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VANDANA SHIVA, BULLSHIT ARTIST: This Week In Pseudoscience
http://www.twipscience.org/news/2014/8/5/q9h838x9mawvrq8fincfenghry209m"On the 1st of August, an article was published on Common Dreams titled 'The Fine Print of the Food Wars'. This letter was penned by none other than pseudoscience heavy weight and the remarkably effective anti-science troll Vandana Shiva. And before we can truly get into the track record of this woman, let's start taking a look at the article in detail.
The first thing that struck me as odd was how loaded the title was. Chronicling the woo of the world, you get to see some impressively titled pieces of crap, but this one was nefariously loaded. Attributing a 'fine print' to the topic immediately places the reader as an outsider from some type of bureaucratic red tape and insinuating a complexity that doesn't exist. It de-humanizes whatever it is we're to be discussing. Secondly is the topic: 'Food Wars'. That word, war, is utilized by the anti-science chemophobic Luddite crowd quite often. It polarizes the discussion about our agricultural practices into two camps, disallowing for any possibility of a middle path of compromise and discussion.
...
In the very first two paragraphs, Shiva pulls out an old tactic, making the case that genetically engineered seeds are the only ones patented. In fact, almost all seeds for large scale agriculture are patented; GMO, conventional and organic. As well, she lumps in the technology with Monsanto, despite there being many different producers of GE crops, some of which are competitors in the field. This is especially troubling given Vandana Shiva rather quickly mirrored Mike Adams (owner of Natural News) famous article comparing Monsanto to Nazis and calling for the death of scientists and journalists. (although she took it down once it was apparent people were less than thrilled with the notion of opposition extermination).
...
She also makes it a point to mention that she was appointed as an expert to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and helped to create Article 19.3. She does this because her entire career depends on legitimizing herself despite almost everything she publishes or says in public forums is either hideously distorted from available facts, or just made-up.
..."
I really hate to have to point out the reality that someone is a huckster, but, in this case, it appears to be needed. Shiva is not someone to be trusted. She has made that very clear, over and over again.
28 replies
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Sweet victory for Mexico beekeepers as Monsanto loses GM permit
A small group of beekeepers in Mexico has inflicted a blow on biotech giant Monsanto, which has halted the company’s ambitions to plant thousands of hectares of soybeans genetically modified to resist the company’s pesticide Roundup.
A district judge in the state of Yucatán last month overturned a permit issued to Monsanto by Mexico’s agriculture ministry, Sagarpa, and environmental protection agency, Semarnat, in June 2012 that allowed commercial planting of Roundup-ready soybeans.
The permit authorised Monsanto to plant its seeds in seven states, over more than 253,000 hectares (625,000 acres), despite protests from thousands of Mayan farmers and beekeepers, Greenpeace, the Mexican National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas and the National Institute of Ecology.
In withdrawing the permit, the judge was convinced by the scientific evidence presented about the threats posed by GM soy crops to honey production in the Yucatán peninsula, which includes Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán states. Co-existence between honey production and GM soybeans is not possible, the judge ruled.
Mexico is the world’s six biggest producer and third largest exporter of honey. About 25,000 families on the Yucatán peninsula depend on honey production. This tropical region produces about 40% of the country’s honey, almost all of which is exported to the EU. This is not small change: in 2011, the EU imported $54m (£32m) worth of Mexican honey.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/aug/08/sweet-victory-beekeepers-monsanto-gm-soybeans
Judi Lynn http://www.democraticunderground.com/110832710
A small group of beekeepers in Mexico has inflicted a blow on biotech giant Monsanto, which has halted the company’s ambitions to plant thousands of hectares of soybeans genetically modified to resist the company’s pesticide Roundup.
A district judge in the state of Yucatán last month overturned a permit issued to Monsanto by Mexico’s agriculture ministry, Sagarpa, and environmental protection agency, Semarnat, in June 2012 that allowed commercial planting of Roundup-ready soybeans.
The permit authorised Monsanto to plant its seeds in seven states, over more than 253,000 hectares (625,000 acres), despite protests from thousands of Mayan farmers and beekeepers, Greenpeace, the Mexican National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas and the National Institute of Ecology.
In withdrawing the permit, the judge was convinced by the scientific evidence presented about the threats posed by GM soy crops to honey production in the Yucatán peninsula, which includes Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán states. Co-existence between honey production and GM soybeans is not possible, the judge ruled.
Mexico is the world’s six biggest producer and third largest exporter of honey. About 25,000 families on the Yucatán peninsula depend on honey production. This tropical region produces about 40% of the country’s honey, almost all of which is exported to the EU. This is not small change: in 2011, the EU imported $54m (£32m) worth of Mexican honey.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/aug/08/sweet-victory-beekeepers-monsanto-gm-soybeans
Judi Lynn http://www.democraticunderground.com/110832710
