The Great Disruption

"If you cut down more trees than you grow, you run out of trees. If you put additional nitrogen into a water system, you change the type and quantity of life that water can support. If you thicken the Earth's carbon dioxide blanket, the Earth gets warmer. If you do all these and many more things at once, you change the way the whole system of planet Earth behaves, with social, economic and life-support impacts. This is not speculation, this is high school science.

Agent Orange Drop

"In all this though, there is a surprising case for optimism. As a species, we are good in a crisis, and passing the limits will certainly be the biggest crisis our species has ever faced. Our backs will be up against the wall, and in that situation we have proven ourselves to be extraordinary.

"As the full scale of the imminent crisis hits us, our response will be proportionally dramatic, mobilizing as we do in war. We will change at a scale and speed we can barely imagine today, completely transforming our economy, including our energy and transport industries, in just a few short decades.

"Perhaps most surprisingly we will also learn there is more to life than shopping. We will break our addiction to growth, accept that more stuff is not making our lives better and focus instead on what does."

- "The Great Disruption: How the Climate Crisis Will Transform the Global Economy," by Paul Gilding

Alert OF THE WEEK

Monsanto's Deadly Legacy: Fifty Years of Birth Defects and Disabilities

August 10, 2011 marks 50 years since Agent Orange was first used by the US military in its war against Vietnam. Agent Orange was used for a decade, but its effects persist to this day, with three generations of exposed Vietnamese families and American veterans suffering from horrific birth defects and disabilities.

The 50th anniversary of Agent Orange will not be acknowledged with regrets or reparations by the US government or the American chemical companies, primarily Monsanto and Dow, who profited from its production and use.

Monsanto and Dow contaminated the land of Vietnam, destroyed the forests, killed, maimed, and crippled millions of people, but never admitted responsibility or paid a cent in compensation to the victims and their families.

Instead, Monsanto and Dow continue to profit from their poisons. In fact, they are currently seeking approval for genetically modified crops that can withstand massive doses of 2,4-D, one of the herbicides used in Agent Orange.

Take action to stop Monsanto and Dow's new 2,4-D resistant corn & soy

And now, scientific evidence is mounting that Monsanto's best-selling herbicide RoundUp also causes birth defects. A new generation of babies born near fields of "RoundUp Ready" (genetically modified) soy in Argentina are suffering birth defects as terrible as those found in the Agent Orange contaminated areas of Vietnam. A new report published this month alleges that regulators and the pesticide industry have long known about the RoundUp-birth-defect link - some for more than two decades - but kept the details hidden from the general public.

According to the report, co-authored by a number of scientists and published by Earth Open Source, Monsanto's Roundup, the most widely used herbicide in the world, causes birth defects as well as "endocrine disruption, damage to DNA, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and cancer" at amounts equivalent to pesticide residue found on produce.

In honor of the victims of Monsanto's Agent Orange on the 50th anniversary of its first use, Len Aldis of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society is calling for "an international ban on all products of Monsanto and that would and must include GMO."

Sign the petition for justice for the victims of Agent Orange

PLEASE DONATE

Millions Against Monsanto Fundraising Appeal

Three hundred thousand have already signed up as participants and supporters in our Millions Against Monsanto Truth-in-Labeling Campaign. But we need money to print leaflets, to buy educational videos, to print up T-shirts and bumper stickers, and to pay our campaign staff. As you know, GMOs, Factory Farms, and deceptively labeled consumer products pose a mortal threat to public health, climate stability, and all living things. As we speak, organic crops are being contaminated with Monsanto's GMOs. We need your financial contributions to educate and mobilize consumers, to protect and maintain strict organic standards, and to pressure the entire food industry, including natural food stores and co-ops, to adopt Truth-in-Labeling practices.

Please Donate

MILLIONS AGAINST MONSANTO CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Become One of the Millions Against Monsanto!

Want to do something to stop Monsanto and fight genetic engineering? Join up! Grassroots organizers all over the world are working on events in their areas to build awareness on these issues for World Food Day, October 16th, 2011. Organize an event in your area!

Visit Millions Against Monsanto to learn more, download campaign materials and join a local chapter.

Videos of the Week

Looking Back on Monsanto's Depravity

For the people of Vietnam, as well as U.S. Vietnam War veterans, the war is not over. Three generations on, babies are still being born with serious birth defects and genetic abnormalities - the legacy of America's intensive use of chemical weapons. No one knows how many have been affected. These powerful films document the effects of Agent Orange.

Battle's Poison Cloud

"A Family Perseveres" - from Agent Orange: A Personal Requiem by Masako Sakata

"It Takes a Village" - from Agent Orange: A Personal Requiem by Masako Sakata

You can watch these and other videos on OCA's YouTube Channel!

June16, 2011