commondreams has this up on the Enbridge pipeline that will come through Indiana–so it can further poison Lake Michigan and our already toxic environment…
Category Archives: sustainability
Blackwater, Monsanto, and Gates Foundation
In keeping up with all the dirty little deeds the Gates Foundation promotes….here is an article on the link between Gates, Monsanto, and Blackwater. Really disturbing.
The article mentions The Nation with Jeremy Scahill—while looking for the Scahill article, I happened upon this with a scathing reply by the authors:
We agree that it will ultimately be up to farmers to decide what is best for them. Our concern continues, however, to be that the choices farmers face is systematically skewed, with some ideas being amplified over others. Any policies that involve redistribution–such as land reform–are off the Gates agenda, despite being a live concern to many African farmers’ movements. This demonstrates our broader point. Despite the foundation’s best efforts to be accountable once the policy has been laid down, the Gates Foundation’s interventions reflect, at heart, the undemocratic vision of a single very powerful and ultimately unaccountable organization.
Sincerely,
RAJ PATEL
ERIC HOLT-GIMENEZ
ANNIE SHATTUCK
www.foodfirst.org
Another fracking/nuclear/oil toadie on CSPAN
Michael Levi was on CSPAN this morning…he was vague in his assertions, but reading between the lines, I saw “fracking toadie”.
He has written a book on energy that they were highlighting on CSPAN. It has the words “battle for America’s future” ….words that are emotional and raise an immediate red flag.
Brookings Institute fellow—another huge red flag.
From the wiki page on it:
Funders
At the end of 2004 the Brookings Institution had assets of $258 million and spent $39.7 million, while its budget has grown to more than $80 million in 2009.[64] Its largest contributors include the Ford Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her husband Richard C. Blum, Bank of America, ExxonMobil, Pew Charitable Trusts, the MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, and the governments of the United States, Japan, Qatar, the Republic of China, the District of Columbia, and the United Kingdom.
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The Gates Foundation. ExxonMobil. Republic of China. Bank of America. All giving money…for what payback…because these folks play to win and they don’t throw their money after something without expecting something in return.
And why is our government contributing to a think tank??
Here’s another piece I found on the Brookings Institute and their treatment of Diane Ravitch. Pretty much says it all, doesn’t it? I don’t know why they are considered liberal?
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And the fact that Levi is a doctor doesn’t necessarily impress me–Mengele and Freud were also doctors who skewed things towards their point of view. It’s especially troubling that his doctorate is in War Studies.
He was advocating “clean energy” another industry catch phrase that actually means “keep on doing what we’ve always been doing, but keeping our dirty business out of the public eye as much as we can…” (as seen by the non-coverage of the Arkansas oil spill.)
He was also stating that fracking should be done, and concern for the environment should be a priority. Sounds good, eh? But then….he states further in the interview that the *only* problem was what to do with the contaminated water once they had extracted the natural gas…um, yeah, he totally ignores that there is a HUGE problem with the chemicals traveling through the earth to people’s wells, contaminating them. My blog on that here. And here. And here.
There was a male caller making outrageous statements about green energy and allowing even more leasing to oil/gas companies…and he was not characterized as emotional…
…but when a woman caller called in and raised the earthquake question and the contamination from the chemicals…whoa…she was *cough* “emotional”. (I can’t remember if that was Levi’s exact wording, but the meaning was the same.) In other words, even though she brought up facts, she was discredited as being emotional. ::don’t worry your pretty little head, darling, we men folk will take care of this important stuff:: Grrrr.
So, my conclusion from the above is the Michael Levi is an energy industry toadie. He’s dirty.
AG – GAG hits a snag…
(sorry, couldn’t help myself)
It would seem that the attempts by the ALEC groups to infringe on the First Amendment right to speak out have been thwarted…at least for now.
Stories here.
Be sure to click on the link for the Amy Meyer story. Chilling.
And Indiana drops it for the year. Knowing how they like to bring stuff under the radar, I’ll assume that it will be back next year and voted in when attention is diverted elsewhere…
Worldwide Monsanto Protest
There’s a worldwide protest against Monsanto this Saturday. Info here. You’ll need to scroll down to find your spot in the U.S.
(hat tip to commondreams.org)
This is so inspiring….people are waking up to the monster of genetically modified organisms.
Why Detroit Matters
I’m bopping around the web this morning reading up on Detroit….I just can’t get the dumping of petroleum coke out of my mind.
Whatever happens to Detroit happens to all of us….
Here’s a piece up on a refinery fire…by Marathon…where the residents were not even told what was going on. It is just unconscionable that these folks were not told what was going on and that some were evacuated but others across the street were not.
This piece spouts the pro-corporate view that anything that supports the environment is bad for business. Tell me, what good is business if so many are sick or even dead because of toxic overload? Who will be left to buy your product?
From the article:
The document claims city planners fail to take into consideration that Metro Detroit’s poor and minority neighborhoods are already deluged with excessive pollution and contaminated industrial, commercial, and hazardous waste sites.
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Claims of “environmental injustice” (and environmental racism) are little more than catch phrases used by green activists to draw attention to the purportedly disproportionate negative effects of pollution in poor and minority communities. The accusation is that federal, state, and local governments have conspired to permit more pollution in impoverished black communities than in affluent ones.
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He goes on to say that there are the same health problems in more affluent neighborhoods. He thinks the problem is their lifestyle rather than the toxic environment. I think that’s too simplistic as it doesn’t take in the whole picture. It is known that mercury damages a person’s DNA. So…if the parents of affluent African Americans were poor and lived in these more toxic areas, being exposed to lead and mercury and arsenic, their DNA will be affected and pass that on to their children. It gets worse with each generation. Also, toxins do not stay in a particular geographical area, although it will be more concentrated in that area, it will drift, and also cause health issues (on a lesser scale) to those in affluent neighborhoods.
As far as environmental racism…it is a well known occurrence. Probably should be better categorized as environmental “poor-ism” because it’s done towards the poor. I say this with the thought in mind that it does not follow blacks whom have moved into more affluent neighborhoods. Perhaps one can say that it is because whites also share that neighborhood. Well….I guess you could say that, BUT then whites also share the poor neighborhoods with blacks….which leads me to conclude that it is against the poor rather than exclusively against blacks.
The last line about the gov’t allowing the poor to bear the brunt of toxins ignores the above~~you don’t see the petroleum coke being dumped on the Koch’s front lawn, do you? When that happens, you can tell me that gov’t officials have not discriminated against the poor.
I notice that the author was once a commissioner….so I am left to wonder whether he, in his official capacity, willfully went along with poisoning the poor and is now trying to justify it?
On to the financial woes of Detroit, I found some interesting articles.
This one details the bad news. Note that they’re going after unions. HUGE RED FLAG that Disaster Capitalism and ALEC are in the midst. (related to this is a strike by fast food workers to form unions.)
This article on Slate paints a different picture of the stuff going on behind the scenes. Note the link to the NY Times’ article on Dan Gilbert trying to make a fortune rebuilding the city…
The article talks about the cityscape with abandoned houses, empty spaces after demolition of houses, and the population dwindling from 2 million down to 700,000. When reading that Gilbert’s solution is to bring business in, to spur people walking the streets (shoppers)…and it strikes me that there is so much opportunity here….but it feels like trying to fix the problem with the same old, same old…
With all the demolished houses…what about the urban farmer? I know that would be difficult if the ground were polluted, as Detroit seems to be the dumping ground, but if the soil were not toxic, why not encourage that? It would help those in the inner cities to feed themselves as well as sell produce to earn income.
Why not encourage planting of trees to help the air quality? As I blogged before, we need to include nature into our plans and stop ignoring the impact we have on nature and the colossal impact nature has on us.
It also ignores the devastating impact that Big Box stores have had on our local economies. Walmart moves in….independent small businesses die…and entire downtowns are destroyed…not only do the businesses die, but our feeling of connectedness dies with them…
The Powerful Seed
The organic farmers group posted a link to this article. The humble seed contains the beginnings of life. You could even say that the seed rules the world….
Below this article was a link to Vandana Shiva’s “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in the Forest”. Bless her for her dedication to sustainability.
From that article, I was intrigued about the link for Ecuador recognizing the rights of nature in its Constitution…Wow……somebody who “gets it”. See, we humans want to think that we are so superior that we are more valuable than all other life forms. Worse than that, we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we are independent…that we could actually survive without them. We pollute the air, water, and soil without regard that it will harm nature. We survive in a circle…truly, what goes around comes around…and the balance of life–when we take something, we must give something of equal value in return…this simple rule is ignored.
Monsanto Protection Act
Organic Consumers has this up on urgent legislation:
Dear Organic Consumer,
The Senate will take up the farm bill this week, and we need you to contact your senators about several key amendments. There’s no time to waste. Please read through the list of important votes below, and contact your senators today! You can call the senate switchboard and ask to be connected: (202) 224-3121. Or you can look up the number for your senators here.
Repeal the Monsanto Protection Act
Now’s our chance! The Monsanto Protection Act, Sen. Roy Blunt’s (R-Mo.) love note to his state’s most notorious corporation (and one of his top contributors) could be repealed by the Senate this week!
Ask you’re your senators today: Please support Sen. Jeff Merkely’s (D-Ore.) amendment to the Senate version of the 2013 Farm Bill to repeal the infamous Monsanto Protection Act. The rider was slipped, without debate or a vote, into the emergency Continuing Resolution signed into law in March, to fund the U.S. government through Sept. 30.
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) will offer an amendment to the Senate version of the 2013 Farm Bill to repeal the infamous Monsanto Protection Act, which gives Monsanto immunity from federal law. As long as it remains in force, even the federal courts can’t stop Monsanto from planting new genetically modified crops, even if they were illegally approved and could threaten human health or the environment.
The outrage that erupted in response to its passage made the Monsanto Protection Act national news. It was lampooned by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who sponsored the Continuing Resolution, offered a public apology. Now, there’s a campaign to force Sen. Blunt to resign and worldwide “March Against Monsanto” protests are scheduled for May 25.
The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the farm bill on Monday, so please take action today. Repeal the Monsanto Protection Act!
Let Farmers Grow Industrial Hemp in the U.S. Again!
Farmers in Kentucky, Vermont, North Dakota and other states are seeking permission from the federal government to grow industrial hemp, a crop that the Obama administration treats like marijuana under the law. This doesn’t make sense. The products of industrial hemp are legal and widely used in organic food, clothing and plant-based materials like plastics and biofuels. Why should farmers in other countries get to grow the hemp we use in the United States?
Please call your senators and ask them to vote for Senator Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky) industrial hemp amendment to the Farm Bill.
Farm Bill Money for Hungry Kids Not Insurance Companies!
The Senate version of the farm bill proposes to cut $4.1 billion over 10 years from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest domestic food aid program. Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) has proposed an amendment to restore the $4.1 billion in cuts to foods stamps. The Gillibrand amendment takes the $4.1 billion from payments to crop insurance companies without reducing the insurance subsidies paid directly to farmers.
Please call your senators today and ask them to vote YES on Sen. Gillibrand’s amendment. Please tell your senators: Farm Bill money should be used to feed hungry kids, not pad the profits of insurance companies!
Our Seeds Shouldn’t All Be Owned By Monsanto!
Farmers constantly face changing climate, insect, weed, and disease pressures that vary by region, and they lament reduced options in regionally appropriate seed cultivars held in the public domain. Crops must continuously be adapted to meet these changes, and the most productive approach is to have seeds adapted to the same environment as their intended use through classical plant breeding.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is introducing a Farm Bill amendment next week that aims to reinvigorate classical plant breeding and public cultivar development. Please call you’re your senators and urge them to support Sen. Tester’s amendment to reinvigorate classical plant breeding to ensure farmers have the seed they need to be successful. Developing regionally appropriate seed varieties held in the public domain is paramount to the success of U.S. agriculture.
The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the farm bill on Monday, May 18, although final votes might take place after Memorial Day. Please call your senators today at (202) 224-3121!
The House and Senate ag committees both approved their respective versions of the farm bill last week. The five-year bill could be brought to the House floor for a final vote in June, and possibly pass before the August recess.
Organic Consumers Association
6771 South Silver Hill Drive – Finland, MN 55603 – Phone: 218-226-4164 – Fax: 218-353-7652
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Angelina Jolie
Has this at the New York Times on having a double mastectomy. First, I want to say that I hope she is doing well and on her way to healing and recovery. It must have been a difficult decision to make.
My grandmother died of breast cancer. There is a lot of cancer in my family. But I would not make the same choice as Angelina has done, even if I knew that I had the “breast cancer gene”. There are too many unknowns about genes and their impact on disease. As I have posted about before, there are factors about genes and the expression of their purpose that is *still* not understood by scientists.
More here on genes and the nutrition of the mother. Very interesting. The usual focus is treating the problem after it occurs (or in Angelina’s case, before it occurs, but with drastic measures)…instead of turning the focus to the toxic soup we’re living in that is the root cause of the disease. Also, it does not focus on the understanding that diet of organic fruits and vegetables are key to good health and allowing the body to do what it miraculously does: fight disease.
Why is that so hard to do?
Why can’t we be more proactive in trying to eliminate the causes instead of allowing it?
The right to choose your food
I can’t wrap my brain around this.
I’m just stunned at the thought that someone could try to label organic food as “junk food”. As the article points out, this would eliminate the right to choose organic, free range eggs, or gluten-free bread for Celiacs…it’s just mindboggling the ignorance and outright endangerment. So…I suppose if someone is Celiac and buys food they are not supposed to have in order to have something to eat…if their gut disintegrates from inflammation and they either end up in the hospital for surgically fixing the problem, or dead from a ruptured abdomen.
I really love the fact that the Tea Party members conveniently ignore that people on food stamps and other welfare were once taxpayers that paid into the system. Same with Social Security and Medicare.
Eagle 
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