The Forgotten Energy
Consumerism, Economics, Health & Disease, Society — by Craig Mackintosh February 25, 2010
For millennia man had to work by the sweat of his brow. A thing didn’t get done unless he got up and did it. Work – physical labour – was as inescapable as the need to eat, drink and have shelter.
That sun that pours its rays down onto our world, and passes its energy into the food we, in turn, take into our bodies, has always been our ’solar power’, enabling us to actively perform our allotted tasks – that of providing for ourselves and our families.
This was, and is, the natural order of things. The carbon cycle, and ecological balance, is dependent on it. We partake of the energy, and impart it in our labours, and our labours, if executed wisely, gave back to the natural world that feeds us. In this, we are the same as all the other creatures we share this planet with.
Comments (3)The Big GMO Cover-Up
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith February 22, 2010
Something doesn’t quite add up about genetically modified (GM) foods.
It looks the same—the bread, pies, sodas, even corn on the cob. So much of what we eat every day looks just like it did 20 years ago. But something profoundly different has happened without our knowledge or consent. And according to leading doctors, what we don’t know may already be hurting us big time.
In May, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) publicly condemned genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food supply, saying they posed “a serious health risk.” They called on the US government to implement an immediate moratorium on all genetically modified (GM) foods, and urged physicians to prescribe non-GMO diets for all patients.
Comments (14)Rude Awakening
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith February 17, 2010
Editor’s Note: After reading the post below, also check out Jeffrey’s new NonGMOShoppingGuide website, which will help you boycott GMO products in stores, so you can: 1) protect your health, and 2) bring down the industry that is threatening it.
A wise customer wanted to find out if the corn nuts she was eating were from genetically modified (GM) corn. She emailed the company and got a shocking reply. It began:
“Thank you for your contact. We are not aware of any GMO free corn in the U.S. We feel it is a ridiculous concern based on very poor science.”
The email, reproduced at the blog of Kelly the Kitchen Kop, even recommended:
“. . . if these concerns are truly important to you, you may be better served at a health food store.
We appreciate your patronage.
The Customer Support Team,
American Importing Co., Inc.”
Talk about being opinionated and misinformed.
Comments (2)Monsanto Pulls GM Corn Amid Serious Food Safety Concerns
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Dr. Brian John February 10, 2010
Applicant’s dossiers contained wide-ranging fraudulent research
For the first time, a GM multinational has pulled two GM corn varieties from the regulatory and assessment process at the eleventh hour (1), after planning for a future income of several billion dollars per year from global sales (2). Monsanto has abandoned its ambitious plans for a so-called “second generation GM crop” rather than accede to a request from European regulators for additional research and safety data (3).
Under conditions of great secrecy, Monsanto has informed EFSA that it no longer wishes to pursue its application for approval of GM maize LY038 and the stacked variety LY038 x MON810. Both of these varieties were designed to accelerate the growth rate of animals. Two letters were sent to EFSA from the Monsanto subsidiary company Renessen at the end of April this year confirming the withdrawal of its applications originally submitted in 2005 and 2006. The letters cite “decreased commercial value worldwide” and state that the high-lysene varieties “will no longer be a part of the Renessen business strategy in the near future.” (4) There has been no announcement of these decisions on the Monsanto web site, and there are no mentions on EFSA or European Commission web sites either. In other words, there is a conspiracy of silence involving both the applicants and the regulators.
Comments (2)Monsanto’s GMOs Linked to Organ Failure, Study Shows
Consumerism, GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh January 20, 2010
A recent study took data from ‘independent research’ conducted on behalf of Monsanto, and came to quite different conclusions than those of the Agri-giant.
French and European health authorities read Monsanto’s conclusions and gave the green light for the commercialisation of three new GMO strains. But, after some legal wrangling, French scientists secured the data from the aforementioned research and did their own statistical analysis – coming to quite different conclusions to Monsanto.
Comments (0)Everything You HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh January 10, 2010
Monsanto will be rubbing their hands together in tentative glee as the powers that be in the UK – who preside over a citizenry that traditionally reject GM crop ‘technology’ – try to scare everyone into surrendering to the mega-corp via their latest Food 2030 report.
Whilst a food crisis certainly threatens, adding to the crisis by planting GMOs all over ‘Ol Blighty would less than help.
For those not aware of the importance of battling GMOs every step of the way, I embed the clip below. Jeffrey Smith is the tireless foe of all things GM. He has accumulated considerable knowledge of the topic and works hard to spread this knowledge in every way possible. I would certainly recommend his books for a more detailed examination, but the video presentation here is an excellent intro to the topic to get you up to speed.
If you prefer to watch on YouTube, you can do so via these links:
Comments (8)The Looming Food Crisis and the ‘Food 2030′ Report
Consumerism, Deforestation, Economics, Food Shortages, GMOs, Global Warming/Climate Change, Health & Disease, Population, Society, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton, peak oil — by Craig Mackintosh January 7, 2010
It can’t go on like this….
Not long ago I was standing in a bookshop, minding my own business, when a book title leapt out in front of me. The book was "History’s Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them". It documents the sorry tales of dozens of people throughout history who, with the best of intentions, made some fascinatingly terrible choices.
Comments (6)Bayer Admits it is Unable to Control Spread of GMOs
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh December 15, 2009
Court case shows that all outdoors field trials or commercial growing of GE crops must be stopped before our crops are irreversibly contaminated.
GM Rice protest in India
We all know about Big Biotech suing over their ‘rights’ to intellectual copyright. Being little more than a decade since Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) started commercial-scale release, these companies have become powerful and arrogant in double-quick time as they’ve sought to make us all captive customers to their unnecessary and unwanted ‘products’. But, increasingly, farmers are deciding not to put up with their bullying and negligence any longer.
Today’s good news:
Comments (3)Who Owns Water?
Economics, Food Shortages, Health & Disease, Water Contaminaton — by Maude Barlow December 14, 2009
Editor’s Note: Being 7 years old now, the dates and meetings mentioned in the article below are obviously not current, but the main content is more than highly relevant and makes for a very worthy read.
by Maude Barlow (founder of the Blue Planet Project) & Tony Clarke, originally published September, 2002
 Water – a need, or a right? |
Water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century: the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations.
As the World Summit on Sustainable Development draws closer, clear lines of contention are forming, particularly around the future of the world’s freshwater resources. The setting of the summit paints the picture. Government and corporate delegates to the September meeting will gather in the lavish hotels and convention facilities of Sandton, the fabulously wealthy Johannesburg suburb that houses huge estates, English gardens and swimming pools, and has become South Africa’s new financial epicenter. There, they will meet with World Bank and World Trade Organization officials to set the stage for the privatization of water.
Comments (0)The Case of Syngenta: Human Rights Violations in Brazil – 2008
Consumerism, Deforestation, Economics, GMOs, Health & Disease, Society, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton — by Craig Mackintosh December 7, 2009
 The Case of Syngenta: Human Rights Violations in Brazil – 2008 2mb PDF |
Switzerland is often portrayed as a clean, green, intelligent, peace-loving nation. Dramatic landscapes apparently have beautiful, golden, braided-haired women prancing about innocently picking flowers from hillsides dripping in milk, honey and chocolate.
But, the beauty of globalisation and the international food swap model is that the darker side of modern industry can be hidden away on the other side of the world. Embarrassing, incriminating activities can be kept separate from oompa loompaville, away from prying eyes and swept into the remotest places – where there are virgin soils still to be found and gorged upon, where environmental regulations are weak or nonexistent and where legal protection for indigenous people are disincentivised in the quest for profit and ‘development’.
The Swiss company Syngenta – one of the world’s largest transnational agribusiness corporations, one well-known for its production of agrochemicals and GM seeds – however, has still managed to attract attention to itself even in far away Brazil. Like with other agribusiness companies we could mention, competitiveness is key to success, and externalising costs – at any cost – is one of the best ways to achieve this.
I won’t give you a long treatise on the document embedded here, but leave you to peruse yourself. In it you will find details about illegal GMO and chemical polluting and the persecution and murder of the local people who were inconveniently protesting against the same. Syngenta stands accused of violating Brazil’s Federal Constitution, their environmental laws, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other national and international laws.
Further Reading:
Comments (1)Joel Salatin and the Expression of Chickenness
Animal Forage, Consumerism, Health & Disease, Livestock — by Rhamis Kent November 18, 2009
Joel Salatin runs one of the best examples of a fully functional & productive sustainable farming operation found anywhere in the United States at Polyface Farms. It may not fit the precise permaculture mold, but it does demonstrate what’s possible without the use of expensive and destructive chemical inputs & CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations).
He recently participated in the TEDxMidAtlantic (similar to TED Talks) series of lectures to discuss the significance of adopting more holistic, comprehensive methods in producing food and tending to the land. Very inspiring and thought provoking.
What are you doing to allow a chicken to fully express its essence of ‘chickenness’? Or a cow its essence of ‘cowness’? Joel has a few things to say about that.
Comments (2)Gardening Bliss
Health & Disease, Soil Biology — by Craig Mackintosh October 1, 2009
 A spoonful of happiness? |
Need cheering up after my last article? Keep reading….
There may be more to post-gardening joyfulness than we’ve previously realised. It seems that our heavy breathing amongst the rosemary and rhubarb has us inhaling a soil bacterium with a subversive agenda – that of saving us from depression.
If you have problems with the following passage, don’t despair – read the one after and all will come clear (a budding poet, I am):
Peripheral immune activation can have profound physiological and behavioral effects including induction of fever and sickness behavior. One mechanism through which immune activation or immunomodulation may affect physiology and behavior is via actions on brainstem neuromodulatory systems, such as serotonergic systems. We have found that peripheral immune activation with antigens derived from the nonpathogenic, saprophytic bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, activated a specific subset of serotonergic neurons in the interfascicular part of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRI) of mice, as measured by quantification of c-Fos expression following intratracheal (12 h) or subcutaneous (6 h) administration of heat-killed, ultrasonically disrupted M. vaccae, or heat-killed, intact M. vaccae, respectively. – PubMed Central
Layman’s translation:
Comments (0)Throwing Out the Throwaway Economy
Consumerism, Economics, Health & Disease, Society, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton — by Earth Policy Institute September 5, 2009
by Lester R. Brown, Earth Policy Institute
Piles of rubbish, and an incredible stench, border a main market street in
Leh, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, northern India. Photo © Craig Mackintosh
The stresses in our early twenty-first century civilization take many forms – social, economic, environmental, and political. One distinctly unhealthy and visible illustration of all four is the swelling flow of garbage associated with a throwaway economy. Throwaway products were first conceived following World War II as a convenience and as a way of creating jobs and sustaining economic growth. The more goods produced and discarded, the reasoning went, the more jobs there would be.
Comments (3)Life at Zaytuna – Getting Rid of Wi-Fi
Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh June 28, 2009
If you’re reading this, you’ll be living in an area where your body is the target of a great deal of electro-smog. Your computer, television and a myriad other electrical devices all create electrical fields that actually charge tiny particles in the air (allergens, bacteria, viruses and the like). These charged particles are far more easily embedded into human tissue – like the inside of your lungs – which can cause health problems.
The higher the electrical field the greater the danger, as the most charged particles hit the tissue with more speed. As they crash land, they become deformed, which makes them stick more firmly. – The Independent
And now newer wireless technologies are under the spotlight, as their health impacts are the cause of a growing concern as well. The cell phone and Wi-Fi industry is huge, and growing, but some countries, like Germany, have warned their citizens to minimise or eliminate their exposure to Wi-Fi and cell phones, while others like the UK scoff at the precautionary principle and fervently promote the technology instead.
Comments (9)Monsanto Runs Into Wall. Yes!!
Consumerism, Food Shortages, GMOs, Health & Disease, News — by Craig Mackintosh June 27, 2009
 Say NO to Monsanto, GMOs, and the patenting of life |
The frustration about this company – Monsanto – and others like it has been running higher and higher over the last few years. (The free flow of information on the internet is a wonderful thing in this regard – corporate-bought media is no longer our only news option….) I think it may well be the most hated corporation on the web and on popular user-driven sites like Digg and Reddit. I would personally take great pleasure in seeing their buildings worldwide bulldozed and their fields razed – leaving behind only stone statue memorials that celebrate the greed and stupidity of man.
Today, however, I can share a beacon of hope. Read on!
Comments (18)
