Japan Faces The Same Whitewashing by the IAEA As Russia Did

By Theodora Filis

The general expectation, by most people, is that organizations within the UN dealing with the dangers caused by nuclear disasters will focus on human health and safety.

However, due to the whitewashing of nuclear disasters by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the past, one must ask if the WHO and the IAEA are advocates of the nuclear industry rather than nuclear safety.

The WHO, part of the United Nations, is not allowed to independently investigate the results of nuclear accidents, or anything nuclear for that matter, not even future effects without the permission of the IAEA. This legally binding agreement with the IAEA has been around since 1959. The WHO reports to the Development Group while the IAEA reports directly to the UN Security Council and holds absolute power over the entire nuclear industry.

The Chernobyl explosion, on 26 April 1986, led to the substantial airborne release and subsequent ground deposition of a radionuclide mixture that resulted in the long term radioactive contamination of more than 200,000 square kilometres of European territory, most within the borders of what is now Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

Although the accident occurred nearly two decades ago, controversy still surrounds the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The IAEA claims Chernobyl was responsible for “only 31 direct deaths, and maybe 2000 avoidable thyroid cancers in irradiated children." Today, nearly five million people continue to live in areas contaminated by the accident dealing with the environmental, health, social and economic consequences.

In September, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, announced the IAEA would provide assistance with decontamination plans around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, which was seriously damaged after an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, sparking the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

In October, IAEA said it was sending twelve international experts to Japan to assist the country with clean-up efforts. Experts “will go to several locations in the Fukushima Prefecture and conduct meetings in Tokyo with Japanese officials to provide assistance to Japan in its plans to manage remediation efforts (and) review the country’s remediation strategies, plans and work,” the IAEA said in a statement.

The mission, requested by the Japanese government, was to be led by Juan Carlos Lentijo, head of radiation protection at the Spanish nuclear regulatory authority. A preliminary report and press conference were to be planned at the end of the proposed mission.

However, on March 21, after returning from a short visit to Japan, the IAEA Director Yukiya Amano said, “Since the accident, I have tried to address some widespread misconceptions in the media about the IAEA's role in nuclear safety. These misunderstandings fueled some criticism of the Agency's response, which was not always justified. I explained that we are not a "nuclear safety watchdog" and that responsibility for nuclear safety lies with our Member States.”

Six months on, emergency crews are still struggling to stop radiation seeping out from the Fukushima plant, while tens of thousands of people remain evacuated from homes, farms and businesses in a 20-kilometre (12-mile) radius around the site.

Amano concluded, “The Agency's role in nuclear safety may need to be re-examined, along with the role of our Safety Standards."

To date, Japan has no assistance from the IAEA.  

Mars, IBM & The USDA Are Cooking Up GMO Chocolates For Everyone

By Theodora Filis

Mars chocolate manufacturer, the 5th largest privately held company in the US, is funding research to genetically modify 70 percent of the global cocoa supply.

Funding for this project comes from Mars, involving scientists based at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture and Science in addition to researchers working at IBM’s Thomas J Watson Research Center.

Cacao production provides a livelihood for over 6.5 million farmers in Africa, South America and Asia and ranks as one of the top ten agriculture commodities in the world. Although chocolate is mostly consumed by the industrialized world, it is grown in developing countries. The US, France and Germany consume more than half of the world's cocoa supply.

The first use of cocoa appears to have occurred around 1100 BC. In the Americas, this crop has been cultivated for at least three millenniums. So the question arises, if humans have been growing cocoa plants successfully for so long, why the need to fix what isn't broken?

GM crops already make up approximately 80 percent of processed foods in the US, and many commercial chocolate products contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their ingredients already, including high fructose corn syrup, soybean and canola oil.

On the Mars homepage they write: “When people think of Mars, most often they think of chocolate — and we do make some of the best-loved chocolate in the world. But we’re much more. We are a privately owned company with more than 65,000 Associates who are committed to delivering the best quality in pet care, making office breaks more refreshing with delicious teas and coffees, putting wholesome food on family tables and bringing smiles to millions around the world with our gum, confections, and of course, chocolate.”

Chocolate’s nutritional value has been trumpeted by recent research claiming that dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants, flavinoids, epicatechin and other ingredients that shield against heart attacks, stroke, cancer and diabetes.

Recent grant and funding disclosures suggest that the research supporting these so-called advantages was bought and paid for by the chocolate industry.

There was a time when chocolate candy bars were pure chocolate, sugar and something special like nuts, marshmallows or peanut butter. But not so anymore. Most chocolate consumed in America today is essentially a highly fattening mix of refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup and milk from factory farmed dairy cows with an overlay of chocolate flavoring made from inferior beans. How can this be healthy?

Are the people at Mars fibbing when they advertise they are committed to putting “wholesome” food on our family's tables? Yes. What Mars cares about is putting lots of your money in their already bulging pockets. They believe that by replacing organic cacao trees with modified cocoa tree hybrids they will be helping the 6.5 million cacao farmers to produce cacao at rates only the sweetest dreams are made of.

Scientists involved are already spreading the news about their new “tastier” modified chocolate. 

Thanks to the USDA, Monsanto, and lack of labeling requirements, most of our sweet snacks are already made with GMOs. You won't find this information on a label, however, because content from genetically modified crops stay below labeling thresholds, and additives made from GM microorganisms do not require labeling – of course they don't, that would make you wise to their ways and stop you from gobbling up their products.

Chocolate lovers beware, Willy Wonka is no longer in charge of the chocolate factory!

Valdimir Putin Peeved Over Protests Sparked By Allegations Of Electoral Fraud

By Theodora Filis

On Monday, December 5, 2011, in what is said to be the largest opposition rally in years, thousands of people took to the streets of Moscow demanding an end to Putin's 12-year rule, defying a crackdown by tens of thousands of police.

Russian police detained more than 600 people over two nights of protests against alleged fraud in last Sunday's parliamentary elections in which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won by a very small majority – President Dmitry Medvedev said the vote was free and democratic.

The election outcome highlighted growing unease with the 59-year-old leader, Vladimir Putin. Plans to reclaim the presidency next year by the former KGB spy could be spoiled by the prime minister's worst election setback since he took power in 1999.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the election was marked by a “lack of fairness” and “slanted” in favor of Putin's party, United Russia. The Russian electoral commission has said the vote was fair and valid, though President Dmitry Medvedev has said accusations of cheating must be investigated.

Arrests are made in St. Petersburg as thousands turned out to protest elections.

“We demand new elections because what happened on December 4 was a falsification,” opposition activist Yevgeniya Chirikova told the crowd, before leading them in a sustained chant of “Thieves and Swindlers!” a reference to United Russia’s popular, unofficial nickname.

Influential blogger and anti-graft campaigner, Alexei Navalny, was sentenced on Tuesday, December 6, to 15 days imprisonment for his part in a protest earlier last week. Protestors cheered while the letter he had written from behind bars was read aloud:

‘To struggle for freedom is sweet,” Navalny’s letter said. “Every one of us has the most powerful and only weapon we need - a sense of our own worthiness.”

Navalny accused Putin, and United Russia, of manipulating voters into believing that the price for stability and economic growth was “to live like mute cattle.”

“They fed us that for 12 years,” his letter went on. “And we are sick of it. We are not slaves and we are not cattle. It’s time to wake up from our slumber!”

It is said that protestors come from all walks of life, with groups of teenagers mingling with pensioners and young families.

Monsanto & Other BioTech Giants Deeply Entrenched In US Politics

By Theodora Filis

Monsanto, the multinational agricultural biotech giant, is also the world’s largest producer of genetically engineered seeds. Notorious for its aggressive and heavy handed business tactics, and questionable ethics, Monsanto is deeply entrenched in our political system, having spent $2 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2009. The policy Justice Thomas oversaw claimed that the agency was not aware of any information showing that GMO crops were no different in any meaningful or uniform way, and therefore didn’t need testing.

However, 44,000 FDA internal documents made public from a lawsuit showed that this was a complete lie. The overwhelming consensus among the FDA’s own scientists was that GMO foods were quite different and could lead to unpredictable and hard-to-detect allergens, toxins, new diseases, and nutritional problems. They suggested long-term studies, but were ignored.

Last week, WikiLeaks released new diplomatic cables presenting more facts on how the US government is entangled with Monsanto and other biotech giants. Truthout reported:

“Several cables describe "biotechnology outreach programs" in countries across the globe, including African, Asian and South American countries where Western biotech agriculture had yet to gain a foothold. In some cables (such as this 2010 cable from Morocco) US diplomats ask the State Department for funds to send US biotech experts and trade industry representatives to target countries for discussions with high-profile politicians and agricultural officials.”

The French documentary, "The World According to Monsanto," attacks the US biotech industry, including the "revolving door" between Monsanto and the US government, which has allowed little government oversight over biotech products.

 

Disturbed by this documentary, US embassy diplomats requested "that Washington agencies provide talking points" so the officers could respond to the documentary on an "if asked" basis. They didn't want to draw attention to the film, but instead focus on "the positive role ag biotech can play in meeting world food needs."

While 30 countries have significant restrictions or outright bans on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the US has approved their use. The reason for the FDA’s industry-friendly policy on GMOs is that the White House (under the first George Bush) ordered the agency to promote biotechnology. Also, the person in charge of developing the policy was the former attorney, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, then of Monsanto, and later their vice president.

In Europe, any product containing over 0.9% GMO has to be labeled, and consumers generally won’t eat foods that test above this level. In contrast, most US and Canadian consumers don’t even know what GMOs are, and do not realize that they are contained in the majority of processed foods.

Many consumers in the US believe the FDA approves GMO foods through in-depth, long-term studies. In reality, the agency has absolutely no safety testing requirements.

Unlike the Europeans, Americans are uninformed and misinformed on GMOs. The US media has been too quiet about the enormous health risks of GMOs.

Americans know so little about this subject, that only about 1 in 4 are aware that they have ever eaten a GMO food in their lives. The same companies that carefully avoid GMO ingredients for concerned Europeans are happy to sell GMOs to unknowing consumers in the US.

Dow's Involvement In The London Olympics Has Bhopal Victims Protesting

By Theodora Filis

In a recent press release, Andrew N. Liveris, Dow's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, “Dow has committed to leverage its science and technology expertise, sustainability focus and global network to support a range of events and activities that promote the role of chemistry in the advancement of human progress, environmental protection and economic development.”

As sponsors of the International Year of Chemistry, Dow will conduct

a year-long project uniting students around the globe to test the water quality where they live and learn about purification and filtration as part of “Water: A Chemical Solution”.

Does this mean Dow will now stop producing poisonous chemicals like Chlyorpyrifos? Marketed by Dow as Dursban it is a well known home and garden insecticide. Dursban is also a nerve toxin and suspected endocrine disruptor, and has been associated with carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, and acute toxicity.

And, what about dioxin leaks along Michigan's Tittabawassee River, which runs within yards of Dow's main plant in Midland? Waters there were found to contain elevated levels of the cancer-causing chemical dioxin in November 2006. The dioxin was located in sediments two to ten feet below the surface of the river. People who eat fish from the river have elevated levels of dioxin in their blood.

Dow claims that because it bought Union Carbide16 years after the disaster they shouldn't be held responsible for the clean up – reporting legal claims were resolved when Union Carbide reached a settlement with the Indian government and paid $470 million as compensation for those killed or injured.

Half a million residents of Bhopal, India who were poisoned 1984 disagree. Last week in India, hundreds of survivors burned effigies of two Olympics officials to protest Dow Chemical's sponsorship of the London Games. The protests were on the eve of the 27th anniversary of the disaster in Bhopal, India.

Nearly 200 people, some carrying banners that read, "Down with London Olympics" and "We want justice," marched to the now-abandoned plant.

Twenty-five years after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the Madhya Pradesh government, and the US Supreme Court re-opened the case. The Indian supreme court hopes to answer questions that have haunted the people of Bhopal for 27 years now.

Should charges of culpable homicide be back on the table?

Why does the Bhopal factory continue to leak poisonous chemicals into the air, soil and water after 25 years?

Who was responsible for the clean-up, and why hasn’t anyone been held accountable?

How will the Dow Chemical Company explain their lack of sustainable efforts in India, and the rest of the world? 

“Our collective future depends on what answers we develop today — to ensure a healthy planet for tomorrow.” Andrew N. Liveris, Dow Chairman and CEO

The audacity Liveris has to make such statements while his company is directly responsible for many of the health problems our planet faces today.