Bollworms and Ladders

Go ahead, take a print out of the game and play. And if you think it is a one sided game, then raise your voice against it. Don't let people die in this game agri companies are playing with millions of farmers.

A bright and rosy death of our nations' food security.

Project Sunshine, Golden Days, Rainbow, Golden Rays. Sound bright and optimistic? Brace yourself for the most important stories of this year. Which, if not paid attention to, will become the obituary of our nation's food security. (Click on the image to know more).

Water etc. A visual essay.

There's a lot of things going on with the issue of water, water crisis, bottled water. Are those connected to other things? Placed some facts together, trying to connect the dots. Makes for an interesting read if nothing else. Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Are those brinjals in your brain, or are you just happy to read this post?

Screw the science.
That’s the rule, the climate sceptics, companies and their lobbyists seem to play by.
And then one day this happens.
A Monsanto owned company files a report saying how good Bt Brinjals are. Also known as GM foods and so on.
A committee approves the report and lo and behold the Bt Brinjals get an, dramatic music please, environmental clearance!!!

What a dark day for India.

And many such dark days later, Bt Brinjal will be unleashed upon Indians. The first food crop to be tested on humans, anywhere in the world.
All in the name of climate change – lack of food – the immense power of GM Crops logic.
Of course, Europe has banned GM Food. There are massive protests in America. But India, as always remains open for exploitation.
Because our minister says: there are arguments for it, and there are arguments against it. And we will decide once we have looked at all the arguments.
So, what have we been doing all these years?

Let me present some quick facts.

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC, the clearing house for all gm crops in India), has cleared Bt brinjal on the basis of test results submitted by seed company Mahyco, which has developed the crop.

Mahyco is owned by Monsanto.

Activists managed to get their hands on Mahyco’s test results through a Right to Information petition. They sent the results to several independent scientists for review. Two scientists got back. Their analyses showed inconsistencies in Mahyco’s interpretation of the test results.
They also showed the tests were inadequate.

Mahyco claimed it did not find any significant difference between Bt brinjal and non-Bt brinjal in the biosafety tests. The company said it carried out toxicity and allergenicity studies on rats and its impact on soil microbes. It also assessed the impact on beneficial insects and the environment. Based on these, the GEAC cleared them for large-scale field trials. But the data is generated and analyzed by the company itself, said Suman Sahai, geneticist and convenor of the non-profit Gene Campaign. “There have been instances when companies have fudged data for obvious reasons.”

But our minister says: there are arguments for it, and there are arguments against it. And we will decide once we have looked at all the arguments.

This is no college, and we are in no classroom debate session. This is about the health and safety of a billion people. This is about food safety. This is about food standards. And if you don’t know how harmful genetically modified crops are, even after there is so much science that proves it, say so. Admit that you have been ignoring the overwhelming proofs against GMOs. Do whatever, but don’t pass that law which will cause an irreversible damage to our country, our environment, our health and our food security.

And if a debate really helps, I invite our environment minister to an open public debate on the issue. I am no scientist. I am an ordinary Indian, but I have something that will make me win this debate.

It’s called common sense.

Here are some questions and their answers. Click on the links. And you too can invite the environment minister for a nice little debate.

But first, write a letter to the environment minister. Please. Click here.

(Click on the questions to know the answers. Open in a different window)

Does India need GM crops? Are they safe? How much does the consumer know?

Biotechnology has failed in the world, why promote it here?

What are the health hazards, and how does it affect the land and environment?

What's the risk factor? And, isn’t it about MNCs continuing with their monopolistic hegemony by selling GM seeds in third world countries?

Why I still oppose GM Crops?

To hell with GM Crops. How can organic farming stop global warming?

Paint it black

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

You have been saying a couple of things about this blog.

You say, this is too pessimistic.

You say, tell us the solutions.

You say a lot and don't do much.

Alright. Here's a deal. We are going to tell you what to do about the fact that the food you are eating is poisoned by genetically modified ingredients.

And we are going to tell you about what to do about the toxic paint you have been putting on your walls.

But first, you must know about these two things in detail.

Here's the first one. About food.

Greenpeace released this study today and it tells you the brands which use those sick ingredients. Click here. You know you want to. To make it easy we are making the whole damn line clickable. Click and download the report and read it. Remember it's the food you eat. Every single day.

And then number two.

The toxic paint you have been putting on your walls. Which causes stunted growth in children. Ironically, they use cute kids to sell you those paints. Click here to see the report. Damn, you have to read it and it's hard work. But hey, it's the children!

And now, what to do. Let's make this simple. You know the culprit brands. You are too lazy to write to the ministry. So here's what you can do in one easy step.

Boycott these products.

Surely, you don't want to bring home poison and feed it to yourself and your kids. Or, are you o.k doing it?

Now, don't start whining.

Forget carbon emissions, India needs a cap on corruption to fight poverty.

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

It would almost seem that India was really serious about tackling poverty the way it is rebuffing the world leaders. We will not cap carbon emissions, we have gone and thundered to the world. Like not capping carbon was the magical cure.
Boom! In a momentous explosion of soot and dust and CO2, India will gain its place amongst the decadent. We will too have a lifestyle to feel screwed about. We will build temples of consumption, more temples that is. There are already a zillion malls. And we will eradicate poverty.
Boom! Like that.
But.
What about thousands and thousands of crores of rupees that are required to alleviate poverty, that are already there. They just vanish in the black holes of corruption.
(More than 100,000 crores rupees every year are consumed by hungry officials.)
And that is the reason why poverty is never going to be eradicated from this country.
Carbon’s got little to do with it.
If we don’t cap corruption and we refuse to cap our emissions we will be left with one of the most corrupt and one of the most polluted countries in the world and a planet in peril.
Correction. An even more corrupt and an even more polluted country, and a planet even more closer to annihilation.

Read about the rice scam and the coal import contract in the latest issue of Outlook.

Here is the farmer scam in detail. 82,000 crores! What are the politicians doing with all this money? Buying mountains in Switzerland so they can shove them up their wrinkly behinds in their old age?

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne180709the_rat.asp

Here are some very inspiring warriors fighting against corruption. Join them if you are clueless as to what to do about the problem.

JN Jayashree is married to a bureaucrat who has spent his career protesting against bribery and swindling in government practices. When she started to fear for her husband's safety, she decided to start up a blog to protect him and document their anti-corruption movement.

http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=479&catID=1


And here is a unique concept called Zero Currency. They print zero currency notes so that if someone asks for bribes, you can hand over zero rupee notes to them.
http://zerocurrency.org/

You can download the zero currency notes here:
http://india.5thpillar.org/ZRN

As always a little google will help you find scores of others. Unless you are happy to breathe the monoxide and call it development.

The poor little rat.

Open publication - Free publishing - More agent orange

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW FULLSCREEN

All that you wanted to know about GM Crops but were too unconcerned to ask.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Let’s play a little game.
Let us give you a bumper crop or two and make you rich for a while. In exchange, we will only control your food industry, your farming and agriculture.
No, this isn’t a game called SUCKERS, this is the reality of GM Crops.

If your crop fails, buy more seed from us. Sell something and buy it. Your house, your land. Sell it. C’mon.
Didn’t we tell you, GM Crops are seedless. We control them. You will have to buy them from us again and again.
And when pests develop resistance to them, we will sell you another improved version!
So goodbye to small farmers and hello to corporations. Five or so companies will control the food supply of this planet. Including your country.

The company which controls GM Crops is a company called Monsanto. Yes, the same company behind such amazing inventions such as Agent Orange.
Agent Orange is the code name for an herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.
4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.

Oh but you don’t care. You are a city slicker and why would you bother about farmers? Did we ever tell you about genetic pollution and how easily it would affect your health? Why should we? Google it and it’s all there.

Here is a little video of someone you don’t pay much attention to. Only if you did. Oh, only if you did, our sale would never take off.

Here are a few links that if you bother to read will make you aware of our nasty little plan. Don't say we didn't tell you.

Why are farmers committing suicide and how can we stop this tragedy?

Biotechnology has failed in the world, so why promote it here?

And a couple of links on how Monsanto swindled India with the 'magic' Bt Cotton.

http://www.scidev.net/en/features/gm-in-india-the-battle-over-bt-cotton.html

http://www.grain.org/btcotton/?id=398

Since this post was written, there have been remarkable developments. Monsanto recently admitted that BT Cotton has developed resistance to bollworms. So they are now selling a new version! More in this TOI report:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bt-cotton-failure-a-profit-ploy/articleshow/5673195.cms

Worried about power cuts? They will soon be solved.

The Great Indian Clearance Sale is on and the only thing in short supply is common sense.

We are getting away with this delicious sale because no one in our country listens to sense. Here are two people who can lead us into the future with our heads held high, but then, we love hanging our heads in shame don’t we?


First up, here is Sunita Narain:
Another big-ticket concern is dryland and rainfed agriculture. Most of India today, after years of public investment in surface irrigation structures, remains dependent on increasingly variable rain. The monsoon is the true finance minister for most poor Indians. We must recognize multipurpose agriculture as practised in dryland areas—combining coarse cereals with animal care and its products all mixed with off-farm products like artisanal craft—is one way to build affordable and resilient economies. Today our policies discount and destroy these local economies. Tomorrow, our strategies must build on their strengths. For instance, fiscal policies must recognize crops that minimize the use of water—more crops per drop —and include ‘coarse’ cereals in the public distribution system. Simultaneously, we must build local water security, to enhance productivity. We must do this not by increasing costs of cultivation but reducing costs and investing in resilience.

Here is the powerful editorial:

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/editor.asp?foldername=20090615&filename=Editor&sec_id=2&sid=1


The dispossessed in India have nowhere to go to. Vandana Shiva

If you have THREE minutes of your precious time, here is another amazing lady, Vandana Shiva. You will see how the west will sell us clean coal and other such, and we will lap it up, and we will get sold:



Oh and while you are on the internet, why don’t you check out some other videos of Vandana Shiva, and read what Ms. Narain says.

Good luck, if you don’t.