http://www.vva.org/Guides/AgentOrangeGuide.pdf
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Watch out for ‘Agent Orange corn’ coming to the stores
http://times-news.com/opinion/x1139580445/Watch-out-for-Agent-Orange-corn-coming-to-the-stores
To the Editor: Cumberland Times-News
It’s time to start listening to our weeds and cooperating with Mother Nature.
Thanks to her blessings and good farmers many of us can relish delicious delights like soon-to-be-harvested locally grown and farmers market-sold corn on the cob, popcorn, and several other variations on the great grain corn.
Thanks to certain chemical corporations and unscrupulous federal regulators we can tastily anticipate “Agent Orange corn.” It’s anticipated that approval is awaiting for putting a genetically modified corn kernel in our markets (not our farmers market) that produces corn plants that won’t die when sprayed w/copious amounts of 2,4D.
Any Vietnam vets out there who remember that awful stuff? That potent pesticide was in the mixture of Agent Orange defoliant which exposed our troops and innocent Vietnamese civilians to horribly debilitating physiological damage in that Asian war. The side effects are still with us today.
Certain agribusinesses and their feds do claim that 2,4D was not the deadliest chemical of the killer defoliant, which they use as a deceptive justifier for permission since “according to them” it hasn’t been exclusively proven to cause cancer in humans. That’s why we may see it Love Canalled across America.
So, for consumers worried about the untested long-term consequences of the modified corn and the carcinogenic dangers of digesting more 2,4D, tough! 2,4D is used to help kill various weeds, but the herbicide is so strong that it also kills nature’s own version of corn plants.
Hence, genetic engineers went into their corporate lab and created a new corn that’s immune to the weed killer. This allows the chemical maker to profit from selling the patented seed kernel, plus loving a gigantic increase in sales of its 2,4D herbicide.
Also, when sprayed, this herbicide vaporizes and spreads for miles, killing crops that are not immune, poisoning the surrounding environment and endangering the health of innocent farmers and townspeople throughout the area.
We’re downwind from Moorefield. PROBLEM!
Mother Nature is rebellious. So much poison was spread across America in the past decade that weeds naturally developed a resistance to it bringing America’s agribusiness giants to practice their usual approach when confronted with similar dilemmas of overpowering nature.
All I want to say is that they can take their genetically modified corn kernel and shuck it.
We need non-chemical, non-GMO, sustainable systems that work with nature. For more info go to Organic Consumers Association at www.OrganicConsumers.org.
Bill Arnold
Romney, W.Va.
To the Editor: Cumberland Times-News
It’s time to start listening to our weeds and cooperating with Mother Nature.
Thanks to her blessings and good farmers many of us can relish delicious delights like soon-to-be-harvested locally grown and farmers market-sold corn on the cob, popcorn, and several other variations on the great grain corn.
Thanks to certain chemical corporations and unscrupulous federal regulators we can tastily anticipate “Agent Orange corn.” It’s anticipated that approval is awaiting for putting a genetically modified corn kernel in our markets (not our farmers market) that produces corn plants that won’t die when sprayed w/copious amounts of 2,4D.
Any Vietnam vets out there who remember that awful stuff? That potent pesticide was in the mixture of Agent Orange defoliant which exposed our troops and innocent Vietnamese civilians to horribly debilitating physiological damage in that Asian war. The side effects are still with us today.
Certain agribusinesses and their feds do claim that 2,4D was not the deadliest chemical of the killer defoliant, which they use as a deceptive justifier for permission since “according to them” it hasn’t been exclusively proven to cause cancer in humans. That’s why we may see it Love Canalled across America.
So, for consumers worried about the untested long-term consequences of the modified corn and the carcinogenic dangers of digesting more 2,4D, tough! 2,4D is used to help kill various weeds, but the herbicide is so strong that it also kills nature’s own version of corn plants.
Hence, genetic engineers went into their corporate lab and created a new corn that’s immune to the weed killer. This allows the chemical maker to profit from selling the patented seed kernel, plus loving a gigantic increase in sales of its 2,4D herbicide.
Also, when sprayed, this herbicide vaporizes and spreads for miles, killing crops that are not immune, poisoning the surrounding environment and endangering the health of innocent farmers and townspeople throughout the area.
We’re downwind from Moorefield. PROBLEM!
Mother Nature is rebellious. So much poison was spread across America in the past decade that weeds naturally developed a resistance to it bringing America’s agribusiness giants to practice their usual approach when confronted with similar dilemmas of overpowering nature.
All I want to say is that they can take their genetically modified corn kernel and shuck it.
We need non-chemical, non-GMO, sustainable systems that work with nature. For more info go to Organic Consumers Association at www.OrganicConsumers.org.
Bill Arnold
Romney, W.Va.
"Agent Orange corn" and herbicide spark concern
http://peoplesworld.org/agent-orange-corn-and-herbicide-spark-concern/There's a main ingredient in Agent Orange called 2,4-D, and it's one of the latest toxic chemicals being pushed as an herbicide by Dow Chemical, CREDO Action reports. As the U.S. Food & Drug Administration decides whether to approve genetically modified corn that will be resistant to the chemical, the Environmental Protection Agency is considering stepping forward to restrict use of 2,4-D.
Agent Orange was used by the U.S. military as a defoliant during the Vietnam War, and was responsible for the deaths or injuries of an estimated 400,000 Vietnamese people during that time. Now one of its major ingredients - 2,4-D - is marketed by Dow Chemical to be used on fields by farmers.
Perhaps just as worrying is Dow's marketing of special modified "2,4-D-resistant corn." Nicknamed "Agent Orange corn," the genetically modified corn was created by Dow AgroScience, a division of Dow Chemical. It is engineered to be impervious to 2,4-D, but environmental activists and critics are not convinced of its safety.
READ MORE: http://peoplesworld.org/agent-orange-corn-and-herbicide-spark-concern/
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Sen. Bernie Sanders - Label Genetically Engineered Food
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/label-genetically-enginee_b_1609814.html
In 49 countries around the world, including all of Europe, people have the opportunity of knowing whether or not they are eating food which contains genetically engineered ingredients. In the United States, we don't. That is why I have introduced, along with Sen. Barbara Boxer, an amendment to the agriculture bill which will give states the right to require labels on food products which are genetically engineered.
All over this country people are becoming more conscious about the foods they eat and serve their kids. When a mother goes to the store and purchases food for her child, she has the right to know what she is feeding her family.
Poll after poll during the past decade showed that nine out of 10 Americans agree that food with genetically engineered ingredients should say so on the label.
Almost 1 million Californians signed a petition to get labeling of genetically engineered food on this November's ballot. They want the right to know what is in their foods.
MORE: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/media/view/?id=ac2744bb-41dc-4d36-935b-d8154b6ea94a
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/LabelingSupport.pdf
In 49 countries around the world, including all of Europe, people have the opportunity of knowing whether or not they are eating food which contains genetically engineered ingredients. In the United States, we don't. That is why I have introduced, along with Sen. Barbara Boxer, an amendment to the agriculture bill which will give states the right to require labels on food products which are genetically engineered.
All over this country people are becoming more conscious about the foods they eat and serve their kids. When a mother goes to the store and purchases food for her child, she has the right to know what she is feeding her family.
Poll after poll during the past decade showed that nine out of 10 Americans agree that food with genetically engineered ingredients should say so on the label.
Almost 1 million Californians signed a petition to get labeling of genetically engineered food on this November's ballot. They want the right to know what is in their foods.
MORE: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/media/view/?id=ac2744bb-41dc-4d36-935b-d8154b6ea94a
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/LabelingSupport.pdf
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Brazil court ruling will cost Monsanto $billions
http://redgreenandblue.org/2012/06/19/brazil-court-ruling-will-cost-monsanto-billions/Monsanto wins lawsuit, farmers will fight on Monsanto, the multinational agribusiness giant that brought us genetically modified (GMO) corn, soy, and cotton (as well as Agent Orange, dioxin, and other nasties), broke the rules in Brazil, and it’s going to cost them.
While US courts have been pretty tolerant of Monsanto (Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a former Monsanto employee), the Brazillian courts aren’t putting up with their bullshit. They ruled that a lawsuit from a group of farmers in one region should apply to all farmers across the country – which means Monsanto will end up owing between $2 billion and $7.5 billion.
What happened? The case was pretty straightforward.
Monsanto makes money off of patented seeds (something that didn’t even exist until just a few years ago; the notion that companies could patent life-forms would have appalled the founding fathers). It collects royalty payments from farmers.
But that wasn’t enough for Monsanto. I continued to collect royalties on their GMO soy seeds even after their patents had expired in Brazil. Why not? Farmers would have to sue them to get the money back, and Monsanto has had a pretty good track record beating farmers in court, and dragging cases out for years.
But a group of 5 million Brazilian farmers sued, and won.
Monsanto tried to argue that the ruling should only apply to the farmers in a single state, but the Supreme Court said “Don’t be ridiculous”.
Now the GMO giant will have to pay the $7.5 billion back.
Jane Berwanger, a lawyer for the farmers, attacked the very idea that Monsanto should be able to collect a royalty for every generation of their GMO seeds:
“Monsanto gets paid when it sells the seeds. The law gives producers the right to multiply the seeds they buy and nowhere in the world is there a requirement to pay (again).”
Monsanto has appealed the decision, and it make take years before the final ruling comes down.
Source: Red Green & Blue (http://s.tt/1f2UV)
Processing of Retroactive Agent Orange Claims Nearly Complete
Milestone Allows VA to Refocus 1,200 Decision Makers on Claims Backlog
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/processing-of-retroactive-agent-orange-claims-nearly-complete-2012-06-19
WASHINGTON, Jun 19, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that nearly 230,000 claims have already been processed for the three newest Agent-Orange related conditions through June 2012, including over 150,000 claims required to be adjudicated under the order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Nehmer v. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The near completion of these complex Nehmer claims enables VA to redirect 1,200 employees who were dedicated to reviewing the Agent Orange cases toward addressing the current backlog of disability claims.
"I am proud of our VA employees who worked hard to complete these Agent Orange claims, putting over $3.6 billion into the hands of our Vietnam Veterans and their survivors," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "We completed all of the Agent Orange Nehmer claims for living Veterans, and are now focusing on the fewer than 500 remaining that will benefit survivors."
The Agent Orange claims stemmed from VA's 2010 amendment of its regulations to add ischemic heart disease, hairy cell and other chronic B-cell leukemias, and Parkinson's disease to the list of diseases presumed to be related to exposure to the herbicide used in Southeast Asia.
"While we work to transform how we do business through new processes and technology, at the end of the day it's about taking care of our Veterans and their loved ones on the issues affecting their lives," said Secretary Shinseki.
Given the complexity of the historical casework, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) allocated its most experienced decision makers, about 37 percent of its rating staff, to processing Agent Orange claims. VBA's 13 resource centers were exclusively dedicated to re-adjudicating these claims.
READ MORE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/processing-of-retroactive-agent-orange-claims-nearly-complete-2012-06-19
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/processing-of-retroactive-agent-orange-claims-nearly-complete-2012-06-19
WASHINGTON, Jun 19, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that nearly 230,000 claims have already been processed for the three newest Agent-Orange related conditions through June 2012, including over 150,000 claims required to be adjudicated under the order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Nehmer v. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The near completion of these complex Nehmer claims enables VA to redirect 1,200 employees who were dedicated to reviewing the Agent Orange cases toward addressing the current backlog of disability claims.
"I am proud of our VA employees who worked hard to complete these Agent Orange claims, putting over $3.6 billion into the hands of our Vietnam Veterans and their survivors," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "We completed all of the Agent Orange Nehmer claims for living Veterans, and are now focusing on the fewer than 500 remaining that will benefit survivors."
The Agent Orange claims stemmed from VA's 2010 amendment of its regulations to add ischemic heart disease, hairy cell and other chronic B-cell leukemias, and Parkinson's disease to the list of diseases presumed to be related to exposure to the herbicide used in Southeast Asia.
"While we work to transform how we do business through new processes and technology, at the end of the day it's about taking care of our Veterans and their loved ones on the issues affecting their lives," said Secretary Shinseki.
Given the complexity of the historical casework, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) allocated its most experienced decision makers, about 37 percent of its rating staff, to processing Agent Orange claims. VBA's 13 resource centers were exclusively dedicated to re-adjudicating these claims.
READ MORE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/processing-of-retroactive-agent-orange-claims-nearly-complete-2012-06-19
Skeptics doubt VA's claim of breakthrough on claims backlog
http://www.stripes.com/news/skeptics-doubt-va-s-claim-of-breakthrough-on-claims-backlog-1.180811
WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials say they’re poised to make a major breakthrough on the department’s massive claims backlog, but skeptical lawmakers and veterans advocates say they’ve heard such proclamations before.
VA officials announced Tuesday that they have all but wrapped up work on Agent Orange disability claims that overwhelmed the processing system over the last two years. Nearly 230,000 of those cases have been reviewed and finalized, and officials said fewer than 500 open cases remain.
The VA had set aside 37 percent of the department’s rating staff and 13 resource centers to deal solely with the Agent Orange cases. With the work finished, officials said, those centers and about 1,200 claims processors will begin dealing with the overall disability and pensions backlog.
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More than 911,000 claims remain unprocessed, down from more than 1.4 million last year but still up 60 percent from when the Agent Orange claims push started two years ago. About two-thirds of those cases have been pending for more than 125 days, despite department promises to deal with them quickly.
Members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee called that embarrassing.
“VA continues to struggle with unconscionable backlogs and unacceptable delays in getting our nation’s veterans the benefits they need,” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. “It is time for VA to break this cycle of unproductivity and deliver the benefits that the agency was created to provide.”
READ MORE: http://www.stripes.com/news/skeptics-doubt-va-s-claim-of-breakthrough-on-claims-backlog-1.180811
WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials say they’re poised to make a major breakthrough on the department’s massive claims backlog, but skeptical lawmakers and veterans advocates say they’ve heard such proclamations before.
VA officials announced Tuesday that they have all but wrapped up work on Agent Orange disability claims that overwhelmed the processing system over the last two years. Nearly 230,000 of those cases have been reviewed and finalized, and officials said fewer than 500 open cases remain.
The VA had set aside 37 percent of the department’s rating staff and 13 resource centers to deal solely with the Agent Orange cases. With the work finished, officials said, those centers and about 1,200 claims processors will begin dealing with the overall disability and pensions backlog.
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More than 911,000 claims remain unprocessed, down from more than 1.4 million last year but still up 60 percent from when the Agent Orange claims push started two years ago. About two-thirds of those cases have been pending for more than 125 days, despite department promises to deal with them quickly.
Members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee called that embarrassing.
“VA continues to struggle with unconscionable backlogs and unacceptable delays in getting our nation’s veterans the benefits they need,” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. “It is time for VA to break this cycle of unproductivity and deliver the benefits that the agency was created to provide.”
READ MORE: http://www.stripes.com/news/skeptics-doubt-va-s-claim-of-breakthrough-on-claims-backlog-1.180811
Monday, June 18, 2012
Hearing on Monsanto lawsuit deal begins Monday - Judge must decide if settlement is fair
http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201206150173
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A hearing begins Monday to determine whether a multimillion-dollar settlement in the huge class-action Monsanto dioxin lawsuit should be approved.
The judge must decide if the settlement reached Feb. 24, after nearly a decade of litigation, is fair, reasonable and adequate.
Under the tentative agreement, chemical giant Monsanto will provide class-members up to $93 million. The company has agreed to a 30-year medical monitoring program with a primary fund of $21 million for testing, and up to $63 million in additional funding, if necessary. It also has agreed to spend $9 million cleaning 4,500 homes.
The settlement also would allow residents to retain their right to file personal-injury lawsuits against Monsanto if medical tests turn up illnesses potentially related to dioxin exposure.
Word of the settlement emerged on the eve of an expected six-month trial in a case in which Nitro-area residents sought medical monitoring for dioxin-related illnesses and a cleanup of what they argue is a contaminated community.
READ MORE: http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201206150173
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A hearing begins Monday to determine whether a multimillion-dollar settlement in the huge class-action Monsanto dioxin lawsuit should be approved.
The judge must decide if the settlement reached Feb. 24, after nearly a decade of litigation, is fair, reasonable and adequate.
Under the tentative agreement, chemical giant Monsanto will provide class-members up to $93 million. The company has agreed to a 30-year medical monitoring program with a primary fund of $21 million for testing, and up to $63 million in additional funding, if necessary. It also has agreed to spend $9 million cleaning 4,500 homes.
The settlement also would allow residents to retain their right to file personal-injury lawsuits against Monsanto if medical tests turn up illnesses potentially related to dioxin exposure.
Word of the settlement emerged on the eve of an expected six-month trial in a case in which Nitro-area residents sought medical monitoring for dioxin-related illnesses and a cleanup of what they argue is a contaminated community.
READ MORE: http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201206150173
Friday, June 15, 2012
Agent Orange’s deadly legacy spreads to Japan
http://www.rt.com/news/agent-orange-buried-okinawa-932/
The fallout from the US military’s use of Agent Orange may have spread from Vietnam to Japan. Massive caches of the toxic herbicide were buried on Futenma, “the world’s most dangerous base,” potentially poisoning the island, a Japanese daily reports.
The US military presence has long been a point of contention for locals on the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, a cluster of islands located some 400 miles south of Japan.
A slew of violent crimes committed over the last 40 years by US servicemen has led 85 per cent of locals to oppose the presence of American bases on Okinawa. However, the military’s most deadly mark on the islands may be a far less visible killer: Agent Orange.
Scores of barrels of the defoliating chemical were clandestinely buried at Futenma Air Base on Okinawa Island following the Vietnam War, the Japan Times reports.
The Pentagon allegedly ignored repeated requests from soldiers serving on the island in the 70s and 80s to safely dispose of a pesticide a million times more toxic than any naturally occurring poison.
In the Summer of 1981, “unacceptably high readings” of chemicals in the wastewater flowing out of the installation prompted Lt. Col. Kris Roberts, the former head of maintenance projects on Futenma, to start digging up the ground near the end of the base’s runway.
"We unearthed over 100 barrels buried in rows. They were rusty and leaking and we could see orange markings around some of their middles," Roberts, now a state representative in New Hampshire, told the Japan Times in a recent interview.
READ MORE: http://www.rt.com/news/agent-orange-buried-okinawa-932/
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Controversy grows over 'Agent Orange corn'
http://www.myfoxal.com/story/18788754/controversy-grows-over-agent-orange-cornINDIANAPOLIS (WISH/FOX) - Food safety advocates are raising a red alert over what they call Agent Orange corn.
The problem surrounds a popular farming herbicide known as 2,4-D - one of the chemicals used to make Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
Critics fear farmers will use the herbicide in greater concentrations because of a new breed of corn that is resistant to the chemical.
"2,4-D has to go on a fairly young crop. It's a growth regulator," said farmer Ken Edmondson. "My take on it is it's nonsense. 2,4-D has been around forever. I do not buy into this theory that it's an Agent Orange kind of a compound."
Experts also believe the health risks linked to Agent Orange were caused by a different chemical, not 2,4-D.
The company that developed the new corn also insists the chemical is safe.
"You know, there are something like 4,500 studies and reports that are used to support ongoing uses of the product," said Garry Hamlin of Dow Agro Sciences.
The Environmental Protection Agency rejected a petition to ban 2,4-D in April.
A group of Vietnam vets has now teamed up with environmentalists to ask President Obama to look into the dangers of the herbicide.
WATCH VIDEO: http://www.myfoxal.com/story/18788754/controversy-grows-over-agent-orange-corn#
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