tagged w/ Dow
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*Gates plan spends 40% of R&D funding on risky "silver bullet" GM projects with DFID help
As the world population reaches 7 billion GM Freeze says in a new report published today [1] that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s policy on agricultural development to tackle hunger is "swimming against a tide of informed opinion".
The report reveals the Gates Foundation has allocated over 40% of its committed research expenditure from 2005 to 2011 on projects involving risky “silver bullet” GM technology.
The collaboration between the Gates Foundation and DFID, announced in February 2011, includes a commitment to carry out GM research into altering the photosynthesis of rice to make it more tolerant of drought. [2] This theoretical switching of rice metabolism has been described as "high risk" by many, including the Royal Society, because of the complex changes required to make it work and the high chance of failure. [3]
In contrast GM Freeze reveals that the Gates Foundation has only allocated some US$20 million (4% of the total budget of US$521 million) to all soil research despite acknowledging the poor state of some African soils. However the Gates Foundation has pledged nearly US$214 million to research involving GM techniques from 2005 to the present – ten times the budget for soil research.
The group's report says the Gates Foundation and DFID are ignoring the recommendations of key research, including the unprecedented IAASTD report in 2008, endorsed by the UK Government, which recommended agroecological approaches to farming to restore natural resources, such as the soils, biodiversity and water and a switch away from fossil-fuel based artificial fertilisers and pesticides. [4]
GM Freeze also reveals the Gates Foundation funding of the Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA) to distribute artificial fertilisers to small farmers. AGRA plan to deliver 187,000 tons of fertilizer "to small farmers through wholesale and retail networks by December 2012" at a overall cost of US$164 million to the Gates Foundation – eight times their allocated expenditure on soil research.
The Gates Foundation collaborate closely with agri-biotechnology companies including Monsanto, BASF, Du Pont, Dow and the Syngenta Foundation in projects to develop GM seeds and promote fertilisers, pesticides and hybrid seeds to small African farmers through bodies such as African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and projects like Harvest Plus – both also funded by DFID.
Pete Riley of GM Freeze said:
"The Gates Foundation approach to agricultural development is swimming against of tide of informed opinion if it is serious about tackling hunger.
"Instead of promoting proven, low-cost solutions, the Foundation is mimicking discredited high input farming that has cost millions in Northern countries due to pollution, soil erosion and disastrous impacts on biodiversity above and below the soil. DFID is meekly following this lead despite expert analysis showing that in a world with eroded natural resources, climate change and rising demand and costs of energy and fertilisers, a switch to agroecological approaches is urgently needed.
"Offering small and family farmers GM technology will only lock them into expensive and failing intensive farming approaches that benefit big business.
More at the link*Gates plan spends 40% of R&D funding on risky "silver bullet" GM... more
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It is something that many farmers of genetically-modified (GM) crops are already trying to do and failing to succeed in, but that the chemical companies responsible for the problem may soon be pushing as an alleged "solution." The Dow Chemical Company has sponsored a study that aims to position the 2,4-D herbicide, a popular commercial herbicide, as the solution to Roundup-resistant "superweeds." But 2,4-D-resistant "superweeds" have already begun emerging as well, which suggests that increased chemical interventions of any kind will only make the superweed problem worse, not better.
Year after year, GM crop farmers have to battle mutant superweeds that continue to grow stronger and more resistant to the toxic pesticides and herbicides used in GM crop cultivation. But the practice is polluting the environment, contaminating the food supply, and spurring the rampant growth of harmful superweeds.
Rather than admit they are responsible for the problem, agri-giants like Dow and Monsanto say that using different pesticides and herbicides will help solve the problem. But such a suggestion could not be further from the truth. Treating plants with increasingly higher levels and more potent concoctions of toxic chemicals is a recipe for disaster, and one that will only make the superweed problem worse.
Dow, of course, found in its own study that using 2,4-D is a successful intervention to help prevent the growth of superweeds, But a review by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, which tends to be conservative in its estimation of the environmental harm caused by pesticides and herbicides, says 2,4-D leads to "risk quotients that exceed the level of concern." In other words, Dow's "solution" is highly problematic in terms of environmental and human health.It is something that many farmers of genetically-modified (GM) crops are already... more
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When cycle forecaster Charles Nenner told the Fox Business network yesterday that the Dow Jones was set to collapse to the 5,000 level on the back of a “major war” that will shake the globe at the end of 2012, hosts David Asman and Elizabeth MacDonald sat in stunned silence.
Nenner, a former technical analyst for Goldman Sachs, is head of the Charles Nenner Research Center, which purports to be able to predict market trends with a computer program based around pattern forecasting and securities analysis. Nenner predicted the stock market and housing collapse over two years before the fall of Lehman Brothers.
Nenner predicts that the Dow is heading down to just 5,000, a gargantuan drop given that it now hovers above the 12,000 level and only sunk as deep as 6,547 during the lowest ebb of the economic collapse in March 2009.
On the back of this forecast, Nenner has advised his clients to vacate the market almost entirely.
“I told my clients and pension funds and big firms and hedge funds to almost go out of the market, almost totally out of the market,” said Nenner, saying that the collapse will unfold over the course of a couple of months and that the reversal will come when the Dow hits just above the 13000 level.
What could prompt such a dramatic fall? An oil shock that could be kick-started by Friday’s “day of rage” protests in Saudi Arabia or something else?
According to Nenner, who studies war and peace cycles, the collapse will be initiated by “a major war starting at the end of 2012 to 2013,” a startling claim to which the host David Asman merely responded, “wow”.
Excuse me? A financial strategist who has been deadly accurate in the past and has just told all his clients to get out of the market predicts a “major war” that will lead to a stock market collapse and the best Asman can come up with is “wow”?
Since the hosts failed to follow up on Nenner’s astounding statement, who this war will be between and how it will start is anyone’s guess, but it seems inevitable that its roots will be in the current unrest we see spreading like wildfire across North African and the Middle East.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vcTm4XE4EAWhen cycle forecaster Charles Nenner told the Fox Business network yesterday that the... more
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For most of three decades, the U.S. has financed massive aerial spraying of pesticides over a large part of Guatemala in an attempt to eradicate the Mediterranean fruit fly, but common precautions to limit exposure to the toxic chemicals are not being followed.
In the 1980s and 1990s, malathion was sprayed from aircraft over thousands of acres of Guatemala's forests and farmlands. More recently the U.S.-financed program has been spraying Spinosad GF 120 Naturalyte Fruit Fly Bait, produced by Dow Agrosciences.
According to Guatemalan government data, the U.S.-backed program has applied more than 6 million liters of GF-120 since 2002, equivalent to more than 5,000 tons of this pesticide-bait.
Dow scientists say that Spinosad is highly toxic to beneficial insects and aquatic species, and that precautions should be taken to avoid daytime spraying and avoid bodies of water.
However, in Guatemala, spraying occurs during the day and over water. In contrast, in California, which is also waging an ongoing battle with medflies, the use of Spinosad sprays to control the pests is carefully regulated, and residents and farm workers are warned prior to spraying to keep out of sprayed zones for at least four hours.
This is not the case in Guatemala.
The U.S. has spent $266 million on the fruit-fly eradication program since 1976. The original purpose of the program was to create a barrier that would keep the Medfly from "migrating" to California fruit farms about 2,200 miles away.
But the characterization of the medfly as a destructive "illegal alien" is challenged by Dr. James Carey, an entomologist with the University of California, Berkeley, who has concluded from DNA tests that the medfly is a permanent resident of California, detected in 167 municipalities --one third of the state -- since 1975.
Carey is recognized as a pre-eminent expert on the medfly, who served on the California Department of Food and Agriculture´s Medfly Scientific Advisory Panel from 1987 to 1994.
Campesinos, beekeepers, environmentalists, coffee growers and others who work the land and study it have opposed the program for years.
Israel Gramajo, the mayor of San Antonio, Suchitepequez, in southern Guatemala, is currently leading an effort to remove a Mosca Del Mediterraneo (or MOSCAMED) quarantine post from his town and prohibit aerial spraying. The medfly larvae develop in fruit such as coffee berries, oranges and mangos. The quarantine posts are set up on highways to keep potentially contaminated fruit from entering into regions considered free of the medfly. Ironically, the quarantine in San Antonio has been designed to keep contaminated fruit from entering a region already infested by the fruit fly.
Guatemala is the only Central American country using massive aerial spraying of pesticides to control the medfly. According to medfly program protocol, the plane sprays up to seven times each area treated, for a total of 500 droplets per 10 square feet.
According to a 2009 medfly report by a Mexican scientist working with the MOSCAMED Program, 1,650 square miles were infested with the Medfly in Guatemala, and another 5,600 square miles were subject to "suppression".
Guatemalans complain of damages to their crops, along with allergic reactions and conjunctivitis. MOSCAMED authorities deny the charges and say they provide important support to beekeepers, along with baking classes and medical campaigns in towns where the program is active.
When scientific studies in the 1980s and 1990s began raising concern regarding the potential environmental and human risks from massive aerial spraying of malathion, the MOSCAMED program sought out alternative pesticides, and began using GF-120. In 2002 the Guatemalan government requested an environmental impact study, to assure that the spraying is benign.
But that study, approved by the Guatemalan Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in 2005, heavily relied on data from Dow Agrosciences and the U.S. and Guatemala agencies involved in the MOSCAMED program.For most of three decades, the U.S. has financed massive aerial spraying of pesticides... more
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Is living a green and healthy lifestyle wearing you out? Now you can protect your health and your environment while you sleep. I'm Rich Awn and this is your Green Air Minute.
Out of all the items in your home, your mattress is likely the most indispensable and at the same time, taken the most for granted. Manufacture and supply schemes of the leading mattress companies require long, costly shipping chains often originating over seas, shipped, and then trucked from storage warehouses to retail stores where they end up getting trucked again to be delivered to your home.
The other problem with synthetic, petroleum-based foam mattresses is the issue of "off-gassing." The scent, or VOC, produced when a mattress is taken out of its package may contain toxic vapors like acetone and toluene that can lead to serious irritation of the eyes and mucus membranes and can accumulate in the body, never to be expelled.
One company hasn't been sleeping on the ill effects of the mattress industry and has developed an innovative, completely centralized manufacture and direct supply chain from the product's inception to your bedroom. Keetsa Mattress Company figured out a way to eliminate harmful off-gassing using a natural, plant-oil based foam which can be recycled when it's life cycle is complete.
Joe Alexander, General Manager of Keetsa Mattress.
You know, “green” doesn’t just mean you throw an organic cover on your mattress and now you’re a green company. We’ve addressed it from the manufacturing, from the shipping, from the distribution, to getting it to the customer’s home, to the product itself, and to ultimately, the demise of the product.
I'm Rich Awn and this is your Green Air Minute. For more ways to save the planet while you sleep and the full interview with Joe Alexander, visit GreenAirRadio.com.Is living a green and healthy lifestyle wearing you out? Now you can protect your... more
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A few weeks back, the New York Times made mention of an astounding development, which has, for whatever reason, received little fanfare or recognition. Despite its Vietnam War notoriety, Agent Orange is in vogue again, this time down on the farm. Its reemergence, and in this particular setting, raises a host of troubling questions that are not being well considered.
Over the past year, there have been increasing reports of emerging superweeds resistant to Roundup, the preferred weedkiller of America’s farmers. Roundup is sold in tandem with Roundup-ready seeds, both marquee products of the Monsanto Corporation. In the 1990s, when the latter product hit the market, it was momentous, revolutionary – a godsend: Roundup-ready seeds are genetically designed to resist application of the potent herbicide. By sowing Roundup-ready seeds and dousing their fields with the trademark weedkiller, farmers could forego the expense and toil of tilling the land, and losing valuable topsoil in the process. Production was enhanced, time and money saved. It was quite an economic boon to farmers, at least in the short run. Environmentalists were also pleased in light of the topsoil angle. Needless to say, Monsanto was thrilled that farmers were even more dependent on its products.
But for years critics ominously warned that, as is the nature of ‘nature,’ weeds would eventually evolve to withstand Roundup. Monsanto brushed aside such concerns, saying it would be ages before anyone had to worry about something like that. The glory days lasted about a decade. The superweeds evolved faster than anyone imagined-- and with a vengeance. Farmers accustomed to drenching their fields with Roundup are now battling a monster breed of pigweed that, the New York Times reports, “can grow three inches a day and reach seven feet or more…so sturdy that it can damage harvesting equipment.”
Nature has issued quite a challenge to our ‘weed solution.’ The chemical industry has decided to respond in turn with Agent Orange. To be precise, Dow Chemical is working on seeds that are resistant to 24-D, a component of Agent Orange… presumably because it intends on spraying farmland with wartime defoliant.
This is alarming on a number of fronts. But let’s be clear on one thing at the outset: we don’t necessarily need Agent Orange to deal with weeds. The Amish don’t. Never have. Superweeds-- like superbugs (or superbacteria) emerging in concentrated chicken farms-- are the product of industrial agriculture, which aims to squeeze as much as possible from the land, and has selected monoculture as the optimal means of doing so. Grow one crop, in great density, on huge tracts of land, demanding tremendous output. Hence the Iowa corn fields, which stretch as far as the eye can see. There’s only one problem with this: nature does not ‘farm’ this way. Monoculture is highly vulnerable to pests, disease and weeds. In monocultivated fields, predators find a vast pool of identical, fat, helpless victims. In contrast, nature ‘farms’ a diversity of crops amidst one another, which do not succumb en masse to any given plague.
We have insisted on monoculture in order to produce as much as possible. Today, we’re able to extract 6 times more corn from an acre of land than 100 years ago. Industrial agriculture is to be commended for that impressive efficiency. And I know how its apologists – Dow and Monsanto included-- would defend the institution and its manic drive for production. Industrial agriculture is necessary, they would say, to feed the world: you can’t feed upwards of six billion people by farming like the Amish.
Though I am not qualified to contest this claim fully, I can think of one important fact that casts doubt upon it. In this country, industrial agriculture’s immense bounty has wrought skyrocketing rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes. Agribusiness has not exactly harnessed its awesome technological advances to feed the world, but rather, to cram as many excess calories as possible into citizens of the industrial world. In particular, its bounty has subsidized a profusion of cheap fast and processed foods. Indeed, two of Monsanto’s most popular Round-up ready products are corn and soy, the building blocks of our processed foods.
So, it seems clear, at least in the US, industrial agriculture can step off the gas pedal. We could use an Amish revolution across the farm belt. If we adopted Amish style polyculture, our farms might well produce less. But would that be such a bad thing? Polyculture would certainly produce less of the staple commodities, corn and soy, and less processed food in turn. It would make for a healthier—lighter-- nation.
But we cannot settle for less. We must have more.
We’re so hell-bent on maintaining our voracious consumption habits, that we’ll engage the services of the defense industry. We’ll use Agent Orange to fight off weeds and ensure the delivery of cheap corn to Frito-Lay, Coke and Kelloggs; and when megaweeds evolve to withstand Agent Orange—eighteen-foot-tall weeds, stems like tree trunks—we’ll reach for the napalm. ‘Napalm-ready’ soy; that’s our future.
All in the name of productivity, efficiency, convenience-- profit. For you see, farming as nature ordains it fails on all fronts. Nature does not cut it in the USA.
We think nothing of wantonly poisoning the land on which we depend for sustenance. We have gravely degraded the rich topsoil of the Prairies, much of which has flowed down the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico (and is now covered in a slick of oil, I presume). Our herbicides, pesticides and fungicides have stripped the land of natural nutrients, which we aim to supply in chemical doses. And when agricultural problems arise-- problems that are the product of our industrial, chemical practices-- we administer more of the same. Actually, I’m wrong: in the case of Agent Orange, we administer stronger poisons, as if we aim to twist Nature’s arm—as if we could. As if we could subdue her, and force her to do our bidding: ‘You WILL give us Cheetoes at 20 cents to the pound-- or else!’
It is of course hubris. Not to mention tremendously short-sighted. What do we think, soaking the fields in Agent Orange? Surely, Dow must know that the very application of this chemical in strong, widespread and longterm doses is precisely the doom of this product: these are the very conditions that encourage—dare!-- superweeds to evolve. So what are the chemical companies playing at? What’s the game plan? Do they intend to graduate to ever more potent and dangerous herbicides? Surely that can’t be sustainable. Or do they hope to mix and match chemical herbicides, to keep the weeds off balance? That seems marginally safer, at best. And does anyone know how these chemicals fare in the environment, once combined, over the course of years? Or is Dow simply aiming for Monsanto’s promised land, an herbicide-seed combination that will corner the market, and inflate company stock in the short run?
Besides the fact that we would use these chilling chemicals in the production of our food, no less. Agent Orange is accused of having caused birth defects in Vietnam, and increased rates of cancer among American veterans of the war there. Dow has disputed these claims. And yet, in light of Agent Orange’s reputation, it is surprising that Dow would press on with its use in food production nonetheless. This shows tremendous gall. Or shocking disrespect for the consumer.
cont.A few weeks back, the New York Times made mention of an astounding development, which... more
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Rights groups representing survivors of the Bhopal disaster expressed outrage at what they called "insulting" sentences given to seven men for their roles in the tragedy.Rights groups representing survivors of the Bhopal disaster expressed outrage at what... more
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Al Gore’s environmental organization Live Earth has taken money to raise awareness about the need for clean water from a controversial chemicals company involved in the aftermath of one of the world's worst pollution disasters.
Dow Chemical, the US firm which now owns the leaking pesticides factory responsible for thousands of deaths in Bhopal, India, sponsored Live Earth events in 150 cities this past week. The event aimed to raise money for clean water programs. Research by environmental organizations has found dangerous levels of highly toxic chemicals in rivers, lakes and other water supplies close to several other factories owned by Dow and its subsidiaries in countries including the United States, Brazil and South Africa.Al Gore’s environmental organization Live Earth has taken money to raise... more
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Greenwashing has made it hard for discerning consumers to know which companies are truly eco-friendly. This year’s Earth Day winner of Most Obscene Greenwashing goes to DOW Chemicals (DOW). The global chemical giant was the platinum sponsor for Live Earth’s “Run for Water” event.
Wow. Dante has a special circle in hell for this level of hypocrisy. DOW is one of the largest polluters in global history. Here’s just a sample of the damage they’ve caused (Google has an endless list):
* In June 2008, DOW (and Boeing – BA) were fined $926 million over nuclear plutonium pollution in Rocky Flats, CO;
* Air pollution in Connecticut;
* Air pollution in Texas;
* Water pollution in Indiana;
* Water pollution in Cape Cod, MA;
For the record, I believe the environment will benefit most when large corporations go green. I disagree with cause-heads who bash corporations no matter how much progress is made. In fact, Fortune 500 companies are the key to reducing pollution and bringing safer products to the mass market. I love seeing Walmart (WMT) sell organic products. That’s change which will positively affect future generations.
With that said, companies like DOW should spend more time keeping cancer causing chemicals out of our water and less time insulting the intelligence of anyone who can run a simple Google (GOOG) search. It’s outrageous, but legal …
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/earth-days-outrageous-but-legal-dow-chemical-sponsors-live-earths-run-for-water/?p=9865/Greenwashing has made it hard for discerning consumers to know which companies are... more
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Great video of some of the protests here, including amazingly articulate 12 year old!
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0w9id9hUA
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Dow throws a party, mainly zombies show up
Andy Bichlbaum (for the Yes Men)
April 19 2010, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
http://theyesmen.org/dowliveearth
DOW THROWS A DISMAL PARTY, FEW ATTEND
Underattended "Run for Water" plagued by death scenes, zombies, and dozens of "Dow spokesmen"; truth seems to run free
Contact: Whitney Black (803)466-3786; press@theyesmen.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Brooklyn, NY -- Bucolic Prospect park in Brooklyn, NY played host to a bizarre spectacle on Sunday, as a dramatically under-attended Dow-sponsored "Run for Water" was infiltrated and turned upside down by hundreds of furious activists, including a hundred dressed as Dow spokespeople.
New Yorkers who came to the park expecting a light run followed by a free concert found themselves unwitting extras in a macabre and chaotic scene as runners keeled over dead, Dow-branded grim reapers chased participants, and a hundred fake Dow representatives harangued other protesters and handed out literature that explained Dow's greenwashing program in frank detail.
The actions called attention to Dow's toxic legacy in places like India (the Bhopal Catastrophe), Vietnam (Agent Orange) and Midland Michigan (Dioxin Contamination), and to the absurdity of a company with serious water issues all over the world sponsoring the Live Earth: Run For Water.
After race cancellations in London, Milan, Berlin, and Sweden, on-site Dow brand managers were in damage-control mode. But their job was made harder by the hundred fake "Dow" spokespeople who loudly but clumsily proclaimed Dow's position ("Our race! Our earth!" and "Run for water! Run for your life!"), spoke with many runners, screamed at the other protesters, passed out beautifully-produced literature, and all in all looked a whole lot better than the real Dow reps, who seemed eager to make themselves scarce.
"I don't know what's going on here," said Tracey Von Sloop, a Queens woman who attended the race. "All I know is these people are both crazy, and Dow is f*ing sick. I'm outta here."
The event was the latest blow to Dow's greenwashing efforts, the most visible element of which is the "Human Element" multi-media advertising campaign, one of the most expensive, and successful, marketing efforts in recent history. It even won an "Effie Award" for the most effective corporate advertising campaign in North America.
"Effective," perhaps -- but also completely misleading. To name just a few examples of Dow's water-related issues: Dow refuses to clean up the groundwater in Bhopal, India, site of the largest industrial disaster in human history, committed by Dow's fully-owned subsidiary, Union Carbide. As a result, children continue to be born there with debilitating birth defects. Dow has also dumped hundreds of millions of pounds of toxic chemical byproducts into wetlands of Louisiana, and has even poisoned its own backyard, leaving record levels of dioxins downriver from its global headquarters in Midland, Michigan.
"We thought it must be a joke when we first heard that Dow Chemical Company was sponsoring a run for clean water," said Yes Woman Whitney Black. "Sadly, it was not. One of the world's worst polluters trying to greenwash its image instead of taking responsibility for drinking water and ecosystems it has poisoned around the world? What an awfully unfunny way to start off Earth Week. We decided the event needed a little comic relief."
cont.Great video of some of the protests here, including amazingly articulate 12 year old!... more
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According to the standard unemployment rate 12.2 percent of Californians are out of work. But there's another figure kept by the Employment Development Department called 'underemployment' which represents people without jobs, people who have to take lesser or freelance employment or people who have given up looking. That number is 21.9 percent of Californians.
When we talk about the recession, we tend to follow economists' lead on when the recession begins, ends, etc. In theory, our national economy in aggregate will start growing (or has already started growing) and we will soon 'be out of the recession'. However most economists are saying it will be a 'jobless recovery' - meaning that the economy will grow but unemployment will stay the same. And if unemployment stays the same - just how much bigger is the national underemployment number? How much longer will people who took lesser paying jobs or moved into the freelance world or just plain stopped looking for work to live off their savings while the clouds passed - how much longer will those people be affected by the recession?
As the Dow goes up and the bankers at Goldman Sachs get fat bonuses again, I think this is a concerning number. The difference between economists' balance sheets and the experience of the rest of the country. What do you think? Are you affected by this? Is this something that concerns you? Something you would want to know more about?
Let us know what you think over on Current News.
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Bayer has admitted it has been unable to control the spread of its genetically-engineered organisms despite 'the best practices [to stop contamination]'(1). It shows that all outdoors field trials or commercial growing of GE crops must be stopped before our crops are irreversibly contaminated.
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$2 million US dollar verdict against Bayer confirms company's liability for an uncontrollable technology
Greenpeace welcomes the United States federal jury ruling on 4 December 2009 that Bayer CropScience LP must pay $2 million US dollars to two Missouri farmers after their rice crop was contaminated with an experimental variety of rice that the company was testing in 2006.
This verdict confirms that the responsibility for the consequences of GE (genetic engineering) contamination rests with the company that releases GE crops.
Bayer has admitted it has been unable to control the spread of its genetically-engineered organisms despite 'the best practices [to stop contamination]'(1). It shows that all outdoors field trials or commercial growing of GE crops must be stopped before our crops are irreversibly contaminated.
A report prepared for Greenpeace International concluded that the total costs incurred throughout the world as a result of the contamination are estimated to range from $741 million to $1.285 billion US dollars.(2) The verdict indicates that Bayer is liable for what could turn out to be a large proportion of these costs, as it awards damages in the first two of more than 1,000 currently pending lawsuits. The decision must be used to support all claims for losses incurred by other US farmers whose crops have suffered from GE contamination.
(1) Bayers Defense lawyer, Mark Ferguson as reported in Harris, A. 2009.
Bayer Blamed at Trial for Crops 'Contaminated' by Modified Rice. Bloomberg News 4th November 2009, available at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aT...
(2) E.N. Blue (2007) Risky Business. Economic and regulatory impacts from the unintended release of genetically engineered rice varieties into the rice merchandising system of the US. Report prepared for Greenpeace International, available online at http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press....
http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/genetically-modified-rice-trial-cost-bayer-2-million.aspx?googleid=275530Bayer has admitted it has been unable to control the spread of its... more
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NEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average climbed to its highest close in 14 months on Tuesday as a weak dollar boosted natural resource companies' shares and economic data reinforced hopes for a sustainable recovery.
Sentiment also got a lift as concerns receded about the impact of Dubai's debt trouble after news that Dubai World planned to restructure about $26 billion in debt.
The dollar's decline bolstered shares of commodity-oriented companies like U.S. Steel Corp (X.N), up 1.2 percent at $45.18; Alcoa Inc (AA.N), up 2.2 percent at $12.80, and Newmont Mining Corp (NEM.N), up 3.8 percent at $55.66.
Data showed pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose more than expected to their highest level in 3-1/2 years in October. The Dow Jones home construction index .DJUSHB gained 1.3 percent. For details, see [ID:nN01495024]
"People are starting to realize that things are coming back. There are some pockets of weakness, but overall, we're healing globally, and the overall trend is very positive," said Thomas Belesis, chief executive officer at John Thomas Financial in New York.
Concerns over a possible debt default by Dubai World triggered a sell-off in stocks globally on Friday.
"Friday's fears about Dubai were overblown ... Investors know the situation is out there, but they're putting that aside," Belesis said.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI shot up 126.74 points, or 1.23 percent, to end at 10,471.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 13.23 points, or 1.21 percent, to 1,108.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC advanced 31.21 points, or 1.46 percent, to close at 2,175.81.
The U.S. dollar index .DXY fell 0.6 percent as waning anxiety about Dubai limited the greenback's safe-haven appeal. The index measures the dollar's performance against a basket of major currencies. [ID:nN01332891]
U.S. crude oil futures gained $1.09 to settle at $78.37 a barrel, while the S&P Energy Index .GSPE advanced 1.4 percent. Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) shot up 1.3 percent to $76.04.
In the day's housing data, sales advanced to their highest level in 3-1/2 years, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.
Other data showed construction spending was flat in October, above the expectation for it to slide in the month. In addition, the Institute for Supply Management said that the manufacturing sector expanded in November, though the expansion was less than expected. [ID:nN01482360] and [ID:nN01377451]
Staples Inc (SPLS.O) rose 4.8 percent to $24.44 after it reported adjusted third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and forecast sales growth in its fourth quarter. [ID:nN30469390] ((Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal) ((caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6393; Reuters Messaging:caroline.valetkevitch.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra: visit topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News: topnews.reuters.com))NEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average climbed to its highest... more
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THE rickshaw driver pulls in to the side of the road to allow us to take shelter from torrential rain. There, under a shop's awning, a small crowd is waiting for the weather to break. The group includes Sapna Sharma and her brother-in-law, Sanjay. Sanjay is holding his 18-month-old nephew, Anshul, who has kohl-rimmed eyes and silver bracelets on his ankles.
As we stand talking, some of the people start pointing to the child's hands and feet while speaking animatedly to us in Hindi, and then Sapna explains through our translator that her son was born with 12 toes and 12 fingers.
Shortly afterwards, about a kilometre away in the Shankar Nagar area of Bhopal, we meet another Indian child with congenital malformations, three-year-old Raj, who is visually impaired, cannot walk and whose head is oversized. ''The doctors said bad water could have been a cause of my son's condition. Older people here are gas victims and now the younger people are victims of the water,'' his mother, Poona Bai, says.
Here, in the city of Bhopal, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, hundreds of children are being born with deformities and mental health problems. As we walk back to our rickshaw, we come across more afflicted youngsters who have followed us along the road. They include 12-year-old Rajesh, who is barefoot and bald. The other children make fun of him as his mother, Yashdabai, explains that they do so because they believe he is mad. Rajesh's older sister, Sonia, scolds the other children and says she has to protect her brother from bullies. Sonia is barefoot, too, and as she speaks a colleague notices that the young girl has huge feet.
This is the horrendous legacy Bhopal is facing 25 years on from the world's worst industrial accident. The Bhopal gas disaster, as it became known, has been dubbed the ''Hiroshima of the chemical industry''. It happened shortly after midnight on December 3, 1984, when a cloud of poisonous gas escaped from a Union Carbide pesticide plant. The release of 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (known as MIC) from the factory exposed more than 500,000 people to toxic gas. Up to 10,000 are thought to have died within the first 72 hours after the leak.
At least 25,000 people exposed to the gas have since died, and today in Bhopal tens of thousands more Indians suffer from a variety of debilitating gas-related illnesses such as respiratory and psychiatric problems, joint pains, menstrual irregularities, tuberculosis and cancers. Then there is the escalating number of birth defects, including cleft palates, webbed feet and hands, twisted limbs, brain damage and heart problems.
Shankar Nagar is a slum area of the city, just north of the derelict Union Carbide factory. For years local campaigners have been demanding that Union Carbide, now owned by US multinational Dow Chemicals, clean up the abandoned pesticide plant, but so far their pleas have been ignored.
In 1999, a Greenpeace investigation found severe chemical contamination of the environment surrounding the former factory, which, the NGO said, was polluted with heavy metals and chemical compounds.
The report said: ''Analysis of water samples drawn from wells serving the local community has also confirmed the contamination of groundwater reserves with chemicals arising either from previous or ongoing activities and/or incidents. As a result of the ubiquitous presence of contaminants, the exposure of the communities surrounding the plants to complex mixtures of hazardous chemicals continues on a daily basis.
''Though less acute than the exposure that took place as a result of the 1984 MIC release, long-term chronic exposure to mixtures of toxic synthetic chemicals and heavy metals is also likely to have serious consequences for the health and survival of the local population.''
The Greenpeace study was backed in 2004 by Amnesty International, whose Clouds of Injustice report said, ''toxic wastes continue to pollute the environment and water supply … and it is appalling that no one has been held
accountable.THE rickshaw driver pulls in to the side of the road to allow us to take shelter from... more
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FROM THE NEWS BLOG:
According to the standard unemployment rate 12.2 percent of Californians are out of work. But there's another figure kept by the Employment Development Department called 'underemployment' which represents people without jobs, people who have to take lesser or freelance employment or people who have given up looking. That number is 21.9 percent of Californians. One fifth of the state.
When we talk about the recession, we tend to follow economists' lead on when the recession begins, ends, etc. In theory, our national economy in aggregate will start growing (or has already started growing) and we will soon 'be out of the recession'. However most economists are saying it will be a 'jobless recovery' - meaning that the economy will grow but unemployment will stay the same. And if unemployment stays the same - just how much bigger is the national underemployment number? How much longer will people who took lesser paying jobs or moved into the freelance world or just plain stopped looking for work to live off their savings while the clouds passed - how much longer will those people be affected by the recession?
As the Dow goes up and the bankers at Goldman Sachs get fat bonuses again, I think this is a concerning number. The difference between economists' balance sheets and the experience of the rest of the country. What do you think? Are you affected by this? Is this something that concerns you? Something you would want to know more about?FROM THE NEWS BLOG:
According to the standard unemployment rate 12.2 percent of... more
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Partying like it's 1999? Well, it's much worse when we use math skills beyond elementary school ...Partying like it's 1999? Well, it's much worse when we use math skills... more
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The Dow Jones industrial average has reclaimed 10,000 for the first time in a year.
The Dow closed above five figures Wednesday, seven months after it hit a 12-year low of 6,547.05 on March 9. The comeback by the stock market’s best-known indicator is the most visible sign yet that investors believe the economy is indeed recovering from the financial crisis and recession.
Cheering erupted from traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as stocks briefly moved above the psychological barrier. The Dow at times fell back below 10,000 in the normal ebb and flow of trading.
The Dow is now up 53 percent from its March low. But it remains 29 percent below its peak of 14,164.53 hit in October 2007.
The index first finished above 10,000 on March 29, 1999, in the midst of a powerful rally that ended with the dot-com bust at the start of this decade. Stocks then fell below that mark last October as investors sold stocks in a feverish panic following the downfall of Lehman Brothers.
The latest round of earnings reports, which will continue to pour in over the next few weeks, are the key to keeping the market’s rally alive, analysts say. If earnings fall short of expectations, stocks could stumble.The Dow Jones industrial average has reclaimed 10,000 for the first time in a year.... more
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Oh sure, massive photovoltaic installations on rooftops are nothing terribly new, but by and large, the ones we've seen are stuck on massive warehouses or elaborate stadiums in foreign lands. Dow Chemical is doing its darnedest to change all that with the introduction of the POWERHOUSE line of solar shingles. As you'd expect, these solar shingles are aimed at roofers looking to tip their hats to Ma Earth while providing shelter for well-endowed homeowners, and unlike most of the futuristic alternatives, these actually look somewhat similar to traditional shingles. Dow claims that "affordability" will be a feature when they become widely available in 2011, but we're understandably skeptical of such a claim given just how pricey solar roofs currently are (and you know, considering the company's for-profit standing)Oh sure, massive photovoltaic installations on rooftops are nothing terribly new, but... more
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