Confessions of a Lukewarmist

By Rady Ananda

Today, the Wall Street Journal published a letter from 16 distinguished scientists addressed to political candidates entitled, No Need to Panic About Global Warming.

“Perhaps the most inconvenient fact is the lack of global warming for well over 10 years now,” they write, a fact that “is known to the warming establishment…”

The piece directly attacks the notion that carbon dioxide emissions are warming the globe, concluding with:

Why You Absolutely Must Personally Treat Your Own Water

Mike Barrett
Activist Post

Why do we need to worry about the water we are consuming each and every day?

When referring to a group of people or someone acting different, the phrase “it must be in the water” is often used as a response. While this phrase is always used comically, you need to know that many of your health problems may indeed be result of what is in the water you are consuming every day.

Disease genomics a false paradigm per new Harvard study

Mystery of Missing Heritability Solved?

By Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Institute of Science in Society

EXCERPTS: Genome-wide scans for genes that determine susceptibility to common diseases have yielded little because most of those genes do not exist; disease genomics is a science fantasy that wastes time and money while the health of the nation deteriorates.

Walnuts for prostate cancer, osteoporosis and CHD

By Rady Ananda
Activist Post

Americans are being kept in the dark about a natural cure for prostate cancer and osteoporosis by none other than the US Food and Drug Administration. [Image]

More scientific evidence confirms that walnuts have some amazing properties: not only did they reduce tumor size in mice, but they also lowered LDL, the “bad” kind of cholesterol that leads to heart disease, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition last week.

Supreme Court Sides with Livestock Concentration Camps Over State Law (of course they did)

By Activist Post

Once again the Supreme Court sides with corporate interests and federal law over state law in a recent case involving the livestock industry.  A California state law mandating the “humane treatment” of livestock sold for human consumption was overturned unanimously on Monday, as reported by CNN.

Will Organic Farmers See Their Day in Court against Monsanto?

By OSGATA
Organic Seed Growers and Trade Assn.

In a development celebrated by the organic plaintiffs, Judge Naomi Buchwald announced on Dec. 28 that oral arguments on Monsanto’s motion to dismiss the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) et al v. Monsanto will be heard in federal district court January 31, 2012 in Manhattan. Judge Buchwald’s decision will establish if organic farmers are to see their day in court.

Washington State to hold public hearings on GMO food label bills

By Rady Ananda
Activist Post

Washington’s state legislature will hold public hearings this week on two new bills that would require labeling for genetically engineered raw agricultural commodities and genetically engineered ingredients offered for retail sale.

Why GMO and Organic Cannot Co-Exist: Lateral Gene Transfer

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is commonly used in the genetic modification of plants

By Sayer Ji
Activist Post

One of the most disturbing, though commonly overlooked properties of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is their documented ability to transfer genetic information horizontally into those who consume them.

Food Inc director produces Right-to-Know GMO short

By Just Label It

We have a Right to Know. 93% of Americans want the FDA to label genetically engineered foods. Watch the new video from Food, Inc. Filmmaker Robert Kenner to hear why we have the right to know what’s in our food. Will you join these individuals — and over half a million Americans — in contacting the FDA to require the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods?

Many Restaurants Fake it as Demand for Organic Food Rises

By Aaron French
Earth Island Journal

Excerpt:  The trend towards local, sustainable, and organic foods is ever increasing. As a response, chefs often write some variation of the now obligatory sentence at the bottom of each menu: “We use organic, local, and sustainable sources for all our products, when possible.” And here lies a serious conundrum: the seasonal and uncertain nature of organic, sustainable food means that some wiggle room is necessary to allow for variation in harvest and availability. Yet chefs can use this wiggle room to do nothing at all, or, worse yet, to cheat the system directly.

No Matter What the FDA Says – Clear This Out of Your Fridge

By Dr Mercola

Excerpts: For those who aren’t aware, about 80 percent of all the antibiotics produced are used in agriculture — not only to fight infection, but  to promote unhealthy (though profitable) weight gain.

Unfortunately, this practice is also contributing to the alarming spread of antibiotic-resistant disease – a serious problem that the FDA acknowledged in a 2010 draft guidance, which also proposed that livestock producers STOP using “subtherapeutic,” small doses of antibiotics in animal feed:

Japanese Struggle to Protect Their Food Supply

By Martin Fackler
New York Times

Excerpts:  Almost a year after a huge earthquake and tsunami caused a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan is still struggling to protect its food supply from radioactive contamination. The discovery of tainted rice in Onami and a similar case in July involving contaminated beef have left officials scrambling to plug the exposed gaps in the government’s food-screening measures, many of which were hastily introduced after the accident. [Image]

Greenpeace Year in Pictures 2011 (video)

By Greenpeace International

2011 was the year the bottom shook the top, the year the ballerina danced on the bull, and “The Protestor” was named Time Magazine person of the year.

Occupy Monsanto Jan. 24 in St. Louis or at office nearest you

By Organic Consumers Assn.

January 24: Join the OCA Protest at Monsanto’s Annual Shareholders Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri

UPDATE: Activists in Maui, in solidarity with our St. Louis action, will be peacefully protesting outside Monsanto’s Hawaii HQ location on 3555 Mokulele Hwy on the same day. For more information or to RSVP, visit the Facebook event here. Organize your own local event!

What if Monsanto had to pay for its corporate crimes?

It is inevitable that one day Monsanto will be held responsible for the enormous human health and environmental damages arising from the so-called “responsible” use of its toxic pesticides, chemicals, and mutant genetically engineered seeds.

Action Alert: Urge your Rep to Protect Raw Milk

By FTCLDF

Call Your U.S. Rep. & Fax through HR 1830 petition

The movement to protect raw milk in Congress is beginning to gain steam!

Three Representatives have co-sponsored the raw milk bill originally filed by Ron Paul (R-TX): Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Tim Walberg (R-MI), and Tom McClintock (R-CA).

If passed, HR 1830 would legalize the interstate shipment of raw milk and raw milk products for human consumption, reversing the FDA’s current regulations that prohibit the interstate transport of raw milk for human consumption.

Vaccine Canary Party to hold Sacramento Conference Feb. 10-12

By the Canary Party

Registration for the Western Regional Conference in Sacramento is now open

Canaries of California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada, come meet with us in Sacramento

You are cordially invited. . .

To attend the Canary Party Western Regional Meeting, February 10-12, 2012, at the Hyatt Place Roseville/Sacramento. Come meet other like-minded individuals to forge connections and work together to develop strategies for change in your state and nationally.  Our Western Regional includes California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.  Members from other states are always welcome.

Free Webinar Series Offered for Specialty Crop Farmers

By OEFFA

Registration is Now Open for January and March 2012 Sessions

Countryside Conservancy and the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) are offering a series of free webinars designed for specialty crop growers.  Two webinars have been scheduled and will be offered in January and March.

There is no charge to participate, but pre-registration is required.

A Real Extra Virgin

A FOOD CHAIN RADIO RELEASE FROM METROFARM.COM

Some are virgin.  Others are extra virgin.  The rest are not very virgin at all.  It’s difficult to tell which is which when shopping the sublime and scandalous world of olive oil, and so we ask…

How can we find a real extra virgin?

This Saturday at 9am Pacific, the Food Chain Radio show with Michael Olson hosts Tom Mueller, author of Extra Virginity, for a conversation about what happened to the olive industry when its oil became the oil of choice throughout the world.

Science with a Skew: The Nuclear Power Industry After Chernobyl and Fukushima

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By Gayle Greene
Asia Pacific Journal

It is one of the marvels of our time that the nuclear industry managed to resurrect itself from its ruins at the end of the last century, when it crumbled under its costs, inefficiencies, and mega-accidents. Chernobyl released hundreds of times the radioactivity of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined, contaminating more than 40% of Europe and the entire Northern Hemisphere.1 But along came the nuclear lobby to breathe new life into the industry, passing off as “clean” this energy source that polluted half the globe. The “fresh look at nuclear”—in the words of a New York Times makeover piece (May 13, 2006)2—paved the way to a “nuclear Renaissance” in the United States that Fukushima has by no means brought to a halt.

Thyroid cancer, fracking and nuclear power

An Activist Post Special Report
By Rady Ananda

Thyroid cancer cases have more than doubled since 1997 in the U.S., while deadly industrial practices that contaminate groundwater with radiation and other carcinogens are also rising.

New information released by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 56,460 people will develop thyroid cancer in 2012 and 1,780 will die from it.

That’s up from 16,000 thyroid cancer cases in 1997 – a whopping 253% increase in fifteen years, while the US population went up only 18%.