Do you want Round-Up with that? Pugsy & Cargo Trailer.

Join the Rally for the Right to Know!

"This Saturday, March 26th, from D.C. to Colorado Springs–and more than 20 cities in between–thousands of people will  join together for a Rally for the Right to Know, demanding labeling of GMO foods. Check out the events listing on the Rally for the Right to Know Facebook page to find a rally near you (please RSVP at the event page if you plan to attend an event).

More at: http://truefoodnow.org/

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"Did you know that genetically modified foods are so prevalent in the United States that if you randomly pick an item off your grocery store's shelves, you have a 75 percent chance of picking a food with GM ingredients?"

It's true. At least seven out of every 10 processed food items have been genetically modified, and there's more to come.

More than 75% of soybeans,  65% of cotton,  and 10% of corn grown in the United States contain the genetically modified (GM) Roundup Ready gene, which allows farmers to spray Monsanto's Roundup herbicide directly onto their fields, killing weeds without harming the crops … theoretically.
However, this convenience comes at a steep price, as evidence shows that Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, is actually devastating crops and human and animal health around the world, even when the exposure is restricted to residues leftover in the soil.
Over time, many types of weeds that would once keel over with just a tiny dose of Roundup now require heavier and heavier applications. Some are nearly invincible. In reality, these super-weeds are resistant not to the glyphosate itself, but to the soil borne pathogens that normally do the killing in Roundup sprayed fields.
Having hundreds of thousands of acres infested with weeds that resist plant disease and weed killer has been devastating to many US farmers, whose first response is to pour on more and more Roundup. Its use is now accelerating. Nearly half of the huge 13-year increase in herbicide use took place in just the last 2 years.

 This has serious implications.
While visiting a seed corn dealer’s demonstration plots in Iowa last fall, Dr. Don Huber walked past a soybean field and noticed a distinct line separating severely diseased yellowing soybeans on the right from healthy green plants on the left (see photo). The yellow section was suffering from Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a serious plant disease that ravaged the Midwest in 2009 and ’10, driving down yields and profits. Something had caused that area of soybeans to be highly susceptible and Don had a good idea what it was.


The diseased field on the right had glyphosate applied the previous season. Photo by Don Huber
Don Huber spent 35 years as a plant pathologist at Purdue University and knows a lot about what causes green plants to turn yellow and die prematurely. He asked the seed dealer why the SDS was so severe in the one area of the field and not the other.
“Did you plant something there last year that wasn’t planted in the rest of the field?” he asked. Sure enough, precisely where the severe SDS was, the dealer had grown alfalfa, which he later killed off at the end of the season by spraying a glyphosate-based herbicide (such as Roundup). The healthy part of the field, on the other hand, had been planted to sweet corn and hadn’t received glyphosate.
Nutrient loss in humans and animals:
The same nutrients that glyphosate chelates and deprives plants are also vital for human and animal health. These include iron, zinc, copper, manganese, magnesium, calcium, boron, and others.
Deficiencies of these elements in our diets, alone or in combination, are known to interfere with vital enzyme systems and cause a long list of disorders and diseases.
Alzheimer’s, for example, is linked with reduced copper and magnesium. Don Huber points out that this disease has jumped 9000% since 1990.
Manganese, zinc, and copper are also vital for proper functioning of the SOD (superoxide dismustase) cycle. This is key for stemming inflammation and is an important component in detoxifying unwanted chemical compounds in humans and animals."
More at : http://www.responsibletechnology.org/blog/664
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Dangers for People and Animals Too

"It's not only plant life that's threatened by the use of Roundup -- human and animal toxins are created too.
As Smith reported, glyphosate promotes the formation of certain types of fungi that are dangerous to people and contaminate food and animal feed. One such fungi, the Fusarium fungus, has been linked to plague epidemics, cancer, infertility and animal diseases.
Residues of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide found in GM food and feed have also been linked to cell damage and even death, even at very low levels. Researchers have also found it causes membrane and DNA damage, and inhibits cell respiration.
It's also possible that glyphosate is significantly altering the nutrient content of our food, through its chelating mechanism, leading to widespread mineral deficiencies in animals and humans."
From: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/02/monsantos-roundup-linked-to-over-40-different-plant-diseases-and-endangers-human-health.aspx

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"Genetic engineering is inherently dangerous, because it greatly expands the scope for horizontal gene transfer and recombination, precisely the processes that create new viruses and bacteria that cause disease epidemics, and trigger cancer in cells." - Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Read more: http://www.disabled-world.com/fitness/gm-foods.php#ixzz1HdV4hK00
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It's actually simpler than you might think... By buying only non-GM foods.
"The potential health ramifications of these world-wide experiments with our food supply are frightening to say the least. If you care about the health and future of your family, I strongly urge you to refuse to participate in this destructive trend.
How?
The True Food Shopping Guide is a great tool for helping you determine which brands and products contain GM ingredients. It lists 20 different food categories that include everything from baby food to chocolate.

Additionally, here are four simple steps to decrease your consumption of GM foods as much as possible:

• Reduce or eliminate processed foods in your diet. The fact that 75 percent of processed foods contain GM ingredients is only one of the many reasons to stick to a whole foods diet.
• Read produce and food labels. Conventionally raised soybeans and corn make up the largest portion of genetically modified crops. Ingredients made from these foods include high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), corn flour and meal, dextrin, starch, soy sauce, margarine, and tofu.
• Buy organic produce. By definition, food that is certified organic must be free from all GM organisms, produced without artificial pesticides and fertilizers and from an animal reared without the routine use of antibiotics, growth promoters or other drugs. Additionally, grass-fed beef will not have been fed GM corn feed.

You can also get involved in helping to defeat GM crops at the regulatory level. Right now the USDA is considering the approval of Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa, which would lead to the application of millions more pounds of Roundup herbicide each year.
You can urge U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to NOT approve Roundup Ready alfalfa, which would lead to the addition of more Roundup on U.S. fields, cattle and in our food, by using this action form from the Institute for Responsible Technology"

More at: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/02/monsantos-roundup-linked-to-over-40-different-plant-diseases-and-endangers-human-health.aspx
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Partial List of Food Products That Contain Genetically Modified Corn Oil and Corn Products, Soy, Canola Oil, Cottonseed Oil

• Salad Dressings
• Infant Formula
• Bread, Rolls, Pastry
• Baby Cereal
• Canned rolls and breads
• Hamburgers and Hotdogs
• Margarine
• Processed Meats
• Mayonnaise
• Crackers
• Chocolate
• Cookies
• Candy
• Fried Foods
• Frozen Foods
• Chips
• Tofu
• Veggie Burgers
• Soy Burgers
• Meat Substitutes
• Aspartame
• Ice Cream
• Frozen Yogurt
• Tamari
• Soy Sauce
• Soy Cheese
• Soy Nuts and Products
• Processed Cheese
• Pasteurized Cheese
• Tomato Sauce
• Marinades
• Barbeque Sauce
• Soups
• Canned Stews
• Sauces
• Dried and Dehydrated Soups/Sauces
• Condiments
• Drinks
• Protein Powder
• Baking Powder
• Alcohol
• Vanilla
• Peanut Butter
• Pasta
• Enriched Flour
• Powdered Sugar
• Children’s snacks
• Cereals
• Cake and Baking Mixes
• Frozen pie and pastry shells

 Sources:  Institute for Responsible Technology January 14, 2011   and:  Institute for Responsible Technology November 13, 2008
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After the comments, I added some sites for you to sign the petitions:

For US: https://www.thenhf.com/page.php?id=253

For Canada: https://www.thenhf.com/page.php?id=255

For Australia: http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/take-action/online/genetic-engineering/our-right-to-know-gm-food-lab

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Today:
 
Ray and I were putting the luggage rack back on Pugsy (1968 Venture fiberglass Class A motor home). We have been trying to get this finished for a couple of years, and something always comes up that is more important. 
As it is a one piece fiberglass coach, it doesn't leak, but we had had a problem with a place where one of the luggage rack holders needed some attention.  We had fixed it and repainted the roof, but never replaced the luggage rack runner.   That runner had fallen down, and yesterday Jay had thrown the extension ladder on top of it.  It was time to get it in a safe place….where it belonged.

Then Jay changed his mind and wanted to work today, so I drove down to get him, and started him working installing the second roof vent on the rear of the cargo trailer.  He cut the 14' x 14' hole, as it had already been framed up for it.

I tried to go back to helping Ray who was up on Pugsy's roof, but Jay got out too small diameter screws for the roof vent, so I was up and down the extension ladder several times assembling what he needed, and making sure that the trim ring fit, before he screwed the vent down.
Back up on the ladder again, so Ray and I drilled the holes for Pugsy's luggage rack, laid the rubber gasket that goes under it.  The original gasket had become so atrophied that it was useless, so I had bought a garage door bottom rubber gasket, and it worked out great. But I couldn't see what was going on inside of Pugsy, so Jay came over and watched inside as Ray drilled the holes, and I, up on the ladder, held it all in place.  Ray and I inserted the bolts through the luggage rack runner and the gasket, and down through the roof.    Ray re-installed the MaxxAir over Pugsy's roof vent, we had taken it off to paint the roof, and it had been hanging around, in peril, in the workshop, since then.

The weather is lovely but by lunch time, I was all "laddered out" today.