Humans of New York

Bring Aya to the USA

“We’re process nerds. People don’t realize how important it is for refugee applicants to get every single detail right. One misstep can lead to dire results. We think Aya is in a very vulnerable situation right now, so we’re going to get her appeal filed as quickly as possible. Luckily Betsy and I like to think we are the fastest people in the world at filing these types of appeals. Unfortunately, Aya’s case is not uncommon. These refugee rejections can be based on extremely tangential circumstances. We’ve had clients get turned away because of a crime committed by a distant relative that they’ve never even met. One client’s case was put on indefinite hold because of his connection to a childhood neighbor that he hadn’t spoken to in twenty years. Bureaucratic decisions like these can exclude deserving refugees and leave them at risk of further harm. International Refugee Assistance Project has been very successful with our appeals. The fact that we have one million signatures on Aya’s behalf is really going to help. Once we can elevate the case to a higher profile, it will be reviewed at a higher level with more careful scrutiny. We have so many people watching over this case. And after interviewing Aya about her family history, I’m feeling very good about this. We’ll keep everyone informed every step of the way.”This is Lara ‘The Terminator’* Finkbeiner. Along with Betsy ‘The Hammer’* Fisher, she will be spearheading Aya’s case. Betsy is represented by the intercom because she is working from Minneapolis.*Nicknames assigned by me and may or may not be in common usage.

Source: Humans of New York

What EPA didn’t know about Enlist Duo

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By now you may have heard that in a surprising move last month, EPA effectively pulled Enlist Duo from the market. It had only been a year since EPA approved Dow AgroSciences’ controversial new pesticide product, a combination of glyphosate and 2,4-D designed to accompany the agrichemical giant’s latest genetically modified seeds.

Here at PAN we took a moment to celebrate EPA’s sudden reversal. It’s not often that the agency takes such bold action on pesticides. But we also see that this short-term victory is a crystal clear example of our longstanding critiques of EPA’s process for regulating pesticides.

EPA’s motivation in removing Enlist Duo from the market reveals just how shallow the agency’s process for approving agricultural chemicals really is. Our regulatory system relies almost exclusively on science conducted by profit-motivated companies themselves. In this case, Dow was caught contradicting itself when reporting on its science — painting a different picture for each government agency with which it dealt.

So while I celebrate this setback for Dow, I’m frustrated to see what it took for EPA to actually take action: catching the corporation in a straight up lie.

Hidden research

Last fall, PAN was one of many, many organizations opposing the approval of Dow’s Enlist Duo. We joined farmer groups in pushing both USDA and EPA to look at all the potential consequences of this new, more toxic cousin to RoundUp Ready. Crop damage, increased weed resistance to herbicides and human health impacts were all likely outcomes that EPA and USDA either glossed over or ignored completely when approving Dow’s Enlist crop system.

After losing that battle, PAN joined our partners at Center for Food Safety in a legal petition challenging EPA’s bad process for approving Enlist Duo. It was while preparing a defense for this legal petition that EPA decided to withdraw its support for Dow’s new pesticide.

To explain what happened, first we have to understand synergistic effects: as in, when two chemicals combined have a stronger or different effect than either chemical on its own. One of PAN’s many standing critiques of EPA is that it doesn’t require pesticide corporations to study these synergistic effects before allowing a new product onto the market. In this case, Dow is combining glyphosate with 2,4-D to make a new formulation. But EPA only required Dow to submit research on the two chemicals separately, and specifically cited ‘no synergistic effects’ in its approval document for Enlist Duo.

But here’s the twist: while Dow provided EPA with no evidence that synergistic effects for its Enlist Duo formulation existed, the company submitted an application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office showing concrete evidence of synergistic effects.

EPA’s confusing priorities

EPA has drawn a line in the regulatory sand at intentionally misleading paperwork, but might do nothing about all the other harms caused by Enlist Duo. After reviewing Dow’s patent application, the agency petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate its own approval of Enlist Duo. While we’re happy to have this dangerous new product temporarily off the shelves, now we’re waiting to see how EPA will respond to Dow’s secret  studies on synergistic effects. If the corporation is to be believed, EPA will have Enlist Duo back on shelves in time for the 2016 growing season.

We know EPA will be examining how synergy between 2,4-D and glyphosate will impact vegetation, presumably of surrounding ecosystem plants. This could mean changing requirements for application like top wind speed and buffer zones, all of which were relatively lenient in EPA’s first registration of the pesticide. What is left unaddressed, of course, is all of our other concerns about Enlist Duo: crop damage, drift, human health impacts, etc, etc.

Most notably, since EPA has registered Enlist Duo, one of its components — glyphosate — has been declared a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization and the state of California. EPA hasn’t revealed whether this new science on glyphosate will mean any changes to its regulation here in the United States.

In the meantime, Monsanto’s flagship chemical, which they always assured us was ‘safe enough to drink,’ remains the country’s most used herbicide. And it seems EPA may decide to put Enlist Duo back on the market — and sort that cancer thing out later.

Raising the bar

This illuminating example of EPA’s regulatory failures comes during a critical window for reform. The Obama Administration announced this year a process to evaluate our country’s regulatory framework for genetically engineered (GE) crops. We’re pushing hard for stricter controls and fewer loopholes, though the stated objective of this rework is to “prevent unnecessary barriers to future innovation and competitiveness.”

Wait — so we’re going to make it even easier for GE crops and their accompanying pesticides to make it onto the market? Yikes.

We need a real overhaul of the regulatory framework on GE and pesticides. The priority for any farming products should be their benefits to the lives and livelihoods of farm families. Put simply? Corporate profits must take a backseat to small farms and rural health. And as a baseline, no corporation should be entitled to rush a product to market that probably causes cancer.

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North Korean band’s shows cancelled over ‘anti-American lyrics’

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Chinese censors objected to Moranbong band calling US an ‘ambitious wolf’ and glorifying Korean war, says source

A North Korean pop group cancelled its Beijing concerts last week when Chinese authorities objected to “anti-American” lyrics in the show, said a source with ties to both countries.

The Moranbong band was visiting China with the State Merited Chorus and had been due to perform in Beijing on 12 December, but cancelled three hours before the show was to start.

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Farmers spread their produce under the sun in the courtyard of their home in Ghool village of the Chakwal district, about 90 km (56 miles) southeast of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. Saleem Shaikh/IPS

IPS Inter Press Service posted a photo:

Farmers spread their produce under the sun in the courtyard of their home in Ghool village of the Chakwal district, about 90 km (56 miles) southeast of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. Saleem Shaikh/IPS

Farmers in the rain-dependent district of Chakwal in Punjab province of Pakistan are finding relief in beekeeping as the groundnut crop suffers a blow from shifting rainfall patterns

Cop Involved In Fatal Shooting Of Amadou Diallo Gets Promotion

Cop Involved In Fatal Shooting Of Amadou Diallo Gets Promotion One of the four cops who gunned down unarmed 22-year-old Amadou Diallo in 1999 is getting promoted to sergeant today. The Daily News reports that Kenneth Boss, who fired five of the 41 shots that took down the Guinean immigrant as he reached for his wallet in the vestibule of his apartment building, is clear of any disciplinary holds and is receiving the promotion after passing a civil service exam. [ more › ]

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