tagged w/ You are what you eat
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Phillip Geertson has spent the last 30 years farming and raising many diversified crops, and has been a partner in alfalfa breeding programs for 25 years. Alfalfa is a perennial plant, which makes it extremely vulnerable to contamination.
When Roundup Ready (hereafter "RR") alfalfa was first suggested I did not think that it would be developed and introduced because most alfalfa fields are never sprayed for weed control. And, if a chemical weed control was needed, there is a long list of off-patent low-cost herbicides that are effective if used properly.
Alfalfa hay is usually cut on a schedule of 24 to 30 days for each crop harvest. The entire plant above ground is removed along with any weeds. This frequent cutting and removal suppresses weed growth and will control, and sometimes even eliminate, persistent perennials and noxious weeds that Roundup will not control.
When alfalfa is properly fertilized and growing in appropriate soil conditions (correct Ph, well drained, etc.), alfalfa will outgrow and choke out most weeds. When alfalfa stands become weedy, non-thrifty, and otherwise poor performing it is usually because of poor fertility, insects, water logging, or winter damage. Weeds in an alfalfa forage field are a symptom of problems and simply spraying with Roundup to kill the weeds will not correct the underlying problem that is causing poor performance. A weedy alfalfa field should be plowed out, the soil conditions corrected, and then rotated to another crop that is not a host for alfalfa diseases, insects, or nematodes so that they die away. Afterwards, a new stand of alfalfa can be replanted.
Alfalfa is often planted with a companion crop of oats or other grasses in a spring seeding. The cover crop suppresses weeds and gives some protection to young alfalfa plants. An early summer cutting of the oats and new alfalfa plants produces valuable forage for horses, feeder cattle, and young dairy cattle. This practice, however, cannot be used with the RR technology because the Roundup will kill the oats or grass cover crop.
Forage fields of alfalfa are often planted with a companion perennial grass to produce forage that is an alfalfa-grass mix that is a superior feed for all classes of livestock. The grass component in the forage helps to balance the digestive process and gives a better balance of nutrients, so fewer supplements are required in high performance livestock. A grass mix forage is the best feed for horses and the grass in a dairy cow ration is very helpful in reducing laminitis in dairy cattle. Spraying an RR alfalfa field with Roundup will kill any companion grass.
The need for RR alfalfa is very limited; it only adds one more chemical to a long list of herbicides available.
From the standpoint of a conventional (non RR) alfalfa seed grower, the main problem with the introduction of RR alfalfa is the contamination of all alfalfa with the RR gene.
Alfalfa, a long-lived perennial, is cross pollinated by bees and other insects that fly long distances. Honey bees are known to fly ten miles, and wind gusts can pick up insects that have been pollinating alfalfa blossoms and gathering pollen and move them long distances.
Alfalfa sets and produces seed best if it is cross pollinated from another plant. If the pollen from an RR alfalfa plant fertilizes the flowers on a non-RR alfalfa plant, the seed on that non RR plant will contain the RR gene, and plants that grow from that seed will be roundup resistant. The RR gene will spread throughout the entire alfalfa population and would eventually make it impossible to raise conventional seed without some RR contamination and make it nearly impossible to breed and develop new varieties of alfalfa. This is not a good thing.
Conventional alfalfa contaminated with the RR gene will become a weed in the RR soybean, cotton, and sugar beet fields that cannot be removed.
Farmers that feel the RR technology is a valuable tool should and will avoid the introduction of any plant that is RR resistant . . . including alfalfa. The demand or acceptance of any conventional seed that has even a trace of RR contamination would be compromised, because a farmer who is growing other RR crops would not want his field contaminated with RR alfalfa.
Alfalfa is a native plant of Eurasia and grows as a feral plant throughout Europe. I have pictures of it growing along the Danube River in Austria, the Alps in Switzerland, and even in the median strip in front of the Nazi rally center in Nuremburg. It was introduced into North and South America, New Zealand, and Australia and other areas of the world where it now grows as a wild feral plant.
In a natural environment, the RR gene in alfalfa doesn't give it any survival advantage. In fact, early yield trials show that alfalfas with the RR gene are poor performers. In the environment created by human activity, however, we have given RR alfalfa a survival advantage. The worldwide use of glysosphate (the active ingredient in Roundup and other generic herbicides) will give alfalfa plants with the RR gene a survival advantage over conventional alfalfa. There is no wonder that the rest of the world does not want RR alfalfa seed and have prohibited the import of any alfalfa seed contaminated with even a trace of the RR gene.
The U.S. Alfalfa seed industry was the world's major producer of alfalfa seed. Historically, the U.S. alfalfa seed industry exported more than half of the alfalfa seed produced in the United States, but 2007 was the last time the USDA reported the size of the U.S. alfalfa seed exports. Why? Export data would be very useful in determining the amount of damage that was done to the U.S. alfalfa seed industry by the release of RR alfalfa into U.S. agriculture.
Alfalfa is the first important perennial plant to be genetically engineered and introduced into the environment that is cross pollinated by insects and that grows as a wild feral plant throughout the world. Putting a foreign gene that cannot be recalled into such an important crop without thoroughly analyzing its potential negative effects is, in my opinion, criminal. If Monsanto and/or other genetic engineering companies can get away with this introduction, then you can be sure that others will follow. Hundreds of other important plants will be subject to genetic mutation and if released into the environment could change the species forever. How does the Endangered Species Act come into play here?
Why was Monsanto given the right to introduce a gene into alfalfa plants without any published studies that prove beyond any doubt that it is safe, useful, and would not cause harm?
more at the linkPhillip Geertson has spent the last 30 years farming and raising many diversified... more
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Los Angeles Times...
Barry Feinstein dies at 80; rock music photographer
Barry Feinstein shot more than 500 album covers, including Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are A-Changin' ' and George Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass.'
Barry Feinstein
PHOTO: Barry Feinstein is captured in a photograph by singer Bob Dylan. Feinstein was the official photographer of Dylan's European tour in 1966 and shot the cover of the musician's album "The Times They Are A-Changin'." (Barry Feinstein Photography)
By Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times
October 21, 2011
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Barry Feinstein, a photographer who gained renown as one of the premier chroniclers of the 1960s and '70s music scene, including shooting iconic album covers for Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and George Harrison, has died. He was 80.
Feinstein, a longtime resident of Woodstock, N.Y., who had been in failing health the last 10 years, died Thursday at a hospital in Kingston, N.Y., said his wife, Judith Jamison Feinstein.
In an award-winning career that began in the 1950s and included shooting many of Hollywood's biggest stars, Feinstein had photos published in Life, Look, Time, Esquire, Newsweek and other magazines.
He photographed more than 500 album covers, including Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'," Joplin's "Pearl," Harrison's "All Things Must Pass," the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man," Dave Mason's "Alone Together" and Eric Clapton's debut solo album "Eric Clapton."
"I'd put Barry in the top five of all-time rock photographers," said Peter Blachley, owner of the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York City, which represents Feinstein's photography.
Feinstein's success was due not only to the way he composed his shots and his other skills as a photographer, Blachley said, but "the way he was able to get the access to deliver those shots. And that access is gained by his personality with artists.
"They loved working with Barry, and that makes a great music photographer."
When he shot the cover for George Harrison's 1970 "All Things Must Pass" album, Feinstein recalled in a 2002 interview with the Washington Times, he photographed for days outside the singer's home at Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames, England.
"Then, someone called [Harrison] and told him that the gnomes that were stolen from Friar Park in about 1871 could be bought back. They asked him if he wanted to buy them back. He said, 'Sure.' They brought them back and laid them on the lawn. We went out and looked at them. I said, 'There's the cover.'
"We didn't move a thing. In about two minutes, we had the cover. It was spontaneous."
Harrison later asked Feinstein to document the historic fundraising Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in 1971.
Feinstein was best known for his long association with Dylan, for whom he was the official photographer on the European portion of Dylan's 1966 world tour and the 1974 Dylan and The Band tour.
One of Feinstein's famous Dylan photos, taken in London in 1966, shows the singer in the back of a limousine smoking a cigarette and gazing straight ahead through dark sunglasses, seemingly oblivious to the fans' faces pressed against the closed window.
A collection of his Dylan photos appear in Feinstein's 2008 book "Real Moments: Bob Dylan."
"I wanted my pictures to say something," Feinstein wrote. "I don't really like stand-up portraits; there's nothing there, no life, no feeling. I was much more interested in capturing real moments."
"Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric: The Lost Manuscript," a collection of Feinstein's early Hollywood photos and poems Dylan had written in 1964 to accompany them, also was published in 2008.
"If he wasn't a photographer but was a writer, he would have been very much like Paddy Chayefsky," Blachley said. "He had a very interesting way of looking at the world around him."
One of Feinstein's Hollywood photographs, he said, is of a movie studio parking lot "and there's a big sign in front that says 'Talent Lot,' and it's empty; there's nothing in it."
Feinstein was born Feb. 4, 1931, in Philadelphia. He spent a year at the University of Miami and had a stint in the Coast Guard before launching his career in photography. After arriving in Hollywood, he became a studio photographer for Columbia Pictures.
Feinstein, who was a cameraman on the classic 1968 documentary "Monterey Pop," also was the director-cameraman on the 1968 music documentary "You Are What You Eat."
A close friend of actor Steve McQueen, he also shot stills during the production of McQueen's 1968 classic film "Bullitt."
Noting that her husband had a photography and design studio in Los Angeles for many years, Judith Jamison Feinstein said: "Steve McQueen would pick him up every day at 4 o'clock when he was done with business and off they'd go motorcycling through the Hollywood Hills."
Feinstein was previously married and divorced from singer Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary, with whom he had a daughter, Alicia; and to actress Carol Wayne, with whom he had a son, Alex.
In addition to his wife and two children, he is survived by three stepchildren, Erica Marshall and Jasper and Jake Jamison; and three grandchildren.
.Los Angeles Times...
Barry Feinstein dies at 80; rock music photographer
Barry... more
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Don't tell me there is no difference between traditional corn and BT corn. Even chickens can sense the difference! When will humans become as smart about this and stand up to the companies pushing this down our throats?
Excerpt:
Chickens refusing to eat the maize they had been fed has led to the discovery that their feed had been genetically modified to include a well-known weed and insect killer.
Strilli Oppenheimer was recently approached by Dawid Klopper, the head gardener at the family estate, Brenthurst, informing her that her indigenous African chickens were refusing to eat the mealies in the chicken feed bought from a large supplier. Concerned that the birds may be ingesting genetically modified maize, she instructed Klopper to have the maize tested.
The chickens' diet was immediately changed to include organic vegetables, Oppenheimer stopped consuming the home-grown eggs and the maize was sent to the GMO testing facility at the University of the Free State for analysis.
The results confirmed Oppenheimer's initial suspicion - the maize had been genetically engineered to produce proteins that are toxic to certain insects and weeds.
"It contained BT1 which makes the maize insect resistant, as well as Roundup which makes it weed resistant. This is the first report we have had of chickens not eating GM feed," said a GM expert.
While small quantities of BT1 and Roundup weed killer were found in the seeds, the concern remained with the cumulative effect of GM feed, not only on the chickens, but also on the eggs they produced for the family.
"This is of serious concern. Do you know that 96 percent of soya-based foods are genetically modified and that maize in South Africa is contaminated," asked Oppenheimer, pointing out that research by well-known scientist Dr Arpad Pusztai had shown that rats fed on GM potatoes suffered from a weakened immune system and stunted growth of their internal organs, including the liver, kidneys and brain.
Pusztai was fired by the Rowett Research Institute in the UK in 1998 after his research into the human nutritional consequences of GM. His findings had far-reaching implications for the biotech industry, which had contended that GM crops and products would not adversely affect human health.
International research has shown a direct link between certain types of genetic engineering and cancer.
Gundula Azeez and Coilin Nunan of The Soil Association, a UK environmental charity, stated in their paper, "GM Crops - the health effects", that international research had shown that milk, eggs and meat from GM-fed animals contained GM crop DNA, concluding that it was likely that people were frequently being exposed to GM DNA.
They concluded that because of the lapses in extensive safety assessments, there were "very good scientific reasons for being concerned about the safety of GM crops".Don't tell me there is no difference between traditional corn and BT corn. Even... more
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In February, 2008, the USDA ordered the largest recall of meat in US history (143 million pounds), and some think it highlights potentially systemic weaknesses in how we inspect our nation's food supply.In February, 2008, the USDA ordered the largest recall of meat in US history (143... more
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"Many more obese children, including some as young as eight, should receive cholesterol-lowering drugs, say leading US doctors.
Children in the UK with a rare gene fault can get statins, but the American Academy of Pediatrics is going further.
It wants to see the drugs used in thousands more children with high cholesterol levels, despite little information about long-term safety.
A UK specialist said he did not support widespread statin use for children.""Many more obese children, including some as young as eight, should receive... more
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We learned how to do our "Hearts of Palm" salad in Brazil in which we have been 7 Times. Wow! What a wonderful trip! In Brazil they call this salad, "Palmito Salad." Let me tell you, It is out of this World! So delicious! It is very simple to make and you are going to love it!We learned how to do our "Hearts of Palm" salad in Brazil in which we have... more
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Kia Tupato (Be Careful) features the late Sir John Turei as he presents Maori views on Genetic Modification with reference to the land and the teaching of his Grandparents. Sir John was considered a bridge between the cultures of Maori and non-Maori in New Zealand, and received many honours from the Government including a Knighthood. Born in 1920 in Tuhoe country in the East of the North Island, Sir John served in the Maori Battalion in the Second World War in the Middle East and in Italy. He was an adviser to various leaders and government departments and assisted in the formal openings of the New Zealand embassies in Seoul and India. Kia Tupato presents the teachings of Sir John and his people and includes footage from the protest movement against Genetic Modification in New Zealand.
Michelle McGregor is a film maker from Auckland New Zealand. Kia Tupato has screened across New Zealand and in late 2004 was awarded the first prize in the He Puata Whakairo Short Film Awards, screened nationally on Maori Television.
Director: Michelle McGregor
Producer: Anita Langthaller
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Language: English, MaoriKia Tupato (Be Careful) features the late Sir John Turei as he presents Maori views on... more
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