Fears grow as study shows genetically modified crops 'can cause liver and kidney damage'

By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 9:43 AM on 21st January 2010

An environmental campaigner protesting against GM crops. A study said it can cause organ damage.

Fresh fears were raised over GM crops yesterday after a study showed they can cause liver and kidney damage.

According to the research, animals fed on three strains of genetically modified maize created by the U.S. biotech firm Monsanto suffered signs of organ damage after just three months.

The findings only came to light after Monsanto was forced to publish its raw data on safety tests by anti-GM campaigners.

They add to the evidence that GM crops may damage health as well as be harmful to the environment.

The figures released by Monsanto were examined by French researcher Dr Gilles-Eric Seralini, from the University of Caen.

Yesterday he called for more studies to check for long-term organ damage.

'What we've shown is clearly not proof of toxicity, but signs of toxicity,' he told New Scientist magazine. 'I'm sure there's no acute toxicity but who's to say there are no chronic effects?'

The experiments were carried out by Monsanto researchers on three strains of GM maize. Two of the varieties contained genes for the Bt protein which protects the plant against the corn borer pest, while a third was genetically modified to be resistant to the weedkiller glyphosate. All three strains are widely grown in America, while one is the only GM crop grown in Europe, mostly in Spain.

Monsanto only released the raw data after a legal challenge from Greenpeace, the Swedish Board of Agriculture and French anti- GM campaigners.

'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.  But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American.  There can be no divided allegiance here.  Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.  We have room for but one flag, the American flag.  We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.  And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Enjoy the long weekend and stay in the safest place!

Idle thoughts of a retiree's wandering mind during 2009:

....I planted some bird seed.  A bird came up.  Now I don't know what to feed it.
 
....I had amnesia once -- or twice.
 
....Protons have mass?  I didn't even know they were Catholic.
 
....All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
 
....If the world was a logical place, men would be the ones who  ride horses sidesaddle.
 
....What is a "free" gift?  Aren't all gifts free?
 
....They told me I was gullible... and I believed them.
 
....Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.
 
....One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people.
 
....My weight is perfect for my height -- which varies.
 
....I used to be indecisive.  Now I'm not sure.
 
....The cost of living hasn't affected its popularity.
 
....How can there be self-help "groups"?
 
....Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground, and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off.
 
....Is it my imagination, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?
 
....Hopefully I'll figure this out in 2010.

May you and yours be blessed in this coming new year.
 

This is pretty cool.  You need to think fast.

For the rest of the article...
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&" title="http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&" target="_blank"http://blogs.myspace.com/inde...;friendID=62961422&bl ogID=525857585

*** Remember . . . they walk among us!!!***

Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.

Here is the glorious winner:

1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company, expecting negligence, sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer . . . $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan at 5 a.m., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away. [A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family . . . unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend.

RETARDED GRANDPARENTS

(this was actually reported by a teacher)

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they
spent their holiday away from school.

One child wrote the following:

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.

They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona .
Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.
They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.
They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well.
There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.
At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it.
He watches all day so nobody can escape.
Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts.
Nobody there cooks, they just eat out.
And, they eat the same thing every night --- early birds.
Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house.
The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.
My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too..
When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house..
Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

Just got scammed outta $25! Bought Tiger Woods DVD entitled "My favorite
18 holes".

Turns out it's about golf. Damn Waste of money.

Pass this on so others don't get scammed.

WARNING:
2010 Census Cautions from the Better Business Bureau

Be
Cautious About Giving Info to Census Workers by
Susan Johnson

With
the U.S. Census process beginning, the Better
Business Bureau (BBB) advises people to be
cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a
victim of fraud or identity theft. The
first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way
as workers have begun verifying the addresses of
households across the country. Eventually,
more than 140,000 U.S. Census workers will count
every person in the United States and will
gather information about every person living at
each address including name, age, gender, race,
and other relevant data.

The
big question is - how do you tell the difference
between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist?
BBB offers the following
advice:

If
a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, they
will have a badge, a handheld device*, a Census
Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice.
Ask to see their identification and their
badge before answering their questions.
However, you should never invite anyone
you don't know into your home.

(* The handheld devise gets the GPS of your home..so if the Government needs to drop a missile on you, they have the coordinates!!!)

Census
workers are currently only knocking on doors to
verify address information. Do not give
your Social Security number, credit card or
banking information to anyone, even if they
claim they need it for the U.S.
Census.

REMEMBER,
NO MATTER WHAT THEY ASK, YOU REALLY ONLY NEED TO
TELL THEM HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE AT YOUR
ADDRESS.

While
the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial
information, such as a salary range, YOU DON'T
HAVE TO ANSWER ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT YOUR
FINANCIAL SITUATION. The Census Bureau
will not ask for Social Security, bank account,
or credit card numbers, nor will employees
solicit donations. Any one asking for that
information is NOT with the Census
Bureau.

AND
REMEMBER, THE CENSUS BUREAU HAS DECIDED NOT TO
WORK WITH ACORN ON GATHERING THIS INFORMATION.
No Acorn worker should approach you
saying he/she is with the Census
Bureau.

Eventually,
Census workers may contact you by telephone,
mail, or in person at home. However, the
Census Bureau will not contact you by Email, so
be on the lookout for Email scams impersonating
the Census.

Never
click on a link or open any attachments in an
Email that are supposedly from the U.S. Census
Bureau.

For
more advice on avoiding identity theft and
fraud, visit www.bbb.org

PLEASE
SHARE THIS INFO WITH FAMILY AND
FRIENDS.

Americans had better understand that this Executive Order along with all of those previously signed ,and with Presidential Decision Directive 51 and others will be used to destroy the Constitution and Bill of Rights and to render each American effectively into nothing more than a member of a work gang subject to control of the Regional Military Governor who is under the Secdef who is under the President. Posse Comitatus then is dead, Habeas Corpus is dead, Bill of Rights is dead, and only the whims and subjective decisions of the Regional Military Governor, as directed by the President via the Secretary of Defense and executed by Northcom troopers who now include U.S. , Canadian, Mexican, and other Foreign troops as well as Mercenaries and the States' National Guards, Militias, and Police agencies will be the Iron Fist Rule of the Land.

Former  FBI agent Southers says government should pay attention to political  americans

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.

When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that
person..

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need
you have expressed..

They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with
guidance and support,

To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.

They may seem like a godsend and they are.

They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,

this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an
end.

Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.

Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire
fulfilled, their work is done.

The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has
come to share, grow or learn.

They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.

They may teach you something you have never done.

They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.

Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons,

things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional
foundation.

Your job is to accept the lesson,

love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other
relationships and areas of your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

A war reporter who was detained, interrogated and handcuffed at Seattle airport for refusing to answer personal questions about his income has warned that Americans need to start standing up to TSA thugs because entering the country is now a more stifling experience than some of the worst police states on the planet.

"No country has ever treated me so badly," Michael Yon wrote in a Facebook message. "Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect that can be expected from our border bullies."

"Yon was taken aside by the TSA and asked a series of questions, many of which seemed to have no bearing on national security. Finally when asked what his personal income was, he refused to answer because he felt it was none of their business. At this point they handcuffed and detained him until he was eventually released by Port Authority police because the TSA had no legitimate grounds to hold him,"

Yon said that his experience was par for the course when entering America and not a manifestation of the Christmas Day attack.

The Black Bra

   (told by a woman)

   I had lunch with two of my unmarried friends. One is engaged, one is

   a mistress and I have been married for twenty plus years.

   We were chatting about our relationships and decided to amaze our men

   by greeting them at the door wearing a black bra, stiletto heels and

   a mask over our eyes.  We agreed to meet in a few days to exchange

   notes.

   Here's how it all went.

   My engaged friend:

   The other night when my boyfriend came over he found me with a black

   leather bodice, tall stilettos and a mask.

   He saw me and said, 'You are the woman of my dreams. I love you.'

   Then we made passionate love all night long.

   The mistress:

   Me too!  The other night I met my lover at his office and I was

   wearing a raincoat, under it only a black bra, heels and a mask over

   my eyes.  When I opened the raincoat he didn't say a word but he

   started to tremble and we had wild sex all night.

   Then I had to share my story:

   When my husband came home I was wearing a black bra, black stockings,

   stilett os and a mask over my eyes..

   When he came in the door and saw me he said,

   'What's for dinner, Batman?'