Mexico ‘Still Hasn’t Seen Science’ From US Proving Genetically Modified Corn Is Safe
Mexico submitted an official reply to the United States in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade dispute about importing genetically modified (GM) corn. Mexico argued that the herbicide glyphosate in the corn is unsafe for human consumption. Corn plays a vital role in the Mexican diet, particularly as the primary ingredient for tortilla flour.
In a written submission to a USMCA panel, Mexico, the top buyer of US corn, used science to show how GM corn and Glyphosate harm human health. This has given Mexico the authority to ban GM corn for human consumption.
The submission outlined policies aimed at safeguarding consumers against the potential health effects of GM corn, asserting that these measures would have minimal trade impacts on US farmers.
Here are the most critical parts of Mexico’s submission (list courtesy of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (ITAP)):
- The scientific evidence of GMO safety presented by the US is out of date, much of it from industry studies not supported by peer-review. According to Mexico, the US did not present any peer-reviewed study showing it safe to eat large quantities of GM corn exposed to Glyphosate in minimally processed form over a lifetime. Mexico makes the case that the US regulatory process is not stringent enough ensure that products are safe for Mexicans to consume at high levels.
- On public health, the submission details that GM corn, especially Bt corn engineered to kill insect pests, can have adverse impacts on non-target animals. Mammals have been shown to suffer damage to their digestive systems from a GM trait that kills its targets by attacking their guts.
- Mexican tortillas have been proven to be contaminated with GM corn and Glyphosate, the latter in residues from treatments of GM corn engineered to tolerate the herbicide featured in Roundup. Mexico shows that even low-level exposures can have negative long-term health impact.
Mexican Deputy Agriculture Secretary Victor Suarez told Reuters:
The United States “argues that the decisions in Mexico are not based on science and that their decisions are … But we still haven’t seen the science of the United States or the companies. We are looking forward to that study with great pleasure.”
Karen Hansen-Kuhn, IATP’s director of trade and international strategies, wrote in a statement:
“We welcome this vigorous defense of Mexico’s programs to transform its food system. The science they present backs up longstanding civil society campaigns for healthy foods and biodiverse agricultural systems. There’s a lot here that could contribute to more substantive debates on our food and agriculture system in the US, as well.”
IATP Senior Advisor Timothy A. Wise said:
“Ever since Mexico first announced its intentions to limit GM corn and glyphosate in its tortilla chain, the US government has asserted that Mexico’s policies are not based on science.”
Wise continued:
“This comprehensive response refutes that claim, presenting hundreds of academic studies that show cause for concern about human health and the threat to native corn diversity.”
Agri-chemical companies like Bayer have spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing GM crops for worldwide export out of the US. They also spend tens of millions of dollars in defending GM foods.
Meanwhile, Glyphosate is banned or limited in at least 25 countries and some areas within the United States. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer declared Glyphosate a probable human carcinogen.
Maybe Mexico is right. Question the chemicals in the food.
Are GMO foods the reason why there are more increased celiac and gluten sensitivity cases?
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California School District Pays Children $1,400 To Become ‘Racial And Social Justice Warriors’
The Long Beach Unified School district in California is funneling money to a progressive activist group which is paying students $1,400 each to become racial and social justice warriors.
The district paid $900,000 for a one-year contract to Californians for Justice (CFJ), a “youth-powered” non-profit that pushes racial justice ideology on children, the Free Press reports.
Of that, $60,200 was allocated to pay 33 students and 10 families or parents $1,400 each to participate in CFJ’s training programs.
According to the contract, the program exists to “provide assistance to teachers, administrators and selected students in building strategies to support cultural understanding and change.”
On CFJ’s website, the group claims to have “trained hundreds of youth of color in Long Beach to be community leaders and organizers,” adding that it “provides leadership development opportunities throughout the school year and summer to ensure our youth leaders gain the political education and valuable organizing skills they need to lead social justice movements.”
“It’s so fun! You get paid good, you can have a fun time,” one of the students posted recently to Instagram.
A spokesman for the Long Beach School District framed the paid program as “internships” which are to ensure “equitable participation in CFJ programs, embracing diverse perspectives in education.” Quite diversity word salad there.
Teachers have serious concerns
Four teachers from the Long Beach district voiced concern over the program, with one telling the Free Press that paying kids to participate is a “horrible propaganda strategy.“
“I am shocked and horrified at such a fact,” another teacher told the outlet.
Interestingly, one of CFJ’s major donors is a descendant of Levi Strauss – the Walter Haas fund. Other donors include the Rockefellers, an the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
This is their sitehttps://t.co/Hoqgf4bSVr
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) March 7, 2024
According to the report, Long Beach has paid CFJ nearly $2 million since 2019 to work with them. In 2021, the organization ran three professional development seminars in Long Beach high schools, during which participants were encouraged to embrace the role of “student voice,” and to “advance a district wide Equity Agenda” in conjunction with teachers and admins, the 2021-2022 contract read.
Per the latest contract, CFJ will be hosting 15 more of these trainings during the 2023-2024 school year.
One teacher told the Free Press on condition of anonymity that the workshops have become open forums for students to complain.
“The way that they are handing scripts to students, even the words coming out of the students’ mouths it just feels like indoctrination and not information,” she told the outlet.
Another teacher, Jay Goldfischer, agreed – saying “They’re teaching them parroting,” adding “which is the exact opposite of how you empower children.”
CFJ defended itself in a statement to the Free Press, saying “Our agenda is not hidden and is simple: we want the Long Beach Unified School District to be a place where every student is represented honestly in classrooms and curricula, and where they are safe to be in critical dialogue supportive of democratic participation across differences.”
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Top Chinese Diplomat Lambasts US, Praises Russia
China’s top diplomat on Thursday hit out at Washington’s “bewildering” trade policy during the much anticipated annual Foreign Minister’s briefing held during the ongoing “two sessions” gathering of China’s rubber stamp legislature.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi charged that the US is “devising various tactics to suppress China” and described that its “lengthening” unilateral anti-Beijing sanctions list is now at “bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity,” according to Bloomberg.
China has been pushing and touting high-tech development, but this is amid significant barriers erected by Washington. Wang questioned on trade between the world’s two largest economies, “If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country?”
He continued to lash out at the United States by saying, “If it only wants itself to prosper, but denies other countries legitimate development, where is international fairness? If it persistently monopolizes the high end of the value chain and keeps China at the low end, where is fairness and competition?“
The over four hour-long engagement with reporters on a wide array of topics is a rare moment of the year where the foreign ministry can articulate the country’s foreign policy vision directly to reporters.
However, the briefing is typically highly choreographed, and so there’s deep significance in the fact that the first foreign reporter to be called upon for a question was a Russian state media journalist.
Wang praised robust Russian trade ties with China, which have increased in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine over two years ago. China-Russia trade reached a historic high of $240 billion, smashing President Xi and Putin’s target of $200 billion which had been set in a 2019 agreement.
“Russian natural gas is fueling numerous Chinese households and Chinese-made automobiles are running on Russian roads,” Wang in the press conference. “All this shows the strong resilience and broad prospects of China-Russia mutually beneficial cooperation.”
“China and Russia have forged a new paradigm of major country relations that differs entirely from the obsolete Cold War approach on the basis of non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party,” he emphasized.
On the question of the Ukraine war, Wang once again urged peace talks and called on all parties to avoid “unthinkable” escalation.
On the issue of rising tensions in east Asian regional waters, which was just this week on display in the South China Sea with a collision incident between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard vessels, he warned outside powers (of course primarily meaning the US) to not interfere and avoid provocations.
“In the face of deliberate infringement, we will take justified actions to defend our rights in accordance with the law. In the face of unwarranted provocation, we will respond with prompt and legitimate countermeasures,” Wang asserted. “We also urge certain countries outside the region, not to make provocations, excite or stir up troubles.“
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‘No Limits’ In Support For Ukraine – Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly said on Thursday that he recognizes no limits or Russian “red lines”when it comes to backing Kiev, drawing criticism from both Moscow and the opposition at home.
Macron called the opposition leaders to the Elysee Palace to discuss France’s support for Ukraine, BFMTV reported on Thursday. After more than three hours of discussion, no consensus was reached.
According to the outlet, the president said he would abide by “no limitations” to aiding Kiev and does not consider that an escalation, but a “proportionate response”by Paris to Moscow’s actions.
Macron’s rhetoric has grown increasingly belligerent as Russian troops continued to push the Ukrainians back and destroy Western-supplied equipment. Last week, he said that the West “cannot exclude” the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine, but faced pushback on the comments by most members of the US-led bloc.
On Tuesday, he told French expatriates in Prague that Western Europeans “will have to live up to history and the courage that it requires.”
Read more NATO ‘increasingly aggressive’ – Moscow
National Rally leader Jordan Bardella and Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel confirmed Macron’s comments about “no limits, no red lines” when it comes to Ukraine, speaking to French media after the meeting.
“France needs to set out red lines,” Bardella said, adding that Paris must not start a conflict with Moscow.
While the Republicans support aiding Ukraine, sending troops would be “irresponsible and dangerous,” said the leader of that party, Eric Ciotti.
Florian Philippot, leader of the non-parliamentary Patriots Party, slammed National Rally for agreeing to aid Kiev and urged the French to impeach Macron before they are sent to die in Ukraine.
“It is up to every Frenchman to resist, for every mother to refuse to let her son die for Kiev, NATO and Blackrock,”Philippot said on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s up to us to fight to leave the EU and NATO and throw Macron out!”
Macron’s remarks about “red lines” have also drawn notice from Moscow. Former Russian president and current deputy head of the National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, posted on X that this means “Russia has no more red lines left for France.”
He followed that up with a Latin saying that translates as “everything is allowed against enemies.”
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Experts Say RSV Jabs Need To Be Pulled From The Market Following Deaths & Serious Injuries
The recently approved vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have already been linked to deaths and serious injuries, but US health officials continue to recommend them as “safe and effective.” It’s been less than a […]
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Tyson Foods Announces Partnership With Insect Ingredient Company
Tyson food Inc. the processed chicken giant has announced that it has reached an agreement with Protix, an insect ingredients company. The processed chicken giant say their new agreement with the bug company will “support growth […]
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