The Glyphosate Awareness Newsletter is published weekly by Priscilla
King, c/o Boxholders, P.O. Box 322, Gate City, Virginia, 24251-0322. It’s
available free, in plain text as an e-mail or attachment. Printed or
audiocassette versions are available for the cost of production. (Audiofiles
are free to anyone who can convince me that s/he is blind and can’t read a
document aloud using widely available software.) Reprinting, recirculating, and
sharing this information at the reader’s own expense is encouraged, provided
that all sources of material are credited.
1. WEB SITE? LET’S HOPE EVERYBODY WAS AT THE LAKE LAST WEEK
For about six months, Glyphosate Awareness did not need its own
separate searchable web site. People could just scroll down the hashtag page on
Twitter. However, (1) by now enough content has been posted to the hashtag that
many devices can’t scroll back that far; and (2) we need a newsletter because
we can’t depend on Twitter. Some Tweeps have indicated that you’re writing
books or compiling databases. That will be most useful; I’m sure I’d prefer
that someone else built the official web site, as much as some of you would.
This is not about money or “glory.” We need one big searchable site for all
things glyphosate-related. It should be objective, not identified with any
individual or organization, since most of us have our own opinions about other
things that are separate from Glyphosate Awareness. Some of you have probably
done more work than I have with this topic. You’re certainly welcome to add
what I’ve assembled, so far, to what you have—but why should each of us invent
a separate wheel?
2. I ALMOST DIDN’T EVEN DO THIS NEWSLETTER
Because I’ve been sick all week since last Friday’s roadside poisoning.
All I’ve eaten since Sunday has been greens and peaches, and even that didn’t
help because, of course, the vapors that caused me to wake up sneezing settled
on the greens and peaches too! Celiacs are tough, because we have to be, to
survive at all; we keep working through sickness until our shredded intestines
finally burst. It’s said to be a very yucky way to die, though a quick one.
3. GOVERNMENTS THAT CONTINUE TO MISS THE POINT
The national governments of Brazil, Canada, and the United States
continue to condone poisoning their citizens and a large part of the world’s
food supply.
https://nsadvocate.org/2019/08/16/province-announces-another-summer-of-glyphosate-spraying-for-rural-nova-scotia/
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2019/08/epa-refuses-to-approve-labeling-that-discloses-roundup-glyphosate-as-a-carcinogen/
Bayer’s current site for testing glyphosate and “Roundup-Ready” GMO
crops is in Puerto Rico, where locals report the array of symptoms contact with
glyphosate is known to cause. In the Obama Administration they used the
Philippines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wXw_P7iugw&feature=youtu.be
Trump personally encourages the government of Colombia to do this too.
https://colombiareports.com/trump-urges-aerial-fumigation-as-he-certifies-colombia-as-cooperative-in-war-on-drugs/
It’s easy to blame and hate Trump personally for this. Too easy. We need
to bear in mind that glyphosate got out of hand in the United States during the
Obama Administration—it’s not a Republican-versus-Democrat issue. Corporations
routinely “give” money to all promising candidates in order to claim that the
winner is in their debt. None of the multitude of D presidential hopefuls, for
instance, has a serious plan for banning glyphosate.
https://foodtank.com/news/2019/08/opinion-2020-democratic-candidates-on-key-food-and-agriculture-issues/
However, Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives reports a
plan to ban all use of glyphosate, chlorpyrifos, and paraquat (how many U.S.
Tweeps remember paraquat?) in Thailand within a year.
And Kenya’s Tea Development Agency warns farmers not to use glyphosate,
although it’s sold to them legally under the brand name “Glycel”:
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001338331/tea-farmers-warned-over-use-of-herbicide-on-health-fears
4. THREATS
On Twitter, Glyphosate Awareness spotted a tweet from Europe saying “Yes,
buy glyphosate and your house will never burn down.” This was apparently an ill-considered joke about
someone who set fire to a house while trying to control weeds naturally by
burning them. However, we are informed that when individuals who have large
homogeneous Twitter followings have posted anti-glyphosate tweets, they’ve
received death threats. We should probably regard those who express pro-glyphosate
opinions as potentially violent; spraying poison is inherently a violent act,
and those who do it probably are willing to do worse things.
5. “WHITEWASH” HEADS FOR REPRINT
Whether it’s inquiring minds who want to know, or Bayer goons buying up
copies to make this book unavailable, Carey Gillam’s book Whitewash has sold out on Amazon. It’s due for a second printing
already!
6. WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE BAN ON WARNING LABELS IN CALIFORNIA
Well...when I was in a feminist activist group, along with our primary
activity of raising money for a rape crisis center, we all used to carry around
stickers to slap onto ads, magazines, etc., warning people “This offends women.”
One thing we might consider is slapping stickers onto store shelves, doors,
etc., warning people that glyphosate/Roundup causes tissue damage that most
definitely promotes the growth of cancer. Those stickers could include clips
from that document in EPA’s glyphosate archive, with the photos of emergency
patients.
More usefully, we could print less disturbing messages on postcards and
mass-mail them, especially to St. Louis. We could have pretty pictures, if only
free stock pictures of flowers, butterflies, children and animals, on one side
and a message like “People are becoming less tolerant of the use of glyphosate,
which can harm or kill butterflies (puppies, children, songbirds, honeybees,
etc.). Don’t buy or use Roundup or other ‘herbicides’,” on the other side. Or a
list of Bayer brands sold in the area on one side and “You’re invited to join the Bayer Boycott” on
the other side. Here’s that list again, in case anyone wants to print it.
https://www.bayer.com/en/products-from-a-to-z.aspx
7. DEAD ISSUES USED AS SMOKESCREENS AGAIN
When a right-wingnut commits a homicide-suicide in Texas and a
left-wingnut commits one in Ohio on the same weekend, the common issue is not “gun
violence as a partisan political issue,” the way some very tacky Democrats want to suggest. The common issue is “homicide-suicide
as a reaction to any of a specific group of stimulant drugs”—which is what the commercial
media don’t want us to think about, since some of those drugs happen to be very
profitable as legal “prescription medication.”
Gun bans don’t save lives; they cost lives. However, gun shops thrive
on political debates about gun bans. Republicans agree to reopen the long-dead debate,
even threaten to cave on bans on specific models, because doing that pleases some
of their supporting business owners. If I were still being sponsored by an
active firearms dealer I might get into this issue, but frankly, Scarlett, you’re
in a lot more danger from glyphosate than you’ve ever been from guns. And if
you seriously want fewer guns made and sold, try reacting to the gun ban debate
with “Snore.”
8. ST. LOUIS: OCTOBER 10
We need boots on the ground in St. Louis between now and October 10, says
Carey Gillam:
9. WE ARE STILL WINNING, GENTLE READERS!
I personally feel overwhelmed. Some of you may, too. I personally wonder
whether Glyphosate Awareness is going to be my last battle; all I can say is
that, if it is, I’d rather go out fighting the poison that may be killing me
than just sitting there and taking it like a good little rape victim. Some of
you may feel that way, or you may feel too sick or too tired or too
brainfogged, already. But the facts are out, and the facts are going to win,
whether or not any of us is around to see that happen.
Carry it on.
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