Jon Stewart spoofs and doctors warn: avoid GMOs

"same difference"? . . . SAME difference???? REALLY???

Your saying that this:

"For years, 'experts' have been telling us that glaucoma results from fluid-pressure buildup in the eye that causes the optic nerve to deteriorate. This theory was based on an incorrect medical model: They were wrong!"

More or less equals this?:

"Glaucoma is an eye condition that develops when too much fluid pressure builds up inside of the eye."

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I'm sorry if this sounds rude . . . but did you have trouble in your reading comprehension classes as a kid? Those two sentences couldn't be MORE different.

One sentence is written by professionals in the medical field and clearly states that glaucoma is caused by the built up pressure of fluids in the eye.

The other sentences are written on a blog by a random guy with no sources and no stated medical credentials and says that glaucoma is NOT caused by the built up pressure of fluids in the eye.

(I really hope I don't need to point out which sentence is which)

But, seriously Ras . . . that is NOT "same difference" at all . . . That is the OPPOSITE of "same difference". And that difference is VERY important.

-It shows that the crankpot blogger is willing to post "startling" new information that is in "complete" contrast to what is stated and accepted by the medical community . . . without sources.

-It shows that this crankpot blogger is NOT a reliable source of information.

-It shows that anyone that would cite this blogger as a legitimate source of information (or anyone that would defend this blogger as a legitimate source of information) . . . is to put it mildly, one who has terrible terrible analytical skills.

LOL, "Same difference"? . . . no Ras, no . . . BAD Ras! NOT "same difference".

Ya know, JanforGore said something very interesting in another thread:
"Sometimes it just needs to be said: Human beings are idiots."

. . . I wonder if people around here realize just how true that statement is.

/shakes_his_head

. . . 'same difference' he says . . . oh my . . .

same difference!

Glaucoma is part of a group of diseases of the optic nerve involving loss of retinal ganglion cells in a characteristic pattern of optic neuropathy. Raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma (above 22mmHg). One person may develop nerve damage at a relatively low pressure, while another person may have high eye pressure for years and yet never develop damage. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness.

Glaucoma can be divided roughly into two main categories, "open angle" or chronic glaucoma and "closed angle" or acute glaucoma. Angle closure, acute glaucoma appears suddenly and often with painful side effects and so is usually diagnosed quickly, although damage and loss of vision can also occur very suddenly. Open angle, chronic glaucoma tends to progress more slowly and so the patient may not notice it until the disease has progressed quite significantly.

Glaucoma has been nicknamed the "sneak thief of sight" because the loss of visual field often occurs gradually over a long time and may only be recognized when it is already quite advanced. Once lost, this damaged visual field can never be recovered. Worldwide, it is the second leading cause of blindness.[1] Glaucoma affects one in two hundred people aged fifty and younger, and one in ten over the age of eighty. If the condition is detected early enough it is possible to arrest the development or slow the progression with medical and surgical means.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaucoma

Canola Oil- How Toxic Is It?

History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola

Once considered a specialty crop in Canada, canola has become a major North American cash crop. Canada and the United States produce between 7 and 10 million tonnes of canola seed per year. Annual Canadian exports total 3 to 4 million tonnes of the seed, 700,000 tonnes of canola oil and 1 million tonnes of canola meal. The United States is a net consumer of canola oil. The major customers of canola seed are Japan, Mexico, China and Pakistan, while the bulk of canola oil and meal goes to the United States, with smaller amounts shipped to Taiwan, Mexico, China, and Europe. World production of rapeseed oil in the 2002–2003 season was about 14 million metric tons.[9]

Canola was developed through conventional plant breeding from rapeseed, an oilseed plant already used in ancient civilization. The word "rape" in rapeseed comes from the Latin word "rapum," meaning turnip. Turnip, rutabaga, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, mustard and many other vegetables are related to the two canola varieties commonly grown, which are cultivars of Brassica napus and Brassica rapa. The negative associations due to the homophone "rape" resulted in creation of the more marketing-friendly name "Canola". The change in name also serves to distinguish it from regular rapeseed oil, which has much higher erucic acid content.

Hundreds of years ago, Asians and Europeans used rapeseed oil in lamps. As time progressed, people employed it as a cooking oil and added it to foods. Its use was limited until the development of steam power, when machinists found rapeseed oil clung to water or steam-washed metal surfaces better than other lubricants. World War II saw high demand for the oil as a lubricant for the rapidly increasing number of steam engines in naval and merchant ships. When the war blocked European and Asian sources of rapeseed oil, a critical shortage developed and Canada began to expand its limited rapeseed production.

After the war, demand declined sharply and farmers began to look for other uses for the plant and its products. Edible rapeseed oil extracts were first put on the market in 1956–1957, but these suffered from several unacceptable characteristics. Rapeseed oil had a distinctive taste and a disagreeable greenish colour due to the presence of chlorophyll. It also contained a high concentration of erucic acid. Experiments on animals have pointed to the possibility that erucic acid, consumed in large quantities, may cause heart damage, though Indian researchers have published findings that call into question these conclusions and the implication that the consumption of mustard or rapeseed oil is dangerous.[10][11][12][13][14] Feed meal from the rapeseed plant was not particularly appealing to livestock, due to high levels of sharp-tasting compounds called glucosinolates.

Plant breeders in Canada, where rapeseed had been grown (mainly in Saskatchewan) since 1936, worked to improve the quality of the plant. In 1968 Dr Baldur Stefansson of the University of Manitoba used selective breeding to develop a variety of rapeseed low in erucic acid. In 1974 another variety was produced low in both erucic acid and glucosinolates; it was named Canola, from Canadian oil, low acid.

A variety developed in 1998 is considered to be the most disease- and drought-resistant variety of Canola to date. This and other recent varieties have been produced by gene splicing techniques.

To be fair not all canola oil is the same!

BUT I or any one of you can not tell GE from GE-free canola.

WHY?

The way I see it, since the driving reason behind most GMO technology is maximizing profit on the part of 'food' (umbrella term) companies, and since there is a rather small amount of real substantial testing that I'm aware of but with a good deal of hand-waving about adverse effects, and also that you can eat things that aren't GMO's and be at least as healthy as you would be typically..

Probably should stay the fuck away from GMO's, at least until we have more thorough research. Also, Monsanto should really stop pushing censorship of media coverage about their products/behavior, that doesn't help the "GMO's are ok" case.

Thanks for the article , I will send it to the local schools ( I am trying to get healthier lunches for the kids ) . And thanks ras , for the "canola " info . I just bought some to try (usually I get olive oil ) . Not opened yet .

Rapeseed oil is poisonous to living things and is an excellent insect repellent. I have been using it (in very diluted form, as per instructions) to kill the aphids on my roses for the last two years.
It works very well; it suffocates them. Ask for it at your nursery. Rape is an oil that is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base and as a illuminate for color pages in magazines. It is an industrial oil. It is not a food. Rape oil, it seems, causes emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and blindness in animals and humans. Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds in England and Europe between 1986 and 1991, when it was thrown out.

Remember the "Mad Cow disease" scare, when millions of cattle in the UKwere slaughtered in case of infecting humans? Cattle were being fed on a mixture containing material from dead sheep, and sheep suffer from a disease called "scrapie". . It was thought this was how "Mad Cow" began and started to infiltrate the human chain. What is interesting is that when rape oil was removed from animal feed, 'scrapie' disappeared. We also haven't seen any further reports of "Mad Cow" since rape oil was removed from the feed. Perhaps not scientifically proven, but interesting all the same.

I guess what some of us are missing is that for the last 28 years Co. profits and not science has been the driving force for GMOs.

The Dangers Of Using Canola Oil

Recently I bought a cooking oil that's new to our Health Food Stores and Supermarkets, Canola Oil. I tried it because the label assured me it was lowest in "bad" fats. However, when I had used half the bottle, I concluded that the label told me surprisingly little else and I started to wonder: Where does canola oil come from?

Coconut oil comes from coconuts, olive oil comes from olives, peanut oil from peanuts, sunflower oil from sunflowers; but what is a canola? There was nothing on the label to enlighten me, which I thought odd. So, I did some investigating on the Internet. There are plenty of official Canola sites lauding this new "wonder" oil with all its low-fat health benefits. It takes a little longer to find sites that tell the less palatable details. Here are just a few facts everyone should know before buying anything containing canola.

Canola is not the name of a natural plant but a made-up word, from the words "Canada" and "oil". Canola is a genetically engineered plant (GMO) developed in Canada from the Rapeseed Plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants.

According to Agri-Alternatives, The Online Innovation, and Technology Magazine for Farmers, "By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long been used to produce oils for industrial purposes, are... toxic to humans and other animals". (This, by the way, is one of the websites singing the praises of the new canola industry.)

what Jon said visa vi Palestinians!

YES

GMOS ARE NOT SCIENCE, they are profit making schemes perpetrated on the people of the world by warping science, just like religious fanatics warp religion to suit their own agendas. Stop trying to demonize people who want responsible technology, of which GMOs in our food have already proven to not be part of.

I disagree

I think the best healthcare decision this nation could make is to reform the healthcare markets, align society more towards preventative measures and to make measures and intelligent decisions wrt to GMOs.

Science - better to use it wisely than to run from it.

Getting GMOS off our shelves is the best healthcare plan this country could put forward. We don't need no stinking redtape filled promises from this appeasing Congress. Just do the right thing in standing up to companies like Monsanto that you allow to deteriorate our health and biodiversity. This administration cannot in any way state they care about the health of Americans with any health bill if they won't stand up to the companies POISONING us with products they allowed to be marketed without proper testing.

Oh, and thanks, Jon Stewart.