Friday, November 30, 2012

Congress Is Back. And So Is Monsanto’s Sneak Attack.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_25791.cfm


For related articles and more information, please visit OCA's Genetic Engineering page, Millions Against Monsanto page, and our USDA Watch page.
While many Americans were firing up barbecues and breaking out the sparklers to celebrate Independence Day, biotech industry executives were more likely chilling champagne to celebrate another kind of independence: immunity from federal law.

A so-called "Monsanto rider," quietly slipped into the multi-billion dollar FY 2013 Agricultural Appropriations bill, would require - not just allow, but require - the Secretary of Agriculture to grant a temporary permit for the planting or cultivation of a genetically engineered crop, even if a federal court has ordered the planting be halted until an Environmental Impact Statement is completed. All the farmer or the biotech producer has to do is ask, and the questionable crops could be released into the environment where they could potentially contaminate conventional or organic crops and, ultimately, the nation's food supply.

Unless the Senate or a citizen's army of farmers and consumers can stop them, the House of Representatives is likely to ram this dangerous rider through any day now.

In a statement issued last month, the Center For Food Safety had this to say about the biotech industry's latest attempt to circumvent legal and regulatory safeguards:

Ceding broad and unprecedented powers to industry, the rider poses a direct threat to the authority of U.S. courts, jettisons the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) established oversight powers on key agriculture issues and puts the nation's farmers and food supply at risk. 
READ MORE: http://www.alternet.org/story/156195/the_%27monsanto_rider%27%3A_are_biotech_companies_about_to_gain_immunity_from_federal_law
AND MORE: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=8644

CONCRETE SHOES FOR EL TORO’S WELLS

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/11/30/concrete-shoes-for-el-toros-wells/
Marine disagrees with Navy and EPA who reported El Toro’s ‘historical wells’ not contaminated.   
(IRVINE, CA) –  I don’t believe in ghosts. If I ran into one, maybe I’d change my mind. The stories of lights on in the El Toro control tower after the power was cut off decades ago may be just be the product of someone’s wild imagination.  At night, the former base takes on the appearance of a ghost town.  With the power to buildings cut off and hundreds of dilapidated buildings still standing, moonlight can play tricks on your mind.  Shadows move or seem to move and it doesn’t take too long before normally rational people see things that are not there.  The one thing I know for sure is that the risk of exposure to ingestion of toxic chemicals from the base wells was real; too real for those on  the base who drank, showered, and cleaned with the well water.
Trichloroethylene (TCE) has an excellent reputation as a degreaser.  TCE is a human carcinogen and a non-carcinogenic health hazard. Exposure to TCE can occur through ingestion (contaminated water), inhalation (hot showers, vapor intrusion in buildings), and dermal contact.
READ MORE: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/11/30/concrete-shoes-for-el-toros-wells/

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Just Label It Calls on Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to Deny Approval of 2,4-D Resistant Corn

/PRNewswire/ -- Citing the human and environmental health risks of 2,4-D, an ingredient in the notorious Vietnam era defoliant "Agent Orange," the national Just Label It (JLI) coalition called on Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack to deny approval of genetically engineered (GE) 2,4-D resistant corn.
"Corn may be as American as apple pie, but if it's genetically engineered it may jeopardize both human and environmental health. It needs to be labeled," said David Bancroft, JLI Executive Director.  "We urge Secretary Vilsack to work to to ensure that GE crops are thoroughly researched and safe before they go on the market. It's in the best interest of all Americans, including our farmers.  It's the right thing to do."
In a letter to Secretary Vilsack, Bancroft noted that 2,4-D poses health threats to consumers, and its use will only proliferate if 2,4-D resistant corn is approved. Studies have linked the herbicide to reproductive abnormalities, birth defects, liver dysfunction and Parkinson's disease and several forms of cancer.  Approval of 2,4-D corn could lead to an additional 50% increase in herbicide use per acre, studies show, just as the approval of previous herbicide resistant crops have increased the use of the herbicides exponentially.
Rushing to approve 2,4-D without proper testing is similar to the path taken to bring  Round Up ready corn to market.  Now ten years later, French scientist Gilles-Eric Seralini  found that Round Up Ready corn produced tumors and multiple organ damage in laboratory rats.  Criticism of his study raised issues concerning the original industry-generated studies used to gain GE food approvals, e.g., access to the GE seeds needed for this research has been restricted by the GE seeds' patent holders. Dr. Seralini had to smuggle seeds out of Canada to France in order to conduct his research.
"Sufficient testing on the long-term effects of GE foods has never been conducted.  The notion that USDA will approve 2,4-D resistant corn without proper testing is irresponsible and a disservice to American consumers," warned Bancroft.  He noted that Americans deserve the same right to know about their food as citizens in more than 50 nations worldwide, including the European Union, India and China, where GE foods are already labeled.
JLI spearheaded the drive to get 1.2 million signatures on a F.D.A. petition for mandatory federal GE foods labeling. For further information, sign the petition, or view JLI's new celebrity video, go to www.justlabelit.org, or visit them on Facebook or Twitter.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/28/5015504/just-label-it-calls-on-agriculture.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/28/5015504/just-label-it-calls-on-agriculture.html#storylink=cpy

Deployment Health News

Study provides more clues to Gulf War illness

During 2002-2011, among active component U.S. military members, the rates of idiopathic hypothyroidism were 39.7 and 7.8 per 10,000 person-years among females and males, respectively. Unadjusted rates of idiopathic hypothyroidism and chronic thyroiditis (e.g., Hashimoto's disease) were at least twice as high among white, non-Hispanic as black, non-Hispanic service members. However, black, non-Hispanic service members had higher rates of goiter and thyrotoxicosis. Increasing rates of thyroid disorders during the period were accompanied by increases in numbers of screening tests for thyroid function recorded during outpatient visits. 
Study provides more clues to Gulf War illness
Gulf War illness, the series of symptoms ranging from headaches to memory loss to chronic fatigue that plagues one of four veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, is due to damage to the autonomic nervous system, a study released Monday shows. "This is the linchpin," said the study's lead author, Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Monday, November 26, 2012

CAUTION: Do Not Take With Grapefruit Juice

http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0206d.shtml

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice are healthful, providing enough vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, and other nutrients to earn the American Heart Association’s “heart-check” mark. That’s the good news. The bad news is that grapefruit juice can interact with dozens of medications, sometimes dangerously.
Doctors are not sure which of the hundreds of chemicals in grapefruit are responsible. The leading candidate is furanocoumarin. It is also found in Seville (sour) oranges and tangelos; although these fruits have not been studied in detail, the guidelines for grapefruit should apply to them as well.
Grapefruit’s culprit chemical does not interact directly with your pills. Instead, it binds to an enzyme in your intestinal tract known as CYP3A4, which reduces the absorption of certain medications. When grapefruit juice blocks the enzyme, it’s easier for the medication to pass from your gut to your bloodstream. Blood levels will rise faster and higher than normal, and in some cases the abnormally high levels can be dangerous.
 Certain chemicals that grapefruit products and citrus fruits contain can interfere with the enzymes that break down (metabolize) various medications in your digestive system. As a result, more medication stays in your body. This can increase the potency of your medication to potentially dangerous levels, causing serious side effects. 
Grapefruit interaction 


http://finance.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/grapefruit-linked-to-medication-overdoses-31211134.html

Art honoring veterans on display at Portland business

Attorney Patrick Duff exhibits brother Bernie's paintings; proceeds to benefit Agent Orange victims.

http://www.sentinel-standard.com/article/20121123/NEWS/121129855/1003/NEWS
A collection of paintings entered in this year's ArtPrize juried art competition in Grand Rapids is making a mark on its visitors in Portland through the end of the month.
"Price Tags," a series of seven painting in acrylics/mixed media by Bernie "Doc" Duff, is on exhibit at the law office of Patrick Duff, Bernie's brother, at 108 Kent St. in Portland.
Bernie Duff served for 10 years in the military, including as a medic in Vietnam. Originally from Muskegon, he has lived in Vietnam since 2006, working with families who still suffer from the effects of Agent Orange.

READ MORE: http://www.sentinel-standard.com/article/20121123/NEWS/121129855/1003/NEWS
 

Agent Orange Ship List

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/shiplist/list.asp
If your vessel is not included in the Mobile Riverine Force, ISF Division 93 or listed designations (see "Find Your Ship"), check the alphabetized list of ships below.
To search for your ship, look under the first letter of the formal ship name. For example, if your ship's name is Dennis J. Buckley, look under the letter "D" for Dennis.
Ships will be regularly added to the list based on information confirmed in official records of ship operations. Currently there are 244 ships on this list. Ship not on the list and you think it should be?
Questions about your eligibility for disability compensation? Contact your nearest VA benefits office.
Last updated: November 2012

No Health Risk Found in Times Beach, Missouri Soil

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1916103.html
EUREKA, Mo. -- Soil samples show no significant health risks for visitors or workers at an eastern Missouri state park.
The park was established in 1999 on the former site of a Times Beach, a St. Louis County town shut down due to dioxin contamination, according to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency. The contamination was the result of material sprayed on streets to keep dust down.
The EPA released its report this week on the soil sampling it conducted on Route 66 State Park in Eureka at the request of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The sampling used new technology that tests for trace amounts of dioxin.
The EPA report released Monday found "very low" levels of dioxin at the state park, "showing that the past remedial actions on site were effective in meeting the cleanup goals," according to the report. 
READ MORE: http://www.semissourian.com/story/1916103.html

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Friday, November 16, 2012

Pass Agent Orange Act

http://triblive.com/opinion/2942595-74/bills-vietnam-veterans-exposure-act-agent-orange-sick-war-airmen#axzz2CPNwFQdj
With the elections over, the new House and Senate will have their first session in early 2013. They will be faced with many issues — old and new. It is time for the new Congress to put aside politics and become legislators.
There are still two major bills in committee of interest to Vietnam veterans, HR 3612 and SB 1629. These bills would restore Veterans Affairs benefits for Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War.
The current House and Senate still have time to act upon these bills before January. These bills must come out of committee and go to the floor of both houses.
I ask the American people to urge our legislators to act on these bills. The Vietnam veterans who are sick from Agent Orange dioxin exposure need these bills to be passed into law before the new Congress convenes.
A new legislative session will require us advocates for Vietnam veterans to start again. This means longer delays for veterans’ VA approval and thousands won’t be approved because they did not have boots on ground, even though they were awarded the Vietnam Service Medal.
Many sailors, airmen and Fleet Marines who served during that war are sick from exposure to the deadly herbicide. The passage of these bills means these members of the armed forces will receive equality for VA benefits.
John J. Bury
Media, Delaware County
The writer is retired from the U.S. Navy and is a Vietnam veteran.


Read more: http://triblive.com/opinion/2942595-74/bills-vietnam-veterans-exposure-act-agent-orange-sick-war-airmen#ixzz2CPOLQaOf
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
With the elections over, the new House and Senate will have their first session in early 2013. They will be faced with many issues — old and new. It is time for the new Congress to put aside politics and become legislators.
There are still two major bills in committee of interest to Vietnam veterans, HR 3612 and SB 1629. These bills would restore Veterans Affairs benefits for Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War.
The current House and Senate still have time to act upon these bills before January. These bills must come out of committee and go to the floor of both houses.
I ask the American people to urge our legislators to act on these bills. The Vietnam veterans who are sick from Agent Orange dioxin exposure need these bills to be passed into law before the new Congress convenes.
A new legislative session will require us advocates for Vietnam veterans to start again. This means longer delays for veterans’ VA approval and thousands won’t be approved because they did not have boots on ground, even though they were awarded the Vietnam Service Medal.
Many sailors, airmen and Fleet Marines who served during that war are sick from exposure to the deadly herbicide. The passage of these bills means these members of the armed forces will receive equality for VA benefits.
John J. Bury
Media, Delaware County
The writer is retired from the U.S. Navy and is a Vietnam veteran.


Read more: http://triblive.com/opinion/2942595-74/bills-vietnam-veterans-exposure-act-agent-orange-sick-war-airmen#ixzz2CPOLQaOf
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook


With the elections over, the new House and Senate will have their first session in early 2013. They will be faced with many issues — old and new. It is time for the new Congress to put aside politics and become legislators.
There are still two major bills in committee of interest to Vietnam veterans, HR 3612 and SB 1629. These bills would restore Veterans Affairs benefits for Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War.
The current House and Senate still have time to act upon these bills before January. These bills must come out of committee and go to the floor of both houses.
I ask the American people to urge our legislators to act on these bills. The Vietnam veterans who are sick from Agent Orange dioxin exposure need these bills to be passed into law before the new Congress convenes.
A new legislative session will require us advocates for Vietnam veterans to start again. This means longer delays for veterans’ VA approval and thousands won’t be approved because they did not have boots on ground, even though they were awarded the Vietnam Service Medal.
Many sailors, airmen and Fleet Marines who served during that war are sick from exposure to the deadly herbicide. The passage of these bills means these members of the armed forces will receive equality for VA benefits.
John J. Bury
Media, Delaware County
The writer is retired from the U.S. Navy and is a Vietnam veteran

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Chemical Soup We Live With

PBDEs linked to delays in development

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/PBDEs-linked-to-delays-in-development-4039060.php
Flame retardant compounds pervasive in most California households appear to delay the neurodevelopment of children exposed to the chemicals from the womb through the first years of life, UC Berkeley researchers say in a new study.
Researchers say their findings, published Thursday, add to worries about a class of endocrine-disrupting compounds called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, that are widely used in furniture, infant products, electronics and other goods.
Studies have shown California children have among the highest concentrations of the chemicals in the world, likely because of the state's strict fire-safety law, enacted in 1975, which requires that furniture withstand 12 seconds of flame without catching fire. Manufacturers used large amounts of PBDEs to comply.
Some of the chemicals have been banned and phased out since the law took effect, but Gov. Jerry Brown has called on state agencies to revise the regulations to reduce toxic chemicals in furniture even further.
The new study is the largest to show that children exposed to PBDEs tend to have poorer attention, motor skills and IQ scores, said Brenda Eskenazi, the lead author and director of UC Berkeley's Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health.

Visualizing the Effects of Dioxin on Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieXOYSy2NEw
Some beautiful images convey the deadly effects of dioxin in zebra fish -- and possibly other species, like the very sensitive lake trout.


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Air Force Vietnam veteran wants other vets to learn about Agent Orange Registry

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_north_hillsborough/lutz/air-force-vietnam-veteran-wants-other-vets-to-learn-about-agent-orange-registry
LUTZ, Fla. - "It floored me!  It floored me when I found out about it that day.  It did, it floored me," recalled Bob Wood.
When Wood suffered a heart attack two years ago, doctors at the Haley VA Hospital told him his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam contributed to his heart disease.

"This is unbelievable," Wood thought at the time.

Wood served at Air Force bases in Thailand during the war and said that agent orange, an herbicide and defoliant was used around the perimeter of the base for security.

"I felt like for decades that we were exposed to agent orange," said Wood.

It was after the heart attack that he learned of the Agent Orange Registry.

"The message I would like to get out there today, is to get all veterans of the Vietnam War, signed up and do the Agent Orange Registry exam," Wood explained.

Available through the VA, the exam is not tied to current benefits; and is an opportunity for vets who have not shown signs of exposure to Agent Orange.

"Their benefits, their health is at stake," said Wood.

Wood was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and wants to use his time to bring awareness.  He says all you have to do to find out more is contact Veterans affairs.

"The earlier the detection, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease and the other ailments, they'll be able to meet these medical situations sooner; and can be cured in a lot of cases," Wood said.

One veteran looking out for others on a day when we honor them all. 

Dioxin, TCE Drums, U-235 and El Toro's Panhandle

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/november122012/el-toro-nukes.php
What lurks beneath this old Marine base?
Contaminated El Toro


(IRVINE, CA) - The Navy will label this fiction but if you wanted to hide environmental contamination and avoid expensive remediation from weapons grade U-235, Agent Orange, buried drums of TCE, then the proposed transfer of the 900+ acres of El Toro’s panhandle from the FAA to the FBI makes sense.
The FBI plans to turn El Toro’s panhandle into a training facility “with outdoor shooting ranges, explosions, helicopter landings and impregnable fences,” according to the news story in the Orange County Register on April 2, 2012, “U.S. reneging on land deal for wildlife corridor.”
El Toro’s panhandle may be contaminated with weapons grade U-235, dioxin (the toxic chemical in Agent Orange), and buried, rusting 55 gallon drums of TCE; the government would label this as wild and unfounded speculation.
We do know that one El Toro Marine who never served in Vietnam died from Agent Orange exposure, Dr. Chuck Bennett over 12 years ago cited two Orange County experts who examined soil samples from the panhandle and found weapons grade U-235 (the stuff that makes the BANG in nuclear bombs); and the Navy ignored testimony from an Orange County environmental expert who reported that TCE drums were buried on the base to hide them from the Marine Corps Inspector General. Public Works Department kept no record on the locations of the buried drums, but the base’s panhandle would be the perfect place for a frontend loader to bury the 55 gallon metal drums.
READ MORE: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/november122012/el-toro-nukes.php

Agent Orange leaves lingering, costly aftermath

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=426809
There were a lot of young veterans with missing limbs at the 1982 national gathering of the Vietnam Veterans of America in Washington.

At first, Ken Wunder figured they were all casualties of enemy fire.

He was wrong. Some were casualties of Agent Orange.

"A lot of them that were there had limbs missing from cancer caused by Agent Orange," said Wunder, an Army veteran who attended as a representative of the then-new Berks County Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 131.

The U.S. sprayed millions of gallons of chemical herbicides in Vietnam and other combat-related areas during the war to remove foliage that might hide enemy soldiers.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Agent Orange - named for the orange identifying stripe on its 55-gallon storage drums - was the most widely used substance.

It was sprayed from 1962 to 1971 during "Operation Ranch Hand." Ever since then, it has been a major health issue for veterans, their spouses and even their children.

READ MORE: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=426809

The many faces of Agent Orange

http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/the-many-faces-of-agent-orange/article_0a787f2c-2b09-11e2-9406-001a4bcf887a.html

Steve Dudich was a fresh-faced teenager not far removed from East High School in Akron, Ohio, when he had his first experience with Agent Orange.
Dudich’s parents allowed him to join the U.S. Marine Corps when he was only 17, and after boot camp in South Carolina he found himself in the first of two tours of duty in Hue, Vietnam, near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the north and south.
It was 1962 and it was Dudich’s job to call in map coordinates for Naval artillery strikes.
“Going into Agent Orange was like it had a musty smell to it. It was a reddish-brown-colored fog that would be in the air,” said Dudich, who served much of his first tour with troops of the Republic of Vietnam. “We were in combat and I ran through a bamboo thicket. It kind of gave me hundreds of little injections with (Agent Orange). Within five minutes I looked like I had been burned by acid. I didn’t know what to do. I tore my clothes off and fought in my skivvies. I got hit with a huge dose on that occasion.”
That was the first of too many encounters with the toxic herbicide over the following four years. He said soldiers would eat food from the jungle or local hamlets that had been contaminated. They would drink the water and bunk down in the foliage that had been sprayed. The chemical exposure along with post traumatic stress disorder has left Dudich permanently disabled.
The 66-year-old Arroyo Grande resident has suffered from polycythemia, a rare blood disease that increases the number of red blood cells, and he has had superventricular tachycardia, a condition where his heartbeat increases to dangerous levels — 250 beats per minute, Dudich said.
“The last time, I thought ‘I’ve just had enough of this.’ I thought I would just go guard the gates up in heaven,” he said. “To die isn't a bad thing. I've had all of these health problems. I was just tired out. I'd had enough.”
READ MORE: http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/the-many-faces-of-agent-orange/article_0a787f2c-2b09-11e2-9406-001a4bcf887a.html

Friday, November 9, 2012

Accuracy Falls by Wayside as VA Rushes to Clear Vast Backlog

VA claims are slowed by errors in as many as one in every three cases, reports Aaron Glantz of the Center for Investigative Reporting.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/09/accuracy-falls-by-wayside-as-va-rushes-to-clear-vast-backlog.html
U.S. Navy cook Hosea Roundtree watched the 1983 shelling of Beirut from the deck of a ship, feelings of helplessness washing over him as people perished onshore. That memory haunted him, resurrected in flashbacks eight years later after a tour in the Gulf during Operation Desert Storm.
But when Roundtree’s claim for disability compensation crossed Jamie Fox’s desk at the Department of Veterans Affairs more than two decades later, it was slated for denial on the grounds that he had never seen combat. Fox, herself a Navy veteran, tried to straighten things out—and for that, she lost her job.
A lawsuit filed by the former VA disability claims representative provides a rare glimpse into what veterans’ advocates call systemic problems in how the agency handles compensation claims filed by Americans wounded physically or mentally in the line of duty.
A Center for Investigative Reporting review of the VA’s performance data reveals chronic errors—committed in up to one in three cases—and an emphasis on speed over accuracy that clogs the VA system with appeals, increasing delays for all veterans.




Monday, November 5, 2012

Because Every Birth Defect Has a Cause


 
 
BDRC Banner
     Because Every Birth Defect Has a Cause

Because every birth defect has a cause.
Hi Betty,
We need you
to sign the
 Veterans' Petition

Causes.com
I am contacting you today because BDRC needs your help in spreading awareness and raising momentum for a petition that we are starting on Causes.com, a crowdfunding site that supports many different causes.We want to petition for a 'Children's Center' that would be staffed by specialists who could diagnose and treat veterans' children who have birth defects and developmental disabilities. The center would provide free diagnosis and treatment for their serious health conditions and work with their doctors back home to continue care in their own communities.

To find out more about how you can sign the Veterans Petition to: Support Care and Medical Treatment for the Children of Vietnam Veterans.


-Betty Mekdeci, Executive Director 
 
 
Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter  Find us on Pinterest
976 Lake Baldwin Lane | Suite 104 | Orlando, FL 32814 | (407) 895-0802