Oops . . .

— Hybrid Sons of Tifton 85 —

THE INQUISITR has an article you should check out: “Genetically Modified Grass Begins Releasing Cyanide, Kills Texas Cattle”. Really.  That bears repeating,

“Genetically Modified Grass
   Begins Releasing Cyanide,
   Kills Texas Cattle”

Corporate psychopaths . . .

MONSANTO CAN BE DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH. So contends GMO, a site devoted to "Raising awareness about the risks of genetically modified food (GMOs)", with an article, "Monsanto’s Dirty Dozen". Monsanto has been dangerous for a long, long time, since 1901. The company moved into the food area with the production of Saccharin for Coca-Cola, but Monsanto produced all sorts of toxic stuff, like Polystyrene, PCB's, Dioxin, DDT, Agent Orange and the scourge of today's farmers, RoundUp, as well as Bovine Growth Hormone, Aspertame and other toxics.

— Beneficiaries of Agent Orange —

And Monsanto has company. According to GMO:

Monsanto’s not alone. Other companies in the “Big Six” include Pioneer Hi-Bred International (a subsidiary of DuPont), Syngenta AG, Dow Agrosciences (a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, BASF (which is primarily a chemical company that is rapidly expanding their biotechnology division, and Bayer Cropscience (a subsidiary of Bayer).

A veritable smörgåsbord of corporate psychopaths, the folks who brought us Thalidomide are probably in there somewhere.

In the pile of poison is Aspertame. It can be really dangerous. That's the opinion of DORWAY, a site with the dedicated mission to "Get the Truth About Aspartame. The Whole Truth." The page "About Aspartame" has many links to many scary things — you really ought to stop guzzling. Pilots are very concerned; the FAA doesn't like the danger, but cannot ban it, because the FDA says it's OK, according to the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network's article, "Aspartame & Flying".

Aspartame was discovered as a drug in the 60s (first approved in 1974 then rescinded because of the brain tumor issue — then approved again, over the objections of many scientists, in 1981) and is composed of two synthetic amino acids, Phenylalanine, Aspartic Acid and Methanol (10% wood alcohol). At temperatures exceeding 85 degrees F (body temperature is 98.6) the substance breaks down further into Formaldehyde, Formic Acid, and Diketopiperazine (a brain tumor agent). Aspartame complaints make up 80% of all complaints volunteered to the FDA. Aspartame is often the unidentified environmental trigger for: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Alzheimers, Lyme Disease, Post Polio Syndrome, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Epilepsy, Anxiety/Phobia Disorders, Manic Depression, Graves’ Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Heart Disease, Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome and others. Many Doctors have reported drastic improvement or disappearance of symptoms after removing Aspartame from the patients’ diet. On rechallenge, the symptoms tend to return. Symptoms reported to the FDA include: headache, nausea, vertigo, insomnia, numbness, blurred vision, blindness, memory loss, suicidal depression, personality and behavior changes, hyperactivity, gastrointestinal disorders, seizures, skin lesions, muscle cramping and joint pain, fatigue, heart attack symptoms, hearing loss and tinnitus, pulmonary and cerebral edemas, shock and death.

Does everything but cause ingrown toe-nails and halitosis. I avoid the stuff, not necessary for de-blubberization. Taken two years, but I've gone from a 44+" to a 32" waist, like I had when I was twenty. No Aspartame required, just no wheat, wheat-starch, corn and corn-starch.

You can join in the fight. Visit March Against Monsanto, for details. It's world-wide.

Things are getting tougher . . .

EVEN PLANTS ARE GETTING TOUGHER these days, thanks to Monsanto and others in the genetic modification business, and this is causing problems for farmers who grow the mutants. According to Chris Taylor at AUTOBLOG, "GMO crops so tough that farmers are turning to Kevlar tractor tires".

Mark Newhall of Farm Show Magazine tells American Public Media's Marketplace that after the stalks are cut during harvest, the leftover stubs are like "having a field of little spears."

So instead of tractor tires lasting the usual five to six years, they're getting chewed up after just one or two years. One tractor tire can cost thousands of dollars, and some tractors have as many as eight tires.

Or more, on the really big tractors and combines. Maybe Monsanto will get into the tire business with RoundUp brand tires? . . . . and you are not allowed to put them on another tractor or save any of the treads unless you first sign an agreement and pay royalties . . .

Monsanto's superweeds . . .

The corn rootworm.  Photo: Jimmy Smith

"THE BUGS THAT ATE MONSANTO", by Tom Laskawy, at GRIST, is worth checking out. Monsanto's been one of the majors in bringing genetically-modified crops to market, and they've pissed off legions of farmers on both sides of the border. It's been high-tide-and-green-grass for Monsanto, but it seems there's problems . . .

Now that 94 percent of the soy and 70 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. are genetically modified, Monsanto -- one of the companies that dominates the GMO seed market -- might look to some like it's winning. But if we look a little closer, I'd say they're holding on by a thread.

Their current success is due in large part to brilliant marketing. The company's approach was both compelling -- their products were sold as the key to making large-scale farming far simpler and more predictable -- and aggressive: Monsanto made it virtually impossible for most farmers to find conventional seeds for sale in most parts of the country.

• • •

Over the last several years, so-called "superweeds" have grown resistant to the herbicide RoundUp, the companion product that's made Monsanto's herbicide-tolerant (aka RoundUp-Ready) corn, soy, and alfalfa so popular. Those crops were supposed to be the only plants that could withstand being sprayed by the chemical. Oops.

The superweed problem is so bad that farmers in some parts of the country are abandoning thousands of acres because the weeds are so out of control, or dousing the crops with ever more toxic (and expensive) combinations of other herbicides. Thankfully, it's an issue that's getting more and more media attention.

And now Monsanto's other flagship product line, the pesticide-producing "Bt crops," named for the pesticide they are genetically modified to emit, is in trouble.

Go visit to find out more. The site has all sorts of interesting things.