How one GMO plant nearly took down the planet
Submitted by Caerus on Fri, 08/05/2016 - 10:39am
This is not click bait.
Wait til you watch and hear what Thom Hartmann has to tell us.
It was close, very close.
This hits hard. We worked hard in MA to pass a Right to Know bill. GMA ( Grocery Manufacturers of America) spent money, lots of money, lobbied hard, played the fear card, even the Democrats folded. Very sad.
Of course, this new law will also mean the much stronger VT law will eliminated. Sick. Sad. Scary!
Comments
Correction about the title
The video says it was a GMO bacteria that could have taken out all plant life on earth, not a plant. Don't know why the video's title is wrong too. It comes off as click-baity seeing how the contents of the video don't reflect the video's title.
Personally, not scared of GMOs. The science is sound. What actually scares me is the people behind the GMOs being driven by greed, or acting incompetently.
Imo you should be afraid
factory farming which includes GMO's is destroying the planet (us) just like burning fossil fuels. It is a major contributor to global warming and pollution. That is pretty sound as well.
Eh
The entirety of human existence is bad for the environment. Sure, factory farming is bad. So are our computers, our cars, our houses, our streets, our shopping malls, our landfills, our sewage, our clothing, our books, pretty much everything we do hurts the environment. At this point, the best we can do is try to have as little impact as possible, which is still bad for the environment.
The science is sound,
but very, very new. Ptolemy's system of planetary motion was sound, even if you had to start adding in all those pesky epicycles and wiggles and jiggles.
Prudence is a virtue, though the Prudence I dated in college had none.
There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.
The precautionary principle will send us back to the Dark Ages,
a good reason to not consider it. Too much scientific mis-education as it is.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Disagree, it is what has helped us survive this long.
Don't eat/drink everything upon first sight, is one example.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
The science is not sound: You are misinformed.
GMOs have not been tested in field conditions that take into account the effects on the biosphere where a migration of GMO organisms may take a generation to move and displace other species.
Also, GMOs demand high dosages of various poisons and usually demand monoculture agriculture. The displacement of subsistence farmers and the crowding out of small farms does great societal damage not only in the global south but in developed countries that allow this. The size of farms have gotten larger because only the giant farms can afford the inputs needed to grow this stuff - Frankenfood in the words of Jim Hightower.
GMO agriculture is more like mining - considering the loss of top soil and fouling of water - than the agriculture we grew up with.
GMO agriculture guarantees a loss of biodiversity.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
It is sound
I refuse to buy into hysterical anti-vaxxer style fear mongering. I've looked at the most unbiased sources I could find, and the science is sound. There are various types of GMO methods, some good, many bad. I trust the corporations to pick the bad methods, or the incompetent people to unintentionally implementing the bad methods.
There is such thing as good, safe GMO. Our entire food supply is basically comprised of GMO food. We don't eat things that are natural. We altered our food supply through selective breeding and hybridization. We can use GMOs to simply fast-forward that process.
Now, the real question is do we need GMOs. I think the answer to that is no. We waste enough food in this one country to feed a large portion of Africa. We waste so much food that it isn't decaying in our landfills. It's just sitting there, emitting methane into the air. So why would we need fish that grow bigger, or crops that give higher yields? It's just corporations trying to rake in more money by selling a more expensive product.
GMOs have nothing to do with vaccines
Never said it did.
Just that the anti-GMO hysteria is similar to the anti-vaccine hysteria.
hybridizing is not gene splicing, and the false analogy to
anti-vaxxers is just that, nonsense. There are bad arguments against GMOs, but the "science" simply isn't there, only the technology. No reputable scientist in the field will allege that it is impossible to make a harmful GMO. The bacterium in the vid is an actual example. You simply have faith that any such will be detected and held off market by the manufacturers. There is no reason for such faith.
Also, the myth inculcated among the public is that gnes ae simplistic on-off switches that code for only one thing. Some early experimenters may have actually thought that, but it is waaay false, and almost monthly new discoveries in the hitherto unknown field of epigenetics show us that we don't even really know the full universe of conditions to test under and effects to test for.
Pro GMO types cast this as a discussion about science, but, it isn't. It is a sociological discussion, about that faith that the products will be completely and thoroughly tested and drawn off the market if they are suspect. It is, furthermore, a discussin about engineering, not science. The Titanic was an engineering failure, compounded by the fact that the engineering ws based on incomplete science. Our expertise in biochemicals, biology and genetics is far below what our metallurgical expertise was when that ship was designed and built.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I expected better from this website
than to have people putting words in my mouth. That's one of the reasons GOS became such a horrible place.
And don't insult me by saying I have faith. I'm a faithless person. If there is no evidence, I don't believe it, simple as that.
Maybe you should talk to real farmers
What works on paper does not necessarily play out well in real life. Scientists may have great knowledge in their field it is obvious to me that their understanding of what soil is and in general how nature works is very poor. Farming can fit in nicely with nature but not the kind of we practice now. GMOs and their required herbicides and pesticides are creating super bugs and super weeds all while destroying the good bugs like pollinators. Any one with a elementary understanding of nature saw this coming. Everything is connected often in ways we don't understand. The law of unintended consequences applies.
We can Actually grow far more on much less land but again the system we currently use will not work for that. It is one of the most inefficent systems of land use for agriculture there is. It also reqires 5 times the water to keep the plants alive and productive. Then there is the necessary fertilizer they use on these farms. Every bit of it is petroleum based. We want to end our dependence on fossil fuels? To do that we have to change how we farm.
GMOs as they currently are simply are a way to monopolize the food supply in the hands of a very few companies.
I thought it was
that the GMOs are being created because of the pesticides and herbicides, not the other way around.
Farming as it is, not GMOs alone, are a way to monopolize the food supply. And it's already succeeded.
Great info
There is a lot more good info on GMO's and our food supply over at Organic Consumers Association they have a newsletter Organic Bytes that I signed up for that also have a list of the senators and congressmen that voted to poison us. Once again Obummer shows his true allegiance.
I've been
constructing greenhouses for the local industry, mostly automated for nutrients, watering, ventilation, and such. I'm constantly talking to the owners about when the shit goes bad, if they have a supply of food seeds, these can be easily converted to food production in a sustainable, year round process. Several have taken up the idea of a diversified ag plan to benefit their main product. So now I have to build more out door beds for veggies.
Thee problem as I see it is, how do we know the seeds are Good? I'm doing research on seed banking and local seed procurement to push this along if I can.
Wish me luck.
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
Good luck! It sounds like a very worthwhile project.
It's amazing how much crap corporations get up to.
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Related but off topic
Simply regarding Food Origins, etc.
It looks like most or all country of origin labeling is disappearing from my market. I was making a particular effort to avoid seafood processed in China after reading a few scary articles. I also preferred Norwegian salmon. I also like to know where the produce is coming from and whether it's local or not. Is this a by-product of trade agreements?
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
COOL - country of origin labeling was a victim of our
ill advised and destructive trade pacts.
President Obama signed a bill into law that repealed COOL
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Large agri-business like Cargill, ADM, and Monsanto are dooming
the planet. IF you have a space to grow your own food, I would get on it ASAP. Excellent article about what Monsanto is doing in India: Monsanto in India: Meet the New Boss – Same as the Old Boss?
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020
President Obama recently signed into law a bill that allows
corporations to hide what GMOs are in the package. Clear labeling that a product contains GMOs is out. It's food and economic roulette.
My opinion: No genetically modified organisms should be allowed outside the lab until they are proven safe in real-life conditions.
People should be able to see clearly on a package that the product contains GMOs and make their individual choices based on that knowledge.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
That's the law Thom is refering to
What's so evil about it, besides Obama signing it - is it now NEGATES the much much more important VT GMO law.
Looks like Obama is using his last days to do as much damage as he can.
Remember when we thought Merrick Garland was bad? Obama is out doing himself.
Yes, a big effyouseall from Obama to Vermont. I hope VT
will do its best to ignore the often-called DARK law and force the federal government to act against the state which would make for big and continuing headlines.
Being a disappointment seems not to have been enough for Obama: He's going for disaster status now.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Corporate Agriculture is killing our environment.
The development of GMO technology favors Corporate Agriculture specifically monoculture cropping without any rotation or fallowing in the production cycle. Companion Planting‽ . . . fugetaboutit.
I knowa few family farmers and they are doing awesome things but as their farming practices are labor intensive, most are not interested in hearing about those options.
Your headline captures the situation.
Corporate agriculture also turns food secure nations into nations that have to import food to feed its people.
Corporate agriculture displaces traditional farmers who have practiced sustainable agriculture and kept biodiversity alive.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Sustainable Agriculture in the USofA
The subjugation of third world nations is a work in progress. The attempts to live and work in a sustainable USofA are under attack as well. The efforts to have point of origin labeling and full disclosure product labeling are being thwarted at every opportunity by greedy people of all political tribes.
The Right to Know
is how the bill was called in MA. How the hell can you fight our RIGHT TO KNOW what's in the food we consume.
GMA managed to do it. Scared people - their calls to districts with DEMOCRATS supporting ( until their constituents got the calls) into believing they wouldn't be able to sell their "food" in MA if the law was passed. That, and the people would be sued. You name it, GMA tried it. SICK.
We don't have the Right to Know what's in our food.
New rule: Only corporations get to make rules (laws)
Laws that say you can't make laws.
Not allowed to know if it's GM, even though a law saying you could, already existed in a state (where were the states' rights tea baggers & libertarians?).
Same thing happened in Texas regarding fracking. City ordinance already in place stating no fracking in city limits nullified by "new rule" from state saying you don't get to make rules against fracking anywhere.
Too bad; so sad. Sucks to be us.
We no longer have rights in the USA. We have privileges that
are handed to us and quickly withdrawn when and if the corporate world deems there's money to be made by our not having these "rights"
There's only a right when one and all have it and that it can't be taken from any or all of us.
In the case in MA, I would have thought a couple of Democrats in safe seats would have hammered on the importance of knowing what's in the food sold in stores and served in school cafeterias. I would have thought the side for disclosure had the stronger case. I would have thought wrong.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Sad in MA
Couldn't even get the bill out of committee - when the committee was CONTROLLED by Democrats by a large margin!
Never under estimate the Democrats when it comes to wanting money. They got lobbied, and they all folded. Including Stan Rosenberg. Worse than sad All the Democrats just caved, and got their money.
Non GM vs GM
" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "
Selective breeding is not genetic modification performed
in a lab.
You're lucky that you've now had that pointed out to you so that you don't continue to make a fool of yourself in a public forum.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Define your terms ("lab")
Just because a neolithic farmer wasn't wearing a white coat doesn't mean he wasn't doing experiments and modifying plant genomes. And please don't say anything about "unrelated species" - in real life, organisms (including plants) swap genes across species boundaries with gay abandon. In fact, species is not even a well-defined term.
I'm far more concerned about the power structure here than the technology.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Mixing Plant genes
Is not quite the same as modifying plants with synthetic poison!
Completely misrepresents the reality. Gene splicing
is different from cross-breeding, grafting and all other such techniques.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
For those that are ok
with eating GMO's , That's your business it's a free country or so we are told but for those of us who don't want them a simple label is not to much to ask.
Exactly.
The simplest answer is to not buy it, if they won't provide the information we want. Grow your own. Fuck em.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
The anti-science Moronic Left
The anti-science Moronic Left strikes again.
Lenny Flank, is that you?
Do you get paid per post?
If you read the comments, you'd know, never mind. Paid shills are not paid to deal in fact, so I won't waste my thumbs to try.
And anti-GMO nutjobs,
And anti-GMO nutjobs, curiously, are not paid to deal in falsehood; they'll give it to you free. Just like anti-vaxers, anti-fluoridators, the chemtrail people, the "cellphones cook your brain" people, homeopathy defenders...
Monsanto likes to do "In
Monsanto likes to do "In-house" "Short-term" testing of say 90-days. This is then rubber stamped by their people rotating door from Monsanto to the FDA. The GMO plants are un-known as to their impact as they never allow outside tests, or the idea of Long-term testing under safe conditions. Irresponsibility in pursuit of profits is what corporatocracy desires, and then, we would be stuck with the results of their malfeasance. This is not fear, not conspiracy, but from online counters to Monstersanto attempting to corner the world market on crops and their weed killers and they are not alone.
They get the FDA to fast track their products.
The "Franken-fish are salmon-eel hybrids that were gene-spliced as opposed to inter-bred to make, and they grow larger, could provide more food, but if they got lose in the eco-system, they too would out eat all natural salmon as they also consume three times the food of natural salmon.
For the Big Agro companies, they do that Cost/Benefits analysis, and it always seems to come up, win for them, screw all others.
So long, and thanks for all the fish