Category Archives: Fail!

Glyphosate – IARC got it right, EFSA got it from Monsanto | Jennifer Sass’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

The EFSA report is based on findings of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment – the BfR – which received a first draft of the science directly from the Glyphosate Task Force (GTF), whose members include Monsanto and Syngenta and other agrochemical corporations. EFSA describes its process as standard procedure to have the agrochemical company supply the scientific information to the Member state (Germany and Croatia in this case), whose report then goes to EFSA to make a final evaluation.The Guardian reported on how compromised the process was: “BfR officials explained that due to the quantity of evidence they did not have the time to report the original studies in detail, but instead based their evaluation on descriptions provided by the agrochemical industry. But those descriptions also contained the industry’s assessment of the reliability and interpretation of each study, which involves exactly the kinds of choice-laden decisions described earlier… this falls well short of what most people would understand as an independent review.”So, we know that Monsanto and other companies provided their own assessment of the scientific evidence, much of it industry-sponsored unpublished studies, and then handed that pig off to Germany for some lipstick.

Source: Glyphosate – IARC got it right, EFSA got it from Monsanto | Jennifer Sass’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

US scientists, activists call for global ban on ‘designer babies’ gene modification – ABC News 

{Please don’t do Josef Mengele proud!}

The Centre for Genetics and Society (CGS) and the activist group Friends of the Earth issued the report a day before a major international meeting in Washington to discuss the ethical and policy issues surrounding the technology.A technological innovation that can strategically edit out specific stretches of DNA could ultimately lead to the genetic modification of children, and should be halted before it starts being used, they argued.”Like so many powerful new technologies, gene editing holds potential for both great benefit and great harm,” an open letter published by the groups said.”The implementation of heritable human genetic modification — often referred to as the creation of ‘genetically modified humans’ or ‘designer babies’ — could irrevocably alter the nature of the human species and society.”Gene editing may hold some promise for somatic gene therapy (aimed at treating impaired tissues in a fully formed person).”However, there is no medical justification for modifying human embryos or gametes in an effort to alter the genes of a future child.”

Source: US scientists, activists call for global ban on ‘designer babies’ gene modification – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Avian Flu Diary: Brazilian MOH Reports 500 New Microcephaly Cases In Past Week

In most years, the number of cases of this rare defect reported across Brazil runs in the low triple digits. Over the past two weeks we’ve seen that number jump from 399, to 739, to now 1248 suspected cases. This jump coincides with the arrival of the Zika Virus last spring (see ECDC: Complications Potentially Linked To The Zika Virus Outbreaks In Brazil & French Polynesia), and there is growing concern that the rapidly spreading Zika virus is to blame. Microcephaly is a rare neurological condition where the child’s head is smaller in circumference than normal, and is often associated with developmental disorders. It can be caused by congenital disorders, maternal illness, or environmental exposures.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Brazilian MOH Reports 500 New Microcephaly Cases In Past Week

The world’s failed war on terrorism | Nervana

Unlike what many Muslims and the liberal western elite emphasize, contemporary terrorism undoubtedly has a religious element to it. It is frankly disingenuous to deny this reality. It is also futile, however, to judge Islam. Islam is not an entity, a specific institution, or a state.Like other religions, Islam is not what is written in texts, but what people opt to apply in their life.Radicals have simply resurrected older interpretations of Islamic texts and twisted such concepts in cynical farcical ways to validate their gruesome actions. Their behavior is actually a reflection of the broader cultural suicide of the Muslim world, and not on the Muslim faith per se.

Source: The world’s failed war on terrorism | Nervana

Former DIA Intelligence Chief Discusses Development of IS – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Flynn: First we went to Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was based. Then we went into Iraq. Instead of asking ourselves why the phenomenon of terror occurred, we were looking for locations. This is a major lesson we must learn in order not to make the same mistakes again.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The Islamic State wouldn’t be where it is now without the fall of Baghdad. Do you regret …

Flynn: … yes, absolutely …

SPIEGEL ONLINE: … the Iraq war?

Flynn: It was huge error. As brutal as Saddam Hussein was, it was a mistake to just eliminate him. The same is true for Moammar Gadhafi and for Libya, which is now a failed state. The historic lesson is that it was a strategic failure to go into Iraq. History will not be and should not be kind with that decision.

Source: Former US Intelligence Chief Discusses Development of IS – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Donald Trump Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Repeating Debunked NJ 9/11 Claim: “I’m Not Going To Take It Back”: Gothamist

Donald Trump’s hateful, dangerous rhetoric is finally catching up with him: according to Reuters, Trump’s support among Republicans has dropped 12 points in the last week, his biggest decline since July. They credit that drop to Trump’s much-debunked NJ 9/11 cheering story and his disgusting impression of a NY Times reporter with a disability. But if you think being called out by every credible news source in the country is enough to make Trump change his tune, you don’t know Trump. AP Trump repeated his story that “thousands and thousands of people [in NJ] were cheering as that building was coming down” on 9/11 on Meet The Press this morning. “I saw it on television,” Trump said. “And so did many other people and many people saw it in person. I have hundreds of phone calls to the Trump organization saying we saw it. It was dancing in the streets. Why would I take it back, I’m not going to take it back.” Host Chuck Todd pushed back hard though, rightfully calling him out on his bullshitting: “There were three of four different reports that month in New Jersey that said it was a myth. That it was a false rumor. FBI. You name it,” Todd said. Check out the rest of the exchange, via Raw Story. “Just because somebody repeats something doesn’t make it true,” Todd argued. “I don’t mean I had two calls, Chuck,” Trump interrupted. “People were saying they lived in Jersey.” “People were saying!” Todd shot back. “If I said, ‘Well, people have said Mr. Trump’s not worth $10 billion, and people were saying,’ you would say that’s crazy. You wouldn’t make a business deal based on retweets and based on hearsay.” “You’re running for president of the United States,” he continued. “Your words matter. Truthfulness matters. Fact-based stuff matters.” “Take it easy, Chuck, just play cool,” Trump quipped. “This is people in this country that love our country that saw this by the hundreds they’re calling and they’re tweeting.” “I have a very good memory. I saw it somewhere on television many years ago and I never forgot it. And it was on television too.” Trump continued to push the point, arguing that if it happened somewhere…then it could have happened here? Uh, why not? Seriously, I think that’s his argument: “You have a huge Muslim population, between Patterson and different places and Jersey City, an unbelievable large population. If they’re going to be doing it at soccer games, if they’re going to be doing it all around the world, it was being done,” Trump said. “When the Trade Center came down, it was done all around the world. And you know that because that has been reported very strongly. Why wouldn’t it have taken place?” MTV dug up what is believed to be the television footage Trump was referring to, taken from a documentary called Fight For Your Rights: Aftermath of Terror, which first aired on MTV on Nov. 17, 2001. It all seems to rest on the eyewitness account of then-high school senior Emily Acevedo, who went on to say, “Everyone that was out there, they were only 13 or 14 at most. They were kids. They didn’t know what they were doing.” There’s a pretty huge difference between a handful of dumb kids and “thousands and thousands” of Muslims. Trump knows what he’s saying, he knows why he’s saying it, and he will never apologize. He’s not even a real sociopath, just a professional used car salesman with a bad tan and a preternatural ability to say anything that will keep him in the spotlight. Thankfully, those latest poll numbers show that even his so-called base of supporters are starting to tire of someone who openly mocks people with disabilities and then blatantly, obviously, unmistakably lies about it.

Source: Donald Trump Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Repeating Debunked NJ 9/11 Claim: “I’m Not Going To Take It Back”: Gothamist

Top Kurdish rights defender in Turkey shot and killed | News | DW.COM | 28.11.2015

A prominent Kurdish lawyer and human rights defender has been killed in Turkey after making a pro-peace press statement in the city of Diyarbakir. It is unclear who was behind the attack.

Source: Top Kurdish rights defender in Turkey shot and killed | News | DW.COM | 28.11.2015

Israel to coordinate with Google, YouTube, to censor Palestinian videos of conflict | PNN

The Israeli move comes amidst escalating tension in occupied Palestine, and a large number of videos, including those showing Israeli soldiers and officers killing Palestinians execution-style after injuring them, and many videos that in general highlight the suffering of the Palestinian people, living under the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine.The Israeli coordination with Google and YouTube has very serious implications, and many journalists have spoken out in opposition, saying it is a direct assault on the Freedom of the Press, as reported by IMEMC.All foreign journalists who report in the Occupied Territories are required to register with the Israeli military, and any footage that they film is required to go through the Israeli Military Censor’s office before it can be released.With the recent advances in technology, many Palestinians and other civilians have been able to post videos uncensored online.According to IMEMC, The Israeli government has frequently voiced its discontent with this development, and have worked to find ways to continue to censor videos coming out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Source: Israel to coordinate with Google, YouTube, to censor Palestinian videos of conflict | PNN

Disgusting Donald Trump Desperately Denies Mocking Reporter With Disability: Gothamist

In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Kovaleski said that he met with Mr. Trump repeatedly when he was a reporter for The Daily News covering the developer’s business career in the late 1980s, before joining The Post. “Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years,” Mr. Kovaleski said. “I’ve interviewed him in his office,” he added. “I’ve talked to him at press conferences. All in all, I would say around a dozen times, I’ve interacted with him as a reporter while I was at The Daily News.”A representative for The Times said on Wednesday: “We’re outraged that he would ridicule the physical appearance of one of our reporters.”

Source: Disgusting Donald Trump Desperately Denies Mocking Reporter With Disability: Gothamist