General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNY Times: gross conflicts of interest at National biotech (GMO) panel.
We all have to be on the lookout for twisted science and propaganda not just about pharmaceutical drugs and agricultural chemicals, but also about the so-called "safety" and "value" of genetically modified food (GMO) because of corporate "science" and the slick operators who infest national review panels, and their trolls who infest the Intertubes.
Read The Times and take careful note. Your diet has a tremendous impact on your physical, mental and emotional health. Eat crappy food, and you are cultivating crappy physical, mental and emotional health.
New York Times, Dec. 27, 2016
"...One of those committees, though, is facing questions about how its members were selected. The concerns focus on a panel studying biotechnology, a booming area of business, including in the food industry, and one of the most contentious scientific issues in Washington.
"Critics say that several committee members have financial ties to biotech businesses that could color the panels report, expected to be published soon, potentially giving short shrift to health and environmental worries.
"By the academies own account, two of the scientists already violate the groups extensive conflict-of-interest policy..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/business/national-academies-biotechnology-conflicts.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fstephanie-strom&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)Ever Iponder why there are so many "positive" news items about genetic engineering but little about the difficulties. Now you know. GMO corporation$ have taken over the systems that are supposed to protect the public.
Comrade Casino (R) and his Republican Corporate Henchwankers, are not going to step in to protect the public. Rather, they are likely to just greaze the already greazy skids....
FYI, here's a non-corporate study that should give everyone pause before they swallow another mouthful of GMO whatever.
Journal of Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology
- 11/28/2016
"Rats fed GM Bt corn MON810 for only 90 days suffered serious damage to the surface mucous membranes of the jejunum (part of the small intestine), according to a new study...
"...The researchers concluded that consumption of GM-corn profoundly alters the jejunal histological [microscopic] structure.
They added, Results from the current study could show that in spite of the assuring reports on GM products, GM corn has profoundly altered the histological structure of the jejunal mucosa at many levels and revealed several alarming signs...
http://www.gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/17341-monsanto-gm-corn-mon810-damaged-the-intestines-of-rats-new-study
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)Last edited Mon Jan 2, 2017, 11:03 AM - Edit history (2)
"The corporate use of academia has been documented in fields like soft drinks and pharmaceuticals. But it is rare for an academic to provide an insiders view of the relationships being forged with corporations, and the expectations that accompany them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/business/scientists-loved-and-loathed-by-syngenta-an-agrochemical-giant.html?emc=edit_th_20170102&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=47943027
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)at the bottom of the list. If you wish, you can avoid them, by purchasing foods that do not contain them.
We have far bigger mercury-laden fish to fry right now.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)In my view, as a foundational matter, America needs all the physical, mental and emotional health it can muster right now.
As you should know, the GMO-AgriChem lobby has made it damn hard (near impossible) for the average citizen to have a freaking clue about what the Multinational Corporations are serving up. The consumer is at a distinct disadvantage.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)I'll do the same. Again, this is not an issue that is pressing right at the moment. There are historical things going on. This GMO thing is merely a distraction, and is so minor as an issue right now that it does not warrant our attention right now.
Eat as you think best. Leave the rest of us to do the same. Thanks.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)Is there something you don't want people to know? The Times seems to think the subject worth two separate front-page stories over the last month.
You are welcome to bury your head and ignore the news. But just because you "don't get it," you are not welcome to try and censor it. There are many people who see personal and public health as foundational matters of great importance.
One could say, with justification, that a nation of people who are sick in body and mind might very well (gulp) elect a government that is also sick (R).
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)I'm just commenting on what you posted. That's what happens here on DU.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)and economic realities, I will continue to call attention to the profoundly disturbing corporate trend to pervert something that we all want very much to depend upon for facts: science.
As the Times reports, the science we all need and all want to trust and depend upon is being corrupted by Big Corporate Money. As that corruption proceeds, the corruption of bodies and minds is also proceeding, witness the epidemics of diabetes, obesity, and a broad range of degenerative diseases.
In my view, our American body politic is - broadly speaking - sick. And now we have an acutely and chronically sick Republican regime about to shove even more dubious corporate "science" and "food" down our gullets.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)Mine have to do with poverty, poor education and limited opportunities. Those seem more important to me, somehow. But, to each his or her own, I suppose. With that, I'll leave you to your thread and hope someone else replies to you. I'm out.