Subject: More on the side efects of GMOs

Date: Sat Feb 22 16:49:09 2014
User: anicca
Message:
I would beg everyone to listen to today's edition of Living on Earth at *loe.org*. Relative to my remarks earlier in the GMO thread, one section is about the monarch butterfly decline. There is now a move afoot to start planting milkweeds outside the paths of ubiquitous, widespread spraying of Roundup. Like i aid before, it is much more than genetic engineering. There is also a pretty revealing article on the effect of floride on the developing brains of our kids... I expect there will be a good bit of pooh-hooing about this from some...

Date: Sun Feb 23 10:44:57 2014
User: BuzzClik
Message:
anicca --- I put the direct link to the Living on Earth piece on monarchs below. It is only 5 minutes long, so our busy friends will easily find time to listen to the entire segment. Most people on this board will be 100% behind the idea of helping the monarch butterfly avoid becoming endangered. Loss of the milkweed is undoubtedly contributing, but I have two problems with the LOE segment: 1) Milkweed control is a high priority for corn growers and has been for decades. Long before Roundup Ready corn, farmers knew exactly how to control milkweed (and other weeds) with great efficiency. I would agree that the act of growing corn has severely impacted monarch habitats, but that happened a long time ago. 2) Increasing the milkweed populations will help, and three million plants sounds like a lot, but it's tiny compared to the needs of the butterfly. Make Way for Monarchs needs to increase that number by a factor of 1000 or more, and the the easiest way to do that is to distribute seeds, not live plants for planting.

Link: Saving Monarchs

Date: Sun Feb 23 10:50:38 2014
User: BuzzClik
Message:
And fluoride: "Fluoride appears to be just like the other chemicals that damage brain development, but most of that evidence comes from China. We looked at more than 20 studies from China where they have compared children exposed to high fluoride content in the water and low. And on the average, the difference in the performance among those kids was seven IQ points. That’s a sizable difference. And obviously some of the kids have been exposed to substantial fluoride concentrations in water, some of them were just a little bit above what’s in this country, therefore I find that evidence very worrysome, and we need to follow up and determine if there is any risk in regard to fluoride exposure under US conditions." This is a huge caveat about the research by the author himself.

Link: LOE: "Flouride and Other Chemical Risks"

Date: Sun Feb 23 10:54:25 2014
User: BuzzClik
Message:
A little digging on the Make Way for Monarchs website uncovered the article linked below. They emphasized seed collection and redistribution.

Link: Monarchs and Milkweeds on Rights-of-Way

Date: Sun Feb 23 12:52:34 2014
User: anicca
Message:
Thank you for the support, BuzzClik! I have been reseeding milkweeds around my place for years, but am not really on a butterfly fly-way here in SE Ohio. I only saw ONE here last summer... And for anyone out there who works for a DOH or power companies, while we can't do anything about the farmers or the government, to add to your link above, "Pass it up the line!" you guys and gals out there in the field...please write letters to your upper level management teams.

Date: Wed Dec 5 11:25:11 2018
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Huge data study really tells the tale. Lincoln Brower, the lead author, who was key in finding the monarch's winter breeding ground in Mexico, died shortly before this was published. Curiously………..I saw more here on their way south this year than in any other recent year, tiny though that data point may be.

Link: Monarch numbers have plummeted