Monsanto CEO Says Public Not Playing Fair

As the huge global protest, March Against Monsanto, is set to take place May 25th, CEO Hugh Grant told Bloomberg opponents of his company are capitalizing on increased public concern regarding how genetically modified foods are made, and pushing anti-GMO sentiment through social media sites.

March Against Monsanto activists are protesting, among other things, the serious risks GMO’s pose to both health and the environment, ex-Monsanto executives steering government agencies like the FDA, Monsanto’s monopoly over the world’s food supply, and political favoritism.

Grant says those critics aren’t giving Monsanto the opportunity to feed the world with technological advances.

“I’d feel a whole lot better if it was marinated on a little where is that extra chicken going to come from or who is going to grow the new bushel,” Grant said, adding that, “There is space in the supermarket shelf for all of us.”

Perhaps if Monsanto wasn’t bankrupting small farmers over patent infringement, or suing dairy farmers for labeling their milk Monsanto-produced rBGH-free, critics wouldn’t have to ponder where their next meal will come from.

If Monsanto’s legal practices weren’t enough to enrage America’s agricultural sector, the passing of the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act” certainly has. The Act – co-authored by a senator that received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Monsanto – puts GM companies above the law by effectively banning courts from halting the sale, planting, harvest, or distribution of any GM seeds, even if those seeds are linked to illness or environmental problems.

“There is this strange kind of reverse elitism: If I’m going to do this, then everything else shouldn’t exist.” Grant told Bloomberg, saying opponents of Monsanto think there should be conventional agriculture or organic and nothing else.

The irony is that Monsanto pays millions of dollars a year lobbying politicians and funding thinktanks to combat opposition. Ex-Monsanto executives work on their behalf in government positions including the Supreme Court, FDA, EPA and USDA, all the while denying consumers the right to have labels and information regarding genetically modified products.

As if this wasn’t enough to affirm their omnipotent reach, Monsanto is embroiled in controversy yet again after State Department cables from 2005 to 2009 show the government lobbied foreign nations on behalf of the biotech giant.

Food & Water Watch summarized the cables showing how the United States has pursued policies to benefit the largest seed companies, including urging embassies to generate positive media coverage to sway public opinion.

The four goals of biotech diplomacy, according to Food & Water Watch, are to: Promote biotech business interests; Lobby foreign governments to weaken biotech rules; Protect U.S. biotech exports; and Press developing world to adopt biotech crops.

“The seed companies including Monsanto, DuPont, Pioneer, Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, and Dow Agro-chemical, are more commonly mentioned in the biotech cables than food aid.” According to the Food & Water Watch biotech report. “The State Department worked especially hard to promote the interests of Monsanto, the world’s biggest biotech seed company…Monsanto appeared in 6.1 percent of the biotech cables analyzed between 2005 and 2009 from 21 countries.”

Meanwhile, Grant is focused on the growing voices of concerned citizens who refuse to fall in line with government-approved biotech propaganda.

Monsanto has already purchased the approval of Washington to advance their agenda worldwide, yet anti-GMO activists armed only with their Facebook status threaten the endgame?

Well, if those stifled voices are able to unite into one glorious global uproar, Grant’s fears may be validated.

Source: Infowars

Nigel Farage: I hope taxpayers all over Europe listen to this

Woody Harrelson ‘Ethos’ – Time to Unslave Humanity

This documentary examines the flaws in our systems, and the mechanisms that work against democracy and the environment. From conflicts of interests in politics and unregulated corporate power, to a news media that serves the interests of powerful elites; ETHOS explores the systems that lead us into over consumption and warfare. Too often the media celebrates aspects of our society that belong in the dark ages, while at the same time ignoring or ridiculing progressive thinking or ideas. Many aspects of the way our systems work almost guarantee our destruction as a society and that’s what this film is about. Fractured societies, poverty, disparity, pollution, warfare. Is there something inherently wrong with the human race? Is that what we should think of ourselves? We have tried to set up forms of law and government that safeguard the public good.

UPDATE 1-EU draft bank rescue law would not shield big deposits

* EU law to shield small savers in bank rescues

* Deposits over 100,000 euro may be affected

* Deal establishes national resolution funds

* Needs approval of EU finance ministers

By Claire Davenport

STRASBOURG, France, May 20 (Reuters) - A draft law that a group of European Union lawmakers voted for on Monday would shield small depositors from losing their savings in future bank rescues, but customers with more than 100,000 euros in savings when a bank failed could suffer losses.

A group of lawmakers in the European Parliament's economics committee overwhelmingly voted that, from 2016, large depositors in the EU might suffer losses if a bank gets into serious trouble. The plan was similar to a deal in Cyprus, where wealthy depositors at two banks took hits to save the country from bankruptcy.

Under the EU proposal, a bank would dip into large deposits of over 100,000 euros once it had exhausted other avenues such as shareholders and bondholders. But deposits under 100,000 euros would be spared.

"The case in Cyprus showed how important it is to have clear procedures for making shareholders, bondholders and ultimately depositors foot the bill," a press release from the committee said after the vote.

Some countries have also mooted the idea of using banks' deposit guarantee schemes. But lawmakers voted against this because it could hurt smaller savers.

The European Parliament has joint say with the 27 countries in the EU on the law that would give regulators powers to impose losses on creditors and take other steps during a bank rescue.

EU finance ministers agreed last week that large, uninsured depositors should be subject to losses but some countries may still seek some flexibility on how they wind down their banks.

"The struggle will be how binding the bail-in and the hierarchy of liabilities is," Sven Giegold, a German Green lawmaker said after the vote.

The legislation envisions creation of national resolution funds based on bank contributions. Some lawmakers are calling for a Europe-wide resolution fund and the European Commission is due to propose such a fund in the coming months but that faces resistance from Germany.

Earlier on Monday, Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker said the EU law on bank recovery and resolution would be a milestone towards a global system and help convince markets that governments were no longer willing to rescue "too big to fail" lenders.

Source: Reuters

Processed Meats Declared Too Dangerous for Human Consumption

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has just completed a detailed review of more than 7,000 clinical studies covering links between diet and cancer. Its conclusion is rocking the health world with startling bluntness: Processed meats are too dangerous for human consumption. Consumers should stop buying and eating all processed meat products for the rest of their lives.

Processed meats include bacon, sausage, hot dogs, sandwich meat, packaged ham, pepperoni, salami and virtually all red meat used in frozen prepared meals. They are usually manufactured with a carcinogenic ingredient known as sodium nitrite. This is used as a color fixer by meat companies to turn packaged meats a bright red color so they look fresh. Unfortunately, sodium nitrite also results in the formation of cancer-causing nitrosamines in the human body. And this leads to a sharp increase in cancer risk for those who eat them.

A 2005 University of Hawaii study found that processed meats increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 67 percent. Another study revealed that every 50 grams of processed meat consumed daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 21 percent. These are alarming numbers. Note that these cancer risks do not come from eating fresh, non-processed meats. They only appear in people who regularly consume processed meat products containing sodium nitrite.

Sodium nitrite appears predominantly in red meat products (you won’t find it in chicken or fish products). Here’s a short list of food items to check carefully for sodium nitrite and monosodium glutamate (MSG), another dangerous additive:

• Beef jerky
• Bacon
• Sausage
• Hot dogs
• Sandwich meat
• Frozen pizza with meat
• Canned soups with meat
• Frozen meals with meat
• Ravioli and meat pasta foods
• Kid’s meals containing red meat
• Sandwich meat used at popular restaurants
• Nearly all red meats sold at public schools, restaurants, hospitals, hotels and theme parks

If sodium nitrite is so dangerous to humans, why do the FDA and USDA continue to allow this cancer-causing chemical to be used? The answer, of course, is that food industry interests now dominate the actions by U.S. government regulators. The USDA, for example, tried to ban sodium nitrite in the late 1970′s but was overridden by the meat industry.5 It insisted the chemical was safe and accused the USDA of trying to “ban bacon.”

Today, the corporations that dominate American food and agricultural interests hold tremendous influence over the FDA and USDA. Consumers are offered no real protection from dangerous chemicals intentionally added to foods, medicines and personal care products.

You can protect yourself and your family from the dangers of processed meats by following a few simple rules:

1. Always read ingredient labels.
2. Don’t buy anything made with sodium nitrite or monosodium glutamate.
3. Don’t eat red meats served by restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels or other institutions.

And finally, eat more fresh produce with every meal. There is evidence that natural vitamin C found in citrus fruits and exotic berries (like camu camu) helps prevent the formation of cancer-causing nitrosamines, protecting you from the devastating health effects of sodium nitrite in processed meats. The best defense, of course, is to avoid eating processed meats altogether.

Source: Dreamhealer