http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26361.cfm

How GMOs Unleashed a Pesticide Gusher

For related articles and more information, please visit OCA's Genetic Engineering page, Millions Against Monsanto page and our California News page.

For years, proponents of genetically modified crops have hailed them as a critical tool for weaning farmers from reliance on toxic pesticides. On its website, the GMO-seed-and-agrichemical giant Monsanto makes the green case for its Roundup Ready crops, engineered to withstand the company's own blockbuster herbicide, Roundup:

 Roundup agricultural herbicides and other products are used to sustainably an [sic] effectively control weeds on the farm. Their use on Roundup Ready crops has allowed farmers to conserve fuel, reduce tillage and decrease the overall use of herbicides. [Emphasis added.]

But in a just-released paper published in the peer-reviewed Environmental Sciences Europe, Chuck Benbrook, research professor at Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, shreds that claim. He found that Monsanto's Roundup Ready technology, which dominates corn, soy, and cotton farming, has called forth a veritable monsoon of herbicides, both in terms of higher application rates for Roundup, and, in recent years, growing use of other, more-toxic herbicides.

Benbrook found that overall, GMO technology drove up herbicide use by 527 million pounds, or about 11 percent, between 1996 (when Roundup Ready crops first hit farm fields) and 2011. But it gets worse. For several years, the Roundup Ready trait actually did meet Monsanto's promise of decreasing overall herbicide use-herbicide use dropped by about 2 percent between 1996 and 1999, Benbrook told me in an interview. But then weeds started to develop resistance to Roundup, pushing farmers to apply higher per-acre rates. In 2002, farmers using Roundup Ready soybeans jacked up their Roundup application rates by 21 percent, triggering a 19 million pound overall increase in Roundup use.

Since then, an herbicide gusher has been uncorked. By 2011, farms using Roundup Ready seeds were using 24 percent more herbicide than non-GMO farms planting the same crops, Benbrook told me. What happened? By that time, "in all three crops [corn, soy, and cotton], resistant weeds had fully kicked in," Benbrook said, and farmers were responding both by ramping up use of Roundup and resorting to older, more toxic herbicides like 2,4-D.

~A.

50+ Things To Make From Old Jeans

http://www.diyhomeworld.com/50-things-to-make-from-old-jeans/

Creating Nirvana: Can Me Up: Over 50 Canning Recipes

http://www.creatingnirvanatoday.blogspot.com.es/2012/03/can-me-up-over-50-canning-recipes.html


~A.

Dark Money: Bombshell Report Exposes the Koch Brothers' "Secret Bank" | Money & Politics, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com

http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/12/dark-money-bombshell-report-exposes-the-koch-brothers-secret-bank/

Dark Money: Bombshell Report Exposes the Koch Brothers' "Secret Bank"

Money & Politics

September 12, 2013

by BillMoyers.com Staff

Americans for Prosperity Foundation Chairman David Koch addresses attendees of the Defending the American Dream Summit in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Aug. 30, 2013.(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Thought you knew all about the many tentacles the Koch brothers' have around American politics? Politico's Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen have the story of a heretofore unknown pot of cash that they and other deep-pocketed donors spread around in 2012…

An Arlington, Va.-based conservative group, whose existence until now was unknown to almost everyone in politics, raised and spent $250 million in 2012 to shape political and policy debate nationwide.

The group, Freedom Partners, and its president, Marc Short, serve as an outlet for the ideas and funds of the mysterious Koch brothers, cutting checks as large as $63 million to groups promoting conservative causes, according to an IRS document to be filed shortly.

The 38-page IRS filing amounts to the Rosetta Stone of the vast web of conservative groups — some prominent, some obscure — that spend time, money and resources to influence public debate, especially over Obamacare.

The group has about 200 donors, each paying at least $100,000 in annual dues. It raised $256 million in the year after its creation in November 2011, the document shows. And it made grants of $236 million — meaning a totally unknown group was the largest sugar daddy for conservative groups in the last election, second in total spending only to Karl Rove's American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, which together spent about $300 million.

Read the whole thing at Politico.

~A.

Mystic Seaport Offers Discounts for Connecticut Schooner Festival - Around Stonington - Stonington-Mystic, CT Patch

http://stonington.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/mystic-seaport-offers-discounts-for-connecticut-schooner-festival?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001&evar4=picks-1-post&newsRef=true

Mystic Seaport Offers Discounts for Connecticut Schooner Festival

The Seaport is host to the tall ships and will provide educational programming before they head on to New London.

Mystic Seaport will offer half-price adult admission and admit all children 17-and-under for free on Thursday, September 12 as part of the inaugural Connecticut Schooner Festival. The special discount begins at 3 p.m.

The festival is a collaboration of Mystic Seaport and OpSail Connecticut to celebrate the region's maritime heritage. The five-day event begins at Mystic Seaport on Wednesday, September 11 and moves to New London on Friday, September 13.
The stop at the Museum will highlight the educational programming offered by the participating schooners. In addition to the Museum's 1931 schooner Brilliant and the National Historic Landmark L.A. Dunton, at least 10 boats are expected to tie up on the waterfront.

 "The festival is a great opportunity to explore the variety of outstanding programs offered by the schooner community today, and to see a gathering of exceptional boats," said Mystic Seaport President Steve White.

The New London portion of the festival will feature family fun and entertainment including ship visits, dockside music concerts, The Great New London Chowder Challenge, and other activities. As with schooner festivals elsewhere, the Connecticut event will feature a race on Fishers Island Sound on Saturday, September 14. Prime viewing can be had from New London's Ocean Beach Park.

A complete schedule of activities is available at CTSchoonerFest.com.

~A.

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/larkslist/2013/sep/9/tsa-precheck-enrollment-fly-security-line/

TSA PreCheck enrollment: Fly by the airport security line

LOS ANGELES, September 10, 2013 — This could be you. You have left plenty of time to get to the airport but between traffic, distractions, detours, your time margin is gone and now you are fighting for minutes to get to the gate. Like a crash test dummy you hit a wall: a security line that snakes out the door and family groups in front of you seem to be multiplying as the inch forward progresses.

This wouldn't be you, though, if you had registered for TSA PreCheck (TSA Pre✓™). You would be sipping a Starbucks and calmly waiting for your row to be called.

For $85 for a five-year clearance, a few minutes of application brewhah and a few weeks leeway before a flight, travelers can be on their way via the short line through participating airlines and airports with shoes tied and computers zipped tight.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) hopes to register as many as a quarter of the nation's regular travelers by the end of the year in the TSA PreCheck program that is available to U.S. citizens. It takes applicants, vets them, fingerprints them, and gives them a "Known Traveler Number" that allows them to sail through security lines. Travelers get to keep their shoes tied, wear their light outerwear and belts, and keep laptop computers in cases at security checkpoints.

The vetting process takes two to three weeks and the applicants have to visit a participating airport for the final screening. A U.S. passport is not required for the TSA PreCheck program. Rather, the "known traveler" may simply enter their "Known Traveler Number" in the 'Known Traveler Field' when booking their travel reservations. Passengers will also want to add their number to their frequent flyer airline profile, where it is stored for future reservations.

U.S. citizens who are members of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler program, including Global Entry, SENTRI, and NEXUS, and Canadian citizens who are members of NEXUS, have already been vetted. They have a "Known Traveler Number" and are able to expedite their travel on departure and arrival. 

Travelers who have registered with Global Entry, in its fifth year of operation, already know the value of having a passport that allows them to skip the snaking immigration lines when they return to the U.S. from points abroad. Rather, they take their passport to a waiting kiosk, verify identity through finger prints, answer the auto-questions, take their approval receipt and head directly to a special CBP exit line that rarely has any people in it, while their fellow travelers inch along, bags stacked on carts, waiting for their final pass through the border authorities before leaving the arrivals area.

In a move of expansion, Global Entry recently entered into limited pilot programs to allow qualified citizens from the United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Korea and Qatar to apply for Global Entry membership. Still being tested it is not yet publicly available, except in the Republic of Korea.

Currently, nearly 300 Global Entry kiosks are available at 34 American airports and 10 preclearance locations in Ireland and Canada. To obtain Global Entry, an application can be filled out online and a $100 application fee is paid for the five-year privilege of sailing through the U.S. arrivals side of international travel.

Both programs show progress by Homeland Security to expedite the often-painful drudgery of clearing airport immigration and security, whether coming or going.

The new PreCheck program is currently available for eligible passengers traveling on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways and Virgin America. Initially, rolled out through the frequent flyer membership departments of participating airlines, application is available now for all U.S. travelers by visiting this TSA Page.

Airports with PreCheck and/or Global Entry

Applicants must get their fingerprints taken at a participating TSA Global Entry and PreCheck airport. The list is growing but currently includes these airports:

• Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) (PreCheck only)
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
• Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
• Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
• Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) (PreCheck only)
• Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) (PreCheck only)
• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
• Denver International Airport (DEN)
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
• Dulles International Airport (IAD)
• Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
• Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• Honolulu International Airport (HNL)
• Indianapolis International Airport (IND) (PreCheck only)
• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• John Wayne Airport (SNA)
• LaGuardia Airport (LGA) (PreCheck only)
• Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) (PreCheck only)
• Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU)
• McCarren International Airport (LAS)
• Memphis International Airport (MEM) (PreCheck only)
• Miami International Airport (MIA)
• Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
• Nashville International Airport (BNA) (PreCheck only)
• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
• Orlando International Airport (MCO)
• Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
• Phoenix International Airport (PHX)
• Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) (PreCheck only)
• Portland International Airport (PDX)
• Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU)
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) (PreCheck only)
• Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
• Tampa International Airport (TPA)
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) (PreCheck only)

Clearing the Security in Style with Clear

Business Travelers who want to add some elite perks to a pre-screened airport experience can opt for a new program called Clear and get a cool new Clear Card. Clear is currently in operation at San Francisco (SFO), Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW), San Antonio (SAT), Denver (DEN) and Orlando (MCO), with Houston's airports — Bush International (IAH) and Hobby (HOU) – due to come on by the end of the year.

Clear allows travelers to pay a $179 annual fee to get iris and fingerprint identities logged with the Dept. of Homeland Security. Then Clear-screened travelers receive a Clear Card and can head to a dedicated Clear line for pre-flight security where they swipe their card and get back on their way in minutes.

Find more information at: Clearme.com/. Access Global Entry's Trusted Traveler Network here: www.globalentry.gov/

~A.

The Gnotic Gospels....on NPR,

Beyond belief....
http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2004/07/20040709_fa_01.mp3?dl=1


~A.

New Earth Blueprint .pdf

http://www.new-earth-project.org/fileadmin/images/pdf/New%20Earth%20Blueprint%20lo%20res.pdf


~A.

The New Earth Project | Indiegogo

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-new-earth-project

Select a Perk

for your contribution

• $10

  Big Thanks

  Our heartfelt gratitude for your support in manifesting a New Earth

  Estimated delivery: September 2013

  5 claimed

• $25

  First look

  Be the first to see the unveiling of the New Earth Portal, participate in the beta test program and contribute to the evolution of this groundbreaking Project

  Estimated delivery: November 2013

  23 claimed

• $25

  Vegan & Raw Food Recipe Book

  First Volume New Earth e-cookbook, edited by New Earth Raw Food maestro Sally Hunter

  Estimated delivery: October 2013

  7 claimed

• $100

  Founding Partner

  Get listed on the Portals acknowledgements page as a Founding Partner of the New Earth Project, and be the first to see the unveiling of the New Earth Portal, participate in the beta test program and contribute to the evolution of this groundbreaking Project

  Estimated delivery: November 2013

  14 claimed

• $200

  Early Bird

  Be the first to see opportunities to get involved with or live at up-coming New Earth Communities, and the first to receive details of offers and events available at up-coming New Earth Retreats and Institutes.

  Estimated delivery: November 2013

  5 out of 1000 claimed

• $250

  New Earth 7 Chakra Oil Set

  Seven unique Aromatherapy Oil blends specifically formulated to activate and awaken latent information stored within the body's primary energy centres

  Estimated delivery: October 2013

  1 claimed

• $500

  Luxury Retreat

  Stay for a whole week in a luxury suite at the first completed New Earth Retreat (or any other subsequent retreat location of your choice) and receive a free treatment from one of the retreats world-class healing practitioners

  Estimated delivery: September 2014

  3 out of 200 claimed

• $500

  Stay in the Prototype Dome

  Stay for a whole week in the New Earth Prototype Trishula dome in Bali. Experience the healing properties of sacred geometry living. Meet the New Earth Project Director and Geo-Architect. (Flights & Transfer not included)

  Estimated delivery: September 2013

  1 out of 10 claimed

• $1,000

  Investor Club Membership

  Receive priority notifications of all the New Earth Fund's high-yielding sustainable investment opportunities before they are publicly released

  Estimated delivery: November 2013

  3 claimed

• $9,000

  Early Bird Transient Residency

  Experience community life and contribute directly to the unfolding of the very first New Earth Communities. A Transient Residency entitles you to stay 1 month of every year in a New Earth Community for life - make your home in the same community every year, or travel around to other communities

  Estimated delivery: September 2014

  0 out of 5 claimed

• $10,000

  Transient Residency

  Experience community life and contribute directly to the unfolding of the very first New Earth Communities. A Transient Residency entitles you to stay 1 month of every year in a New Earth Community for life - make your home in the same community every year, or travel around to other communities

  Estimated delivery: September 2014

  
  

~A.

NASA rocket launch to the moon visible to East Coast tonight | Cutting Edge - CNET News

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57601780-76/nasa-rocket-launch-to-the-moon-visible-to-east-coast-tonight/

NASA rocket launch to the moon visible to East Coast tonight

The launch of LADEE, NASA's new lunar exploration mission, will take place at 11:27 p.m. ET from the agency's new Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

~A.

Visualizing Global Web Performance with Akamai

http://www.akamai.com/html/technology/visualizing_akamai.html

Visualizing Global Internet Performance with Akamai

15-30% of the world's Web traffic is delivered over the Akamai platform. We combine this global scope with constant data collection to construct an accurate and comprehensive picture of what's happening on the Internet. Bookmark this page to check the world's online behavior at any given moment -- How fast is data moving? Where's the most congestion? What events are causing spikes in Web activity? 

Previously, only Akamai and our customers had access to this information. Now we're opening that window into the online universe.

Continually-updated visualizations provide a picture of global Web traffic, viruses/attacks, the speed of data moving between major cities, and the volume of data and users on the Akamai platform.		Akamai monitors the volume of visitors to hundreds of worldwide online news, mobile and industry specific sites and compiles data on the most-read stories, purchasing behavior, and global concentration of online consumers. Check here to see what's generating the most buzz today.

~A.

Friday Art Day! Hope You're Somewhere....!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/04/renee-bolinger_n_3865653.html

10 Unexpected Philosopher Portraits In The Styles Of Famous Artists

Style and substance come together in the imaginative paintings of Renee Bolinger, a student of both art and philosophy.

In an effort to combine her two passions, Bolinger embarked upon a series of portraits that pair a great thinker with a great creative talent, illuminating unexpected links between them along the way. We never, for example, would have connected Elizabeth Anscombe, a philosopher of action, with Jackson Pollock, the visionary behind action painting, although now it all seems so clear!

Behold, 10 unexpected pairings of art and philosophy. Learn more about the project below.

1.) G.E.M. Anscombe in the style of Jackson Pollock

2.) Kurt Gödel rendered in the Art Nouveau style

3.) Immanuel Kant in the style of Pablo Picasso

4.) Ruth Barcan Marcus in the style of Roy Lichtenstein

5.) Soren Kierkegaard in the style of Roy Lichtenstein

6.) Ludwig Wittgenstein in the style of Piet Mondrian

7.) Gottlob Frege in the style of Vincent Van Gogh

8.) Bertrand Russell rendered in an Art Deco style

9.) W.V.O. Quine in the style of Salvador Dalí

10.) Philippa Foot in the style of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Bolinger developed an interest in both art and philosophy during her undergraduate education. In an email to the Huffington Post, Bolinger explained how a professor and mentor "urged me not to see the two fields as competitive and exclusive, but as complementary, and in a way, this painting series is the natural result."

The unconventional series pairs decorative visuals with the stark ideologies normally associated with philosophical thought. "These paintings are a whimsical riff on traditional portraiture," Bolinger wrote. "Typically the sitter would pose with objects that represented their accomplishments. A philosopher's greatest accomplishments are her ideas, her contribution to the field. In these portraits, the painting style itself is the symbol -- in some more literally than others -- of the subject's ideas, mantra, or main contribution."

Do you have the philosophical chops to understand the connection between thinker and artist? Let us know if you come up with any inspired pairings of your own in the comments.

~A.

Fwd: Finding Happiness Amongst Uncertainty...

Subject: Finding Happiness Amongst Uncertainty...

Share this email

If you have problems viewing this message, visit here for the web version. Daily Wake Up Call: September 5th, 2013. "Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, "Beauty and Terror" Bonus: Video: Pema Chödrön,  "Creating Unconditional Friendship with Oneself" > Read More: Finding Happiness Amongst Uncertainty.  Why You Should Think With Your Heart. One Pink Hula Hoop Can Transform Lives. {Video} The Union of Heaven & Earth: Ascending & Descending the Spiritual Ladder. Popular Lately: The Burning Man Ultra Marathon. {Video} 11 Ways to Nurture Your Creative Spirit. The Kundalini Awakening Process: An Inside Story. Want free article links? Join our Best of the Week Newsletter.   NamasteLight plants a tree with every mailing we send. We will never share, rent or sell your personal information to third parties Please add info@elephantjournal.com to your address book to ensure future email deliveries. Elephant Journal: , , Colorado Subscribe  /  Unsubscribe From This List  /  Unsubscribe From ALL LISTS

"About SD21". UN-DESA_Back_Common_Future_En.pdf

http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/UN-DESA_Back_Common_Future_En.pdf

About SD21

This is a summary of the main findings "Sustainable Development in the 21st Century" (SD21) project. It draws on a series of studies that were prepared under a United Nations project, co-funded by the European Commission. The project also intended to prepare a substantive contribution to the debate at the United Nation Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or "Rio+20") in 2012, which takes stock of the changes having occurred since the Earth Summit in 1992, and provides a clear vision and way forward for the international community, national governments, partnerships and other stakeholders in implementing the sustainable development agenda in an integrated manner.

This summary takes a step back from the many initiatives of the past 20 years in terms of sectoral assessments, scenario exercises, strategies and reports linked
with sustainable development, green economy and

green growth, in order to analyze them under the twin imperatives of long-term sustainability and development imperatives. Throughout, it provides an entry point to more detailed analysis and findings contained in the technical reports produced under the project. Those reports are available from the UN website.1

The approach to SD21 is based on the idea that for sustainable development to progress, its political nature has to be recognized. Decisions and courses of actions that are chosen every day by governments and international institutions are ultimately the outcomes adtof confrontations of different "world views" – reflecting different visions and interpretations of principles such as economic efficiency, equity, solidarity, empowerment, and justice, different views regarding how sustainable development should be pursued, and different views on the means through which specific issues (e.g.food security, climate change mitigation) should be addressed. Often, agreed courses of actions reflect a "mix" of different world views, sometimes resulting in inconsistencies and incoherence. Difficult issues are typically left "under the rug" for the benefit of reaching politically palatable consensus, resulting in watered- down blueprints that do not address systemic issues.

In order to reflect a broad range of views on sustainable development issues, the SD21 project instituted an expert process to support informed policy discussions. The working tracks created under the project mobilized individual experts and institutions from a broad range of perspectives and backgrounds. More than 70 leading experts participated in the discussion on food and agriculture. The analysis of sustainable development scenarios was a collaborative effort of 49 global modellers and scenario analysts. The studies on energy systems, land use and cities were based on inputs from large and diverse groups of experts.

SD21 has also encouraged a range of studies undertaken outside of the project by leading
researchers, analysts, think-tanks, and other international organizations, in support of UNCSD. Those studies provide particular perspectives and specialized information on a wide range of important issues. The present summary will help policy makers, analysts and the interested public alike to better understand the context of these other reports, including the ways in which their recommendations can or cannot be combined for informed decision-making.

This summary does not seek to be normative or prescriptive. Instead, it brings together salient scientific and political facts and illustrates important issues that would need to be addressed going forward. In other words, it provides a frame of analysis against which other, more normative or prescriptive reports can be read. This will hopefully help forge a better understanding and help overcoming the current gridlock on most divisive issues.

This summary also illustrates how identifying commonalities and differences and working on ways to address them may not only be a necessary condition for progress in some cases, but also a promising way for concerted action.

This summary presents selected findings from the SD21 study reports.
Food and agriculture: the challenge of sustainability

Assessment of implementation of Agenda 21

Assessment of implementation of the Rio Principles

Challenges and ways forward in the urban sector

Building a sustainable and desirable Economy-in- Society-in-Nature

Perspectives on sustainable energy systems for the 21st century

Lessons learned from sustainable development scenarios

Sustainable land management for the 21st century

All the reports are accessible at http://www.un.org/ esa/dsd/dsd_sd21st/21_reports.shtm

1 http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_sd21st/21_reports.shtml 

~A.

Clarifying Concepts on Sustainable Consumption and Production, UNEP-ENGLISH.pdf

https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/945ABC_ENGLISH.pdf&embedded=true

ABC of SCP: Clarifying Concepts on Sustainable Consumption and Production, UNEP

by: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, there has been an international recognition that the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002 the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation was agreed, with a call for action to "encourage and promote the development of a 10-Year Framework of Programmes in support of regional and national initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production to promote social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems by delinking economic growth and environmental degradation."

• More Information

Download PDF

View Publication

~A.

At the last hour...

At the last hour my light also tends to peek from under the cover of a mind clouded day...

99Goll_ImpInt.pdf

http://www.psych.nyu.edu/gollwitzer/99Goll_ImpInt.pdf


~A.

http://piecefit.com/index.php/en/environment-all/gmo-s/item/124-pests-in-illinois-destroy-fields-of-monsanto-corn-proving-its-inefficacy

PESTS IN ILLINOIS DESTROY FIELDS OF MONSANTO CORN, PROVING ITS INEFFICACY

Farmers in two Illinois counties have reported that the western corn rootworm, a potentially devastating pest, is showing up in their fields despite rotating fields and planting Monsanto's GM corn.

On Monday, two entomologists from the University of Illinois went to Livingston and Kankakee counties where they spotted severe corn rootworm damage in two fields planted with Bt corn. Bt corn was engineered to protect crops from this very situation by producing an insecticidal protein derived from Bacillus thuringiensis.

Illinois corn farmers practice rotation farming to help minimize the damage caused by pests, but the corn rootworm is rotation-resistant and now seems to be Bt resistant as well.

Joe Spencer and Michael Gray, the two entomologists, will run tests to confirm that these rootworms have acquired a resistance to the poison-producing corn.

The entomologists also collected corn rootworms from adjacent soybean fields. "The density of the western corn rootworm adults in both crops ... was additional evidence that the Bt hybrids had failed to offer the necessary root protection," Gray said in a statement.

Spencer and Gray say that this rootworm is found in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Iowa, in addition to Illinois, meaning that the problem could become more widespread in the coming years.

Gray and Spencer claim that farmers will have to switch to a less natural, more heavily genetically modified product that has "multiple modes of action," such as Monsanto's Genuity SmartStax line, to kill the corn rootworm. Otherwise, more insecticide would have to be used, which is allegedly the opposite of what GMOs were supposed to achieve. Of course though, calling for increased GMO usage to cover up the issues created by GMOs will only exacerbate the problem further.

Source : http://buzz.naturalnews.com/000976-Monsanto-GMOs-corn_rootworm.html

~A.