Monday, June 17, 2013

US pork producer Smithfield Foods to be sold to China for $4.72 billion - and this is just the beginning

pork

US pork producer Smithfield Foods to be sold to China for $4.72 billion - and this is just the beginning

Sunday, June 16, 2013 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: ChinaSmithfield Foodsfood safety



(NaturalNews) Recent announcements about the acquisition of U.S.-based Smithfield Foods Inc., the world's largest pork producer and processor, by a major Chinese holding company has sent significant shockwaves throughout the American economy. According to new reports, Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. is in the process of pulling the trigger on purchasing Smithfield for $4.72 billion, a move that some say marks the beginning of a much larger takeover of American industry by the Far East.

Reports of a potential Smithfield acquisition have been surfacing here and there in recent months. But now it appears that the decision is all but complete, pending approval from Smithfield's shareholders. As reported by Newsday.com, the deal was officially announced at the end of May, and part of its terms included shareholders receiving $34 per share, a roughly 31 percent premium from earlier share value, as part of the deal.

The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment still has to review the deal to assess any potential national security risks. But by the way the mainstream media is currently talking about the deal, it is essentially already a reality, which means a major segment of the American food economy will soon be controlled by a Chinese corporation. And not surprisingly, many of those paying attention to this development are completely outraged.

"There is public unease when a foreign buyer acquires the largest pork-producing company in the world that is a major player in the local economy and is the source of our bacon and ribs," wrote Sharon Valentine in a recent editorial published by FayObserver.com.

"The U.S. government may not consider our food supply a security risk, but recent Chinese scandals involving thousands of pigs floating in the rivers near Shanghai and pork tainted with a food additive that makes people sick could force the government to rethink the definition of safe and secure to include our food. It's not who brings home the bacon but what is in the bacon."

Is China finally cashing in on its U.S. debt holdings by buying up what's left of the American economy?

The real crux of the issue here is that foreign buyouts of American companies have been picking up in recent years, and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The American economy, which has already been almost completely ransacked as far as the manufacturing sector goes, is now being slowly disassembled in the service and food sectors as well, which is a legitimate cause for concern.

Besides being a foreign company from a nation rife with major food safety disasters, Shuanghui also has its own sordid history of food safety scandals. According to WUSA9.com, Shuanghui was forced to recall some of its pork products back in 2011 after being exposed for using a toxic additive that was banned more than a decade ago. And in 2012, tests revealed maggots and bacteria in Shuanghui ribs and sausages.

"It's a bad deal for American workers," says Dr. Peter Morici, an economist who recently shared his thoughts with the media. "Initially, we'll get some exports, they'll learn how to produce pork themselves, (and) the industry will move there. Before you know it, the pork industry will move there, like the auto parts industry."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.newsday.com

http://www.dailyfinance.com

http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/262595/373/The-Buying-of-America



Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040805_China_Smithfield_Foods_food_safety.html#ixzz2WWHBepGQ

Roundup Weed Killer causes breast cancer, why is this crap legal?

http://www.naturalnews.com/040808_glyphosate_breast_cancer_drinking_water.html

Late last week, a story broke that revealed glyphosate -- the chemical name of Roundup herbicide -- multiplies the proliferation of breast cancer cells by 500% to 1300%... even at exposures of just a few parts per trillion (ppt).

The study, published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, is entitled, "Glyphosate induces human breast cancer cells growth via estrogen receptors." You can read the abstract here.

There's a whole lot more to this story, however, but to follow it, you need to understand these terms:

ppm = parts per million = 10 (-6) = number of parts out of a million

ppb = parts per billion = 10 (-9), which is 1,000 times smaller than ppm

ppt = parts per trillion = 10 (-12), which is 1,000 times smaller than ppb and 1,000,000 times smaller than ppm

The study found that breast cancer cell proliferation is accelerated by glyphosate in extremely low concentrations: ppt to ppb. The greatest effect was observed in the ppb range, including single-digit ppb such as 1 ppb.

This news, all by itself, sent shockwaves across the 'net all weekend. Women were asking things like: "You mean to tell me that glyphosate residues on crops in just ppt or ppb concentrations can give me breast cancer?" It doesn't exactly translate like that. It depends on how much you eat vs. your body mass (nanograms of glyphosate per kilogram of body weight). But with ridiculously small amounts of this chemical now being correlated to cancer cell proliferation, you don't have to eat much at all in order to put yourself at risk.

But it's not just eating glyphosate that's the problem. You're also DRINKING it.

California allows 1,000 ppb of glyphosate in drinking water

In December of 1997, California released its Glyphosate in Drinking Water California Public Health Goal (PHG) document. You can view the document yourself at:
http://oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/pdf/glypho_c.pdf

The document openly admits:

Glyphosate is a non-selective systemic herbicide used in agriculture, rights-of-way and aquatic systems. Exposure to glyphosate may occur from its normal use due to drift, residues in food crops and from runoff into potential drinking water sources.

It then goes on to state something borrowed straight from Monsanto's quack science team: "Glyphosate is not mutagenic or teratogenic and there is no evidence for reproductive toxicity in multigeneration studies in rats."

Based on this blatant lie, California set an upper limit of "1.0 mg/L (1,000 ppb) for glyphosate in drinking water."

Yes, that's 1,000 times higher than the amount now shown to cause a 500% to 1300% increase in cancer cell proliferation.

What's even more shocking is that California's allowable exposure level was nearly 50% HIGHER than the federal (EPA) level -- 700 ppb.

Yes, California -- the state where more people are concerned about GMOs than seemingly anywhere else -- actually used Monsanto-sounding language in its "official" report that set a higher water contamination level than the federal government!


Glyphosate carcinotoxicity was documented years earlier

Even though California released this document in 1997, the state was already willfully ignoring a growing body of scientific evidence documenting glyphosate toxicity. For example, a study published two years earlier -- in 1995 -- in the Journal of Pesticide Reform (Volume 15, Number 3, Fall 1995) written by Caroline Cox concluded:

Glyphosate-containing products are acutely toxic to animals, including humans. ...In animal studies, feeding of glyphosate for three months caused reduced weight gain, diarrhea, and salivary gland lesions. Lifetime feeding of glyphosate caused excess growth and death of liver cells, cataracts and lens degeneration, and increases in the frequency of thyroid, pancreas, and liver tumors.

Glyphosate-containing products have caused genetic damage in human blood cells... reduced sperm counts in male rats... an increase in fetal loss...


In other words, California knew -- or should have known -- that glyphosate was harmful to humans. But the California government willfully ignored this evidence and seemingly went out of its way to incorporate deceptive Monsanto spin into its "Public Health Goal" documents, thereby allowing 1,000 times higher levels of glyphosate in drinking water than we now know to cause cancer cell proliferation.

Ten years later, California lowers its level by just 10%

Fast forward to 2007. After a public comment period which was no doubt dominated by disinfo-spewing Monsanto trolls, the state of California issued an updated Public Health Goal (PHG) document.

You can view that document here:
http://oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/pdf/080406dglyphosate.pdf

It concludes that the allowable glyphosate exposure for all Californians should be lowered to 900 ppb -- still nine hundred times higher than the amount needed to accelerate cancer cell growth as we see in the study released last week.

This 2007 document from the California government also borrows language that sounds like it's right out of Monsanto's P.R. department: "Based on the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity study results, glyphosate is not likely to pose a cancer hazard to humans," it says.

Now the evidence is becoming clear: Monsanto's chemicals are killing women

Now it's 2013. We've seen the horrific results of the GMO rat study revealing the growth of massive tumors in rats exposed to GMOs and Roundup (glyphosate). We've also now seen the "parts per trillion" study showing cancer cell proliferation being caused by ultra-low concentrations of glyphosate.

We also know the biotech industry has gone to ridiculous lengths to spread disinfo on all this -- to try to discredit scientists who speak out against GMOs and glyphosate, to get scientists blackballed from the industry, and to buy off politicians and members of the press to make sure there is no coverage granted to any scientific studies reporting the dangers of genetically modified crops (and their related chemical herbicides).

Glyphosate is the new DDT

Based on what we're seeing now, I believe glyphosate is the most toxic chemical that has ever been widely deployed across our food supply. Glyphosate is the new DDT, and it's contaminating our waterways, soils, food and bodies.

Furthermore, the California government has clearly been complicit in allowing extremely high levels of glyphosate to contaminate the public drink water, thereby causing tens of millions of Californians to be poisoned with concentrations of glyphosate that promote cancer cell growth.

And what will the California government tell you now that the truth has come out? Now that they've allowed their own population to be exposed to a thousand times the concentration needed to accelerate the growth of cancer tumors?

"Run for the cure!" And don't label GMOs, either, because you don't have a right to know whether you're eating deadly poison in your food.

Join the Monsanto Video Revolt, July 24, 2013

Take part in the global video revolt against Monsanto. Learn more at:
www.MonsantoVideoRevolt.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040808_glyphosate_breast_cancer_drinking_water.html#ixzz2WWGE0grc

Friday, June 7, 2013

The Most Disturbing Sound in the World


Sounds of the Animals from a factory farm; can you make it through the 30 seconds?




Wednesday, June 5, 2013

VEGANISM: A TRUTH WHOSE TIME HAS COME: Are Vegans Making History?

VEGANISM: A TRUTH WHOSE TIME HAS COME: Are Vegans Making History?: VEGANS ARE MAKING HISTORY  by BEING ON THE RIGHT SIDE of a SOCIALLY-ACCEPTED WRONG. ~~~~~~~~~~~ White Rose Resistance to Hitle...