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The Government Protects Monsanto — Not Your Right to Life! Last Night, I watched the PBs Independent Lens Documentary The People vs Agent Arms Video: People Vs, Agent Orange The People vs. Agent Orange closely follows two activists as they take on the chemical industry, and demand accountability for the pernicious legacy caused by the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.One Review: ‘The People vs. Agent Orange’ Documentary Chronicles the Ongoing Fight The Vietnam War ended, but the fight against the use of the chemical compound Agent Orange is far from over. Two women from opposite ends of the globe are united in their battle to hold the manufacturers of the toxic defoliant accountable. The name Agent Orange has become synonymous with the destructive legacy of the Vietnam War. The U.S. military’s use (12 million gallons) of the toxic herbicide not only did lasting ecological damage to a nation’s jungles and crops, but it left human victims on both sides with corrosive health effects that have been passed on to subsequent generations. Accountability for its deployment — by our government and the chemical companies (Dow, Monsanto) that continue to spray one of Agent Orange’s key, still-dangerous components as an approved defoliant in U.S. parks and forests — is the animating thrust of the investigative documentary “The People vs. Agent Orange,” from filmmakers Alan Adelson and Kate Taverna.
I would add to that review: The Monsanto and the government uses legal and illegal methods, shown by the documentary, to counter science, our right to know, and our right to Life!
Background to the Documentary: Agent Orange is a herbicide and defoliant chemical, one of the “tactical use” Rainbow Herbicides. It is widely known for its use by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. It is a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. In addition to its damaging environmental effects, traces of dioxin (mainly TCDD, the most toxic of its type) found in the mixture have caused major health problems for many individuals who were exposed. — Agent Orange
Like other waepons of Mass Destruction, (Nuclear Bombs, etc.) capitalists endeavor to find ‘peace time’ uses — nuclear power, etc. Monsanto is/was no exception:
Monsanto has not just developed the herbicide for removing unwanted vegetation, it has used glyphosate to engineer crops that are resistant to herbicides, allowing farmers to spray fields with RoundUp and not kill the food crops being grown for human consumption. RoundUp Ready© soybeans and canola were introduced in the 1990s, with crops of corn and sugarbeets following. Monsanto also has a program called “preharvesting,” where farmers are taught how and when to spray entire crops of consumable food in order to kill it while still in the ground, drying it out to cause harvesting machines less damage and to yield the highest crops. This process basically kills the food on the stalk, in effect drying it out so that when it is harvested, there is less moisture allowing for less wear and tear on harvesting equipment. Preharvesting, per Monsanto’s guidebook, is used on wheat, barley, oats, canola, flaxseed, peas, lentils, soybeans, and dry beans. — Agent Orange vs. RoundUp: Understanding The Health Effects of Weed Killers
The problem is that glyphosate is known, to science, as a carcinogen or probable carcinogen.:
Over Manstano’s opposition the State of California listed glyphosate as a carcingen.: Glyphosate Listed Effective July 7, 2017, as Known to the State of California to Cause Cancer The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) After a systematic review and evaluation of the scientific evidence, the Monograph Working Group classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A). This classification is the result of a year-long evaluation by leading independent experts without conflicts of interest, who reviewed all pertinent, publicly available scientific literature on the carcinogenicity of glyphosate. The established procedures and criteria for the selection, evaluation, and integration of evidence used in developing a Monograph are provided in the Preamble to the IARC Monographs of Glyphosate
The House of Representatives, in defense of Monsanto, in a challenge to science of the IARC!: “On 1 November 2017, the United States House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology sent a letter to Dr Christopher Wild, Director of the ( World Health Organization) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), raising several points mentioned in some media outlets regarding the evaluation of glyphosate by the IARC Monographs Programme. IARC has issued a number of statements to reject false claims and misrepresentations in the media; these statements are all available on our website. In the interest of transparency, IARC is posting Dr Wild′s response to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, as sent today. . . Following the classification of glyphosate in March 2015 as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A) by the IARC Monographs Programme, IARC has been the target of an unprecedented number of orchestrated actions by stakeholders seeking to undermine its credibility. In the interest of transparency, IARC has documented some of these instances, and our responses can be found on the Agency′s Governance Website. — IARC Monograph on Glyphosate. “
But, The Veterans Affairs Recognizes the Science!:
Getting Veterans (VA) Disability for Agent Orange Diseases Agent Orange is a powerful herbicide. The U.S. military used it to defoliate swaths of land in Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea. It was also tested, used, and stored at various other locations. Unfortunately, research later showed the herbicide was highly toxic to anyone who came in proximity to it. The effects of Agent Orange can take years to appear. Even if many decades passed between your exposure in military service and medical diagnosis of an associated condition, it’s not too late to file a claim. If you can prove you were exposed to Agent Orange during service and have an associated medical condition, the VA must grant service connection. . . . What Agent Orange-related conditions qualify for disability benefits? Medical researchers have linked Agent Orange to a host of health conditions. VA adds new conditions to the list periodically. No matter your diagnosis, contact us for a free consultation. Currently, the list of health conditions associated with Agent Orange exposure includes the following:
- AL amyloidosis
- Bladder Cancer
- Leukemia
- Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
- Hypothyroidism
- Ischemic Heart Disease
- Diabetes Mellitus, Type II
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Parkinson’s-like Symptoms
- Respiratory Cancer (e.g., bronchus cancer, larynx cancer, lung cancer, trachea cancer)
What the documentary also exposes, that in the United States, The Capitalists Rights to Profits Come Before the Life and the Survival of humanity!