"Evolutionary Applications" - First study into GM Atlantic salmon mating reveals danger of escape to wild gene pool

Evolutionary Applications, July 13, 2011

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/w-fsi071311.php

If genetically modified Atlantic salmon were to escape from captivity they could succeed in breeding and passing their genes into the wild, Canadian researchers have found. Their research, published in Evolutionary Applications, explores the potential reproductive implications of GM salmon as they are considered for commercial farming.

"The use of growth-enhancing transgenic technologies has long been of interest to the aquaculture industry and now genetically modified Atlantic salmon is one of the first species to be considered for commercial farming. Yet, little is known about the potential impact on wild salmon populations if the GM species were to escape captivity," said lead author Darek Moreau from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.

One of the key concerns about a transgene escape is the "Trojan gene effect", caused when a GM fish outcompetes or reproduces equally against wild rivals, however if the resulting offspring are genetically inferior this could lead a species towards eventual extinction. Until now there is no empirical research to demonstrate the ability of transgenic Atlantic salmon to breed naturally and infiltrate the wild gene pool.

In the wild, reproducing males present two main forms of rivals which any escaping transgenic male would have to compete with; large males which have migrated and returned from the sea and smaller male parr which have matured in freshwater. The large males are aggressive and develop attributes to fight off their rivals, while the smaller male parr use cryptic colouring and 'sneak fertilisation' to compete.

To measure the ability of transgenic males to complete with wild males during the reproductive season the team monitored breeding behaviour in a naturalised laboratory setting and used genetic analysis to determine the success of competing individuals at producing offspring.

Large, migratory wild males outperformed their captivity-reared transgenic counterparts in terms of a variety of spawning behaviours. Moreover, despite being less aggressive, non-transgenic male parr were also able to outperform their GM rivals in terms of spawning behaviour, and as a result, achieved higher overall fertilisation success.

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"Peter Foster" - Nike, Adidas, Puma 'Using Suppliers Pouring Toxic Chemicals into China's Rivers'

Published on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 by The Telegraph/UK

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8634343/Nike-Adidas-Puma-using-suppliers-pouring-toxic-chemicals-into-Chinas-rivers.html

Some of the world's most famous clothing brands, including Nike, Adidas Puma, and H&M are using suppliers that pour toxic chemicals into China's rivers, the environmental pressure group Greenpeace has claimed.

by Peter Foster in Beijing

In a year-long investigation, undercover activists collected water samples from discharge pipes at factories belonging to two of China's largest textile manufacturers which tested positive for dangerous chemicals, including hormone-disrupting alkylphenols that are banned in Europe.

The organisation named a host of international brands in a 115-page report titled "Dirty Laundry", including Abercrombie & Fitch, Converse, Lacoste, Calvin Klein and Chinese sports giant Li Ning, as having business links with the two textile processing plants.

More than 70 per cent of China's rivers and lakes are polluted as a result of China's three decades of economic boom, and Greenpeace campaigners called on major brands to use their influence to force the industry to clean up its act.

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"Brandon Keim" - Supersize Dust Storms Could Become Southwest Norm

By Brandon Keim

WIRED MAGAZINE, July 12, 2011  | 

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/dust-storms/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+C2C-AllContent+%28Feed+-+Coast+to+Coast+-+All+Content%29&utm_content=Twitter

The massive dust storm that engulfed Phoenix last week was unusual for the 20th century, but could become more common in the 21st.

The storm resulted from thunderstorm-cooled air plummeting into the ground like mist pouring from an open freezer, only exponentially more powerful. Combine those winds with extremely dry conditions, and the result was a wall of dust 100 miles wide and 5,000 feet high.

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"J. D. Heyes" - China facing severe water crisis due to massive food production

by J. D. Heyes

http://www.naturalnews.com/032986_food_production_water_shortage.html

(NaturalNews) As the world's population increases, so too does its need for food and water - the two resources which are absolutely necessary to sustain life. And as it happens, one is needed to grow the other, so it should alarm you to know that the country with the largest population - China - is is running out of water, according to some experts, which will dramatically affect its ability to feed its 1.3 billion people.

The Asian giant has been warned by one of its own groundwater experts to either cut its food production or else face "dire" water levels, especially in the dry northwest plains. If not, aquifers will sink to "dire" levels not seen in 30 years.

"The government must adopt a new policy to reduce water consumption," said Zheng Chunmiao, director of the Water Research Centre at Peking University, in an interview with Britain's Guardian newspaper.

"The main thing is to reduce demand. We have relied too much on engineering projects, but the government realizes this is not a long-term solution," he added.

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Nutraingredients.com: Nuts may help prevent diabetes, suggests study

Nutraingredients.com, 13-Jul-2011

http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Nuts-may-help-prevent-diabetes-suggests-study

Daily consumption of nuts may help to control type 2 diabetes, and prevent its complications, according to new research.

The study, published in Diabetes Care, reports that consuming two ounces of nuts daily as a replacement for carbohydrates may be an effective glycemic and serum lipid control for people with Type 2 diabetes.

“Mixed, unsalted, raw, or dry-roasted nuts have benefits for both blood glucose control and blood lipids and may be used as part of a strategy to improve diabetes control without weight gain,” said lead author Dr. David Jenkins, from the University of Toronto.

Nutty advantage

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William Faloon: FDA Says Walnuts Are Illegal Drugs

By William Faloon

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2011/aug2011_FDA-Says-Walnuts-Are-Illegal-Drugs_01.htm

Life Extension® has published 57 articles that describe the health benefits of walnuts.

Some of this same scientific data was featured on the website of Diamond Foods, Inc., a distributor of packaged walnuts.

Last year the FDA determined that walnuts sold by Diamond Foods cannot be legally marketed because the walnuts “are not generally recognized as safe and effective” for the medical conditions referenced on Diamond Foods’s website.

According to the FDA, these walnuts were classified as “drugs” and the “unauthorized health claims” cause them to become “misbranded,” thus subjecting them to government “seizure or injunction.”

Diamond Foods capitulated and removed statements about the health benefits of walnuts from its website.

Let’s take a look at the science supporting the consumption of walnuts to see what the FDA censored…and what you can do to stop it in the future!

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"Lindsey Adkison" - Understanding the ABC's of vitamin pills

Lindsey Adkison, The Brunswick News, Ga.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News 07-13-11

http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=11391&Section=Vitamins

July 12--Walking down the vitamin aisle at a grocery store, it's easy to feel intimidated. There are countless bottles, powders and potions promising to do everything from boost energy to reverse signs of aging.

Thom Davis understands that it can be overwhelming. As a nutritionist at Feeling Great Wellness Center in Brunswick, he spends his days helping customers find the right supplements.

While he stresses that food and a solid diet are the best places to find nutrients, he knows that vitamins are often necessary for those who can't get all of the key vitamins from food.

"Different people have different needs. There are different demands that people put on their bodies, physically and mentally. Those different demands need different nutrition," he said.

Vitamin needs can be broken down into several categories. The first is age. Different stages of life need different vitamins and minerals, Davis said.

"As we age, antioxidants become more important. We need to make sure that we also get enough of the vitamins A, E, C and D. Vitamin D deficiency now is huge but no one should be mega-dosing without an absolute need. They should be under the care of a physician," Davis said.

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"Mike Ludwig" - Monsanto and Gates Foundation Push GE Crops on Africa

Tuesday 12 July 2011

by: Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report

http://www.truth-out.org/second-green-revolutionaries-gates-foundation-and-monsanto-push-ge-crops-africa/1310411034

Skimming the Agricultural Development section of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation web site [5] is a feel-good experience: African farmers smile in a bright slide show of images amid descriptions of the foundation's fight against poverty and hunger. But biosafety activists in South Africa are calling a program funded by the Gates Foundation a "Trojan horse" to open the door for private agribusiness and genetically engineered (GE) seeds, including a drought-resistant corn that Monsanto hopes to have approved in the United States and abroad.

The Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) program [6]  was launched in 2008 with a $47 million grant from mega-rich philanthropists Warrant Buffet [7] and Bill Gates. The program is supposed to help farmers in several African countries increase their yields with drought- and heat-tolerant corn varieties, but a report released last month by the African Centre for Biosafety [8] claims WEMA is threatening Africa's food sovereignty and opening new markets for agribusiness giants like Monsanto.

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"David Sirota" - David Swanson: The Finland Phenomenon

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_finland_phenomenon_20110710/

Posted on Jul 10, 2011

By David Sirota

When I heard the news last week that the Department of Education is aiming to subject 4-year-olds to high-stakes testing, all I could do was shake my head in disbelief and despondently mutter a slightly altered riff off “The Big Lebowski’s” Walter Sobchak.

Four-year-olds, dude.

You don’t have to be as dyspeptic as Walter to know this is madness. According to Stanford University’s Linda Darling-Hammond, who headed President Obama’s education transition team, though we already “test students in the United States more than any other nation,” our students “perform well below those of other industrialized countries in math and science.” Yet the Obama administration, backed by corporate foundations, is nonetheless intensifying testing at all levels, as if doing the same thing and expecting different results is innovative “reform” rather than what it’s always been: insanity.

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Robert Scheer: The GOP’s Sick Priorities

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_gops_sick_priorities_20110712/

Posted on Jul 12, 2011

By Robert Scheer

How deceptive for politicians to stress “entitlements” when they talk about gutting Social Security and Medicare, two programs long paid for by their beneficiaries. The Republicans make it sound as if they’re doing us a favor, cutting government waste by seeking to strangle America’s two most successful domestic programs. And now Barack Obama seems poised to join their camp in undermining the essential lifeline for most of the nation’s seniors, many of whom lost their retirement savings in the banking meltdown.

These threatened programs are not government handouts to a privileged class, like defense contractors and bailed-out bankers, who do feel eminently entitled to pig out at the federal trough. On the contrary, Social Security and Medicare have been funded by a regressive tax that falls disproportionately on working middle-class income earners, while caps in the system leave the wealthy—most notably the hedge fund hustlers who helped cause today’s economic crisis—largely untaxed.

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