No on 37 lies, lies and LIES

http://www.carighttoknow.org/no_on_37_lies_again_about_newspaper_endorsement

No on 37 Ad Yanked for Newspaper Endorsement Lie

It's hard to untangle from the web of lies the No on 37 campaign is spinning. On Friday we got a call from Stephen Buel, editor of the San Francisco Examiner, who was quite surprised to see the Examiner logo featured prominently in a television ad opposing Prop 37 -- since his newspaper has in fact endorsed Prop 37. The TV ad is now disappeared from You Tube, probably sent to the same chop shop where No on 37 sends all their faulty TV ads for re-jiggering after they get caught outright lying to voters. Remember the Henry Miller misrepresenting Stanford fiasco?

Also on Friday, we heard from several sources that Kathy Fairbanks, spokesperson for the campaign against our right to know, is claiming that the "entire agricultural community of California" is opposing Prop 37. Apparently Kathy's definition of agriculture doesn't include the more than 2,000 organic farmers, the California Grange, the Central Coast Agricultural Network, the United Farm Workers, California Labor Federation and United Food and Commercial Workers western region -- all of whom are supporting Prop 37. Or the manyfood industry leaders actually based in California who are not only working to pass Prop 37, but are funding the Yes effort too (as opposed to the out-of-state and foreign pesticide and food corporations that are bankrolling No on 37).

Meanwhile, we're still waiting to hear from the U.S. Department of Justice about whether they will investigate Fairbanks and crowd for fabricating a direct quote from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make it appear that the agency is opposing Prop 37, and sticking it in a campaign mailer along with the FDA logo -- in possible violation of federal law. But, we did hear from the FDA that they never said the thing they were quoted saying in the mailer. "The FDA has not made such statements with respect to Prop 37," FDA spokeswoman Morgan Liscinsky told KPBS. "We cannot speculate on Prop 37 and have no comments at this time."

The Prop 37 Phenomenon on Facebook

To read the whole article: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26531.cfm

By Ali Partovi 
"Over the past two weeks, I've been involved in a Facebook ad campaign whose results are astonishing. It's a political campaign supporting California's Proposition 37. Our Facebook sales rep was ecstatic when she first saw the numbers. She'd never seen anything like it in her career."

Is AAAS Serving Science or Monsanto?

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26529.cfm

Last week, the American Association for the Advancement of Science released this "statement" on GMO labeling that sounds like it was drafted by Monsanto. The statement ends with the

 non-scientific but very quote-worthy conclusion that "mandating such a label can only serve to mis lead and falsely alarm consumers." While Prop 37 is never mentioned, what purpose could the timing serve other than persuading Californians to vote no on the measure?

Balada Transgénica, nueva edición 2012

Saludos,

Me han preguntado sobre la nueva edición de mi libro BALADA TRANSGENICA: BIOTECNOLOGIA,GLOBALIZACION Y EL CHOQUE DE PARADIGMAS. Esta edición, publicada por la Editorial Mágica, tiene material nuevo pertinente a la situación de Puerto Rico con respecto a los cultivos transgénicos. 

Para información de cómo conseguir el libro y reservar una copia, llamen a la Librería Mágica en Río Piedras: (787) 370-5395. Les recomiendo que reserven una copia a tiempo para la temporada navide~na. Las primeras dos ediciones se agotaron antes de que pudiéramos imprimir copias nuevas.

Hay un capítulo de libro disponible en internet: http://www.biodiversidadla.org/content/view/full/19640

Para más información sobre la amenaza transgénica que se cierne sobre nosotros, accedan a la página de nuestra organización, el Proyecto de Bioseguridad de Puerto Rico: http://bioseguridad.blogspot.com/ 

Cualquier pregunta que tengan sobre charlas y conferencias me escriben a ruizcarmelo@gmail.com

A continuación, unos pasajes de la introducción de la nueva edición de Balada Transgénica:

Han pasado siete años desde la publicación del libro que usted tiene en sus manos, y una década entera desde que lo comencé a escribir. Con Balada Transgénica me propuse en primer lugar a abordar la controversia en torno a los cultivos y alimentos genéticamente alterados, también conocidos como transgénicos. Y en segundo lugar, utilizar la problemática de los transgénicos para hacer un amplio cuestionamiento a los procesos de cambio político-económicos de la posguerra fría, conocidos genéricamente como globalización.

******

Desde el principio mi cometido fue someter la agricultura transgénica a una devastadora crítica frontal, dirigida desde los ángulos científico, ecológico, social, económico, político, ético y de salud humana. Sostengo en el libro que los productos transgénicos constituyen un callejón tecnológico sin salida, son totalmente innecesarios y presentan riesgos novedosos e inaceptables, los cuales están ampliamente documentados, para el ambiente y la salud humana, además de riesgos y daños a agricultores (particularmente los pequeños productores) y economías rurales, y menoscabo a la soberanía de las comunidades y naciones, en especial las pobres.

Sostengo además en el capítulo 3 que la biotecnología transgénica se fundamenta sobre premisas y conceptos científicos obsoletos que datan de las décadas de los 50, 60 y 70, que han sido abrumadoramente rebatidos por los últimos 25 años de descubrimientos y adelantos en los campos de la genética y la genómica. En cuanto a la idea de que los transgénicos son una herramienta imprescindible para combatir el hambre, yo riposto que el discurso pro-transgénicos parte de unas premisas erradas acerca de las causas del hambre, como expongo en el capitulo 12. No se trata de un texto hecho para defender conclusiones hechas de antemano. La decisión de criticar esta tecnología no se tomó a la ligera, sino que surge de extensas lecturas, investigaciones e intercambios de información y puntos de vista que se remontan hasta a principios de la década de los 90.

Los productos transgénicos son objeto de acalorada controversia alrededor del mundo, una controversia en la que participan desde doctores y científicos hasta movimientos campesinos, organismos internacionales y lideres políticos, y que ha llegado a arrestos, violenta represión y la persecución de científicos que han tenido la osadía de contradecir el discurso oficialista sobre la biotecnología. Desde la década de los 90 este debate ha producido numerosos libros, reportajes de prensa y televisión, documentales de corto y largo metraje, simposios científicos, contenciosas negociaciones internacionales, y hasta marchas de protesta y desobediencia civil. Y sin embargo en Puerto Rico no se sabía prácticamente nada del tema cuando comencé a escribir Balada Transgénica. Esto es lo que me motivó a escribir sobre la controversia de la biotecnología en las páginas del semanario Claridad desde fines de los 90. Para entonces los promotores de los transgénicos en Puerto Rico se servían con la cuchara grande en la academia y los medios noticiosos, haciendo todo tipo de afirmaciones sobre las supuestas virtudes de la biotecnología sin enfrentar debate u oposición. El país carecía de perspectivas critícas sobre biotecnología- no había nadie con los debidos fundamentos, elementos de juicio o la disposición para refutarles efectivamente. Yo inmodestamente me asigné esa encomienda. Y ese es precisamente el propósito principal de este libro: provocar el debate y plantar la semilla de la duda entre los lectores.

  

Support Proposition 37 - Right to Know What's in Your Food

Mentiras acerca de la prop 37

¿Que los alimentos aumentarán de precio con la propuesta 37? ¡Embuste!

KATHERINE PAUL Y RONNIE CUMMINS

Asociación de Consumidores Orgánicos de EEUU (organicconsumers.org)

Tomado de http://www.alternet.org/food/debunked-6-lies-biotech-and-big-food-are-telling-voters

Estudios legítimos y evidencia de países que ya han aprobado leyes de etiquetado de transgénicos hablan muy claro: El requerir el etiquetado de alimentos transgénicos no significa que se encarecerán los alimentos.

En 1997 los oponentes de las leyes de etiquetado de transgénicos en Europa utilizaron las mismas tácticas de miedo, advirtiendo de aumentos de dos dígitos en los precios de los alimentos si el gobierno requería etiquetas mandatorias. Pero los precios de los alimentos no subieron, según David Byrne, entonces Comisionado de Salud y Protección del Consumidor del Parlamento Europeo.

Y no subirán en California tampoco, dice una evaluación económica independiente de la propuesta 37 realizada por Joanna Shepherd Bailey, profesora de la Escuela de Derecho de Emory University. Entre los hallazgos de Bailey- amparados en literatura empírica y precedentes históricos- está que la compañías prefieren absorber los costos “triviales” asociados al etiquetado que pasárselos a los consumidores. 

¿En qué se fundamenta la campaña de miedo del NO a la 37? En su comprado, defectuoso y altamente sesgado análisis económico de la propuesta 37. Fue realizado por Northbridge Environmental Management Consultants, una firma de consultoría sin expertise en economía y mejor conocida por oponerse a leyes de reciclaje para la industria de refrescos de soda. 

Jóvenes del Caño Martín Peña hacen una canción sobre Vandana Shiva y la amenaza de las semillas transgénicas

13 de octubre, en el Mercado Agrícola Natural del Viejo San Juan, justo en medio de las celebraciones de la Campechada 2012.

México: avanzan los transgénicos, pero también la resistencia - Boletín N° 293 de la RALLT

http://www.biodiversidadla.org/Principal/Secciones/Documentos/Mexico_avanzan_los_transgenicos_pero_tambien_la_resistencia_-_Boletin_N_293_de_la_RALLT

"Es el momento de establecer un acuerdo que defina la protección del territorio mexicano como centro de origen y de diversificación constante del maíz, retomando en su totalidad el estudio de la Conabio. De este modo México estará cumpliendo su responsabilidad de salvaguardar este patrimonio en favor de la humanidad y no en manos de intereses particulares." Boletín N° 293 de la Red por una América Latina Libre de Transgénicos.

RED POR UNA AMÉRICA LATINA LIBRE DE TRANSGÉNICOS

BOLETÍN 493

Contenido:

MEXICO:

ARRANCA SIEMBRA PILOTO DE MAÍZ TRANSGÉNICO EN DISTRITOS DE RIEGO

AVANZA PRUEBA DE TRANSGÉNICO

COFEMER IGNORA LOS COMENTARIOS EMITIDOS SOBRE EL ACUERDO DE CENTROS DE ORIGEN Y DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA DEL MAÍZ

LLAMAN AL GOBIERNO A IMPEDIR EN MÉXICO CULTIVO DE GRANOS MODIFICADOS GENÉTICAMENTE

NUESTRO CORAZÓN ES DE MAÍZ

Kids are not Lab Rats -- Yes on Prop 37

Proposition 37, California GO, GO, GO!!!

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bytes/ob352.htm

SOS: 12 Days Left in Epic California GMO Labeling Battle... We Need Your Help!

The most recent voter poll on the November 6 Proposition 37 California ballot initiative to label genetically engineered foods comes out today, Thursday. And the results are somewhat alarming: after enjoying a 26-point lead for the past six months, our side is now barely ahead in the polls.

We still enjoy a lead among those who don’t watch TV, but unfortunately California TV watchers are turning against us.

For 25 days Monsanto and their allies have filled the California airwaves with $1 million dollars a day in TV and radio ads, spewing lies about how mandatory labeling for genetically engineered food will mean higher costs for consumers, lawsuits clogging the courts, "confusing" labels and poor farmers and grocers facing "nightmares of paperwork."

Up until now we haven’t had the money to counter these lies with our own TV ads, but this will all change in two days. On Saturday, October 27, our Yes on Prop 37 TV ads will finally begin running. Surveys have shown that once undecided or even opposed voters see our ads they change their minds, and come back over to our side.

The problem is, we only have only $3 million dollars for TV ads between now and November 6 – and our adversaries have $15 million dollars. We can still win on Nov. 6 by exposing six or seven million California voters to our TV ads. But we need to raise more money, and we need to raise it now.

Please click here to make a donation today.

Complementing our “air strategy” (TV, radio, and internet) is our “ground strategy.” The mobilization of our grassroots volunteers is the key component of our ground strategy to overcome Monsanto and Food Inc.'s onslaught. Our 10,000 volunteers for Yes on 37 are fighting back on the ground by talking to voters in front of supermarkets, and by talking to prospective voters on the phone. These grassroots efforts will culminate in a major Get-Out-the-Vote campaign on November 6.

If you live in California, we desperately need you to hand out leaflets at grocery stores between now and Nov.6. If you can spare a few hours, please sign up here for instructions on where to get leaflets and where we need help.

If you live outside California, please volunteer for our national phone bank to help us call millions of California voters. It’s easy. You can get quick, easy online training and sign up for one or more shifts here – and it won’t cost you a dime in phone charges.

The moment of truth has arrived in this David versus Goliath battle. The whole world is watching. Everything we’ve worked for in the past 15 years is on the line. We desperately need your emergency last-minute donations and your volunteer energy. Please support us in these last 12 days of the campaign!

SUPPORT THE OCA AND OCF

Where Are the Yes on 37 TV Ads?

Big Food dumped another $5 million into the No on 37 campaign war chest last week, bringing the total No on 37 donations to more than $41 million. Companies like Kraft, Hershey, Kellogg’s, Campbell Soup, Smithfield Foods, Pepsi and others apparently are just as desperate as Monsanto, Dow and Dupont to sink Prop 37 – so they can continue to rake in huge profits at the expense of your health.

What does $40 million-plus buy? Twenty-five days straight of dominating California airwaves with TV and radio ads. The No campaign has snatched up more of California’s airtime than the presidential candidates.

Prop 37 supporters are asking: Where are the Yes on 37 TV ads?

They’re coming. With the campaign’s limited funds - a fraction of what Big Biotech and Big Food have raised to defeat Prop 37 – Yes on 37 TV ads will run during the last 10 days of the campaign, when they can have the most impact. How frequently they will run, and in how many markets, will depend on how much more we can raise in the next few days.

The Prop 37 campaign needs $2 million more to make the impact we need in order to win. It sounds like a lot – but if 20,000 people gave $100 each, we’d get there today.

We need your help now to get these ads out to voters who can still be persuaded to vote Yes on 37. And we need you to reach out to anyone and everyone you know who cares about the future of food, and ask them to help, too.

Please help us finish strong – and change the food movement forever – with your generous donation today. Thank you!

DONATE TO THE ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION (tax-deductible, and helps  support our public education work against GMOs and chemical food, and our work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and sustainable farming)

DONATE TO THE ORGANIC CONSUMERS FUND (non-tax-deductible, but necessary for our legislative efforts in California and other states)

Protesta en el DF de México el 16 de octubre

Prop 37 Needs Your Help!

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26485.cfm

• By Organic Consumers Association 
  October 23, 2012
  

We're getting down to the wire. In less than two weeks, Californians will decide whether people should have the right to know if their food contains GMOs - or whether corporations should retain the right to keep that information secret.

The opposition - pesticide and junk food manufacturers - is spending more than $40 million to sink Prop 37, the California Right to Know GMO labeling initiative. Monsanto, Pepsi, Dow, DuPont, Kelloggs and the rest are buying more than $1 million a day on TV ads alone.

The ads are having an impact. But we can recover - and win - if we can just reach enough voters in the next two weeks with the truth about GMOs, the truth about the opposition's campaign of lies, and the importance of voting Yes on 37.

We need your help. Can you spare an hour . . . or two . . . or more . . . to distribute leaflets at your local grocery store? Or call voters and remind them to get out and vote?

We desperately need people on the ground. If you can help, please contact your local leader for instructions on how to obtain leaflets, and where in your local area volunteers are most needed. http://www.carighttoknow.org/leader_directory
We also need people in California and all across the country to join our phone bank. Sign up here, and you'll receive all the instructions you need, including a script, what numbers to call and when. http://www.carighttoknow.org/phone_bank You can sign up for one shift - or many shifts. It won't cost you a dime, all you need is a phone, a computer and an internet connection.

Prop 37 has been a grassroots movement against giant corporations, a David vs Goliath fight, right from the start. We knew the opposition would spend tens of millions to try to defeat our right to know.

Don't let Big Money defeat our right to know. If you haven't already, please join the greatest food fight of our time by volunteering today. Thank you!

For more on this historic food fight, visit this webpage http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26484.cfm
Yes on 37! We can do this!

Some Interesting Facts on Prop 37 and How You Can Help!

• 
  

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26484.cfm

• By Organic Consumers Association 
  October 23, 2012

The No on 37 campaign is desperate to defeat Prop 37, the California Right to Know GMO labeling initiative. That's why companies like Monsanto, Pepsi, Dow, DuPont and Coca-Cola are spending more than $1 million a day to kill this initiative and keep us in the dark about GMO ingredients in our food. So far, they've raised more than $40 million to dominate California's airwaves until Nov. 6.

Here are some facts you may not yet know about Prop 37 and the pesticide and junk food manufacturers who oppose it:

- Farmers support Prop 37. Here are four inspiring videos by farmers - including GMO farmers - who support Prop 37. Please watch and share these videos with friends in California who will be voting on November 6:http://www.carighttoknow.org/farmers_say_yes_on_37

- Who else says Yes on 37? Physicians, consumer and food safety groups, and public health and environmental organizations. Supporters include the National Family Farm Coalition, California Certified Organic Farmers, California Nurses Association, National Health Federation, Consumer Watchdog, Sierra Club and many many more have endorsed Prop 37.http://www.carighttoknow.org/endorsements

- The No on 37 crowd includes a long list of pesticide and junk food corporations, most of which are based out of state or in foreign countries.http://www.carighttoknow.org/foreigncompanies
- The No on 37 campaign is running on a platform of lies and deception. Please read this article and share with friends.Debunked: 6 Lies That Biotech and Big Food Are Telling Voters http://www.alternet.org/food/debunked-6-lies-biotech-and-...

In addition to sharing the videos and article above, here are some ways you can help win this historic food fight in November:

- The Yes on 37 campaign hasn't raised enough money to get our ads on TV yet. The Organic Consumers Fund and Organic Consumers Association have already given more than $1,000,000 in small contributions to CA Right to Know, but it's not enough to get our message on TV in the expensive media markets of this enormous state. Please help by donating to the Yes on 37 TV ad buy: http://organicconsumersfund.org/donate/david-goliath.cfm
- We need volunteers to distribute leaflets right up until election day. Contact your local leader here:http://www.carighttoknow.org/leader_directory  Or sign up here: http://www.carighttoknow.org/volunteer
-  We also need volunteers in California and across the country to join our phone bank. Please sign up here and the campaign will send you detailed instructions. http://www.carighttoknow.org/phone_bank
-  Right to Know events are happening every day across the state. Search for events near you or add your own to our interactive map: http://www.carighttoknow.org/events

- You can buy t-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers and flyers in the Right to Know store: http://www.carighttoknow.org/store

And finally, if  you've got 50 minutes to spare, we highly recommend this documentary (free to watch online through October 31) that features doctors, including pediatricians, who recommend non-GMO diets for their patients: Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives http://geneticroulettemovie.com/
We can do this. Two weeks! Yes on 37! http://www.carighttoknow.org