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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0393.060 2012-2014 Page 1 of 4 CC.r •��Tv r1 r- Murashige, Laura H! From: Kauai Rising [kauairising©gmail.com] 2n13 "r-o 26 ht 11: 16 Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 4:04 PM To: Kauai Rising Subject: Fwd: Mother Nature or GMOs Aloha Kauai Rising, This past spring Inspiration Magazine here on Kauai asked me to write a short article for their Summer Issue. A few of you have requested that I put the article in an email that could be shared with others. So, below is the article that ran in the Summer issue of Inspiration magazine. That published article was edited slightly for publication including changing the title of the article. The rest of the article was published in substantially the same form. Shine on!! Blessings, Michael L. Shooltz on behalf of Kauai Rising Choice: Mother Nature or GMOs By Michael Shooltz, on behalf of Kauai Rising "The first large-scale use of a traditional weapon of mass destruction (chemical, biological, or nuclear) involved the successful deployment of chemical weapons during World War 1 (1914-1918). Historians now refer to the Great War as the chemist's war because of the scientific and engineering mobilization efforts by the major belligerents. The development, production, and deployment of war gases such as chlorine, phosgene, and mustard created a new and complex public health threat (1) Kauai is home to five major Chemical Companies, BASF, Dupont/Pioneer, Bayer, Dow, and Syngenta. This industry has been in business for over a century. Its initial products were various forms of poison gas which were used extensively in World War I. After World War I the industry went on to produce DDT, which was banned in the U.S. in 1972, and Agent Orange. Agent Orange, with 2-4D as a key ingredient, was designed to kill all vegetation in the jungles of Vietnam. It was highly successful in revealing the trails and hiding places of the Viet Cong. But it unfortunately resulted in generations of babies Comm. 11007. 77.7.7. 3673.60 Ref. To: 9/26/2013 Ref. Date Page 2of4 born with severe birth defects. Here on Kauai these Chemical Companies continue their history by exploring the most effective ways of utilizing herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides in, on and around the crops that they grow here. Throughout the long history of these Chemical Companies the common theme of every product that they have created is that they were designed for the purpose of the taking of life. In World War I it was human life. Thereafter it has been primarily focused upon the taking of the life of insects, plants and vegetation. And they even call some of the seeds they produce "terminator seeds". On May 10, 2013 an article published in the Dow Jones Newsletter revealed that the USDA has "put the brakes on controversial new genetically modified corn, soybean and cotton seeds from Monsanto Co. and Dow Chemical Co. saying Friday it would conduct a more thorough environmental review of the crops." "The USDA said it needed to conduct more detailed studies before approving the seeds because they "may significantly affect the quality of the human environment" (2) Further reading of the article reveals that these tests have significantly involved the use of the herbicide 2-4D, one of the two main ingredients of Agent Orange. The USDA's statement that these seeds "may significantly affect the quality of the human environment" highlights the very serious risks to the people and the environment here on Kauai, Ground Zero for the very testing of these seeds and herbicides. It seems that Kauai will likely be a site for the further study required by the USDA, along with all of the other, not yet approved, seeds and chemicals being currently tested here. In order to determine whether or not these toxins may have a "significant affect on a human environment" Monsanto and Dow must run their tests in a "human environment". Kauai is that environment. With this ruling the USDA has refused to allow these seeds and chemicals to be used anywhere else, only here in the Chemical Companies test fields, in our backyards. On May 21, 2013, on radio station KKCR, Felicia Cowden interviewed representatives from Dow AgroSciences and BASF who are currently utilizing a combined 5,000 acres of the nearly 13,000 acres being utilized by the Chemical Companies on Kauai. During the interview the representatives acknowledged that they are using chemical 2-4D here on Kauai. They described that they are spraying their test fields almost daily unless there is a breakdown in their spraying equipment. And that once a field is sprayed the workers are not allowed to return to the field for "up to 72 hours to protect our workers." When asked how they respond when weeds are still present two weeks after spraying they responded, "We get a better product." It is a concern that in the Chemical business "a better product" equates to a more lethal product. It is interesting to note that the current major challenge to these Chemical 9/26/2013 Page 3 of 4 Companies in their test fields is what is being referred to as "Super Weeds" and "Super Pests". While the terms "weeds" and "pests" convey a somewhat negative connotation, the reality is that they are actually Mother Nature striving to sustain Life in the face of an industry focused upon the taking of Life. And when an event like dozens of children getting sick while the Chemical Companies are spraying their toxins outside of their Waimea Canyon School happens, who do these Companies want to blame for the problem? They suggest that it was Mother Nature....in the form of Stinkweed. Keeping the workers out of the fields for 72 hours after spraying to protect them is one thing. But as has just been revealed with the GMO contaminated wheat found in Oregon (3) there is really no way to control the spread of the pollens or the toxic chemicals in the open air testing that is happening here on Kauai. The children are not kept out of the schools, the people cannot leave their homes, the bees cannot be kept out of the test fields, and the sea urchins cannot leave the reefs. And each one of these forms of life is suffering the consequences of the various combinations of dozens of toxic chemicals being sprayed on Kauai six days a week, six hours a day. As Dr. Tyrone Hayes stated here on Kauai, after studying the chemical Atrazine for 14 years, "this is chemical castration". He further pointed out that in frogs that he has tested over the years, the negative effects are passed on to the second and third generations that were never exposed to the chemical. Dr. Vandana Shiva states in her article "God Move Over" (GMO), "This is not a food system to reduce the hunger of people; it is a system to supply profits for the insatiable greed of corporations and industry. While feeding the hungry is the mantra, the real religion is greed." (4) There is hope. We the People are awakening and letting our voices be heard. Two thousand marched against GMOs in Poipu. Two thousand listened to Vandana Shiva, Walter Ritte and Andy Kimbrell in Lihue. Last week two million people marched against Monsanto in hundreds of cities and towns around the world. The USDA denied approvals to Dow and Monsanto for new applications. Labeling bills are being introduced at every level of government. Each of these events is an example of we the people, life, coming together in recognition of the oneness of all life. The GMO industry is an example of what occurs when we human beings lose touch with the reality that all of life is connected. Separation from each other, and from the Earth upon which we live, thrives. Profits become more important than Life. The solution reflects the opposite reality. When we all come together organically in the recognition that all of life is sacred, and that all of life is us, then our voices will be heard. The separation will cease. The poisoning will stop. We will once again be aligned with Mother Nature. Life will be sustained all of life. 9/26/2013 Page 4 of 4 It's up to us. (1) htip://vvvvvv.ncbin|rn.nih.g»v/pnnc/artides/PmC2376985/ (2) http bvsineozom/news/2Ol3/O5'10/mnnsanto-dow'chemica|'crop*bce4uuher'de|ay/ (3) http://VVVVVV.blOOOlberg.COO1/DeVVs/2013-05 31 /esCGped-VVh2@t-5hOVVS-diffiCUlty'Of- keepi0g-t25ts-on-f@r[O]ltDl (4) "God Move Over" http://VVVVVV.O8Vd8nV8.Org/blOR/7p=689 Y/2h/20|3