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Posts by: "Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance"
MONSANTO GMO
Study Included
Just when you thought the market for controversy over genetically modified organisms(GMOs) was completely saturated, a new study published in the Journal of Organic Systems finds that pigs raised on a mixed diet of GM corn and GM soy had higher rates of intestinal problems, “including inflammation of the stomach and small intestine, stomach ulcers, a thinning of intestinal walls and an increase in haemorrhagic bowel disease, where a pig can rapidly ‘bleed-out’ from their bowel and die.” Both male and female pigs reared on the GM diet were more likely to have severe stomach inflammation, at a rate of four times and 2.2 times the control group, respectively. There were also reproductive effects: the uteri of female pigs raised on GM feed were 25 percent larger (in proportion to body size) than those of control sows. (All male pigs were neutered, so scientists were unable to study any effects on the male reproductive systems.)
The study confirms anecdotal evidence from hog farmers who’ve reported reproductive and digestive problems in pigs raised on GM feed. Those who were following this sort of news in 2011 will remember an open letter to the USDA from Dr. M. Huber, a professor at Purdue University, about an unknown organism in Roundup Ready crops causing miscarriages in farm animals.
A common complaint from critics of GM technology — often painted as “anti-science” by GM proponents — is that they’ve been inadequately studied. (Don’t think about that for too long — your first instinct is correct, it doesn’t make sense.) The European Union has long based its regulatory framework (and resultant slow adoption of GMOs) on theprecautionary principle. And in fact, according to this study, most of the research on the health impacts of GMOs has either been short term (less than 90 days), performed on non-mammals or failed to examine multiple GM traits concurrently, despite that many new GM crops “stack” traits, and that many diets — of both animals and humans — include multiple types of GMOs.
The scientists behind the study report having chosen pigs as their subject for the similarity between their digestive systems and those of humans, and the mixed GM diet for its similarity to the real-life diets of both swine and humans, so this is really damning stuff. They also describe their findings as conservative, noting that even the control group is likely to have been exposed to GMOs in indirect ways they couldn’t avoid, such as trace amounts of GMOs in non-GM feed, and parents fed GM diets.
As one might expect, the scientists conclude their report with a call for more testing, particularly of whether the findings also apply to humans. Scientists at the Consumers Union go one further, saying that concerns raised by the study further underscore the need to label GMOs.
Will the government listen? Time will tell. It’s also hard to predict the potential impact of this study on the U.S. pork market — or on the prices of corn and soy. As we saw recently when Japan and South Korea canceled orders for U.S.-produced wheat after the discovery of unapproved GM wheat in Oregon, not all countries take a laissez-faire approach to GMOs. And what about that merger/takeover of Smithfield Foods by Chinese-held Shuanghui, rumored to have been spurred in part by friction over the livestock drug ractopamine? For that matter, will American hog farmers — seeking rightly to avoid sickening their own hogs — seek non-GM feed from other countries?
For now, more questions than answers, but if the findings of this study are as serious as they look, American agriculture may be on the verge of paying a very dear price for a long roll in the hay with the biotech industry.
Originally published at Ecocentric.
AGENT ORANGE
COVVHA Member Interviewed On Main Stream Media Regarding Birth Defects In Children Of Vietnam Veterans
Vietnam Veterans Seek Reparation for Medical Problems With Their Children
Agent Orange Birth Defects
JON MITCHELL JUN 4, 2013 [Warning: Some may find this story's content and images to be disturbing.]
Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City houses one of Vietnam’s busiest maternity clinics, but hidden in a quiet corner, far from the wards of proud new mothers, is a room stacked floor to ceiling with every parent’s nightmare. In dozens of glass jars lie the bodies of deformed babies preserved in formaldehyde — some have no heads, others have two, several are so scrambled that their faces jut from their stomachs and their arms are where their legs should be.
The doctor who delivered many of these children was Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong. Forty-five years ago she was a young intern at Tu Du Hospital when the city was known as Saigon, capital of war-torn South Vietnam.
“In 1966 or 1967 I started noticing an unprecedented increase in the number of birth defects at the hospital. There were too many deformed babies to count. They were born in areas sprayed with defoliants by the U.S. military,” she told The Japan Times.
During the Vietnam War, the Pentagon drenched South Vietnam with 76 million liters of herbicides — including Agents Blue, White and Orange — in a bid to destroy its enemies’ crops and jungle hiding places. The U.S. government assured Vietnamese people and their own troops that these “rainbow herbicides” were perfectly harmless to human health. But it was lying.
Agent Blue, the Pentagon’s preferred chemical for killing rice crops, included a poisonous compound of arsenic. Among the ingredients of Agent White were the carcinogens hexachlorobenzene and a cocktail of nitrosamines. Agent Orange, the best known and most commonly used herbicide, contained dioxin. Categorized as one of the deadliest poisons on the planet, dioxin has a lethal dose measured in the millionths of grams; it is also teratogenic, meaning it can damage the growth of the fetus.
Dr. Phuong was one of the first doctors to link South Vietnam’s soaring number of birth defects to the U.S. military’s defoliation campaign. But even when the herbicide flights ended in 1971, the health problems continued to grow.
“For example, those who were directly sprayed by Agent Orange passed the dioxin to their children in their breast milk. Then the problems were passed from the second to the third generation through damage to the cells and the DNA,” Phuong explained.
These second- and third-generation victims of Agent Orange suffer from illnesses ranging from cancers and diabetes to autoimmune disorders. Maj. Gen. Tran Ngoc Tho, chairman of the Ho Chin Minh City branch of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, explained that 3 million people are currently suffering from the effects of herbicides in Vietnam — and the numbers are rising every year.
However, according to Tho, when these birth problems first began to emerge in the late-1960s, the government of South Vietnam had a special name for the source of this scourge.
“They called it ‘Okinawa bacteria.’ During the war, Okinawa had many U.S. Air Force bases, and American planes came from there to bomb South Vietnam. There were stories that the planes that used to spray these chemicals came from Okinawa, too.”
From 1945 to 1972, Okinawa was under U.S. jurisdiction, and during the Vietnam War the island served as the Pentagon’s forward staging post for the conflict. Used to train troops, store supplies and ship them to the war zone, Okinawa also hosted the more clandestine side of the American war machine, including at one point as many as 1,200 nuclear warheads, as well as a massive arsenal of nerve and mustard gas.
Given the presence of these weapons of mass destruction, the storage of rainbow herbicides on Okinawa should come as no surprise. Dozens of U.S. veterans and Okinawa base workers claim these substances were warehoused on the island and sprayed around the bases’ fences to keep back the vegetation, a practice also common in South Vietnam at the time. Although the Pentagon denies such allegations, many of these former service members have illnesses consistent with dioxin exposure. Moreover, their children — and grandchildren — are sick, too.
One of these veterans is Rick Dewess. A former U.S. marine stationed on Okinawa between 1969 and 1970, he currently suffers from multiple illnesses — including diabetes, ischemic heart disease and respiratory problems — that he blames on dioxin poisoning. He believes his exposure has also damaged the health of his children.
“Our first child was a miscarriage. Then our next try, a son, had a kidney removed and needed another two surgeries by the time he was 5 years old. My second son had problems with his spine and my daughter has thyroid issues,” Dewess told The Japan Times.
Neither he nor his wife has any family history of the medical issues his children have been diagnosed with.
Dewess believes his exposure to dioxin occurred at Naha Military Port, where he was assigned to off-load equipment damaged during combat in Vietnam. He worries that this work put him in contact with dioxin-contaminated soil. Such fears were supported by a 2008 ruling from the Department of Veterans Affairs — the federal agency responsible for awarding compensation to sick service members — which recognized that another former G.I. on Okinawa had been exposed to rainbow herbicides while handling contaminated gear in the same circumstances.
A second marine veteran alleging dioxin exposure — and consequent damage to her children’s health — was Caethe Goetz. Featured in The Japan Times in August 2011, Goetz had developed multiple myeloma — a rare form of cancer usually found in men in their sixties and seventies — when she was 49 years old. She passed away in November 2012 at the age of 58.
During her service on Okinawa, Goetz was pregnant and often used to take walks near the perimeter fence of Camp Foster. She recalled walking through foliage that had recently been treated with herbicides and, on one occasion, even being sprayed in the face. “I didn’t think much of it at the time — I just wiped the liquid away,” she said in an interview shortly before her death.
As with the other veterans claiming dioxin exposure on Okinawa, the Pentagon denied that the substance Goetz was exposed to was one of the rainbow herbicides. But in a recent interview, marine Sgt. David Robinson, a member of one of Camp Foster’s maintenance crews, seemed to confirm Goetz’s suspicions. “I sprayed the base perimeter. When filling up my fogger [a handheld spray machine], a barrel with an orange stripe was in the stand. I asked the sergeant in charge what it was, and he said, ‘Agent Orange.’ ”
Antonia, the child Goetz was carrying on Okinawa, was born with a number of problems.
“I have deformed knee caps and then, at the age of 32, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The only family history of this illness is my grandfather, who was diagnosed in his sixties,” Antonia told The Japan Times.
Goetz’s second daughter, Catherine, also shows signs of her mother’s suspected dioxin exposure; she suffers from recurring infections, chronic fatigue syndrome, reproductive problems and a fused pelvis.
Antonia explained that these problems are now becoming apparent in the third generation of the Goetz family. Her oldest daughter has a defect with her eyes and was diagnosed with cataracts at the age of 10. Her young son suffers from developmental delays and a congenital problem with an artery in his neck.
Other U.S. veterans who believe they came into contact with rainbow herbicides on Okinawa also have children with similar diseases. Kris Roberts — a New Hampshire state representative who claims he unearthed a large cache of Agent Orange on Futenma air station in 1981 — has a daughter who suffers from health problems he suspects were caused by his exposure to dioxin on Okinawa.
Likewise, Joe Sipala — a former air force sergeant now leading veterans’ demands for an independent inquiry into Agent Orange on Okinawa — has also witnessed the sufferings of his children. While serving at Awase Transmitter Site in 1970, Sipala was tasked with spraying Agent Orange around the installation to kill weeds. As a result of this work, Sipala soon fell sick. His first child died in the womb, so misshapen that the presiding doctor told him he was lucky the baby hadn’t survived. His two surviving children were both born with birth defects — including a daughter whose deformed feet required multiple operations.
Even though the Pentagon kept information about the toxicity of these chemicals hidden, Sipala and many of his fellow veterans feel responsible for their children’s illnesses.
“It makes me feel guilty. At the time we didn’t know the dangers of spraying these herbicides, but it was my damaged DNA that caused my children’s issues,” Sipala said in a recent interview.
According to Heather Bowser, co-founder of Children of Vietnam Veterans’ Health Alliance, such feelings are common among former service members who were unwittingly exposed to poisonous herbicides during the 1960s and ’70s. “I struggled my whole young life watching my father carry the guilt believing he had caused my birth defects,” said Bowser, who was born two months premature and missing her right leg below the knee and several fingers — problems her father attributed to his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
Bowser said that the scale of the second-generation problems in the U.S. is appalling.
“A 1986 report stated that among 200,000 veterans surveyed, 56,000 of their children had birth defects. But we have no idea how many of them are truly affected, because we have never been offered an open dialogue by the U.S. government,” she said.
Despite overwhelming scientific evidence linking dioxin exposure to birth defects, Washington has been reluctant to support America’s second-generation victims. For example, while offering limited help to the children of female veterans who served in South Vietnam born with defects such as cleft palate, heart disease and clubfoot, it refuses to link their illnesses to Agent Orange; instead, it states that “these diseases are not tied to herbicides, including Agent Orange, or dioxin exposure, but rather to the birth mother’s service in Vietnam.” It is as though the country itself were somehow responsible for children’s birth defects, not the 76 million liters of toxic chemicals sprayed there.
As for the sickened children of male veterans, the U.S. government only recognizes one illness related to Agent Orange: spina bifida.
However, when it comes to Okinawa, the Pentagon’s blanket denials that Agent Orange was ever on the island prevents even this limited assistance reaching the sickened children of U.S. veterans such as Dewess and Sipala.
Goetz’s daughter Catherine believes the motivation for the Pentagon’s denials is simple: money.
“If the U.S. government admitted Agent Orange exposure on Okinawa, it would open a floodgate of claims for many generations to come. Seeing how my mother was treated by her country, I feel the government has dishonored all who served — it should be looking out for the people who defend our nation.”
Back in the country that blamed the birth defects maiming its newborns on “Okinawa bacteria,” Maj. Gen. Tho shares Catherine’s anger with Washington. Since the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the U.S. government has repeatedly denied assistance to Vietnamese people suffering from dioxin exposure. As recently as 2003, the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam accused the Hanoi government of waging a “two-decade-long propaganda campaign” over military herbicides; the following year, the ambassador alleged Vietnamese claims of health damage were based upon “fake science.” Even in 2012, when Washington announced it would clean up its former Agent Orange storage site in Da Nang, it refused to acknowledge any human health problems and instead labeled the project as simply “environmental remediation.”
Although Tho echoed Catherine’s belief that money lies at the root of Washington’s denials, he also suspects another motive.
“If they admitted to the health problems their defoliants caused, they’d be admitting to having waged a campaign of chemical warfare against the people of Vietnam. This would make them liable to be taken to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to be tried as war criminals,” he said.
With the stakes this high, perhaps it is understandable that the U.S. government has attempted to shroud its usage of these poisons within so many denials and lies. But with scientists estimating that serious health problems will persist into the fourth, fifth and possibly sixth generations, the coming decades will see millions more demanding answers about their illnesses — putting Washington under growing pressure to take responsibility for what Dr. Phuong first uncovered at Tu Du Hospital all those years ago.
Monsanto GMO
Author: Kelly L. Derricks
Organic & Heirloom Seed Companies List
Many people ask for a list on NON-GMO and Heirloom seed companies on a weekly basis. I have compiled a list of the most highly regarded companies. I will add more companies as they are given to me. Enjoy your planting!
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COPYRIGHT © 2013 (COVVHA) Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC. All rights reserved.
BECOME A MEMBER OF CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS HEALTH ALLIANCE YOU WILL RECEIVE A ONCE DAILY EMAIL OF ANY BREAKING AGENT ORANGE NEWS AND RELATED TOPICS IN ADDITION TO ANY COVVHA UPDATES PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL IN THE BOX BELOW, A CONFIRMATION LINK WILL BE SENT TO YOUR EMAIL. YOU MUST OPEN THE EMAIL AND CLICK THE CONFIRMATION LINK TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.Agent Orange – Turkish Protesters Hijack Agent Orange for Increased Media Coverage
Official COVVHA Report
Heather A. Bowser, LPCC
COVVHA Co-Founder
What is more frightening than the thought of being intentionally poisoned by someone in authority over you? Perhaps, offspring being born with devastating birth defects, learning disorders, or rare illnesses? Maybe dying of horrible cancers, heart conditions, or complications of Parkinson’s Disorder? These are not merely frightening thoughts to those exposed to Agent Orange; it is reality, life and death.
Over the weekend, there were wide reports coming from Turkey that police were using Agent Orange on protesters as a form of crowd control. Social media, especially Twitter became ablaze with re-tweets calling foul to this form of force by Turkish police on people who were trying to protest unrest within Turkey. Social media accounts of the violence fueled more protesters to join the throng. Rampant reports of police using tear gas and high force water cannons to dissipate the crowd were coupled with images.
Agent Orange advocates and founders of (COVVHA) Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC. , Kelly L. Derricks & Heather A. Bowser, felt after researching media reports about the incident in Turkey, it was important keep the dialog about Agent Orange set in fact and not fiction. COVVHA is fighting for justice for all generational victims of Agent Orange. It is a difficult fight shrouded in denial, secrecy and lack of media support. It is coupled by the urgent needs of sick and dying offspring of those exposed.
Agent Orange has a notorious history in Vietnam from 1961-1971. The United States military used several chemical herbicides during the Vietnam War to “help” in the War effort. The military sited the thick jungle foliage of Vietnam, and the enemy’s access to food crops, as reason to spray an unfettered amount of chemicals onto South Vietnam, killing all the vegetation in its spray zone. The military deducted, if the enemy had no food and no place to hide, the U.S. and Allies would be victorious in Vietnam. In the end, they sprayed an estimated eighteen million gallons of Agent Orange, on a country the size of New Mexico.
Protesters in Turkey have stated the police were shooting orange liquid filled canisters at the crowd. Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War was colorless. It was called agent orange because of the orange stripe around the middle of the fifty five gallon barrel it was stored in. It was not orange. However, a Turkish protester seeing this substance being shot would think something is very wrong here. It is natural for them to question what police were shooting at them. If a protester was un-knowledgeable of the history of Monsanto, Dow, and the 5 other chemical company’s recipe for herbicide, it’s not a far leap for a protester to think the Turkish police, firing an orange substance at them could think they were using Agent Orange. At that point protesters believe it had gone well beyond crowd control. Instead the police were trying to kill protesters with chemical warfare.
Agent Orange wasn’t used as a crowd deterrent it was used to defoliate plant material. It was not sprayed directly on people as an act of chemical warfare. However, many were indirectly sprayed with Agent Orange during its use in Vietnam. Many U.S. and Vietnamese soldiers and Vietnamese civilians have recounted times when they were exposed by aerial spray. Others were exposed when handling the chemical with no protective gear, working or living in areas that had been defoliated, or drinking contaminated water or food. The U.S. Military has fought back against outrage that Agent Orange was used as chemical warfare. They state it was used strictly as vegetation control, an agricultural chemical. The problems with the herbicides used in Vietnam were they were toxic. They were contaminated with an industrial byproduct called dioxin. Dioxin is one of the deadliest known contaminants to man. Production of Agent Orange ended in the 1970’s.
The process of dying at the hands of Agent Orange is a long painful process, with the exception of Chloacne, which appears shortly after acute exposure; symptoms of exposure do not surface for years. Police are looking for quick responses in riot control situations.
A quick internet image search about the effects of Agent Orange on the children of Vietnam can leave a person horrified. Babies today are still being born in Vietnam with severe deformities, especially in areas where the deadly dioxin is still in high concentration in Vietnam’s soil. There are still twenty eight such places in South Vietnam today.
The plight of America’s Vietnam Veterans, Australian Veterans, and Vietnamese Veteran’s illnesses and battle to gain justice has been going on for over forty years. Children and grandchildren of all, who fought in the Vietnam War from around the globe, are currently pleading for those in power to recognize the birth defects and diseases they suffer from and believe are caused by their parent or grandparent’s exposure to Agent Orange. All of these groups cannot afford the reality of their life or death fight to be watered down or distracted from by Facebook and Twitter posts from Turkey.
So was this report from Turkey simply a misstep by a confused, uninformed protester, or was it something else? Could Turkish protesters have been trying to ride the impact of the fear associated with Agent Orange to gain more recognition for their county’s unrest? Or was it a simple mistake, which people perpetuated by not checking their facts? If the act by Turkish protesters was to gain international media exposure by claiming Agent Orange was used on them, it’s worked. The whole world did a double take when headlines read,” Turkish Riot Police, Starts Using Agent Orange,” all of the sudden the focus of the protest was lost.
There isn’t any evidence of Agent Orange being used in Turkey. Members of the media and activists must check the facts so disinformation is not spread. To be successful we must push ourselves to be knowledgeable before just clicking the share button.
The challenge is to stay focused to the matters at hand. Turkey is going through unrest. Agent Orange is continuing to kill people every day. Don’t confuse the two, and do not turn away, your attention matters.
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” ~ Mark Twain
© 2013 (COVVHA) Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC. All rights reserved.
BECOME A MEMBER OF CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS HEALTH ALLIANCE YOU WILL RECEIVE A ONCE DAILY EMAIL OF ANY BREAKING AGENT ORANGE NEWS AND RELATED TOPICS IN ADDITION TO ANY COVVHA UPDATES PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL IN THE BOX BELOW, A CONFIRMATION LINK WILL BE SENT TO YOUR EMAIL. YOU MUST OPEN THE EMAIL AND CLICK THE CONFIRMATION LINK TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.Agent Orange Okinawa
No bases visited, no vets interviewed for Pentagon probe into dioxin in Okinawa BY JON MITCHELL JUN 4, 2013 ISSUES | THE FOREIGN ELEMENTAs evidence of Agent Orange in Okinawa stacks up, U.S. sticks with blanket denial
Evidence ignored in Pentagon probe: A picture supplied by Kris Roberts, the former maintenance chief at Futenma air station, shows the worksite where he says he unearthed some 100 barrels of Agent Orange in 1981. Roberts, who is now a state representative in New Hampshire. | JON MITCHELL
In April 2011, these Community pages published the first accounts of sick U.S. veterans who believe their illnesses were caused by exposure to Agent Orange on Okinawa during the Vietnam War era.
Since that initial article, The Japan Times has published a further dozen stories in which retired service members alleged toxic herbicides were stored and sprayed on the island — as well as buried in large volumes on Futenma air station and in what is now a popular tourist area in Chatan Town. Japanese former base workers have corroborated veterans’ accounts and photographs seem to show barrels of these herbicides on Okinawa. U.S. military documents cite the presence of Agent Orange there during the 1960s and ’70s.
Suggestions that these poisonous substances were widely used on their island have worried Okinawa residents, and politicians including Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima have demanded that the U.S. government come clean on the issue.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon revealed that it had concluded its own nine-month investigation into allegations reported by The Japan Times and other newspapers. On Feb. 19 the results of this investigation were announced at a meeting attended by representatives from the State Department, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and diplomats from the Embassy of Japan.
Authored by retired air force Col. Alvin Young, the investigation boiled down the allegations into seven points — and then dismissed them one by one.
In response to veterans’ claims that ships had transported Agent Orange via the island on their way to Vietnam, the investigation stated that such vessels were not designed for the delivery of barrels, and nor were there any shipping records that supported veterans’ allegations. The investigation also cited documents — long believed destroyed — which it claimed supported its assertion that Agent Orange had been delivered directly from the U.S. to Vietnam without passing through Okinawa.
Another issue addressed by the investigation was a 2003 U.S. Army report titled “An Ecological Assessment of Johnston Atoll” that stated that 25,000 barrels of Agent Orange had been on Okinawa prior to 1972. The investigation dismissed this by arguing that its authors “were not DoD [Department of Defense] employees, nor were they likely familiar with the issues surrounding Herbicide Orange.” The Pentagon further distanced itself from the 25,000-barrel statement, claiming it was “inaccurate and does not reflect the facts as known to the Army or to the U.S. Government.”
A second U.S. Army report, which cited the presence of a herbicide stockpile at Kadena Air Base in 1971, was also repudiated by the investigation — this time on the basis that a follow-up report, prepared three years later in 1974, “did not identify any stockpiles of Herbicide Orange . . . in Okinawa.”
In conclusion, the investigation stated: “After an extensive search of all known and available records, there were no documents found that validated the allegations that Herbicide Orange was involved in any of these events [the burials at Chatan and Futenma], nor were there records to validate that Herbicide Orange was shipped to or through, unloaded, used or buried on Okinawa.”
Following the release of the full 29-page text of the investigation in March, scientists, veterans and environmental groups disputed the veracity of its contents.
Former U.S. stevedores stationed on Okinawa questioned how the Pentagon had been able to come up with shipping records for Agent Orange when they’d been told such documents had been destroyed long ago. Other veterans argued that the Pentagon’s disowning of the 2003 Army report that cited 25,000 barrels on the island was disingenuous — had it not been thoroughly screened by the Department of Defense in the first place, its publication would never have been permitted. The same veterans also suggested that the reason why the later report failed to mention the Agent Orange stockpile at Kadena was because it had been removed from the island in 1972. That year, the U.S. shipped its herbicide stockpiles from around the world to Johnston Island in the northern Pacific for eventual destruction in 1977.
As well as highlighting the apparent discrepancies in the investigation, many critics also questioned the Pentagon’s choice of author, Alvin Young. They cited previous funding he received from the manufacturers of Agent Orange — Monsanto and the Dow Chemical Co. — and his close ties to the Department of Defense. Mark Wright, a spokesman for the Pentagon, defended Young by stating he is “a world-recognized and published authority on the topic” of Agent Orange.
However, of most concern to experts and veterans was what the investigation failed to do. No bases on Okinawa where Agent Orange had allegedly been stored were visited. The photographic evidence was not addressed and, perhaps most tellingly, none of the eyewitnesses making these claims were interviewed.
“It’s like saying that if there wasn’t a paper trail, then it didn’t happen. The report clearly wanted to emphasize that there was nothing in the files they looked at, but that’s only one type of evidence,” said Richard Clapp, professor emeritus at Boston University School of Public Health.
Singled out for particular criticism by Clapp, who has 30 years’ experience researching Agent Orange, was the investigation’s failure to interview any of the U.S. veterans claiming exposure. In July 2012, for example, 10 former service members wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate volunteering testimony on the issue, but none of them was contacted for the Pentagon investigation.
Kris Roberts, the former maintenance chief at Futenma air station who claimed to have unearthed barrels of Agent Orange on the installation in 1981, thinks he knows the reason why he wasn’t interviewed.
“Being a retired lieutenant colonel with five medals for superior performance gives me a high degree of creditability. There is no doubt in my mind that they decided in advance not to contact me — but there is no excuse whatsoever for this,” said Roberts, who is now a state representative in New Hampshire.
Wright told The Japan Times the Pentagon had not interviewed any veterans because it had wanted to make “best use of government resources.” He also appeared keen to emphasize that the Pentagon was not accusing the dozens of veterans of fabricating their accounts. They “remembered actual events that happened. … However, the source documents showed that, while these events took place, either the material involved was not Herbicide Orange or the location was not Okinawa.”
Herbicide expert Clapp also criticized the investigation’s failure to conduct soil checks. “One of the obvious ways to resolve conflicting — or missing — evidence is to test environmental samples taken now from sites where burial was alleged to have happened. Ideally this should be done by an independent contractor familiar with environmental and wildlife reservoirs of Agent Orange and its dioxin contaminants.”
Although dioxin, the poison found in Agent Orange, is quickly broken down by sunlight, it can remain toxic for decades when buried underground. On former U.S. military storage areas in Vietnam, for example, the soil remains polluted more than 40 years later, and local residents exhibit high levels of contamination and continue to suffer from associated health problems.
Despite a 1973 Japan-U.S. Joint Committee agreement that allows local leaders to request environmental tests on bases located in their communities, the U.S. military and the Japanese government have refused to permit them. For example, in September 2011, demands from Nago City Council for dioxin tests on Marine Corps Camp Schwab — a base believed to have been a storage area for Agent Orange — were turned down.
The investigation’s failure to address potential contamination dismayed Masami Kawamura, director of environmental policy and justice at the Citizens’ Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa, an NGO calling for a full inquest into Agent Orange usage on the island.
“Even though the investigation was submitted on an intergovernmental level between Japan and the U.S., it was substandard. Washington wanted to bring closure to the issue of Agent Orange on Okinawa, but what it really showed was that the U.S. government looks down on the government of Japan. It didn’t think that the Japanese government would analyze the report in any detail.”
Kawamura’s suspicions would appear to be correct: Tokyo has not commented on the investigation, either to endorse or question its findings. But it might soon regret such acquiescence. In April, it was announced that over the coming years, some of the U.S. bases at the center of Agent Orange allegations would be returned to civilian control. These installations include Futenma air station and Makiminato Service Area in Urasoe city, where veterans claim the military kept its main stockpile of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
If the Pentagon conducted environmental tests on these installations and the results revealed Agent Orange dioxins, U.S. service members currently stationed there would undoubtedly demand remediation. Washington is particularly sensitive to pollution worries among its troops in the wake of recent revelations regarding drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where as many as 750,000 service members and their families were exposed to harmful substances. In 2012, Congress was forced to pass an act in an attempt to resolve the problem.
However, if the Pentagon can delay environmental tests on its Okinawa bases until the land reverts to civilian control — currently scheduled to occur after 2022 — it will be able to shift the cost of clean-up onto the shoulders of Japanese taxpayers. Under the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, Washington is absolved of all responsibility to restore military land formerly under its control to safe environmental levels.
So how much would such remediation cost?
In April, a meeting in Naha pegged the price of cleaning up former military land on Okinawa at ¥60 billion — approximately $600 million. However, these estimates were only based upon the presence of pollutants such as mercury and lead. Factoring Agent Orange’s dioxin into calculations, the costs could skyrocket to a price tag potentially approaching $1 billion.
Given these figures — in addition to the compensation exposed veterans would be liable to claim — the Pentagon’s need to continue its denials is perhaps understandable. Herb Worthington, head of the Vietnam Veterans of America Agent Orange and Other Toxic Substances Committee, is only too familiar with such a stance. His organization led the campaign to secure assistance for U.S. veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam — a struggle that only bore fruit in 1991, when Washington finally agreed to compensate sick service members.
“Eventually, I am sure that Okinawa will be proven to have used or stored Agent Orange,” he said. “But by the time it is admitted, most of the outspoken veterans will have passed away. The mantra of our government agencies is ‘deny, deny, deny.’ ”
Keep Reading Via – http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/04/issues/as-evidence-of-agent-orange-in-okinawa-stacks-up-u-s-sticks-with-blanket-denial/#.UazIiUDVCVN
ATTENTION READERS — Please take time to read the following article linked below,
U.S. veterans who served in Okinawa believe Agent Orange caused their children’s ailments
It talks about the second generation of our population whose dads serves on Okinawa, and in Vietnam. Jon does a great job of tying it all together. There is also a quote by Heather Bowser and a reference to COVVHA.
Please go to the article and share it on your FB wall. Jon is about to have a big article released in a few hours that challenges one of the biggest nay-sayers in Agent Orange history, Alvin Young. He was the forefront of making our Dads get denied in the years prior to 91.
Alvin has swooped in to help the govt. cover up AO on Okinawa, JP very recently. Jon will be really putting it out on the limb for us in the next few hours. PLEASE read, PLEASE Share. He needs to know our community supports the risks he is taking professionally and personally.
Read - ‘Okinawa bacteria’ toxic legacy crosses continents, spans generations – Via – http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/04/issues/okinawa-bacteria-toxic-legacy-crosses-continents-spans-generations/#.UazbskDVCVO
Agent Orange, Vietnam War, Operation Baby Lift
“I’ve watched bombs fall out of the sky and blow up the ponds where my mother, siblings and I had been sitting just moments ago, looking over my Mom’s shoulder as she held all three of us kids and just ran for our lives. We watched the ponds just explode and the water and debris come right at us. The force of it so strong, it had to be by sheer determination to live, and protect her children, she would make it safely to the tree line, so we could hide yet again. Oh, the heat that followed, to this day I still have horrible nightmares about so many things from back home.”
Linda is an Amerasian woman, born in 1972 in Saigon, Vietnam. The term Amerasian was coined to define Asian born children fathered by U.S. Military men, and has been used to describe children from Japan, Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines in an attempt to stop the negative term half-breed. I called Linda on a spring afternoon. I knew I was about to hear a story so important, all I could do is take a deep breath to relax before dialing her number.
Linda is currently forty-one years old and married with two grown children. She told me that only now is she able to talk about her life in Vietnam before evacuating to the United States without having many nightmares in the nights to follow. Sharing that she didn’t understand why, while growing up she had so many recurring terrifying nightmares, Linda said it was finally, after a particularly rough night that she broke down and asked both of her parents to tell her if she was having just horrendous nightmares or if they were in fact suppressed memories pushing to come thru to the surface. Both of her parents confirmed her worst fears; that they were indeed very vivid memories of exact things that had happened in Vietnam before they evacuated. Linda had been just three years old when they suddenly left her homeland and her grandmother forever.
Linda’s mother, Xuan, lived in Saigon. She was marked from day one. You see, there was a myth in Vietnam that if you delivered twins, you had slept with two men. Her mother was an identical twin and as a result of the stigma, lived a very difficult life. At age sixteen, she was basically given into slavery by her biological father, whom she didn’t know. Given to a step-sister, Xuan was made to sleep outside on the porch and given only scraps of food after the rest of the household had eaten. She got word that the U.S. PX was hiring, and, knowing that she had to get away from her imprisonment, Xuan went and applied. Beaten severely by the other women who were also applying for the position, by some twist of fate she secured the job. It was during her time working in the PX that Xuan met the man who would later become her husband. William, A.KA. Sarge, courted her with a Coca-Cola and a Hershey bar one day. Xuan said no one had ever been kind to her and she had never tasted anything so sweet. They were smitten by each other. William set her up in an apartment away from her cruel life, but soon after, he was called back home because his mother was seriously ill. Xuan said she had thought it may be the last time she would see him.
Having already served five years in the military, when Sarge was home, instead of taking his discharge, he re-enlisted. His time and experience eventually placed him in an office job by the end of his career in Saigon, however, he had seen intense fighting in the jungles as an infantry man, and told Linda that he was sprayed with Agent Orange several times and that he practically bathed in the herbicide. Linda was born in 1972, and at two years old literally died of Malaria, but was brought back to life by a doctor under the eyes of Linda’s father, who Linda described as able to be an intensely intimidating man, and who threatened the doctor if he did not resuscitate his daughter. In addition, at three years of age, Linda was diagnosed with Spina Bifida.
The war continued, and on April, 4, 1975, a warning siren went off in her town’s square. Immediately jumping into action, Linda’s father gathered his family, telling them a jeep was on its way to pick them all up. Linda remembers walking outside and seeing a mountainside covered in troops advancing towards their village. At just three years old, she said she thought they were the good guys; they weren’t. The Viet Cong were quickly approaching. The jeep arrived and Linda recalls how quickly everyone was shoved into it. Throwing her into the back, Linda bumped her head and hit her knee. Also loaded into the vehicle was her grandmother, who cared for her and had never before ridden in a vehicle. Her father jumped in last as the Jeep was pulling away. Linda described a large field with several large planes, and her father rushing around trying to get the family’s papers signed. He was holding them all tightly, as the M.P.’s were yelling for women and children to board the next departing flight. Trying to separate Sarge from his wife and children, the M.P.’s were pushing him, shouting “Women and half breeds now!” “They will stay with me,” Sarge barked back, “We will stay together or we won’t go!”
The plane the family would have been on had he relented to the M.P’s took off, barely leveling out before exploding in mid-air. Linda remembers being on her mother’s hip, watching what remained of the plane fall back to earth, sharing that while she had no idea what she had just witnessed, it was the first time she ever saw her father cry. According to DOD figures, 138 people were killed in the crash, including 78 children and 35 Defense Attaché Office Saigon personnel. Linda’s grandmother’s evacuation was not approved, and the chaotic time at the airfield was the last time Linda saw her grandmother. With the rest of the family shoved onto a large cargo plane and headed for Guam, Linda said it was during a refueling stop in Guam that her little sister’s finger was amputated by accident in the door of the plane; an incident that delayed them two days while she received medical care.
Linda described another terrifying section of her journey to the U.S., sharing that at one point in the trip after Guam, she and her family were made to take refuge in an abandoned subway tunnel. Having to travel deep into it, there was no electricity and her father had only one small flashlight. They found there were other refugees deep inside, with mattresses lining the walls and a bucket used for a bathroom. Linda said they had no food or water and could not tell how many days passed in the complete darkness. She remembers being very parched, and that her father would leave the tunnel to try to find them food and water. Linda said she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be scared or not, whether bad guys were trying to find them. Taking her cues from her father, who didn’t seem scared, she said she tried not to be either. With no sheets of blankets, it was the first time in her life she had ever felt cold, it was always warm in Vietnam. There was also the day her father left to find his family some food and water but came back empty handed to his dehydrated, hungry family.
“He was so sad; he knew how hungry and thirsty we all were. The hardest part of the whole trip was seeing the look of defeat in his eyes. I remember thinking, what is this new life going to be like? He can’t even find us water. We had a home, why did we leave?”
Linda and her family relocated to Arkansas. The only “dark-skinned” child in her town, “I had never in my life seen so many white people,” she said, adding that despite getting beat up frequently, “I never got mad, I just figured they would eventually stop; I was a peaceful kid.” Linda said her mother clung to her traditional ways, refusing to use the modern appliances in their home and instead washing clothes on a rock in their bathtub and forcing her children to do the same. She raised her own vegetables and beef and fed her family traditional Vietnamese food from scratch. Linda shared that she had never seen the interior of a supermarket until she was much older, and that her aunt had to teach her how to buy things. This also made her feel different from the other white families; she just wanted to fit in.
Linda’s family continued to struggle, and her father’s drinking became progressively worse, and he would lash out at his children and wife. Linda described him as having terrible nightmares. Because of her broken English, Xuan was ridiculed by others when out in public, however no one dared said anything in front of Sarge; everyone was afraid of him. It was following a drunk- driving accident which injured someone that he later quit drinking. Linda said she misses her father, who died four years ago from complications of Alzheimer’s, having also suffered from heart disease and diabetes for years. Often wondering why his anger was almost never directed at her, Linda said when she was old enough she asked him. He replied that the day she was resuscitated because of Malaria, he made a pack with God that he would treat her like a treasure if she survived. Her siblings were not so lucky.
When she was young she worked as a cook and would often have to unload 100 pound boxes of meat. It wasn’t until she was 16 and collapsed at work and was taken to the hospital that x-ray of her back confirmed her Spina Bifida, a diagnosis her father had failed to mention to her. Linda had to eventually give up working and fought having to file for disability because she felt too young to be disabled. It wasn’t until after several episodes of having to be carried to her vehicle or into her home by her co-workers that she realized it was time.
Linda’s Spina Bifida has become complicated by Spondylolisthesis, a condition in which vertebra in the spine slip out of the proper position onto the bone below it. She’s had two spinal surgeries; one of which led to Osteoporosis, after a doctor actually shattered her hip. Her spine is not Linda’s only pressing health concern. Shortly after her children were born, she required a partial hysterectomy at the age of 24, and later, her ovaries were removed because of a rapidly growing cyst that grew from 5cm to the size of volleyball very rapidly. Linda’s medical issues continue with endocrine problems that include a thyroid goiter, and hormone dysfunction. At age, 35 she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Placed on heart medication and large daily dose of Lasix, there have also been times that due to extreme swelling, she has required hospitalization to drain fluid from around her lungs. In addition, Linda has Multiple Sclerosis. Today, she takes 17 different medications to keep functioning.
Mentally, Linda says she still has nightmares and struggles with extreme Panic Disorder. Sharing that there have been times she has left a full grocery cart in the middle of the aisle to make a quick escape, Linda said she finds it excruciating to leave the house, and when military planes fly over their home; she instinctively wants to fall to the floor. Linda believes her health conditions are caused by her father’s and her mother’s exposure to Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant the U.S. Military sprayed over Southern Vietnam to kill the vegetation. Veterans were told the chemical was safe, only to come home and become ill. Although the Veterans Administration has recognized Spina Bifida as a birth defect caused by Agent Orange in the Children of Male Vietnam Veterans, Linda has never filed for benefits from the VA because the VA will not recognize Spina Bifida Occulta, which is the type she believes she has. “I know I would have to get an attorney to fight it,” she said.
Many Children of Vietnam Veterans with Spina Bifida are turned down because they have Occulta type. However, sources have told (COVVHA) Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC. that some children of Male Vietnam Veterans have won suits against the VA to get compensation for Occulta type Spina Bifida. They have found the VA has granted compensation, in return for the cases to be sealed. Sources also report, the VA cannot claim that Occulta is an exception, Spina Bifida, is Spina Bifida and they cannot separate it from the other types and deny it. It is strongly suggested that those seeking a claim are acquire a lawyer.
Linda has never returned to her homeland of Vietnam, but she said she would love to go back and find where she came from. Also curious about her grandmother, wondering if she is still alive and wanting to pay her respects if she is not. She said her mother would never want her to go back to her homeland, as Xaun, who suffers from Diabetes and heart problems stemming from her exposure to Agent Orange, is terrified Linda would be held by communist and never be allowed to return. Linda does not share her Mother’s fears, and wants to visit Vietnam someday. As for Agent Orange, Linda has watched over the years, seeing the devastation it has caused to the children in Vietnam. She said her heart breaks when she considers the environmental damage, and she dreams of the day when Dioxin is out of the soil in Vietnam so no one else has to suffer. In the United States, she would like to see the government take the concerns of the Children of Vietnam Veterans seriously, with more research and compensation for the ill.
At 41 Linda, who lives with her husband and helps take care of her young grandchild, looks back at her life and finally understands the connection to the nightmares. She wishes the war wouldn’t have followed her into her current health, and now keeps a close watch on her grown children, both of whom have issues with their back. Having seen what their mother has gone through, Linda said both are afraid to be diagnosed. Choosing to ignore it in a sense may for them make it not seem real. For Linda it is very real.
© 2013 Heather A. Bowser, LPCC(COVVHA) Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC. All rights reserved. BECOME A MEMBER OF CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS HEALTH ALLIANCE YOU WILL RECEIVE A ONCE DAILY EMAIL OF ANY BREAKING AGENT ORANGE NEWS AND RELATED TOPICS IN ADDITION TO ANY COVVHA UPDATES PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL IN THE BOX BELOW, A CONFIRMATION LINK WILL BE SENT TO YOUR EMAIL. YOU MUST OPEN THE EMAIL AND CLICK THE CONFIRMATION LINK TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.
Organic and Non-GMO Food List Shopping Guide – Updated April 2013
GMO Food List and Organic Shopping Guide – Updated
Here’s a Quick List of 10 Popular Brands that are not GMO, according to their site:
- Amy’s Kitchen
- Annie’s Homegrown
- Arrowhead Mills
- Earth Balance
- Happy Baby Pouches
- Hodgson Mill
- Kettle Foods
- Kind Healthy Snacks
- Nasoya and Silk products for dairy free folks
- Zing Nutrition Bars
Read more Via: http://healthy-family.org/brands-that-are-not-gmo/
GMO SHOPPING GUIDE – How to avoid foods made with genetically modified organisms
GMO SHOPPING GUIDE – How to avoid foods made with genetically modified organisms
Introduction & Overview Page 3
Alternative Dairy Products Page 4
Baby Food & Infant Formula Page 4
Beverages Page 5
Body Care Products Page 5
Breads & Baked Goods Page 5
Candy, Chocolate & Sweeteners Page 6
Cereals & Breakfast Bars Page 6
Condiments, Oils, Dressings & Spreads Page 7
Dairy Products Page 7
Feed & Seed Page 8
Fruits & Vegetables Page 8
Grains, Beans & Flour Page 8
Herbs, Spices & Other Ingredients page 9
Meat, Fish & Eggs Page 9
Mercantile Page 9
Packaged/Frozen Meals Page 10
Pasta Page 10
Pet Products Page 10
Snack Foods & Bars Page 10
Soups & Sauces Page 11
Tofu, Tempeh & Alternative Meat Products Page 11
Vitamins & Supplements Page 12
Brands Enrolled—Not Yet Verified Page 12
Invisible GM Ingredients Page 14
Non GMO Shopping Guide by Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance
To be listed in a category, brands must have at least one product verified by the Non-GMO Project.
This does not mean that all of their products are verified.
To find out which products have qualified,
Visit NonGMOShoppingGuide.com
GMO’s – 12 Reasons To Avoid Them
GMO Monsanto
Let’s Face It, There will always be someone who looks at you like a deer in headlights when you try to explain why GMO’s are not safe. Maybe this will help.
1. GMOs are grown with toxic chemicals and resulting pesticide residues are known to be harmful to human health.
2. Research has shown that laboratory mammals fed GMOs suffer adverse effects that include damage to kidneys, liver, adrenal glands, spleen, and heart. Additionally, their immune systems were compromised and in some cases brain size was reduced.
Environmental harms.
3. GMO crops require huge amounts of chemicals that are harmful to soil, water, the atmosphere, and creatures. Although they are promoted as a technology to reduce pesticide usage, GM crops in the U.S. used greater than 26 percent more pesticides per acre in 2008 than non-GMO crops, based on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.
4. GMOs are actually increasing the need for stronger and more poisonous pesticides. For example, one agrochemical company is awaiting USDA approval of corn and soybeans resistant to 2, 4-D, a chemical related to Agent Orange.
5. GMOs are causing a growing epidemic of “superweeds.” These massive weeds have evolved a resistance to glyphosate, a chemical used on GM crops. Stronger toxic chemicals and soil-eroding tillage operations are required in order to eliminate superweeds.
6. GMOs contribute to global warming: GM crops require synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, which are responsible for approximately 60 percent of total emissions of nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more potent than CO2). GM crops use high amounts of fossil fuels through the production of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.
7. GMO practices contaminate our organic and local food systems. A report titled, Gone to Seed, found that 50 percent or more of non-GMO corn, canola, and soybean seed have been contaminated with GM genes.
8. Beneficial insects can be harmed. A Cornell University study showed that monarch butterflies suffered higher mortality rates when consuming milkweed leaves dusted with the Bt toxin associated with GM crops. And recently, pesticides called neonicotinoids have been blamed for the collapsing bee populations.
Harms to social and human rights.
9. GMOs are promoted as way to feed the world and mitigate hunger; however, numerous studies demonstrate that the GM crops do not produce higher yields as claimed. As one example, a USDA publication reports that “GM crops do not increase the yield potential.”
10. GMOs lead to corporate control over seed and food: Today only one company controls about 95 percent of GM seeds. This limits access to seeds, which are the center of food and life.
11. These large agri-corporations do not let farmers save seeds, a basic practice that has continued for centuries to ensure food security.
12. GMO agriculture is an extension of current industrial-farming practices that have resulted in the loss of family farms and farmer livelihoods around the globe.
Read Full Article by guest blogger Alberto Gonzalez, founder and CEO of GustOrganics
Agent Orange, Dioxin, GMO, Aspartame, Growth Hormones, Herbicides, PCBs,
The giant U.S. agribusiness Monsanto was found guilty on Monday Feb. 13, after being sued by a small farmer from Charente who had been poisoned by a herbicide. This event is a first in France. On the scale of the history of the one-hundred-year-old multinational, this sentence constitutes just one more episode in an already long record of court procedures.
PCBs, Agent Orange, dioxin, GMO, Aspartame, growth hormones, herbicides (Lasso and Roundup) … a number of products that have made the fortune of Monsanto, have been marred by health scandals and trials sometimes leading to their prohibition. But nothing has so far hindered the irresistible rise of this former chemical giant who converted back to biogenetics and has mastered the art of lobbying. Portrait of a multinational multi-recidivist.
A chemical giant …explosive
Since its creation in 1901 in St. Louis, the small producer of saccharin that became one of the leading seed producers on the planet, has continued to make headlines. After the Second World War, the accidental explosion of a Monsanto plastics factory caused by a French freighter loaded with nitrate, which caused 500 deaths in Texas City in 1947, has remained in history as one of the first disasters of the chemical industry.
PCBs: the trial of shame
In 2001, 3,600 inhabitants of the city of Anniston, Alabama, attacked Monsanto for PCB contamination. According to a report, declassified by the U.S. Agency of Environmental Protection (EPA), Monsanto for almost forty years dumped thousands of tons of contaminated waste in a stream and an open garbage dump in the heart of a black neighborhood in the city.
Agent Orange: convinced of “poisoning”
During these same years, between 1961 and 1971, Monsanto produced Agent Orange, made up from the herbicide 2,4,5-T, whose dangerousness has been widely known ever since the explosion of the Nitro plant. This defoliant was massively dumped by U.S. aircraft over Vietnamese forests during the war. The consequences are still felt today, with many cancers and birth defects occurring in Vietnam, as well as various effects felt by many U.S. veterans.
In the 1970s, the Vietnam veterans opened a class action against the manufacturers of Agent Orange. Monsanto, alongside six other companies, was found to be the major guilty party in a lawsuit concerning damages for poisoning. In 1987, the seven manufacturers of Agent Orange were sentenced to pay $ 180 million to a compensation fund to U.S. soldiers.
During the trial, Monsanto presented scientific studies showing no link between exposure to dioxin and the cancers suffered by many veterans, in order to dismiss their action. It was demonstrated in the early 1990s that the studies based on the consequences of the explosion at the Nitro plant in 1949 were biased.
This scientific fraud is confirmed by the National Research Council, which found that Monsanto’s studies “suffer from misclassification between those exposed and not exposed to dioxin, and that this scientific fraud is confirmed by the National Research Council, and that they were biased in order to obtain the desired effect. “The case will be brought up again in 1990 by Greenpeace and the researcher Joe Thornton in a report entitled Science for Sale.
Read The Entire Article for more on Is Roundup herbicide toxic?, Herbicide Lasso : off sale, Growth Hormones: scandal on Fox News, GMO: Law suits galore, Aspartame health scandal,
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Monsanto-a-half-century-o-by-Soren-Seelow-Le-M-120325-363.html
Agent Orange COVVHA CO-Founders Announcement
Kelly L. Derricks will be speaking at The Philadelphia PA March Against Monsanto Location
This Saturday May 25, 2013
Heather A. Bowser will be speaking at The Akron OH March Against Monsanto Location
This Saturday May 25, 2013
Event Links Have Been Attached Below For More Details
GMO Agent Orange Monsanto
March Against Monsanto Resources and Information Links
Please Use The Following Link To Print Agent Orange Awareness Flyers
http://covvha.net/agent-orange-covvha-flyer-for-march-against-monsanto-events-public-posting
Please Use The Following Link To View Truth Teller’s Millions Against Monsanto Video
http://covvha.net/gmo-agent-orange-speech-given-by-truth-teller-at-millions-against-monsanto-nyc
Please Use The Following Link To View Monsanto’s Corporate Connection Map
http://covvha.net/monsantos-top-corporate-secrets-exposed/
Please Use The Following Link To Print A Single Page GMO Do Not Buy List
http://covvha.net/monsanto-gmo-brands-and-foods-printable-shopping-list
Please Use The Following Link For More GMO Resources
http://covvha.net/category/gm-food/
Please Use The Following Link To Find Your Local March Location
Locations Are Added Every 5 Minutes
Pesticide Poisoning Resources
http://www.getipm.com/sitemap.htm
Chemical and Pesticide Poisoning Research
Get Involved, Other are: Links for Environmental Activitists
Links to Sites on Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)
News and Articles on the Environment
Fight against the Poison (Chemical and Pesticide) Industry
Alternatives / Solutions for those seeking a chemical and pesticide free life.
Kids / Schools healthy environment
Monsanto Corporate Connections.
Apple Products Must Have Flash Players.
Browser Recommendation – Google Chrome.
I have been sitting on this information for several weeks now. Un-sure of how to present it to thousands of people, I have spent many hours becoming familiar with the project. It is an amazing piece of work that I have been navigating like a video game of sorts. I am offering this to all of you now so that everyone has an idea of what is going on in our World, Nation, States, Cities, and Towns behind closed doors.
I have started everyone with Monsanto’s Map. Each line draws a connection to another company. Each chair is yet another connection. Everything is “clickable” as well as allowing you to move the screen…Yes that’s correct, tap your mouse of the screen and drag it left right down up, and you will see the map expand.
After you become familiar with the idea of what you are navigating, Take your attention to the left hand side of the page. There you will find a world of links that you can learn to use individually. As an example, If you click on “companies” Box A and Box B will appear. You can then scroll on a list of companies to choose to see if they are connected to each other.
Please be patient when the program loads, after you watch the introduction, you will without a doubt know what you are seeing in front of your own eyes.
Enjoy.
I encourage everyone to SHARE… PLEASE DO NOT SEPARATE THE LINKS!!!! I worked very hard on this post so that everyone understood what they were looking at.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke)
2013 All Rights Reserved
Agent Orange – Infertility In Children Of Vietnam Veterans
“You Might Be Infertile Because Your Grandparents Were Mucking Around in Harmful Chemicals”
New research shows that if your grandmother or even your great-grandmother came in contact with some very common environmental chemicals, you could be suffering the consequences today in the form of male infertility, ovarian disease and the early or late onset of puberty.
It’s freaky when you think about it. It means that generations ago, for example, a pregnant woman was exposed to, say, DEET, the most common insect repellant in the whole world. Her baby grew up to have his own children and passed along mutations that occurred during mom’s exposure. Those children went on to also pass along those changes when they had their own kids, and there’s no telling how many future generations might be affected.
Michael Skinner and his colleagues at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, published data supporting this phenomenon today in Public Libray of Sciences. In addition to DEET, they looked at several other common chemicals including those found in soft plastics, pesticides, and jet fuel. They also looked at dioxin, the contaminant in Agent Orange.
Skinner and his colleagues have published several other studies looking at a chemical called vinclozolin, a common fungicide used on crops. They found it impaired fertility, and that the effect was carried down through generations. Now, the scientists are adding BPA, phthalates, pesticides, DEET, permethrin, dioxin, jet fuel, hydrocarbons, and JP8 to the list of chemicals with a similar effect.
“We didn’t expect them all to have transgenerational effects, but all of them did,” Skinner told me. “I thought hydrocarbon would be negative but it was positive too. This tells us that it’s not simply a unique aspect for a unique compound but that many environmental compounds have the ability to do this.”
The reasons behind choosing which chemicals to study partly came from the Department of Defense, which initiated the study. Why jet fuel? Because military bases spray it on roads to control dust. That’s also why they looked at three plastic compounds found in disposable water bottles: troops stationed overseas almost always drink bottled water.
AGENT ORANGE COVVHA FLYER – March Against Monsanto Events & Public Posting
Agent Orange Flyer by COVVHA for public postings and March Against Monsanto Events. During the Vietnam war era, Monsanto acting as contractors for the United States Gov’t produced the most lethal concentrations of Agent Orange. Millions internationally are dying from exposure and are being born after 4 generations with debilitating birth defects.
Please use the PDF DOWNLOAD link at the bottom left, save and print.
This File is verified safe by COVVHA when downloaded from the link given on this article.
Agent Orange Prostate Cancer and related Diseases
(Reuters Health) – Men who were exposed to Agent Orange chemicals used during the Vietnam War are at higher risk for life-threatening prostate cancer than unexposed veterans, researchers have found.
By Genevra Pittman
NEW YORK | Mon May 13, 2013 12:23 am EDT
“This is a very, very strong predictor of lethal cancer,” said urologist Dr. Mark Garzotto, who worked on the study at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oregon.
“If you’re a person who’s otherwise healthy and you’ve been exposed to Agent Orange, that has important implications for whether you should be screened or not screened,” he told Reuters Health.
But one researcher not involved in the new study said it’s hard to take much away from it, given the imprecise way it measured exposure.
Agent Orange – named after the giant orange drums in which the chemicals were stored – was used by the U.S. military to destroy foliage, mainly in southern Vietnam. The herbicide was often contaminated with a type of dioxin, a potently carcinogenic chemical.
The Vietnam Red Cross Society has estimated that up to one million Vietnamese suffered disabilities or health problems as a result of Agent Orange, including children born with birth defects years after their parents were exposed.
Past research has also suggested that U.S. veterans who served where Agent Orange was used are at an increased risk of lymphoma and certain other cancers, including prostate cancer.
For the new study, researchers wanted to see whether exposure was more closely linked to slow-growing prostate cancers or aggressive tumors.
They analyzed medical records belonging to 2,720 veterans who were referred to the Portland VA for a prostate biopsy. About one in 13 of those men had been exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, according to their VA intake interviews.
One third of all men in the study were diagnosed with prostate cancer, about half of which were high-grade cancers – the more aggressive and fast-growing type.
When the researchers took men’s age, race, weight and family history of cancer into account, they found those with Agent Orange exposure were 52 percent more likely than unexposed men to have any form of prostate cancer.
Separating out different types of tumors showed the herbicide was not linked to an increased risk of slower-growing, low-grade cancer. But it was tied to a 75 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer, the study team reported Monday in the journal Cancer.
“The increase in the rate of cancers was almost exclusively driven by the potentially lethal cancers,” said Garzotto, also from Oregon Health & Science University.
More research is needed to figure out exactly why that is, he said. In the meantime, Garzotto said veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange should discuss that with their doctors.
But Dr. Arnold Schecter, from the University of Texas School of Public Health’s Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Program in Dallas, said there’s a “big problem” with just asking veterans if they were exposed to Agent Orange or served in an area where it was sprayed.
“Of those most heavily exposed in the military as best we know, only a relatively small percentage of them had elevated dioxin from Agent Orange in their blood when tested by (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” he told Reuters Health.
Schecter said that in Vietnam, people who have high levels of that type of dioxin in their blood live in places where the chemical has become integrated into the food supply – or were sprayed directly with Agent Orange.
Another researcher who has studied the effects of Agent Orange agreed that not having blood dioxin levels is a drawback, but said the findings are consistent with past research and general thinking about the chemical.
“Almost all studies have implicated that men with Agent Orange (exposure) either have higher-grade prostate cancer or a more aggressive clinical course,” said Dr. Gregory Merrick, head of Wheeling Hospital’s Schiffler Cancer Center in West Virginia, who also wasn’t involved in the new research.
But, he added, as long as men are getting into the VA system and getting regular evaluations and treatment for cancer, Agent Orange exposure “is not a death sentence by any means.”
SOURCE: bit.ly/gzHzeL Cancer, online May 13, 2013.
REUTERS - http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/13/us-agent-orange-cancer-idUSBRE94C03U20130513
AGENT ORANGE INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE OFFICIAL COVVHA TESTIMONY
There is a renewed push for the Institute of Medicine to take seriously the claims made by the Children of Vietnam Veterans and their families about the birth defects and illnesses they are suffering from. The adverse affects of the dioxin laden herbicide sprayed over the jungles of Vietnam, AKA Agent Orange, have been well known since the government first admitted in 1991 to cause illnesses in Vietnam Veterans. For years, the veterans and their families have been saying birth defects and rare illnesses have affected their children’s health. These anomalies and illnesses are not only happening in the children of Vietnam Veterans (2nd generation), but now are showing up in alarming numbers in the grandchildren (3rd Generation) of Vietnam Veterans as well.
January 16, 2013, Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance (COVVHA) participated, in the public hearings for the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee to Review on the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans Exposure to Herbicides (Ninth Biennial Update) in Irvine, California. Tanya Mack, COVVHA Core Chairperson, and California resident, gave testimony on behalf of COVVHA to the committee. Tanya Mack is the Daughter of a recently, deceased Vietnam Veteran who succumbed service connected Agent Orange illnesses. She was born with severe hip dysplasia and has developed several rare aggressive cancers in her thirties which she is currently still fighting.
“The Institute of Medicine is an independent, nonprofit organization that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public (From the IOM website).” They have been commissioned to review biannually, the most current data available about herbicides and the health effects on our Veterans. In the past, the IOM have been responsible for getting new illnesses added to the presumptive list for our ailing Vietnam Veterans. Like On October 13, 2009, when, the Veterans Affairs added three new medical conditions for Vietnam Veterans presumptively associated with exposure to herbicides; hairy cell and other B-cell leukemia’s, Parkinson’s disease, and ischemic heart disease, to the list of covered illnesses.
Included in COVVHA’s report to the committee, were the number and types of illnesses and congenital anomalies found in the second and third generation members of COVVHA. This includes the ailments that mirror the Vietnam Veterans and the congenital anomalies found on the list of birth defects covered in the children of women Vietnam Veterans. Tanya Mack, shared several studies from the early eighties including Ranch Hand studies and a current epigenetic study from Washington State that show a correlation to trans-generational exposures to dioxin, with the committee for them to consider. Several recommendations were made as to the next actions to help the children of Vietnam Veterans in the most practical ways.
Three of COVVHA recommendations included approving the currently covered eighteen plus, birth defects for children of female Vietnam Veterans for the children of male Vietnam Veterans. The second recommendation included the request for free DNA and Epigenetic testing for the biological children of Vietnam Veterans as needed, and an official Agent Orange Registry for Children of Vietnam Veterans. COVVHA made several other recommendations that were included in their submitted testimony.
Highlights of other participant’s testimony:
Ken Holybee, Director at Large, of Vietnam Veterans of America. Ken pointed out in the Veterans and Agent Orange 2008 Update, the IOM Committee concluded that it was plausible exposure to herbicides that could cause paternally mediated effects in offspring as a result of epigenetic changes, and that such changes would most likely be attributable to the TCDD contaminants in Agent Orange. He urged the committee to follow up on their 2008 recommendations. Due to the continued suffering the VVA sees in the families who attend their Agent Orange Town Hall Meetings.
Debra Kraus, widow of a Vietnam Veteran, Activist and Artist, shared a slideshow presentation of her art that is based on her experience through her husband’s dealings with the V.A. and health issues.
Elayne Mackey, National Health Committee co-chair for the Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America (AVVA). AVVA recommends the creation of Centers of Excellence to provide for research, treatment, and social services for the offspring of veterans of all eras who have been exposed to toxins while in service to our country.
Wesley T. Carter, Chair of the C-123 Veterans Association, asked for two possibilities, the Department of Defense designates the contaminated -123 aircraft, by specific tail number, as Agent Orange exposure sites. The other for the VA to accept claims from veterans able to provide evidence of service aboard the aircraft known to have been contaminated.
Andy Olshan, PhD, Chair of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina and Kim Boekelheide, MD, PhD, Professor of Medical Science, Brown University phoned into the meeting. The Doctors gave their opinion on the likelihood of Paternal Transmission of Dioxin through Sperm. The Doctors stated that paternal transmission is relatively small because the male system is made to minimize the transmission of issues and that there is not enough evidence to support the theory that Dioxin is transmitted through sperm.
COVVHA is committed to serving as a voice for the children of Vietnam Veterans including second and third generation victims of Agent Orange and Dioxin Exposures worldwide. We believe in empowering each other to hold the companies and governments responsible for causing so much devastation and suffering to our generations. We fight for justice globally. We hope the IOM will make the responsible recommendations to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Please, see the full testimony submitted to the Institute of Medicine attached which also includes Tanya Mack’s personal health struggle with Agent Orange related birth defects and cancers.
COVVHA members and supporters who have joined our email subscription will also receive the Video of Tanya’s testimony. If you would like to receive the video and other information from COVVHA you can subscribe in the box below
Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Ninth Biennial Update… by View Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance’s profile on Scribd” href=”http://www.scribd.com/COVVHA1″>Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance
Camp LeJeune Toxic Water Health Update 2013
Camp LeJeune, NC – Marine Toxic Water Update 2013
On March 15, 2013 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released its “Chapter A: Summary and Findings” water modeling report for the Hadnot Point and Holcomb Boulevard Water Treatment Plants and Vicinities for Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/hadnotpoint.html). Enclosed you will find a copy of the ATSDR fact sheet about this report and other information from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Hadnot Point-Holcomb Boulevard Reports http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/
During 2007–2009, ATSDR published historical reconstruction results for Tarawa Terrace and vicinity. Results for Hadnot Point, Holcomb Boulevard, and vicinity—based on information gathering, data interpretations, and water-modeling analyses—are now presented as another series of ATSDR reports supporting current health studies.
Supplements
- Supplement 1: Descriptions and Characterizations of Data Pertinent to Water-Supply Well Capacities, Histories, and Operations [PDF, 2.06 MB]
- Supplement 2: Development and Application of a Methodology to Characterize Present-Day and Historical Water-Supply Well Operations [PDF, 20.13 MB]
- Supplement 3: Descriptions and Characterizations of Water-Level Data and Groundwater Flow for the Brewster Boulevard and Castle Hayne Aquifer Systems and the Tarawa Terrace Aquifer [PDF, 4.85 MB]
- Supplement 4: Simulation of Three-Dimensional Groundwater Flow [PDF, 9.31 MB]
- Supplement 5: Theory, Development, and Application of Linear Control Model Methodology to Reconstruct Historical Contaminant Concentrations at Selected Water-Supply Wells [PDF, 5.39 MB]
- Supplement 6: Source Characterization and Simulation of Fate and Transport of Selected Volatile Organic Compounds in the Vicinities of the Hadnot Point Industrial Area and Landfill
- Supplement 7: Source Characterization and Simulation of the Migration of Light Nonaqueous Phase Liquids (LNAPLs) in the Vicinity of the Hadnot Point Industrial Area [PDF, 4.01 MB]
- Supplement 8: Field Tests, Data Analyses, and Simulation of the Distribution of Drinking Water with Emphasis on Intermittent Transfers of Drinking Water Between the Hadnot Point and Holcomb Boulevard Water-Distribution System.
- READ MORE: http://www.atsdr.cdc.
gov/sites/lejeune/hadnotpoint. html#Chapter_A
Agent Orange Presumptive Exposure – Information For The Vietnam Veteran
Information (evidence) that the Veterans Administration (VA) requires from vets for filing a claim for Agent Orange Presumptive Exposure can be mind consuming. This likewise may also apply for the widow of a veteran when applying for Dependence Indemnity Compensation (DIC). In some cases, children of a Vietnam veteran who are disabled due to Agent Orange by way of conception if qualified might also apply for compensation. Children infected with Dioxin are known as second generation. There is now third generation children showing up with illness’s from Agent Orange Dioxin.
Steps to take in filing a VA claim:
Contact the nearest VA office by phone, letter or E-mail for VA claim forms. Most forms can be downloaded on the VA website atwww.va.gov. Follow all instructions. Mail the form/s to the nearest regional VA office with a copy of your DD-214. (address/s can be found on their website). Once submitted, the VA will send you other forms to file with them. A letter of instruction will also be enclosed with the additional forms.
Note:
Be sure to include Social Security Number, you are identified by your SS#. It is also advised, all mailings to the VA be sent registered mail with return receipt. This insures they did in fact receive the forms.
Evidence:
The VA will require evidence of service. DD-214, Lists of service medals; especially the Vietnam Service Medal (VSM). The VA will supply you with a form for your personal statement. They will want to know if you feel your illness exposure to Agent Orange is combat related. Did you have boots on ground or at sea or in the air. If at sea, were you in the territorial waters of Vietnam. If in the air, did you fly over land Vietnam. When it comes to Navy, Coast Guard, Fleet Marines, there are two values, (1) Blue Water (2) Brown Water. Blue Water meaning at sea in the territorial waters of Vietnam combat zones. Brown Water meaning the inland water ways and or harbors of Vietnam. Nearly all US Army and Marine Corp and some Air Force were in country Vietnam, This is boots on ground. Some US Navy were also boots on ground. You determine which and must prove it.
Important:
Every item of evidence you send to the VA in support of your claim, put your SS# on each page. Accompany evidence with a letter.
Additional Evidence (Medical):
Doctor/s reports for your medical condition. Only medical conditions listed by the VA are accepted that are related to Agent Orange exposure. The VA with normally request medical reports from your doctor/s. You sign a release form for them to do this. However, it is your responsibility to insure that your doctor/s comply. A list of medical conditions that the VA accepts can be found on their website at www.va.gov .
Additional Evidence (Military):
Transfer orders to Ship, Unit or Command. Award of the Vietnam Service Medal, Personnel files that show your service onboard ship or on land. If you do not have these records, they can be gotten.
Army: US Army Reserve Personnel Center, 9700 Page Blvd, St, Louis, Mo. 63132-5100
Air Force: Air Force Reference Branch, Military Personnel Records, 9700 Page Blvd St. Louis, Mo. 63132-5100
Marine Corp
Coast Guard
Navy Navy Personnel Command. Room 5409, 9700 Page Blvd,
St. Louis, Mo. 63131-5100
General: National Personnel Records Center
1 Archives Drive
St. Louis, Mo. 63138-1002
In writing, you must be specific what you want in the way of files. I.E. Duty Station/s, Unit, Command, Medals, DD-214
Additional Evidence (Military Other):
Deck Logs, Navy, Fleet Marine, Coast Guard: Onboard ship, deck logs are important. They record the operations of the day, to include ship’s location at sea; Heading, and longitude and latitude. These sailing details can be mapped out. Some deck logs can be found on line. It is best to contact the Archives first:
Archives 2 Reference Section, Textual Archives Service Division
National Archives
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, Md. 20740-6001
Ph# (301) 837-3510 Fax#(301) 837-1752
E-mail:
It is best to call first and ask if your ship is listed on line and what is the link.
You will need to give some detail information, Name and type of ship, Dates you think you were in the territorial waters of Vietnam (combat zone). Dates you think you were on inland water ways. Use a plus factor of approx. 8 to 10 days on both ends of the estimated dates; unless you do know the exact dates and time. The archives will do a records search, This could take up to 8 weeks to receive an response. There could be a small charge for the deck logs per page. There is the possibility that some deck logs are still classified, if so, the archive will have no record. Classified documents are nearly impossible to get. Not even your Congressman or Senator has clearance to get them. There were 714 Naval ships involved in the Vietnam war. The archives is a busy place. Let the archives know if your ship was designated Blue Water , Brown Water or both.
US Army Information:
There is a contact for Army info.
All request to the Army must be submitted on Standard Form 180
This form can be gotten by calling 1-888-276-9472
Or E-mail:
Or: access
Then click on ASK HRC
Note: This is a free service.
Other reliable sources for information and help:
www.bluewaternavy.orgwww.vnvets.com
Vietnam Veterans of America ph#1-800-vva1316
American Legion ph#1-202-861-2700
AmVets ph# 1-877-736-8387
Disabled American Veterans ph# 1-877-426-2838
Veterans of Foreign Wars ph# 1-816-756-3390
These veterans organizations can assign a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) to help with your case. Also contact your District member of US Congress and both of your States US Senators. It is their job to help you.
NOTE: When you do get approval from the VA and are rated for disability compensation, and are retired military, check the following website:
www.dafs.mil/retiredmilitary/
This website is only for those who retired from military service with 20 years active service or more, it is not for those who were disabled retired. To contact the author,please email John Bury at Jbury@Covvha.net
© John Bury 2013 (COVVHA) Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC. All rights reserved.
BECOME A MEMBER OF CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS HEALTH ALLIANCE
YOU WILL RECEIVE A ONCE DAILY EMAIL OF ANY BREAKING AGENT ORANGE NEWS AND RELATED TOPICS IN ADDITION TO ANY COVVHA UPDATES
PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL IN THE BOX BELOW, A CONFIRMATION LINK WILL BE SENT TO YOUR EMAIL. YOU MUST OPEN THE EMAIL AND CLICK THE CONFIRMATION LINK TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.
Agent Orange – Monsanto – GMO
March Against Monsanto 2013 season is here! Please read the following for important information.
Truth Teller 2013
On October 16, 2011, Kelly L. Derricks, also known as TRUTH TELLER traveled to New York City where she gave a public speech about Agent Orange after being invited by Millions Against Monsanto to participate in the rally event for World Food Day. Since then, the illness list she referenced reported by Children of Vietnam Veterans has grown to nearly 800 which are listed on the website of the Non-profit she Co-Founded, (COVVHA) Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC., with Heather A. Bowser.
Kelly has battled severe health issues since she was born that continue today. Some of her illnesses, presumed to be associated with the inter-generational effects of Agent Orange, include but are not limited to the following:
• Chronic kidney disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Addison’s disease
• Congenital adrenal hyperplaysia
• Intersticial cystitis.
*Her complete list of illnesses staggers to 35 different things.
Kelly will be speaking at the Philadelphia Location (Independence Mall) March Against Monsanto Event on Saturday May 25, 2013
Please Read Kelly’s Full Bio
Please Watch the video below
http://www.youtube.com/user/teppnme
© 2013 (COVVHA) Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC. All rights reserved.
BECOME A MEMBER OF CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS HEALTH ALLIANCE
YOU WILL RECEIVE A ONCE DAILY EMAIL OF ANY BREAKING AGENT ORANGE NEWS AND RELATED TOPICS IN ADDITION TO ANY COVVHA UPDATES
PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL IN THE BOX BELOW, A CONFIRMATION LINK WILL BE SENT TO YOUR EMAIL. YOU MUST OPEN THE EMAIL AND CLICK THE CONFIRMATION LINK TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.
Where To Find Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance On-Line
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GMO Toxicology – Long term toxicity of Roundup herbicide
The health effects of a Roundup -tolerant genetically modified maize (from 11% in the diet), cultivatedwith or without Roundup, and Roundup alone (from 0.1ppb in water), were studied 2years in rats. Infemales, all treated groups died 2–3 times more than controls, and more rapidly. This difference was vis-ible in 3 male groups fed GMOs. All results were hormone and sex dependent, and the pathological pro-files were comparable. Females developed large mammary tumors almost always more often than andbefore controls, the pituitary was the second most disabled organ; the sex hormonal balance was mod-ified by GMO and Roundup treatments. In treated males, liver congestions and necrosis were 2.5–5.5times higher. This pathology was confirmed by optic and transmission electron microscopy. Markedandseverekidneynephropathieswerealsogenerally1.3–2.3greater.Malespresented4timesmorelargepalpable tumors than controls which occurred up to 600days earlier. Biochemistry data confirmed verysignificant kidney chronic deficiencies; for all treatments and both sexes, 76% of the altered parameterswere kidney related. These results can be explained by the non linear endocrine-disrupting effects of Roundup, but also by the overexpression of the transgene in the GMO and its metabolic consequences.
Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act
Take Action and make your voice heard now!!!!!!
All Legislation Endorsed and/or Opposed Has Been Approved and Reviewed by Kelly L. Derricks
It has never been easier to write your State Representative and share your position on current legislation. C.O.V.V.H.A. has been making it even easier for members, fans and followers!! The days of getting your pens and papers out to send your letters are over!!!
An “action page” link has been set up for the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act H.R.1699 & S.809 which takes you directly to the specific legislation as well as an area for your Name, Zip Code, and YOUR VOTE. That’s it!!! You hit enter and your information is sent directly to your State Representative in letter form which you will receive a copy of via email.
Your VOICE does count, PLEASE, use it!!!
CLICK TO CAST YOUR HOUSE VOTE ON POPVOX NOW
CLICK TO CAST YOUR SENATE VOTE ON POPVOX NOW
I personally casted both of my votes and included the following statement to the United States House and Senate: I support H.R. 1699 (“To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require that genetically engineered food”) because… GMO foods are engineered with health threatening compounds and chemicals and then sprayed with half of the chemical compound used in the production of AGENT ORANGE. The U.S. Gov’t killed my Father at the age of 37 after serving in the Vietnam War. Agent Orange/DIOXIN was passed through his sperm mutating my DNA. I have to fight for my life every single day with more than 30 diagnosed illnesses at the age of 38 and so do tens of thousands of other Children of Vietnam Veterans who were exposed. Now the gov’t doesn’t care that we are being DOUBLE EXPOSED. That’s Capital Murder if you ask me. You’ll see me standing in a court room bringing charges of Murder against the United States Govt before you see me standing down on GMO.
The national Just Label It coalition applauded the introduction of bipartisan legislation today to require food manufacturers to inform consumers when packaged food contains genetically engineered ingredients.
The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act was introduced today by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR).
“Americans want to know more, not less, about their food,” said Katey Parker of Just Label It, which has more than 650 partner organizations. “More than 90 percent of Americans want the same rights as consumers in 64 countries around the world. It’s time to trust American consumers with information about genetically engineered ingredients so they can make the best choices for themselves and their families.”
More than 1 million Americans have petitioned FDA to require labeling on packaged food containing GE ingredients.
To view the Senate version of the bill, click here.
To view the House version of the bill, click here.
By: Just Label It
Posted on April 24, 2013
See more via – http://justlabelit.org/just-label-it-applauds-ge-labeling-bill/
CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS HEALTH ALLIANCE EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION
YOU WILL RECEIVE A ONCE DAILY EMAIL OF ANY BREAKING AGENT ORANGE NEWS AND RELATED TOPICS IN ADDITION TO ANY COVVHA UPDATES
PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL IN THE BOX BELOW, A CONFIRMATION LINK WILL BE SENT TO YOUR EMAIL. YOU MUST OPEN THE EMAIL AND CLICK THE CONFIRMATION LINK TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.
CURRENT EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR CONTACTS & HELP US RAISE AWARENESS
A note to C. Jack Ellis and David Oedel – What each of you “don’t get” is that while you banter back and forth, we sit hear dying. While the fight to bring justice to Vietnam Veterans and their children exposed Agent Orange rages on internationally, you both neglected to give your readers any information on where they can find help. Well gentleman, Here we are, (COVVHA) Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC. We respectfully ask that you stop arguing and start advocating. Kelly L. Derricks – President/Co-Founder (COVVHA) Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC.
ELLIS: David Oedel just doesn’t get it
Published: April 21, 2013 By C. JACK ELLIS — Special to The Telegraph
I have always considered David Oedel a friend; however, I am disappointed beyond belief with his attitude toward veterans in general and Vietnam veterans in particular, pertaining to the effects of Agent Orange.
Oedel is dead wrong on several of his pronouncements and assertions in his latest column in The Telegraph.
Let me be clear that my advocacy for veterans and their families did not begin when I first ran for elected office. The record will reflect that I have been on this journey since the 1970s when the Institute of Health discovered/revealed that the Agent Orange toxin was responsible for many ailments affecting Vietnam veterans and their offspring who were born with spina bifida shortly after their fathers returned from Vietnam.
Oedel states that my son was born in the early 1990s, which is not true. I returned from my first tour of duty in Vietnam in late 1968, and my son was born with spina bifida in late 1969. Most of the 2,200 children born with spina bifida to Vietnam veterans were conceived within a year after their fathers returned from Vietnam.
I guess Oedel’s way of thinking is that these 2,200 children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida shortly after their father’s return is just mere coincidence. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Oedel also stated in his April 14 column in The Telegraph) that children born to Vietnam veterans should not be compensated because they did not serve in the military. Oedel should know there are countless civilians affected by war. In the war zone, this is referred to as collateral damage.
Oedel went as far as quoting an ancient article in The New York Times as his source of information pertaining to Agent Orange and its effects on veterans and their offspring.
There was nothing casual about being sprayed with and/or operating in contaminated areas with this toxin for long periods of time. What was most shocking and appalling is Oedel’s assertion in his column that the thousands of Vietnam veterans suffering from prostate cancer because of Agent Orange and being compensated by the Veterans Administration are not deserving of such compensation. He further indicated that the only reason that our children are being compensated is because former President Bill Clinton needed to make amends with the military brass, so he decided to do so by throwing a bone to the veterans and their offspring.
For Oedel’s information, spina bifida and prostate cancer are not the only abnormalities caused by Agent Orange in which the VA is compensating veterans. The list is long. Among these include Hodgkin’s diseases, ischemic heart disease, multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease, respiratory cancers, diabetes and many others.
I am willing to bet that if Oedel and his offspring were suffering from such birth defects because of his exposure to a deadly toxin in combat that his attitude would be entirely different. I am inclined to believe that Oedel just doesn’t get it as it relates to veterans and their families being compensated with “largesse” for injuries caused in a war zone and beyond.
For whatever reasons, he insists on referring to these benefits as largesse or gifts from the government. Lastly, his implication that I and other politicians who fight for what’s rightfully due our veterans and their families are politically motivated. Those accusations are beyond the pale, and quite frankly, disgusting and insulting to every veteran who has worn the uniform, especially those who have worn it in combat, thus giving Oedel the right and freedom to state his uninformed opinions.
I feel Oedel owes an apology, not only to veterans, but politicians, as well. Oedel just doesn’t get it.
C. Jack Ellis is a retired Army non-commissioned officer and a former mayor of Macon.
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2013/04/21/2447140/ellis-david-oedel-just-doesnt.html
Read Oedel Article here : http://www.macon.com/2013/04/14/2437885/oedel-extra-benefits-as-largesse.html
