Sell the corn. As long as Round-up hasn't been sprayed on it. n/t

[Honeycombe8]

63. That it doesn't have those toxins does not mean it's safe

It could have other things. In order to know if a food is dangerous, you have to specifically test for that.

It would be hard to test for that now with humans, since GMO corn & other foods are in processed foods generally.

For example, could the increase in various cancers be related in some way to GMO corn? Can't say. That hasn't been studied.

Would the change in corn's nutrition (vitamins & minerals & calories) have an effect on the human body? Hasn't been studied.

So it may not be harmful. But that hasn't been studied. Still, good to know that the toxins are somewhat less.

As for me, I avoid corn, even in other processed foods.

[womanofthehills]

71. The problem is more pesticides are used than ever before

Glyphosate in Roundup was originally patented by Monsanto as an antibiotics. Canada tests levels of glyphosate in their food. The US began testing glyphosate levels in food under Obama, but that program seems to have ended under Trump. When the FDA was testing, secret memos were released that FDA staff could not find any US honey without glyphosate. The following article is from 2016 when the FDA started their glyphosate testing program - (a program that seems to have gone up in smoke).

The Food and Drug Administration, under public pressure to start testing samples of U.S. food for the presence of a pesticide that has been linked to cancer, has some early findings that are not so sweet.

In examining honey samples from various locations in the United States, the FDA has found fresh evidence that residues of the weed killer called glyphosate can be pervasive - found even in a food that is not produced with the use of glyphosate. All of the samples the FDA tested in a recent examination contained glyphosate residues, and some of the honey showed residue levels double the limit allowed in the European Union, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. There is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the United States.

Glyphosate, which is the key ingredient in Monsanto Co.’s Roundup herbicide, is the most widely used weed killer in the world, and concerns about glyphosate residues in food spiked after the World Health Organization in 2015 said its cancer experts determined glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen. Other international scientists have raised concerns about how heavy use of glyphosate is impacting human health and the environment.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html

[Honeycombe8]

95. I hate the stuff Roundup. I try to convince people not to use it.

There are non-harmful things to use for weeds instead of Roundup. Salt water will kill anything. Vinegar mixed with something (I forget what, right now). But it's just easier to go to Home Depot and pick up a poison. People think that if it's for sale, it must be safe. Others think how could it damage anything except what they spray it on. They don't understand how everything on earth is connected...it seeps into the ground, gets into the air, comes down in the rain, travels to neighbor's yards, etc. Things don't stay just in a little spot you spray.

[Major Nikon]

101. Interesting alternatives

Use whatever you want, but the idea that salt or vinegar is more effective and less toxic is just not even remotely based in reality.

https://www.gardenmyths.com/homemade-weed-killer-roundup-vs-vinegar-vs-salt/

[Honeycombe8]

117. Pour yourself a glass of Roundup and a glass of salt-water.

Choose which one to drink.

Use your common sense, dude. Don't listen to old dudes who were raised to think that chemicals were great advancements. And who are soon to leave this world, so may not care what they leave behind, esp when they get special bulk pricing on chemical products because they own multiple large botanical gardens.

Oh...and don't eat beef, either.

[Major Nikon]

139. Sure, because drinking things to prove they aren't toxic is just common sense

As we all know the highly coveted, "drink test" is the gold standard of measuring toxicity and is universally accepted by toxicologists the world over. Oh wait, I'm actually thinking of the LD-50 test, which actually is the gold standard of toxicity.

I'm also pretty sure I could drink my own urine to prove it isn't fatally toxic, but really have no desire to do so. YMMV

I do eat beef from time to time. I also have been known to drink ethanol containing beverages (a known carcinogen), eat oysters and sushi, and sometimes I don't hold my pinky out when I drink tea. Then again, I love to live life on the edge, rather than immersing myself with irrational fear of things I don't fully understand.

[The_jackalope]

92. My father holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Harvard (from 1952 when it meant something)

He worked on pesticides as a research biochemist for the Canadian Department of Agriculture. He was, and is, convinced that DDT is innocuous, and that its ban was hysteria precipitated by Rachel Carson.

My mother had a graduate degree in Physics, so she was no slouch in the science department either. She also farmed - 240 acres of soybeans, single-handed for 20 years, so she died with dementia and Parkinson's. I personally blame her Roundup exposure.

Thank the goddess there is freedom of choice in this world. I choose not to eat GMO corn or soy. I don't care how many tainted studies the pesticide industry and its upstream enablers gather and disguise in metastudies. I just don't fucking care.

My answer will always be "Not just no, but HELL NO!"

[Archae]

107. This is why anecdotes are not considered credible science.

Roundup did not cause you Mom's dementia and Parkinsons.

In fact, there is no evidence that it does.

There are many accusations, from "Natural News" and con men like Jeffrey Smith.
Problem is, they have no science to back up the claims.

But...

"MONSATAN!"

[The_jackalope]

108. Monsatan. Yes indeed.

I feel lucky to live in a free country, where I can hold whatever opinions I feel are appropriate for me. I'm not doing "science" here, I'm just living my life.

[CanSocDem]

109. This is why "credible science" isn't considered.

It denies personal observation and experience and enables bullies to further a corporate agenda.



.

[Archae]

110. By the same "logic..."

My Dad loved head cheese.

I can't stand it.

My Dad died of pancreatic cancer, he had it for decades.
I don't.

So head cheese causes pancreatic cancer!

[CanSocDem]

112. ScienceINC. is based on cause and effect.

Easy answers for the incurious. And makes it easier to sell whatever product they're promoting.

BTW: Your fathers life is not yours to exploit...Like you, me and everyone else we all have our own personal experiences that shape our lives and determine our time of death.

.

[McCamy Taylor]

96. Guess who funds most studies in this country. Industry.

Good try, Monsanto. You still have your own special circle of Hell. Even if your corn does not kill anyone, you have tried to starve the people of the world in your greed and therefore you are all damned.

The article above is a bit like saying "Stalin did not rape babies so he wasn't such a bad guy after all."

[FarCenter]

123. This nicely demonstrates that left and right both have emotional attachments to non-scientific views

Just on different topics.

"I know at least one eminent scholar who wouldn't admit to any trouble on his side of a debate stage were he to be suddenly engulfed in flames."

From Sam Harris, "Intellectual Honesty", in THIS IDEA IS BRILLIANT.

[Archae]

129. Of course.

Here, at DU, say that all the actual evidence says Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy, no big conspiracy needed, get yelled at.

Used to be anyone critical of Maduro and his corrupt cronies in Venezuela was yelled at.
(Although the Maduro fans seem to have faded away lately...)

We had a few anti-vaxxers here too.
Maybe still do.

In this thread the anti-science, anti-GMO hysterics are out in force.

"ScienceINC?"

[Major Nikon]

144. There's a few differences

One is non-scientific views are strongly held by the mainstream of the right, and they are far less likely to change their ideas when presented with new information.

[FarCenter]

145. Try explaining the digestion of enzymes to a raw food faddist.

[Major Nikon]

146. There will always be those who reject relevant evidence

Saint Ronnie believed in space alien invasions and had Nancy's astrologists set his schedule. Trump thinks Scalia was murdered, Obama wears an Arabic ring, and vaccines cause autism.

There's just no comparison on the left to electing people to the highest office who are batshit crazy.

[Binkie The Clown]

134. I've always been anti-GMO for one very good reason.

That reason: "I've always been anti-GMO."

I'm beginning to feel like the anti-vaccine folks, which is a good enough reason for me to reconsider my opinion instead of doubling down on my stubborn dogma.

When I try to track down the exact source of my anti-GMO attitude it's about as substantive as the anti-vaccine movement too. What it boils down to is that I once read something somewhere that scared me. Perhaps I've been manipulated by fear to take the position I've taken? Am I really that susceptible to FUD propaganda? Perhaps I am.

At any rate, I'm going to take the radical step of reconsidering the evidence instead of knee-jerking to my default position. After all, how could I, in good conscience, lecture Trump supporters for ignoring facts if I'm willing to ignore facts myself in order to cling to my preferred belief system? Not to mention that being anti-GMO makes me morally superior (or so I've been told to believe), so if I'm going to be pure and righteous I need to be anti-GMO. Well, those are not good enough "reasons" for me any more.

Don't count on me to automatically become pro-GMO, but I'm going to look at the facts instead of knee-jerking my way to a position that could well be wrong. Perhaps I will adopt a more nuanced position, instead of the stock "I'm right and you're wrong" position usually taken on this and many other subjects.

But in the end, I will at least be able to say that I gave the facts a fair hearing. Even those facts that may not be to my liking.

[Archae]

138. Good going.

Go with evidence, not hysterics like "Natural News" or obvious con artists like Jeffrey Smith.

If someone can actually show GMO's to BE bad for me or even deadly, I'll change my mind also.

But to date, all credible studies show GMO's are safe.

[Major Nikon]

143. Organic Ruby Red grapefruit juice...

is an interesting example. Ruby Red grapefruits are produced from a technology that is far older than GMO and intentionally radiates seeds or plants with ionizing radiation in order to produce random mutations. All grapefruits that have red flesh are derived from this technology along with literally thousands of other produce varietals, some of which that have been on the market for decades.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/science/28crop.html

Compare this to GMO which creates mutations based on far more predictable methods. If someone is afraid of GMO, then they should be scared shitless of plant mutation breeding, yet the anti-GMO effort has exactly zero to say about it. That's when you realize the movement has exactly nothing to do with science and everything to do with promoting "alternative" products, at considerable profit margins.

https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Grapefruit-Certified-Organic-Pcs/dp/B01N7DPYMA

[womanofthehills]

153. It actually it has more to do with the pesticides (Roundup) on GMOs

Glyphosate was originally patented by Monsanto as an antibiotic. So does that mean we are getting a dose of antibiotic in one third of all the food we eat?

[nolabels]

157. The ancient Grecian philosophy for a better happier life was going middle of the road

They had fewer facts and variables and more time to intellectualize about the subject. Not saying it's a right or wrong or a panacea or something but just another way to look at things.

Thanks for sharing with us of what looks to be some good thinking. Lately these kinds of ideas or making much more sense to me also.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_philosophy

[Squinch]

155. I lulzed.

[sakabatou]

165. I think the biggest problem I have with GMOs is cross-pollination.

[Major Nikon]

166. Cross pollination has been going on throughout the history of agriculture

There's nothing about cross pollination that's particular to GMO.

[sakabatou]

193. So they have nothing to separate the GMOs and regular crops?

[Major Nikon]

196. Since many pollinators can fly, I'm not sure how that would work

...or why anyone would even want to try outside of the so-called organic industry who demands genetic purity from GMO, yet inexplicably allows varietals produced by mutation breeding to obtain certification. I suppose it's because so-called "organic" is actually nothing more than a marketing term regulated by the marketing service of the USDA in which they state specifically:

Our regulations do not address food safety or nutrition.

[stonecutter357]

182. GOOD YOU EAT IT

[Thekaspervote]

184. GMO doesnt allow the plant to modify and evolve naturally

I live in corn country, my great great homesteaded land here following the civil war. Back in the early 2000’s several seed companies offered GMO seeds to several large growers in the area including some distant family members still farming that very land. The first year seemed to go well, the following year was Disastrous! The weather for the crop that year was perfect, a wet enough spring, rain and heat just at the right time. By early August the farmers were raving about the size of the ears- looking to be a bumper crop like nothing ever seen. September came bringing rain, not wind storms or hail, which can cause the stalks to break and topple over... just rain which shouldn’t have made a difference other than the corn would need a lot of drying before storage.

The following 10 days planters found the corn stalks weak, broken and the ears laying on the ground. Acres and acres of crops lay fallow and we’re unable to be harvested. It was determined that the plant had been so modified to feed just the ear that the plant stalks could not support the weight of the ear.

Mother Nature doesn’t respond well to that kind of modification- never will. We are playing with fire. This is just one example

[Major Nikon]

185. You can say the same thing about virtually all agriculture

Hundreds of years ago the Incas developed laboratories for developing hundreds of corn varietals using methods that had nothing to do with nature simply taking its own course. Thousands of years before that the Egyptians were doing similar things with other crops. The only thing that's really changed is we now have more modern methods that produce more predictable results.

Meanwhile today the vast majority of corn farmers use GMO varietals because they are better suited to their purpose than the alternatives.

[Thekaspervote]

188. My point is that you can only force natures hand so much

As in this real life example posted above gmo can and sometimes does fail spectacularly

[Major Nikon]

190. The same is true for non-gmo often to a far greater extent

The Irish potato famine was caused by blight. The French have lost entire grape varietals to disease. Even today, non-gmo corn harvests are routinely wiped out by the European corn borer. On and on the list goes. Humans are in a constant battle with plant pestilence, and GMO gives us more tools to deal with those problems.

[womanofthehills]

192. And now people must battle with getting cancer from Roundup

New Claims Against Monsanto In Consumer Lawsuit Over Roundup Herbicide (beside the cancer lawsuits)

Monsanto is currently defending itself against nationwide claims that Roundup has caused hundreds of people to suffer from a type of blood cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). More than 1,100 plaintiffs have lawsuits pending in state and federal courts with many of the lawsuits combined in multidistrict litigation in federal court in San Francisco. Those lawsuits were triggered by a 2015 decision by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to classify glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. IARC said research showed an association between NHL and glyphosate, with limited evidence from epidemiology data collected on humans and stronger evidence seen in laboratory animals exposed to glyphosate.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-claims-against-monsanto-in-consumer-lawsuit-over_us_59496379e4b0f500e5526088

[Major Nikon]

194. Don't forget soda and coffee

Not to mention aspirin, shift work, and fried foods. Eating bacon is just as dangerous as smoking cigarettes, at least if you believe the IARC anyway.