Your Health and CAFO’s. David Versus Monsanto. Genetically Engineered Fish. Challenger Explodes.

 

For “Mammal Monday”:

From Homeland to Wasteland

“Health and environmental problems caused by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)   In some cases, it seems, CAFOs can kill.

“I first heard about the hazards of factory farming from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom I got to know through my writing on autism. Kennedy described a tragic situation in a small town called Prairie Grove, tucked in the hilly country of the poultry-packed "Chicken Belt" of Northwest Arkansas. Giant chicken companies had fed their birds arsenic—a growth promoter and intestinal disease treatment—and local farmers had then spread arsenic-laced chicken litter as fertilizer on many of the fields surrounding Prairie Grove.

After visiting the quiet, shady town, I realized how desperate things are there. Arsenic traced to chicken feed has been found in the air filters of local homes. Dozens of cancer cases, including at least 20 in children, have savaged Prairie Grove. Three 14-year-old boys came down with the same extremely rare form of testicular cancer.”

"I had to put six Kleenexes over my mouth, it smelled so bad, and we were four miles away!" she says. The stench made her throw up. "It was so sickening and so ugly. You could feel the stuff on you."

“It's true that sustainably and humanely raised animal products are more expensive, so I often look for "manager's special" tags that can reduce the price by a third or more (cook it that day or freeze it). I am also trying to get a coveted spot at my local food co-op, which sells grass-fed, organic meat, eggs, and dairy at a deep discount.”

Complete article at: http://www.humanesociety.org/news/magazines/2010/07-08/from_homeland_to_wasteland_1.html

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David Versus Monsanto -  Trailer

“Imagine that a storm blows across your garden and that now, genetically-manipulated seeds are in your crops. A multi-national corporation pay you a visit, demand that you surrender your crops - and then sue you for $200 000 for the illegal use of patented, GM seeds. In this definitive David and Goliath battle, one farmer stands up against a massive multinational, and their right to claim ownership to a living organism.”  5 minute trailer:

Watch the 52 minute documentary here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVgwqpvI1bg&feature=plcp&context=C32ea...

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Stop Genetically Engineered Fish from Receiving Approval

“The FDA is getting closer to issuing final approval of the first genetically engineered food animal—a salmon designed to grow up to five times faster than normal. The draft environmental assessment is now open for public comment for 60 days

FDA has allowed this GE fish to move forward based on tests of allergenicity of only six engineered fish, and those tests actually did show an increase in allergy-causing potential

The environmental risks are also tremendous. In a previous Purdue University computer model that tracked the effects of releasing just 60 “Frankenfish” into a population of 60,000, there was a complete extinction of the normal fish in just 40 fish generations

Alaska’s congressional delegation is united in its opposition against the approval of AquaBounty’s GE salmon, and Rep. Don Young has announced a plan to introduce legislation that will, at minimum, require GE salmon to be labeled.”       More at: http://ewallstreeter.com/act-now-to-stop-genetically-engineered-fish-from-receiving-approval-6267/#

Sign the petition to tell the Food and Drug Administration not to approve GE salmon AND, if the Obama Administration insists on approving these genetically engineered fish, it should require the fish to be labeled!

The public has only 60 days to comment on this misguided and dangerous action..    SIGN NOW

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On This Day:

Challenger explodes after liftoff, Jan 28, 1986:

“The space shuttle Challenger explodes just after liftoff on this day in 1986, killing the seven astronauts aboard.

The Challenger was the second shuttle built by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It took its first flight into space on April 4, 1983, and made a total of nine voyages prior to January 1986. The 10th trip for Challenger included a teacher from New Hampshire, Christa MacAuliffe, among the astronauts, as part of a new Teacher in Space project.

The Challenger was scheduled to launch on January 22, but a series of problems with the weather delayed the launch until January 28. It was a cold morning at Cape Canaveral and engineers working on the shuttle team warned their superiors that certain equipment on the shuttle was vulnerable to failure at cold temperatures. However, these warnings went unheeded and at 11:39 a.m., the Challenger was launched. Problems began immediately.

First, the O-ring seal on the Challenger's solid rocket booster, which had become brittle in the cold temperatures, failed. Flames then broke out of the booster and damaged the external fuel tank. Within 73 seconds, the shuttle began breaking apart, and then it plunged into the ocean. All seven astronauts died but it remains unclear what caused their deaths. A later investigation revealed that the forces involved in the shuttle breakup were not sufficient to have killed them, but that they may have lost consciousness only seconds later as their module lost cabin pressure.

President Ronald Reagan postponed the State of the Union address that was scheduled for that evening and instead addressed the nation about the tragedy. He appointed a commission to investigate the accident and the shuttle program was put on hiatus.

The Rogers Commission determined that Morton Thiokol, the company that designed the solid rocket boosters, had ignored warnings about potential flaws. NASA managers were aware of these design problems, but also failed to take action. Famously, scientist Richard Feynman, a member of the Rogers Commission, demonstrated the O-ring flaw to the public using a simple glass of ice water.

Ten years after the disaster, two large pieces from the Challenger washed ashore on a Florida beach. The remaining debris from the Challenger is now stored in a missile silo at Cape Canaveral.”

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Yesterday:

It was my 1800th blog.

Ray is still laid up with having had two abscessed teeth out, and Jay was working on tearing down a room addition a few blocks away.  Twice he called me to drive the Puddle Jumper to pick up salvageable lumber.  Free lumber is a good thing, so I spent a lot of time sorting that out into my lumber piles yesterday.