wakingtimes--2020-03-13--The UN Looks to Protect Chimpanzee Culture

The United Nations famously protects cultural heritage sites , but for the first time it has recognized the unique culture of animals .
At the 13th Conference of Parties ( CoP ) to the United Nations Environment Program ’ s ( UNEP ) Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals ( CMS ) , which took place recently in India , the conference attendees agreed to protect the ability of West African chimpanzees to crack nuts , according to Down to Earth magazine .
The CMS recognized the unique learned ability of chimpanzees to use stone hammers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , making this the first time , it seems , that one species has formally recognized the value of another ’ s learned customs , according to The Times of London .
The proposal recognized that there are 39 cultural variations that are recognized in chimpanzees across various regions of Africa , but it said , “ [ a ] mong these , the clearest instance was nut-cracking , common in the West , yet absent elsewhere despite the availability of the necessary raw materials.
” The CMS is looking to create something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where chimpanzee nut-cracking is protected .
The CMS said it highlights the chimpanzees ’ “ unique technological culture , ” as CNN reported .
The ability to use stone and wood as a hammer and anvil is only observed in chimpanzees in West Africa .
The CMS said that chimps in Guinea , Sierra Leone , Liberia and the Ivory Coast have the ability , but those in other parts of Africa do not , according to CNN .
“ In different parts of western Africa , scientists noted that chimpanzees interacted with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their behaviors are different from other animals .
It becomes apparent when you watch them for a while , ” said Ian Redmond , a CMS tropical field biologist and conservationist , to Down to Earth .
“ You can tell where a chimpanzee is from by looking at its behavior in a way similar to when you recognize which tribe a human comes from through her clothes , dancing and mannerisms.
” The need to protect chimpanzees is particularly pronounced now that their habitat is rapidly changing due to the climate crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ] must expect [ nut cracking culture ] to suffer a high degree of threat , a situation that is reminiscent of cultural extinctions among humans , such as of relatively rare local languages and other customs , ” the CMS wrote in its proposal .
“ Alternatively , such behavioral plasticity could enhance survival prospects of chimpanzees in marginal habitat or subject to climate-induced changes to vegetation.
” Ian Redmond also touted the unique ability to crack nuts as fundamental to survival during the climate crisis .
Recognizing that ability and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservation .
He told Down to Earth , “ The ability to crack nuts means chimpanzees can survive in forests which in dry seasons don ’ t have much other food .
So it becomes a survival skill .
Because of climate change , there are longer dry seasons .
So these chimpanzees have a better chance of survival .
We need to know which tribes behave like this .
It is also an issue of competition .
If local human communities harvest the same nuts or fell trees for timber , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a novel criterion for conservation.
” The CMS also noted that the primitive tools of the chimpanzees provide a window into our own evolution .
The CMS wrote in its proposal : Redmond also noted to Down to Earth that recognizing a learned , cultural behavior will change conservation moving forward , since the skills the elderly chimps teach the younger ones are critical to the survival of the culture .
“ So , one potential conservation implication might be that in populations of species that have cultural knowledge , you actually want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , contrary to usual practice which suggests that post-reproductive animals are not useful anymore , ” he said .

The UN Looks to Protect Chimpanzee Culture
Jordan Davidson, EcoWatch
Waking Times
The United Nations famously protects cultural heritage sites, but for the first time it has recognized the unique culture of animals.
At the 13th Conference of Parties (CoP) to the United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP) Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), which took place recently in India, the conference attendees agreed to protect the ability of West African chimpanzees to crack nuts, according to Down to Earth magazine.
The CMS recognized the unique learned ability of chimpanzees to use stone hammers and bits of wood to crack nuts, making this the first time, it seems, that one species has formally recognized the value of another’s learned customs, according to The Times of London.
The proposal recognized that there are 39 cultural variations that are recognized in chimpanzees across various regions of Africa, but it said, “[a]mong these, the clearest instance was nut-cracking, common in the West, yet absent elsewhere despite the availability of the necessary raw materials.”
The CMS is looking to create something similar to a cultural heritage site, where chimpanzee nut-cracking is protected. The CMS said it highlights the chimpanzees’ “unique technological culture,” as CNN reported.
The ability to use stone and wood as a hammer and anvil is only observed in chimpanzees in West Africa. The CMS said that chimps in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast have the ability, but those in other parts of Africa do not, according to CNN.
“In different parts of western Africa, scientists noted that chimpanzees interacted with each other and used tools, so their behaviors are different from other animals. It becomes apparent when you watch them for a while,” said Ian Redmond, a CMS tropical field biologist and conservationist, to Down to Earth. “You can tell where a chimpanzee is from by looking at its behavior in a way similar to when you recognize which tribe a human comes from through her clothes, dancing and mannerisms.”
The need to protect chimpanzees is particularly pronounced now that their habitat is rapidly changing due to the climate crisis and industrial nut farming.
“[We] must expect [nut cracking culture] to suffer a high degree of threat, a situation that is reminiscent of cultural extinctions among humans, such as of relatively rare local languages and other customs,” the CMS wrote in its proposal. “Alternatively, such behavioral plasticity could enhance survival prospects of chimpanzees in marginal habitat or subject to climate-induced changes to vegetation.”
Ian Redmond also touted the unique ability to crack nuts as fundamental to survival during the climate crisis. Recognizing that ability and protecting it is a novel method of conservation. He told Down to Earth, “The ability to crack nuts means chimpanzees can survive in forests which in dry seasons don’t have much other food. So it becomes a survival skill. Because of climate change, there are longer dry seasons. So these chimpanzees have a better chance of survival. We need to know which tribes behave like this. It is also an issue of competition. If local human communities harvest the same nuts or fell trees for timber, we lose chimpanzee culture. So it becomes a novel criterion for conservation.”
The CMS also noted that the primitive tools of the chimpanzees provide a window into our own evolution. The CMS wrote in its proposal:
“Moreover, the culture of nut-cracking merits conservation for reasons beyond that focused only on the species and the activity itself. One major value is that it shares many features with percussive stone tool making that occupied over three million years of hominin evolution, and it has accordingly offered insights into potential evolutionary foundations of this aspect of our human past.”
Redmond also noted to Down to Earth that recognizing a learned, cultural behavior will change conservation moving forward, since the skills the elderly chimps teach the younger ones are critical to the survival of the culture.
“So, one potential conservation implication might be that in populations of species that have cultural knowledge, you actually want to target your conservation actions at elders, contrary to usual practice which suggests that post-reproductive animals are not useful anymore,” he said.
By Jordan Davidson | Creative Commons | EcoWatch


wakingtimes--2020-03-13--Protecting Mangroves Can Prevent Billions of Dollars in Global Flooding Damage Every Year

Hurricanes and tropical storms are estimated to cost the U.S. economy more than $ 50 billion yearly in damage from winds and flooding .
And as these storms travel across the Atlantic , they also ravage many Caribbean nations .
We study coastal ecosystems and how to value the natural coastal defenses provided by mangroves , marshes and coral reefs .
In a new study , we map flood risks along more than 435,000 miles ( 700,000 kilometers ) of subtropical shoreline in 59 countries around the world .
Along these coasts , we calculate that flood risks exceed $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ property .
Many government agencies and insurers estimate that indirect impacts to livelihoods and other economic activity are two to three times these direct flood costs .
We also estimate that across these 59 countries , mangroves – salt-tolerant trees that grow along tropical coastlines worldwide – reduce risk to more than 15 million people and prevent more than $ 65 billion in property damages every year .
Mangroves do this by blocking storm surge – the rise in sea level during storms – and dampening waves , which protect people and structures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a well-recognized hazard along many coasts .
In 2019 , which was an above-normal year for tropical storm activity , 90 named storms formed around the world , including 62 days with major tropical cyclones .
As one example , Hurricane Dorian devastated the northern Bahamas with sustained winds of some 185 miles per hour .
Throughout its life , Dorian ’ s path impacted more than 17 nations and 15 U.S. states and territories , from Grenada to Newfoundland .
And Dorian was not even the strongest cyclone of the year .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Western Pacific , which steered clear of land .
Many scientists predict that climate change will make these storms more intense , with a likely increase in the proportion of storms that reach Categories 4 and 5 .
It would be logical to assume that countries map the flood risks from these storms , since they have to protect residents who live near coasts , along with public infrastructure such as ports , airports , wastewater treatment centers and power plants .
These facilities often are built in low-lying areas around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ governments and businesses only develop flood risk analyses for the shorelines of highly developed nations , where people have the resources to pay for or insure against these risks .
This excludes most tropical countries , where many of the world ’ s most vulnerable people live .
Our study was designed to quantify these flood risks worldwide and identify solutions for reducing them .
We used tools that are standard in the insurance and engineering industries , along with a five-step approach for calculating expected damage , to develop high-resolution estimates of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spatially explicit hydrodynamic flood models with economics to estimate impacts to people and property .
We focused on mangroves because they are large trees that grow quickly in salt water at the edge of the coastal zone , where they form a front line of defense .
Mangroves are also excellent at trapping sediments and building land .
On average , land around mangroves grows vertically by 1 to 10 millimeters per year .
We generated maps summarizing the benefits that mangroves provide in 20-kilometer coastal units around the world .
They show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mangroves avert $ 100 million or more in property damages every year .
These are clearly priority zones where mangrove conservation and restoration will yield highly cost-effective benefits to people , property and national budgets .
According to our estimates , the U.S. , China and Taiwan receive the greatest economic benefits – protection of property – from mangroves .
Vietnam , India and Bangladesh receive the greatest social benefits – protection of people .
Mangrove destruction has been widespread , largely because of coastal development and aquaculture .
From 1980 through the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 20 % of existing mangrove habitat .
The rate of loss has slowed but still continues , driven by urban expansion , pollution and agriculture .
Given our findings about how valuable mangroves are for coastal protection , we believe they should be viewed as national infrastructure and made eligible for funding from hazard mitigation and disaster recovery budgets , just like other coastal defense structures .
Paying for mangrove restoration can work through the same approaches that are currently used to fund engineered protective structures such as seawalls .
Several new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a leading insurance risk modeling firm , show that coastal marshes and mangroves provide significant storm reduction benefits .
These findings could underpin the development of innovative insurance options for natural systems .
Examples are already being developed for coral reefs in Mexico and across the Caribbean .
Conserving mangroves where they occur together with coral reefs can multiply the flood protection benefits from habitats .
Working with the World Bank , countries like the Philippines and Jamaica are assessing how the benefits of mangroves can be incorporated into national finances , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Green Climate Fund , which was created in 2010 to help developing countries mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change .
Our work was supported by the World Bank and Germany ’ s International Climate Initiative to help inform solutions for nations that are most at risk .
In many places , preserving and restoring mangrove forests can be an extremely economically effective strategy for protecting coasts from tropical storm damage .
As national governments and insurers grapple with disaster management costs that are growing nearly exponentially worldwide , we believe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pay for mangrove conservation and restoration using climate adaptation , disaster risk reduction and insurance funds .
Reposted with permission from The Conversation .
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Protecting Mangroves Can Prevent Billions of Dollars in Global Flooding Damage Every Year
Michael Beck and Pelayo Menéndez, Guest
Waking Times
Hurricanes and tropical storms are estimated to cost the U.S. economy more than $50 billion yearly in damage from winds and flooding. And as these storms travel across the Atlantic, they also ravage many Caribbean nations.
We study coastal ecosystems and how to value the natural coastal defenses provided by mangroves, marshes and coral reefs. In a new study, we map flood risks along more than 435,000 miles (700,000 kilometers) of subtropical shoreline in 59 countries around the world.
Along these coasts, we calculate that flood risks exceed $730 billion annually in direct impacts to property. Many government agencies and insurers estimate that indirect impacts to livelihoods and other economic activity are two to three times these direct flood costs.
We also estimate that across these 59 countries, mangroves – salt-tolerant trees that grow along tropical coastlines worldwide – reduce risk to more than 15 million people and prevent more than $65 billion in property damages every year. Mangroves do this by blocking storm surge – the rise in sea level during storms – and dampening waves, which protect people and structures near the shore.
Battered Coastlines
Tropical storms are a well-recognized hazard along many coasts. In 2019, which was an above-normal year for tropical storm activity, 90 named storms formed around the world, including 62 days with major tropical cyclones.
As one example, Hurricane Dorian devastated the northern Bahamas with sustained winds of some 185 miles per hour. Throughout its life, Dorian’s path impacted more than 17 nations and 15 U.S. states and territories, from Grenada to Newfoundland.
And Dorian was not even the strongest cyclone of the year. That title went to Super Typhoon Halong in the Western Pacific, which steered clear of land. Many scientists predict that climate change will make these storms more intense, with a likely increase in the proportion of storms that reach Categories 4 and 5.
It would be logical to assume that countries map the flood risks from these storms, since they have to protect residents who live near coasts, along with public infrastructure such as ports, airports, wastewater treatment centers and power plants. These facilities often are built in low-lying areas around urban and suburban centers.
However, governments and businesses only develop flood risk analyses for the shorelines of highly developed nations, where people have the resources to pay for or insure against these risks. This excludes most tropical countries, where many of the world’s most vulnerable people live.
Defending Shorelines
Our study was designed to quantify these flood risks worldwide and identify solutions for reducing them. We used tools that are standard in the insurance and engineering industries, along with a five-step approach for calculating expected damage, to develop high-resolution estimates of flood risk globally. Then we coupled spatially explicit hydrodynamic flood models with economics to estimate impacts to people and property.
We focused on mangroves because they are large trees that grow quickly in salt water at the edge of the coastal zone, where they form a front line of defense. Mangroves are also excellent at trapping sediments and building land. On average, land around mangroves grows vertically by 1 to 10 millimeters per year.
We generated maps summarizing the benefits that mangroves provide in 20-kilometer coastal units around the world. They show that there are 100 coastal areas where mangroves avert $100 million or more in property damages every year. These are clearly priority zones where mangrove conservation and restoration will yield highly cost-effective benefits to people, property and national budgets.
According to our estimates, the U.S., China and Taiwan receive the greatest economic benefits – protection of property – from mangroves. Vietnam, India and Bangladesh receive the greatest social benefits – protection of people.
Mangroves as Green Infrastructure
Mangrove destruction has been widespread, largely because of coastal development and aquaculture. From 1980 through the early 2000s, the world lost up to 20% of existing mangrove habitat. The rate of loss has slowed but still continues, driven by urban expansion, pollution and agriculture.
Given our findings about how valuable mangroves are for coastal protection, we believe they should be viewed as national infrastructure and made eligible for funding from hazard mitigation and disaster recovery budgets, just like other coastal defense structures. Paying for mangrove restoration can work through the same approaches that are currently used to fund engineered protective structures such as seawalls.
Several new studies done collaboratively with Risk Management Solutions, a leading insurance risk modeling firm, show that coastal marshes and mangroves provide significant storm reduction benefits. These findings could underpin the development of innovative insurance options for natural systems.
Examples are already being developed for coral reefs in Mexico and across the Caribbean. Conserving mangroves where they occur together with coral reefs can multiply the flood protection benefits from habitats.
Working with the World Bank, countries like the Philippines and Jamaica are assessing how the benefits of mangroves can be incorporated into national finances, disaster management and proposals for the U.N. Green Climate Fund, which was created in 2010 to help developing countries mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Our work was supported by the World Bank and Germany’s International Climate Initiative to help inform solutions for nations that are most at risk.
In many places, preserving and restoring mangrove forests can be an extremely economically effective strategy for protecting coasts from tropical storm damage. As national governments and insurers grapple with disaster management costs that are growing nearly exponentially worldwide, we believe our research can create new opportunities to pay for mangrove conservation and restoration using climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and insurance funds.
Reposted with permission from The Conversation.


wakingtimes--2020-03-14--Chelsea Manning Will Be Set Free From Prison, But With Over $256,000 In Fines

Activist and whistleblower Chelsea Manning will finally be released from prison , just days after an alleged suicide attempt .
On Thursday , US District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered Manning ’ s release , but it was not clear if the order was related to the incident earlier in the week .
Manning has spent the past 10 months in prison for refusing to testify to a grand jury about WikiLeaks .
However , she still owes over $ 256,000 in fines , since a part of her penalty for refusing to testify was a fine of $ 1000 per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she was first arrested .
Manning has previously said that she would rather starve or die before testifying for a grand jury .
Her refusal to testify was a protest of the charges against WikiLeaks , as well as a protest against the entire grand jury system .
Manning has called the grand jury process , where witnesses are forced to testify , an abuse of judiciary power .
Manning ’ s lawyers argued that she was obviously not going to give up , and that there was no point in keeping her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a testimony .
The Judge allowed Manning to be released because he said that her testimony was no longer necessary .
She had not been released from jail as of Thursday evening and was still being held in the Alexandria Detention Center , her lawyer , Moira Meltzer-Cohen , told CNN .
In 2010 , while working as a military intelligence analyst , Manning leaked footage to Wikileaks which showed that the US military was guilty of horrific crimes .
The footage showed a US helicopter firing on civilians and journalists in Iraq @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2013 and remained in prison , mostly in solitary confinement , until 2017 , when her sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama .
Unfortunately , her time free was short-lived , as she was arrested again in 2019 for refusing to speak to a grand jury , in relation to the same case .

Chelsea Manning Will Be Set Free From Prison, But With Over $256,000 In Fines
John Vibes, The Mind Unleashed
Waking Times
Activist and whistleblower Chelsea Manning will finally be released from prison, just days after an alleged suicide attempt. On Thursday, US District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered Manning’s release, but it was not clear if the order was related to the incident earlier in the week.
Manning has spent the past 10 months in prison for refusing to testify to a grand jury about WikiLeaks. However, she still owes over $256,000 in fines, since a part of her penalty for refusing to testify was a fine of $1000 per day, which has been accumulating since she was first arrested.
Manning has previously said that she would rather starve or die before testifying for a grand jury. Her refusal to testify was a protest of the charges against WikiLeaks, as well as a protest against the entire grand jury system. Manning has called the grand jury process, where witnesses are forced to testify, an abuse of judiciary power. Manning’s lawyers argued that she was obviously not going to give up, and that there was no point in keeping her behind bars to coerce her into giving a testimony.
The Judge allowed Manning to be released because he said that her testimony was no longer necessary.
She had not been released from jail as of Thursday evening and was still being held in the Alexandria Detention Center, her lawyer, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, told CNN.
“Needless to say we are relieved and ask that you respect her privacy while she gets on her feet,” Manning’s lawyers said in a statement Thursday.
In 2010, while working as a military intelligence analyst, Manning leaked footage to Wikileaks which showed that the US military was guilty of horrific crimes. The footage showed a US helicopter firing on civilians and journalists in Iraq in 2007.
Manning was convicted in 2013 and remained in prison, mostly in solitary confinement, until 2017, when her sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama. Unfortunately, her time free was short-lived, as she was arrested again in 2019 for refusing to speak to a grand jury, in relation to the same case.
By John Vibes | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com


wakingtimes--2020-03-14--Africa’s First Energy Plant That Converts Trash Into Electricity Opens In Ethiopia

The largest waste dump in Ethiopia has been converted into an energy plant that turns trash into power .
The Koshe waste dump has been operational for nearly 50 years , but after a terrible accident that killed 140 people in March of 2017 , local officials began to consider other possible uses for the site .
Ultimately , the site was turned into the first energy plant in Africa that converts trash into power .
The conversion was a part of the “ Reppie Waste-to-Energy Project ” which seeks to encourage renewable energy throughout the country .
The plant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incinerate 1,400 tons of waste every day , and generate large volumes of power for local businesses and residences .
Zerubabel Getachew , Ethiopia ’ s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations explained that , “ The Reppie project is just one component of Ethiopia ’ s broader strategy to address pollution and embrace renewable energy across all sectors of the economy .
We hope that Reppie will serve as a model for other countries in the region , and around the world , ” Trash at the site will be burned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that will be used to boil water until it turns to steam , which will then drive a turbine generator to produce electricity .
It is also said that the plant will have very low emissions , which will comply with the emissions standards of the European Union .
The fact that trash won ’ t be breaking down in the environment is another advantage .
Ethiopia invested $ 96 million in the plant , and hired the British firm Cambridge Industries Limited and the China National Electrical Engineering Company to construct the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to complete , and opened in January of last year .
These types of power plants are relatively common in Europe , where nearly 25 % of municipal waste is incinerated .
These plants are especially popular in Germany and France , which each has over 100 of these waste-to-energy plants within their borders .
John Vibes is an author and journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture , and focuses solutions-oriented approaches to social problems .
He is also a host of The Free Your Mind Conference and The @ @ @ @ @

Africa’s First Energy Plant That Converts Trash Into Electricity Opens In Ethiopia
John Vibes, Truth Theory
Waking Times
The largest waste dump in Ethiopia has been converted into an energy plant that turns trash into power. The Koshe waste dump has been operational for nearly 50 years, but after a terrible accident that killed 140 people in March of 2017, local officials began to consider other possible uses for the site.
Ultimately, the site was turned into the first energy plant in Africa that converts trash into power. The conversion was a part of the “Reppie Waste-to-Energy Project” which seeks to encourage renewable energy throughout the country.
The plant is expected to have the capacity to incinerate 1,400 tons of waste every day, and generate large volumes of power for local businesses and residences.
Zerubabel Getachew, Ethiopia’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations explained that, “The Reppie project is just one component of Ethiopia’s broader strategy to address pollution and embrace renewable energy across all sectors of the economy. We hope that Reppie will serve as a model for other countries in the region, and around the world,”
Trash at the site will be burned in a combustion chamber to create heat that will be used to boil water until it turns to steam, which will then drive a turbine generator to produce electricity. It is also said that the plant will have very low emissions, which will comply with the emissions standards of the European Union. The fact that trash won’t be breaking down in the environment is another advantage.
Ethiopia invested $96 million in the plant, and hired the British firm Cambridge Industries Limited and the China National Electrical Engineering Company to construct the facility. The plant took four years to complete, and opened in January of last year.
These types of power plants are relatively common in Europe, where nearly 25% of municipal waste is incinerated. These plants are especially popular in Germany and France, which each has over 100 of these waste-to-energy plants within their borders.
http://www.facebook.com/weareafrica1/videos/176405870451546/
About the Author
John Vibes is an author and journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture, and focuses solutions-oriented approaches to social problems. He is also a host of The Free Your Mind Conference and The Free Thought Project Podcast.


wakingtimes--2020-03-14--Tesla Becomes World’s First EV Company to Assemble 1 Million Cars

Since Tesla sold its first consumer car 12 years ago , the company has set and surpassed numerous milestones .
In recent weeks , for instance , the electric vehicle manufacturer became the first-ever to have assembled 1 million vehicles .
Upon meeting the milestone , Tesla CEO Elon Musk congratulated employees of the automotive company .
He also posted a photo to Twitter of the company ’ s new Model Y .
In 2008 , Tesla debuted The Roadster .
The company has since gone on to release the Model S , Model X , and Model 3 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to ship its pre-ordered Model Ys to the public months ahead of its original fall 2020 deadline .
Tesla ’ s January 2020 earning reports show that the company aims to ship at least 500,000 cars worldwide during the coming year .
Not only that – the company ’ s cumulative sales reveal the EV manufacturer finally overtook the Chinese automaker BYD in December .
Tesla is now the word ’ s largest electric automaker .
What new vehicles will be unveiled in future years ?
We ’ ll just have to wait @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , plant-based chef , journalist , Reiki master therapist , world traveler and enthusiast of everything to do with animal rights , sustainability , cannabis and conscious living .
She share healthy recipes on my blog Life in Bloom .

Tesla Becomes World’s First EV Company to Assemble 1 Million Cars
Mandy Froelich, Truth Theory
Waking Times
Since Tesla sold its first consumer car 12 years ago, the company has set and surpassed numerous milestones. In recent weeks, for instance, the electric vehicle manufacturer became the first-ever to have assembled 1 million vehicles.
Upon meeting the milestone, Tesla CEO Elon Musk congratulated employees of the automotive company. He also posted a photo to Twitter of the company’s new Model Y.
Congratulations Tesla team on making our 1,000,000th car!! pic.twitter.com/5M99a9LLQi — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 10, 2020
In 2008, Tesla debuted The Roadster. The company has since gone on to release the Model S, Model X, and Model 3. As GoodNewsNetwork reports, Tesla now intends to ship its pre-ordered Model Ys to the public months ahead of its original fall 2020 deadline.
Tesla’s January 2020 earning reports show that the company aims to ship at least 500,000 cars worldwide during the coming year. Not only that – the company’s cumulative sales reveal the EV manufacturer finally overtook the Chinese automaker BYD in December.
Tesla is now the word’s largest electric automaker. What new vehicles will be unveiled in future years? We’ll just have to wait and see…
About the Author
Mandy Froelich is an RHN, plant-based chef, journalist, Reiki master therapist, world traveler and enthusiast of everything to do with animal rights, sustainability, cannabis and conscious living. She share healthy recipes on my blog Life in Bloom.


wakingtimes--2020-03-14--Bioweapons Expert Speaks Out About Novel Coronavirus

As you know , a novel coronavirus ( initially labeled 2019-nCOV before being renamed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization ) originating in Wuhan City , Hubei Province in China , is rapidly spreading across the world .
The first case was reported in Wuhan on December 21 , 2019 .
Symptoms include fever , shortness of breath , severe cough and pneumonia which , in more severe cases , can lead to impaired kidney and liver function and kidney failure .
On January 21 , 2020 , the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who had recently visited Wuhan .
Then , the first U.S. death was reported February 29 , 2020 , in Washington state .
Less than a week later , CBS News reported March 5 , 2020 , that the number of deaths had quickly risen to 11 nationwide in the U.S. — 10 in Washington state and one in California .
Not only that , but as of that day , “ The World Health Organization urged governments around the world to pull out ‘ all the stops ’ ” to fight the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China “ appeared to be over the worst ” of it , CBS said .
All told , as of March 5 , 2020 , there were 98,067 reported cases of novel coronavirus infections affecting 88 countries , 80,430 of which were in China .
Worldometer.info provides an easy overview of confirmed cases and deaths that you can check for the latest statistics .
In this interview , Francis Boyle — whose background includes an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago , a juris doctor ( lawyer ) degree from Harvard and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his theory of the origin of this novel coronavirus .
For decades , he ’ s advocated against the development and use of bioweapons , which he suspects COVID-19 is .
In fact , Boyle was the one who called for biowarfare legislation at the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 , and the one who drafted the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 , which was passed unanimously by both houses of Congress and signed into law by George Bush , Sr. At the time of this recording , February 14 , 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been infected with the virus .
Certainly , it does not originate from infected bat soup .
As a result of Boyle ’ s antibiological warfare work , which goes back to the early days of the Reagan administration — a time in which they were using DNA genetic engineering to manufacture biological weapons — Boyle has carefully followed “ mysterious outbreaks of disease in both humans and animals around the world ” that have appeared since then .
The first reported case of COVID-19 infection was December 1 , 2019 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is still unknown , the initial lead , provided there was one , might have occurred anywhere in November .
The official estimate is a 14-day incubation period , but a British health expert believes it ’ s 24 days , and North Korean biological warfare experts believe it ’ s 30 days , Boyle says .
When asked about rumors the COVID-19 virus might have been stolen from a high-security laboratory in Winnipeg , Canada , Boyle says : “ It could have been .
I want to make it clear that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ working on that at the Wuhan BSL-4 facility .
They were working on a biological warfare weapon involving SARS , which is a coronavirus to begin with .
We do know that Dr. [ Yoshihiro ] Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin … resurrected the Spanish flu virus for the Pentagon , obviously for weapons purposes , and he specializes in mating the Spanish flu virus to all sorts of hideous biowarfare instrumentalities .
And there was a record of him shipping his products to Winnipeg .
Winnipeg is Canada ’ s equivalent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a BSL-4 facility , and yes , they research , develop tests , manufacture and stockpile every type of hideous biological warfare weapon that we know of .
So , some of this technology could have been stolen from Winnipeg .
I don ’ t know about that but , as I said , the Wuhan BSL-4 was already working on this to begin with .
They had already developed SARS .
SARS had leaked out two to three times before this , and it seems they were turbocharging SARS , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be .
This is a brand-new generation of biowarfare weapons we haven ’ t seen before .
Its lethality goes from 15 % , as estimated by Lancet , up to 17 % to 18 % by a British health official and even Chinese statistics .
Its infectivity is 83 % .
It can infect maybe three to four people for every person infected .
It has gain of function properties , which means it travels through air at least 6 or 7 feet , and … there are reports that even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the human feces radiate off maybe 6 or 7 feet .
So , we ’ ve never seen anything like this before in the history of biological warfare , at least in the public record .
I want to make it clear : I have never worked for the United States government .
I ’ ve never had a security clearance .
I ’ ve never had access to any type of secret information .
I just read what is in the public record and the scientific record and try to draw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s what I ’ m giving you today .
I could change my opinion if people can provide me reputable scientific evidence to the contrary .
Right now , I ’ m standing by my conclusion that it leaked out of the Wuhan BSL-4 , the highest level of the Chinese government has known about it , they ’ ve been covering it up from the get-go , until they informed the WHO at the end of December.
” Despite Laws , Biowarfare Experimentation Is Alive and Well As noted by Boyle , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ research lab , which may sound odd , considering these facilities specialize in developing and researching dangerous pathogens that can easily be turned into bioweapons .
According to Boyle , we should not be surprised however , as “ WHO is up to its eyeballs in this type of work and has been for quite some time.
” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the drug industry also appear to have had their hand in many of the outbreaks of what appear to be weaponized viruses .
According to Boyle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billion on biological warfare programs since September 11 , 2011 , up until October 2015 , which is no small sum .
To put it into perspective , the U.S. spent $ 40 billion ( assuming a constant dollar value ) on the Manhattan Project , which developed the atomic bomb .
Boyle also estimates the U.S. has some 13,000 life scientists working within the biowarfare industry .
While there have so far only been a limited number of reported cases of COVID-19 infection in the U.S. , the U.S. military has designated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quarantine Americans , should the situation take a turn for the worse .
Historically speaking , however , government health officials have been vastly exaggerating the threat of pandemics in the U.S. , including the bird flu , the swine flu , anthrax and Ebola .
For example , as detailed in my 2009 New York Times bestseller “ The Great Bird Flu Hoax , ” then-President George Bush Jr. projected 2 million Americans would die from bird flu ; the best-case scenario taking only 200,000 lives .
The final death count in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It generated massive profits , though , as U.S. taxpayer dollars were used to purchase 20 million doses of Tamiflu .
One of the people who was able to line his pockets from that hoax was defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld , who was president of Gilead Sciences when the drug was created .
Whether or not COVID-19 will be similarly ineffective in its spread and lethality remains to be seen .
Judging by the statistics in China , “ it doesn ’ t look very good , ” Boyle says .
According @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a chimera , like the avian flu virus before it .
It includes SARS , an already weaponized coronavirus , along with HIV genetic material .
“ That was in a published article by Indian scientists .
You could see the pictures right there , [ but ] political pressure was brought to bear upon them so they withdrew [ the paper ] .
” This is why some scientists are now looking into using HIV drugs to treat it , Boyle says .
COVID-19 may also have a flu virus mixed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that allow it to spread a greater distance than normal .
Pandemics Repeatedly Used to Further Police State Pandemics have also been used to chip away public freedoms .
For example , the anthrax scare of 2001 was used as the impetus for signing the Patriot Act , which was the first step in taking away many of our personal freedoms and rolling out a complete surveillance state .
To me , such outcomes are far more concerning than the risk of infection itself .
Boyle adds : As noted by Boyle , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1984 , ” has become reality .
Boyle has since lectured lawyers at DePaul Law School in Chicago about the totalitarian nature of the Patriot Act .
Bioweapons Are Developed To Be Used As noted by Boyle , the U.S. government has a large stockpile of Amerithrax — a super weapons-grade nanotechnology anthrax with 1 trillion spores per gram — and that ’ s just the tip of the iceberg of the biological weapons developed .
What ’ s more , Boyle has no doubt these weapons will eventually be put to use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He says : Indeed , Johns Hopkins University is the biggest recipient of research grants from federal agencies , including the National Institutes of Health , National Science Foundation and Department of Defense .
It has also received millions of dollars in research grants from the Gates Foundation .
In 2016 , Johns Hopkins spent more than $ 2 billion on research projects , leading all U.S. universities in research spending for the 38th year in a row .
How Can We Best Prevent or Treat COVID-19 Infection ?
While it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most effective , my guess is that Dr. Paul Marik ’ s intravenous vitamin C protocol for sepsis would be a good starting point , seeing how sepsis appears to be what kills those who succumb to a serious COVID-19 infection .
Marik ’ s retrospective before-after clinical study showed that giving patients IV vitamin C with hydrocortisone and vitamin B1 for two days reduced mortality from 40 % to 8.5 % .
The precise protocol used was 200 mg of thiamine every 12 hours , 1,500 mg of ascorbic acid every six @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every six hours .
Importantly , the treatment has no side effects and is inexpensive , readily available and simple to administer .
According to Marik , vitamin C and corticosteroids have a synergistic effect , which is part of why his combo protocol is so effective .
Still , simply using high-dose IV vitamin C exclusively has been shown to improve survival in patients with sepsis and acute respiratory failure , reducing mortality from 46 % to 30 % .
It also reduced the number of days they needed to remain hospitalized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vitamin C had by Day 28 spent three fewer days in the intensive care unit than the placebo group ( seven days compared to 10 ) .
By Day 60 , the treatment group had also spent seven fewer days in the hospital overall —15 days compared to 22 .
While there are no trials that look at integrating hyperbaric oxygen therapy ( HBOT ) , my suspicion is that this would provide a powerful synergy that could get the fatality rate from sepsis even closer to zero .
Sadly , HBOT is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even if it were , it is not approved for sepsis .
You can learn more about Marik ’ s sepsis protocol in “ Vitamin C — A Game Changer in Treatment of Deadly Sepsis , ” along with commonsense recommendations for how to lower your risk of sepsis in the first place .
You can also review Marik ’ s PowerPoint presentation , “ Hydrocortisone , Ascorbic Acid and Thiamine for the Treatment of Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock , ” presented at the 2020 Critical Care Reviews meeting in Australia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ WHO , please see “ Novel Coronavirus — The Latest Pandemic Scare.
” One of the Most Powerful Videos I ’ ve Ever Seen The following video from Barbara Loe Fisher is one of the most powerful videos that I have ever seen .
I am hopeful that watching this video will inspire you to take up the cause and join the fight for vaccine freedom and independence .
There is a cultural war and collusion between many industries and federal regulatory agencies that results in a suppression of the truth about vital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continues we will gradually and progressively erode our private individual rights that our ancestors fought so hard to achieve .
Please take a few minutes to watch this video .
Protect Your Right to Informed Consent and Defend Vaccine Exemptions With all the uncertainty surrounding the safety and efficacy of vaccines , it ’ s critical to protect your right to make independent health choices and exercise voluntary informed consent to vaccination .
It is urgent that everyone in America stand up and fight to protect and expand vaccine informed consent protections in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The best way to do this is to get personally involved with your state legislators and educate the leaders in your community .
National vaccine policy recommendations are made at the federal level but vaccine laws are made at the state level .
It is at the state level where your action to protect your vaccine choice rights can have the greatest impact .
It is critical for EVERYONE to get involved now in standing up for the legal right to make voluntary vaccine choices in America because those choices are being threatened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trade associations and public health officials , who are trying to persuade legislators to strip all vaccine exemptions from public health laws .
Signing up for NVIC ’ s free Advocacy Portal at www.NVICAdvocacy.org gives you immediate , easy access to your own state legislators on your smartphone or computer so you can make your voice heard .
You will be kept up to date on the latest state bills threatening your vaccine choice rights and will get practical , useful information to help you become an effective vaccine choice advocate in your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine issues come up , you will have the up-to-date information and call-to-action items you need at your fingertips .
So , please , as your first step , sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal .
Share Your Story With the Media and People You Know If you or a family member has suffered a serious vaccine reaction , injury or death , please talk about it .
If we don ’ t share information and experiences with one another , everybody feels alone and afraid to speak up .
Write a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a different perspective on a vaccine story that appears in your local newspaper .
Make a call in to a radio talk show that is presenting only one side of the vaccine story .
I must be frank with you : You have to be brave because you might be strongly criticized for daring to talk about the “ other side ” of the vaccine story .
Be prepared for it and have the courage to not back down .
Only by sharing our perspective and what we know to be true about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open up so people are not afraid to talk about it .
We can not allow the drug companies and medical trade associations funded by drug companies or public health officials promoting forced use of a growing list of vaccines to dominate the conversation about vaccination .
The vaccine injured can not be swept under the carpet and treated like nothing more than “ statistically acceptable collateral damage ” of national one-size-fits-all mandatory vaccination policies that put way too many people at risk for injury and death .
We shouldn ’ t be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human beings .
Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More I encourage you to visit the website of the nonprofit charity , the National Vaccine Information Center ( NVIC ) , at www.NVIC.org : • Vaccine Requirements and Exemptions by State — Vaccine laws vary from one U.S. state to another .
By knowing the specific policies where you live , you ’ ll learn how you can get exemptions and better protect your right to make informed vaccine choices .
• NVIC Memorial for Vaccine Victims — View descriptions and photos of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reactions , injuries and deaths .
If you or your child experiences an adverse vaccine event , please consider posting and sharing your story here .
• If You Vaccinate , Ask 8 Questions — Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent vaccine injuries .
• Vaccine Freedom Wall — View or post descriptions of harassment and sanctions by doctors , employers and school and health officials for making independent vaccine choices .
• Vaccine Failure Wall — View or post descriptions about vaccines that have failed to work and protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Your Doctor or Find a New One Who Will Listen and Care If your pediatrician or doctor refuses to provide medical care to you or your child unless you agree to get vaccines you don ’ t want , I strongly encourage you to have the courage to find another doctor .
Harassment , intimidation and refusal of medical care are becoming the modus operandi of the medical establishment in an effort to stop the change in attitude of many parents about vaccinations after they become truly educated about health and vaccination .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ least 15 % of young doctors recently polled admit that they ’ re starting to adopt a more individualized approach to vaccinations in direct response to the vaccine safety concerns of parents .
It is good news that there is a growing number of smart young doctors who prefer to work as partners with parents in making personalized vaccine decisions for children , including delaying vaccinations or giving children fewer vaccines on the same day , or continuing to provide medical care for those families who decline use of one or more vaccines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ locate a doctor who treats you with compassion and respect , and who is willing to work with you to do what is right for your child .

Bioweapons Expert Speaks Out About Novel Coronavirus
Dr. Mercola, Guest
Waking Times
As you know, a novel coronavirus (initially labeled 2019-nCOV before being renamed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization) originating in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China, is rapidly spreading across the world.
The first case was reported in Wuhan on December 21, 2019. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, severe cough and pneumonia which, in more severe cases, can lead to impaired kidney and liver function and kidney failure.
On January 21, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first U.S. case — a patient in Washington state who had recently visited Wuhan. Then, the first U.S. death was reported February 29, 2020, in Washington state.
Less than a week later, CBS News reported March 5, 2020, that the number of deaths had quickly risen to 11 nationwide in the U.S. — 10 in Washington state and one in California. Not only that, but as of that day, “The World Health Organization urged governments around the world to pull out ‘all the stops’” to fight the outbreak. On the up side, China “appeared to be over the worst” of it, CBS said.
All told, as of March 5, 2020, there were 98,067 reported cases of novel coronavirus infections affecting 88 countries, 80,430 of which were in China. Worldometer.info provides an easy overview of confirmed cases and deaths that you can check for the latest statistics.
COVID-19 — A Weaponized Coronavirus?
In this interview, Francis Boyle — whose background includes an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, a juris doctor (lawyer) degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. in political science — shares his theory of the origin of this novel coronavirus.
For decades, he’s advocated against the development and use of bioweapons, which he suspects COVID-19 is. In fact, Boyle was the one who called for biowarfare legislation at the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972, and the one who drafted the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, which was passed unanimously by both houses of Congress and signed into law by George Bush, Sr.
At the time of this recording, February 14, 2020, more than 50,000 people in China had been infected with the virus. Certainly, it does not originate from infected bat soup.
As a result of Boyle’s antibiological warfare work, which goes back to the early days of the Reagan administration — a time in which they were using DNA genetic engineering to manufacture biological weapons — Boyle has carefully followed “mysterious outbreaks of disease in both humans and animals around the world” that have appeared since then.
“My biowarfare antiterrorism act was specifically designed to not only to deal with regular biological weapons but also with DNA genetic engineering for biological weapons that was just coming into its infancy when the BWC was being drafted. Even though the BWC would cover DNA genetic engineering, I wanted to make it clear by name that it was covered. I also made it clear [that] it covered synthetic biology as well,” Boyle says. “So, when these unexplained mysterious illnesses break out, I monitor them a while and usually I just conclude they can be explained by normal reasons: lack of sanitation, poverty, things of that nature. But in Wuhan it seemed pretty suspicious to me. There is this Biosafety Level 4 facility there in Wuhan. It’s the first in China, and it was specifically set up to deal with the coronavirus and SARS. SARS is basically a weaponized version of the coronavirus. There have been leaks before of SARS out of this facility, and indeed the only reason for these BSL-4 facilities, based on my experience, is the research, development, testing and stockpiling of offensive biological weapons. For that reason, I stated my opinion: That this Wuhan coronavirus leaked out of that BSL-4 facility … maybe mid-November … and the Chinese government has been lying about it and covering up ever since.”
Many Unknowns Remain
The first reported case of COVID-19 infection was December 1, 2019. Depending on the incubation period, which is still unknown, the initial lead, provided there was one, might have occurred anywhere in November. The official estimate is a 14-day incubation period, but a British health expert believes it’s 24 days, and North Korean biological warfare experts believe it’s 30 days, Boyle says.
“As for Wuhan and Hubei Province, they’re basically under martial law. There’s no other word for it. If you read the statements by President Xi and his assistants, they’ve made it very clear they’re at war here, and that is correct. They’re at war with their own biological warfare agent. President Xi just fired the party apparatchiks in charge of this and has brought in trusted military personnel to handle it, as well as large numbers of PLA [People’s Liberation Army] forces saying they’re health care workers. They don’t look like health care workers to me. So, as of now, that’s my best reading of the situation.”
When asked about rumors the COVID-19 virus might have been stolen from a high-security laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada, Boyle says:
“It could have been. I want to make it clear that, in my opinion they were already working on that at the Wuhan BSL-4 facility. They were working on a biological warfare weapon involving SARS, which is a coronavirus to begin with. We do know that Dr. [Yoshihiro] Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin … resurrected the Spanish flu virus for the Pentagon, obviously for weapons purposes, and he specializes in mating the Spanish flu virus to all sorts of hideous biowarfare instrumentalities. And there was a record of him shipping his products to Winnipeg. Winnipeg is Canada’s equivalent of our own Fort Detrick. It’s a BSL-4 facility, and yes, they research, develop tests, manufacture and stockpile every type of hideous biological warfare weapon that we know of. So, some of this technology could have been stolen from Winnipeg. I don’t know about that but, as I said, the Wuhan BSL-4 was already working on this to begin with. They had already developed SARS. SARS had leaked out two to three times before this, and it seems they were turbocharging SARS, which is what [COVID-19] looks to be. This is a brand-new generation of biowarfare weapons we haven’t seen before. Its lethality goes from 15%, as estimated by Lancet, up to 17% to 18% by a British health official and even Chinese statistics. Its infectivity is 83%. It can infect maybe three to four people for every person infected. It has gain of function properties, which means it travels through air at least 6 or 7 feet, and … there are reports that even contaminated human feces give it off, that the human feces radiate off maybe 6 or 7 feet. So, we’ve never seen anything like this before in the history of biological warfare, at least in the public record. I want to make it clear: I have never worked for the United States government. I’ve never had a security clearance. I’ve never had access to any type of secret information. I just read what is in the public record and the scientific record and try to draw my own conclusions, and that’s what I’m giving you today. I could change my opinion if people can provide me reputable scientific evidence to the contrary. Right now, I’m standing by my conclusion that it leaked out of the Wuhan BSL-4, the highest level of the Chinese government has known about it, they’ve been covering it up from the get-go, until they informed the WHO at the end of December.”
Despite Laws, Biowarfare Experimentation Is Alive and Well
As noted by Boyle, the Wuhan lab is a designated WHO research lab, which may sound odd, considering these facilities specialize in developing and researching dangerous pathogens that can easily be turned into bioweapons.
According to Boyle, we should not be surprised however, as “WHO is up to its eyeballs in this type of work and has been for quite some time.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the drug industry also appear to have had their hand in many of the outbreaks of what appear to be weaponized viruses.
“I won’t go through the long history of big pharma getting involved in this. There’s huge amounts of money here. I believe the West Africa Ebola pandemic originated out of the US BSL-4 facility in Sierra Leone, and [that] they were testing out a so-called vaccine that contained live Ebola and gave it to these poor people,” Boyle says. “As for the CDC, it has been involved in every … BSL-4 biological warfare death science you could possibly imagine … It’s a matter of public record that during the Reagan administration, the CDC and the American Type Culture Collection sent 40 shipments of weapons-grade biological warfare agents to Saddam Hussein in Iraq, in the hope and expectation that he would weaponize these agents and use them against Iran … Of course, the problem is that when that war was over … an order was given to U.S. military forces to blow up Saddam Hussein’s biological warfare facilities, and that’s not how you deal with biological warfare weapons … [It] contaminated our own troops, and that was a causative factor in the Gulf War Syndrome that … murdered about 11,000 U.S. troops and disabled about 100,000.”
According to Boyle, the U.S. government spent $100 billion on biological warfare programs since September 11, 2011, up until October 2015, which is no small sum. To put it into perspective, the U.S. spent $40 billion (assuming a constant dollar value) on the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb. Boyle also estimates the U.S. has some 13,000 life scientists working within the biowarfare industry.
“Clearly, the Reagan administration, under the influence of its neoconservatives who definitely believe in biological weapons and ethnic-specific biological weapons (you can see that in the PNAC report), were engaged in the use of DNA genetic engineering for the purpose of manufacturing biological weapons. That is why I gave a Congressional briefing in Washington, D.C. in 1985. I was asked to do that by the Council for Responsible Genetics that I work with, which involves the leading life scientists in the world from MIT and Harvard. I spent seven years at Harvard. I have three degrees and I knew all these people. They asked me to serve as their lawyer and give this Congressional briefing. I blew the whistle, and then they asked me to draft the implementing legislation, which I did … I want to make it clear I’m not here to speak in their name, I’m only speaking in my name, but if you look at my book, ‘Biological Warfare and Terrorism,’ professor Jonathan King wrote the foreword. So, I have the leading MIT professor of molecular biology supporting what I’m saying, if you don’t think I know enough science about it.”
US Prepares for COVID-19 Pandemic
While there have so far only been a limited number of reported cases of COVID-19 infection in the U.S., the U.S. military has designated several detention sites around the country to quarantine Americans, should the situation take a turn for the worse.
Historically speaking, however, government health officials have been vastly exaggerating the threat of pandemics in the U.S., including the bird flu, the swine flu, anthrax and Ebola.
For example, as detailed in my 2009 New York Times bestseller “The Great Bird Flu Hoax,” then-President George Bush Jr. projected 2 million Americans would die from bird flu; the best-case scenario taking only 200,000 lives. The final death count in the U.S. from that pandemic was zero.
It generated massive profits, though, as U.S. taxpayer dollars were used to purchase 20 million doses of Tamiflu. One of the people who was able to line his pockets from that hoax was defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was president of Gilead Sciences when the drug was created.
“[The bird flu] was another DNA, genetically engineered biological warfare weapon,” Boyle notes. “It was a chimera. It had three different elements in it and we were all lucky that somehow they attenuated the lethality and the infectiveness of the bird flu.”
Whether or not COVID-19 will be similarly ineffective in its spread and lethality remains to be seen. Judging by the statistics in China, “it doesn’t look very good,” Boyle says.
Understanding the COVID-19 Virus
According to Boyle, the COVID-19 virus is a chimera, like the avian flu virus before it. It includes SARS, an already weaponized coronavirus, along with HIV genetic material. “That was in a published article by Indian scientists. You could see the pictures right there, [but] political pressure was brought to bear upon them so they withdrew [the paper].”
This is why some scientists are now looking into using HIV drugs to treat it, Boyle says. COVID-19 may also have a flu virus mixed in, along with gain of function properties that allow it to spread a greater distance than normal.
Pandemics Repeatedly Used to Further Police State
Pandemics have also been used to chip away public freedoms. For example, the anthrax scare of 2001 was used as the impetus for signing the Patriot Act, which was the first step in taking away many of our personal freedoms and rolling out a complete surveillance state. To me, such outcomes are far more concerning than the risk of infection itself. Boyle adds:
“They used Amerithrax to ram the Patriot Act through, that is correct … We became a police state … And as I pointed out in ‘Biowarfare and Terrorism,’ I think the same people who were behind the 9/11 terrorist attack were also behind the Amerithrax, but I’m just connecting dots there … What’s called Amerithrax came out of a U.S. government biological warfare weapons lab and program, and I publicly blew the whistle on that the first weekend of November 2001. The Council for Responsible Genetics was having its convention at Harvard Business School and I was chairing a panel with King and other experts on biological warfare, on U.S. biological warfare programs. As I was walking into the Harvard Divinity School, Fox TV had a camera crew there and I said, ‘Obviously, this came out a U.S. biological weapons program and probably Fort Detrick.’ I conducted the session and made the same comment. Then I made a comment to a Washington, D.C., radio station to that effect [and to] the BBC, so everyone in the world heard me. At that point, someone gave an order that I was never to be interviewed again by any mainstream news about biological warfare programs. And that’s been the case since the first week of November 2001.”
As noted by Boyle, George Orwell’s book, “1984,” has become reality. Boyle has since lectured lawyers at DePaul Law School in Chicago about the totalitarian nature of the Patriot Act.
“Snowden has correctly pointed out the federal government is spying on everything we say, all of our electronic communications, you name it,” Boyle says. “And again, the proof is I’ve been completely blackballed out of U.S. media. Indeed, if you go back and look at the Amerithrax attacks, they also hit mainstream U.S. media to make it clear to them that if they covered this issue they will be killed too.”
Bioweapons Are Developed To Be Used
As noted by Boyle, the U.S. government has a large stockpile of Amerithrax — a super weapons-grade nanotechnology anthrax with 1 trillion spores per gram — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of the biological weapons developed. What’s more, Boyle has no doubt these weapons will eventually be put to use, as they have in the past. He says:
“There was a tabletop exercise at John Hopkins University last fall … on coronavirus. Tabletop exercise, that’s a euphemism for a war game. Their estimate was that it killed 65 million people … John Hopkins is up to their eyeballs in this Nazi biological warfare dirty work. They have a BSL-3 facility there … that they proudly announce on their website … They justify it by saying they’re developing vaccines. OK … How do they do that? They go out around the world, and this is a matter of public record, and scour for every type of hideous disease, fungus, virus and bacteria you can possibly imagine. They then bring it back to these BSL-4 labs and develop an offensive, biological agent using DNA genetic engineering and synthetic biology … set up by the Pentagon under DARPA … Once they have this offensive agent, they then proceed to develop a vaccine, because the agent is no good unless you can have a vaccine to protect your own people. So, they’re developing vaccines to have biological weapons, because a biological weapon consists of two elements: the offensive biological warfare agent in the first place, and then, second, a vaccine to protect your own people, and that is what is being done at all these BSL-4 facilities, and many of the BSL-3s as well. John Hopkins has a BSL-3 and they admit they do dual use. That’s what dual use means. They first develop the offensive biological warfare agent and then they develop the supposed vaccine.”
Indeed, Johns Hopkins University is the biggest recipient of research grants from federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Defense. It has also received millions of dollars in research grants from the Gates Foundation. In 2016, Johns Hopkins spent more than $2 billion on research projects, leading all U.S. universities in research spending for the 38th year in a row.
How Can We Best Prevent or Treat COVID-19 Infection?
While it’s unclear exactly which treatment is the most effective, my guess is that Dr. Paul Marik’s intravenous vitamin C protocol for sepsis would be a good starting point, seeing how sepsis appears to be what kills those who succumb to a serious COVID-19 infection.
Marik’s retrospective before-after clinical study showed that giving patients IV vitamin C with hydrocortisone and vitamin B1 for two days reduced mortality from 40% to 8.5%. The precise protocol used was 200 mg of thiamine every 12 hours, 1,500 mg of ascorbic acid every six hours, and 50 mg of hydrocortisone every six hours. Importantly, the treatment has no side effects and is inexpensive, readily available and simple to administer.
According to Marik, vitamin C and corticosteroids have a synergistic effect, which is part of why his combo protocol is so effective. Still, simply using high-dose IV vitamin C exclusively has been shown to improve survival in patients with sepsis and acute respiratory failure, reducing mortality from 46% to 30%.
It also reduced the number of days they needed to remain hospitalized. On average, those who received vitamin C had by Day 28 spent three fewer days in the intensive care unit than the placebo group (seven days compared to 10). By Day 60, the treatment group had also spent seven fewer days in the hospital overall —15 days compared to 22.
While there are no trials that look at integrating hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), my suspicion is that this would provide a powerful synergy that could get the fatality rate from sepsis even closer to zero. Sadly, HBOT is not available at many hospitals, and even if it were, it is not approved for sepsis.
You can learn more about Marik’s sepsis protocol in “Vitamin C — A Game Changer in Treatment of Deadly Sepsis,” along with commonsense recommendations for how to lower your risk of sepsis in the first place.
You can also review Marik’s PowerPoint presentation, “Hydrocortisone, Ascorbic Acid and Thiamine for the Treatment of Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock,” presented at the 2020 Critical Care Reviews meeting in Australia. For COVID-19 at-home care advice from the WHO, please see “Novel Coronavirus — The Latest Pandemic Scare.”
One of the Most Powerful Videos I’ve Ever Seen
The following video from Barbara Loe Fisher is one of the most powerful videos that I have ever seen. I am hopeful that watching this video will inspire you to take up the cause and join the fight for vaccine freedom and independence.
There is a cultural war and collusion between many industries and federal regulatory agencies that results in a suppression of the truth about vital important health issues. If this suppression continues we will gradually and progressively erode our private individual rights that our ancestors fought so hard to achieve. Please take a few minutes to watch this video.
http://youtu.be/xEcYQydhY9E
Protect Your Right to Informed Consent and Defend Vaccine Exemptions
With all the uncertainty surrounding the safety and efficacy of vaccines, it’s critical to protect your right to make independent health choices and exercise voluntary informed consent to vaccination. It is urgent that everyone in America stand up and fight to protect and expand vaccine informed consent protections in state public health and employment laws. The best way to do this is to get personally involved with your state legislators and educate the leaders in your community.
Think Globally, Act Locally
National vaccine policy recommendations are made at the federal level but vaccine laws are made at the state level. It is at the state level where your action to protect your vaccine choice rights can have the greatest impact.
It is critical for EVERYONE to get involved now in standing up for the legal right to make voluntary vaccine choices in America because those choices are being threatened by lobbyists representing drug companies, medical trade associations and public health officials, who are trying to persuade legislators to strip all vaccine exemptions from public health laws.
Signing up for NVIC’s free Advocacy Portal at www.NVICAdvocacy.org gives you immediate, easy access to your own state legislators on your smartphone or computer so you can make your voice heard. You will be kept up to date on the latest state bills threatening your vaccine choice rights and will get practical, useful information to help you become an effective vaccine choice advocate in your own community.
Also, when national vaccine issues come up, you will have the up-to-date information and call-to-action items you need at your fingertips. So, please, as your first step, sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal.
Share Your Story With the Media and People You Know
If you or a family member has suffered a serious vaccine reaction, injury or death, please talk about it. If we don’t share information and experiences with one another, everybody feels alone and afraid to speak up. Write a letter to the editor if you have a different perspective on a vaccine story that appears in your local newspaper. Make a call in to a radio talk show that is presenting only one side of the vaccine story.
I must be frank with you: You have to be brave because you might be strongly criticized for daring to talk about the “other side” of the vaccine story. Be prepared for it and have the courage to not back down. Only by sharing our perspective and what we know to be true about vaccination will the public conversation about vaccination open up so people are not afraid to talk about it.
We cannot allow the drug companies and medical trade associations funded by drug companies or public health officials promoting forced use of a growing list of vaccines to dominate the conversation about vaccination.
The vaccine injured cannot be swept under the carpet and treated like nothing more than “statistically acceptable collateral damage” of national one-size-fits-all mandatory vaccination policies that put way too many people at risk for injury and death. We shouldn’t be treating people like guinea pigs instead of human beings.
Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More
I encourage you to visit the website of the nonprofit charity, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), at www.NVIC.org:
Vaccine Requirements and Exemptions by State — Vaccine laws vary from one U.S. state to another. By knowing the specific policies where you live, you’ll learn how you can get exemptions and better protect your right to make informed vaccine choices.
— Vaccine laws vary from one U.S. state to another. By knowing the specific policies where you live, you’ll learn how you can get exemptions and better protect your right to make informed vaccine choices. NVIC Memorial for Vaccine Victims — View descriptions and photos of children and adults who have suffered vaccine reactions, injuries and deaths. If you or your child experiences an adverse vaccine event, please consider posting and sharing your story here.
— View descriptions and photos of children and adults who have suffered vaccine reactions, injuries and deaths. If you or your child experiences an adverse vaccine event, please consider posting and sharing your story here. If You Vaccinate, Ask 8 Questions — Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent vaccine injuries.
— Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent vaccine injuries. Vaccine Freedom Wall — View or post descriptions of harassment and sanctions by doctors, employers and school and health officials for making independent vaccine choices.
— View or post descriptions of harassment and sanctions by doctors, employers and school and health officials for making independent vaccine choices. Vaccine Failure Wall — View or post descriptions about vaccines that have failed to work and protect the vaccinated from disease.
Connect With Your Doctor or Find a New One Who Will Listen and Care
If your pediatrician or doctor refuses to provide medical care to you or your child unless you agree to get vaccines you don’t want, I strongly encourage you to have the courage to find another doctor.
Harassment, intimidation and refusal of medical care are becoming the modus operandi of the medical establishment in an effort to stop the change in attitude of many parents about vaccinations after they become truly educated about health and vaccination. However, there is hope.
At least 15% of young doctors recently polled admit that they’re starting to adopt a more individualized approach to vaccinations in direct response to the vaccine safety concerns of parents.
It is good news that there is a growing number of smart young doctors who prefer to work as partners with parents in making personalized vaccine decisions for children, including delaying vaccinations or giving children fewer vaccines on the same day, or continuing to provide medical care for those families who decline use of one or more vaccines.
So, take the time to locate a doctor who treats you with compassion and respect, and who is willing to work with you to do what is right for your child.


wakingtimes--2020-03-16--Chinese Billionaire To Donate 500,000 Test Kits And 1 Million Masks To The U.S.

Jack Ma , the founder of Alibaba and the richest man in Asia , announced that he will be sending 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks to the United States , as the country prepares for an exponential growth of cases in the coming weeks and months .
Ma will be donating the supplies through the Alibaba Foundation , which has also sent items to Japan , Korea , Italy , Iran , and Spain .
In a statement to the press , Ma said that it was important for medical professionals to have all of the necessary supplies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US have prevented the possibility of containing the virus , as it has now been proven that the illness has been spreading in communities all over the country , without any clear trace to a patient zero from the original epicenter .
“ The crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world .
The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country .
Rather , we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand .
At this moment , we can ’ t beat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons , ” Ma said in the statement .
The donation is a massive gesture considering that Jack Ma and many of his companies have a close relationship with the Chinese government , which is currently at odds with the US government , both over trade policies and the coronavirus response .
In fact , China , which is one of the major global producers of medical supplies , has threatened to stop shipments to the United States , as US officials continue to blame the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the outbreak .
John Vibes is an author and journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture , and focuses solutions-oriented approaches to social problems .
He is also a host of The Free Your Mind Conference and The Free Thought Project Podcast .

Chinese Billionaire To Donate 500,000 Test Kits And 1 Million Masks To The U.S.
John Vibes, Truth Theory
Waking Times
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba and the richest man in Asia, announced that he will be sending 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks to the United States, as the country prepares for an exponential growth of cases in the coming weeks and months.
Ma will be donating the supplies through the Alibaba Foundation, which has also sent items to Japan, Korea, Italy, Iran, and Spain.
In a statement to the press, Ma said that it was important for medical professionals to have all of the necessary supplies.
“Drawing from my own country’s experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus. We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!” the statement read.
Test shortages and delays in the US have prevented the possibility of containing the virus, as it has now been proven that the illness has been spreading in communities all over the country, without any clear trace to a patient zero from the original epicenter.
“The crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world. The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country. Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand. At this moment, we can’t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons,” Ma said in the statement.
The donation is a massive gesture considering that Jack Ma and many of his companies have a close relationship with the Chinese government, which is currently at odds with the US government, both over trade policies and the coronavirus response. In fact, China, which is one of the major global producers of medical supplies, has threatened to stop shipments to the United States, as US officials continue to blame the Chinese government for their initial handling of the outbreak.
About the Author
John Vibes is an author and journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture, and focuses solutions-oriented approaches to social problems. He is also a host of The Free Your Mind Conference and The Free Thought Project Podcast.


wakingtimes--2020-03-16--Liberty Activist ‘Murdered as He Slept’ by SWAT Team Seizing His Guns—Lawyer

Silver Spring , MD — Duncan Lemp was a talented computer programmer who was raising money to form a startup company to go out on his own .
This 21-year-old proponent of the Constitution had his entire life ahead of him .
However , because the state of Maryland wanted to take his guns , he was killed in his own home — gunned down in his bed as he slept , according to his attorney .
According to police , at approximately 4:30 am on March 12 , members of the Special Operations Division – Tactical Unit were in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warrant related to firearms offenses at an address in the 12200 block of St. James Road in Potomac .
During the warrant service , the suspect confronted the officers and was fatally shot by an officer assigned to the Tactical Unit .
Despite police claiming the warrant was high risk , Lemp ’ s family , who says they read the warrant , claim it said nothing about a high risk .
What ’ s more , Lemp and his girlfriend who was also shot during the raid , have no criminal record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claim Lemp was not allowed to possess the firearms he owned , so they raided his house to take them .
In the process , according to Rene Sandler , an attorney for the family , police opened fire through an outside window and murdered Lemp and shot his girlfriend as they slept .
According to ABC , Sandler said the family believes police fired gunshots , not a flashbang or other projectile , from outside the home , including through Lemp ’ s bedroom window , while he and his girlfriend were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any warnings or commands before police opened fire , she said .
As ABC reports , the warrant that police obtained to search the Potomac home Lemp shared with his parents and 19-year-old brother doesn ’ t mention any “ imminent threat ” to law enforcement or the public , Lemp ’ s relatives said in a statement released Friday by their lawyers .
Nobody in the house that morning had a criminal record , the statement adds .
This case appears to be crystal clear .
Police claimed Lemp ’ s guns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take them , and killed him in the process .
He had harmed absolutely no one .
TFTP found Lemp ’ s Instagram account and his personal website .
The show that this young entrepreneur was a talented computer programmer as well as a proponent for liberty .
In one of his posts , Lemp posted a photo of two AR-style rifles with the quote “ Sic Semper Tyrannis.
” The phrase translates literally as “ thus always to tyrants ” .
The idea is that a tyrant always meets a dire end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected .
It was likely this post that set the officers on their path that ended with the alleged murder of Lemp .
The police department ’ s news release says the “ facts and circumstances of the encounter ” are still under investigation and are ensuring the public that an outside agency will review all the facts .
If history is any indicator , however , police will rule this killing justified after they investigate themselves .
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state .
Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world .
Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project .
Follow @ MattAgorist on Twitter , Steemit , and now on Minds .

Liberty Activist ‘Murdered as He Slept’ by SWAT Team Seizing His Guns—Lawyer
Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project
Waking Times
Silver Spring, MD — Duncan Lemp was a talented computer programmer who was raising money to form a startup company to go out on his own. This 21-year-old proponent of the Constitution had his entire life ahead of him. However, because the state of Maryland wanted to take his guns, he was killed in his own home — gunned down in his bed as he slept, according to his attorney.
“He was a talented, smart guy. Super nice. Didn’t deserve to get shot,” said Samuel Reid, whose Canadian software company employed Lemp as an independent contractor.
According to police, at approximately 4:30 am on March 12, members of the Special Operations Division – Tactical Unit were in the process of serving a high-risk search warrant related to firearms offenses at an address in the 12200 block of St. James Road in Potomac. During the warrant service, the suspect confronted the officers and was fatally shot by an officer assigned to the Tactical Unit.
Despite police claiming the warrant was high risk, Lemp’s family, who says they read the warrant, claim it said nothing about a high risk. What’s more, Lemp and his girlfriend who was also shot during the raid, have no criminal record, according to his family.
Police claim Lemp was not allowed to possess the firearms he owned, so they raided his house to take them.
“Detectives were following up on a complaint from the public that Lemp, though prohibited, was in possession of firearms,” the release says without elaborating.
In the process, according to Rene Sandler, an attorney for the family, police opened fire through an outside window and murdered Lemp and shot his girlfriend as they slept.
According to ABC, Sandler said the family believes police fired gunshots, not a flashbang or other projectile, from outside the home, including through Lemp’s bedroom window, while he and his girlfriend were sleeping. Nobody in the home heard any warnings or commands before police opened fire, she said.
“There is no warrant or other justification that would ever allow for that unless there is an imminent threat, which there was not,” Sandler said. “The facts as I understand them from eyewitnesses are incredibly concerning,” she told The Associated Press.
As ABC reports, the warrant that police obtained to search the Potomac home Lemp shared with his parents and 19-year-old brother doesn’t mention any “imminent threat” to law enforcement or the public, Lemp’s relatives said in a statement released Friday by their lawyers. Nobody in the house that morning had a criminal record, the statement adds.
“Any attempt by the police to shift responsibility onto Duncan or his family, who were sleeping when the police fired shots into their home, is not supported by the facts,” the statement says.
This case appears to be crystal clear. Police claimed Lemp’s guns were illegal, raided his home to take them, and killed him in the process. He had harmed absolutely no one.
TFTP found Lemp’s Instagram account and his personal website. The show that this young entrepreneur was a talented computer programmer as well as a proponent for liberty. In one of his posts, Lemp posted a photo of two AR-style rifles with the quote “Sic Semper Tyrannis.” The phrase translates literally as “thus always to tyrants”. The idea is that a tyrant always meets a dire end, which is just and should be expected.
It was likely this post that set the officers on their path that ended with the alleged murder of Lemp.
The police department’s news release says the “facts and circumstances of the encounter” are still under investigation and are ensuring the public that an outside agency will review all the facts.
“An established agreement between the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office stipulates that when an officer-involved shooting involving injury or death occurs in one county, the other county’s State’s Attorney’s Office will review the event,” police said.
If history is any indicator, however, police will rule this killing justified after they investigate themselves.
“He was pro-America and supported wholeheartedly all the protections of the Constitution,” the family’s attorney said. “We believe that the body camera footage and other forensic evidence from this event will support what Duncan’s family already knows, that he was murdered.”
About the Author
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Minds.


wakingtimes--2020-03-16--Monsanto Secretly Funded Glyphosate Studies, Watchdog Finds

A new investigation revealed that Monsanto funneled money to secretly fund academic studies that warned of catastrophic consequences to farmers if glyphosate was banned in the UK , according to research from the German watchdog LobbyControl , as The Guardian reported .
The two studies in question come from 2010 and 2014 , which was before the German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 .
Upon learning of the secret funding , Bayer said the failure to disclose it violated the company ’ s principles , according to The Guardian .
“ This is an unacceptable form @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Müller at LobbyControl , as The Guardian reported .
“ Citizens , media and decision-makers should know who pays for studies on subjects of public interest .
The studies also used very high figures for the benefits of glyphosate and for possible losses in case of a ban .
These extreme figures were then used to spin the debate.
” However , the authors of the two studies said that the funding did not influence their findings .
The 2010 study , called How Valuable is Glyphosate to UK Agriculture and the Environment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ range of benefits to users.
” It said that glyphosate binds to soil and rarely leaches into groundwater .
It does mention that glyphosate is sometimes found in surface water , but far below levels that would register as toxic .
It then goes on to discuss how a ban of glyphosate would upend UK farming and gardening .
The 2014 study followed a similar line of reasoning .
The study , titled Glyphosate Use on Combinable Crops in Europe : Implications for Agriculture and the Environment , also mentioned that glyphosate is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leach into soil or water and is found in less than 1 percent of water samples .
It then goes on to assess “ the value of glyphosate use across wheat , winter barley and oilseed rape in Europe.
” And yet , one of the lead researchers Sarah Wynn said the funding did not influence her research .
She told The Guardian , “ As with other companies in our field , it is entirely normal for external organizations to fund research studies .
However , it has always been our core @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in any way by those that fund us.
” Wynn and her colleagues , unsurprisingly , came down in favor of continued glyphosate use .
The research concluded , “ the loss of glyphosate would cause very severe impacts on UK agriculture and the environment , ” as The Guardian reported .
In the 2014 study they concluded that Europe would see a 20 percent fall in wheat and rapeseed production if glyphosate were banned .
Other researchers came to a different conclusion , noting that farming practices would change .
The Andersons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Monsanto-funded studies .
In its report on a glyphosate ban in the UK , it said , “ The Andersons Centre believe that this may be rather high given the mitigation efforts and the rotational changes discussed elsewhere .
A similar process has been undertaken for all the major crops grown in the UK , using the best available data and knowledge of industry experts.
” The 2010 and 2014 studies were instrumental in the lobbying efforts of the National Farmers Union and others to successfully campaign against a European ban @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guardian reported .
The new revelations have spurred the National Farmers Union to note the source of the funding on its glyphosate information .
The National Farmers Union was not alone in using the research .
Industry lobbyings groups the Glyphosate Task Force ( now renamed the Glyphosate Renewal Group ) , also used the research , as did the Crop Protection Association , according to The Guardian .

Monsanto Secretly Funded Glyphosate Studies, Watchdog Finds
Jordan Davidson, EcoWatch
Waking Times
A new investigation revealed that Monsanto funneled money to secretly fund academic studies that warned of catastrophic consequences to farmers if glyphosate was banned in the UK, according to research from the German watchdog LobbyControl, as The Guardian reported.
The two studies in question come from 2010 and 2014, which was before the German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018. Upon learning of the secret funding, Bayer said the failure to disclose it violated the company’s principles, according to The Guardian.
“This is an unacceptable form of opaque lobbying,” said Ulrich Müller at LobbyControl, as The Guardian reported. “Citizens, media and decision-makers should know who pays for studies on subjects of public interest. The studies also used very high figures for the benefits of glyphosate and for possible losses in case of a ban. These extreme figures were then used to spin the debate.”
However, the authors of the two studies said that the funding did not influence their findings. The 2010 study, called How Valuable is Glyphosate to UK Agriculture and the Environment? touted glyphosate for “a wide range of benefits to users.” It said that glyphosate binds to soil and rarely leaches into groundwater. It does mention that glyphosate is sometimes found in surface water, but far below levels that would register as toxic. It then goes on to discuss how a ban of glyphosate would upend UK farming and gardening.
The 2014 study followed a similar line of reasoning. The study, titled Glyphosate Use on Combinable Crops in Europe: Implications for Agriculture and the Environment, also mentioned that glyphosate is highly water soluble and does not readily leach into soil or water and is found in less than 1 percent of water samples. It then goes on to assess “the value of glyphosate use across wheat, winter barley and oilseed rape in Europe.”
And yet, one of the lead researchers Sarah Wynn said the funding did not influence her research. She told The Guardian, “As with other companies in our field, it is entirely normal for external organizations to fund research studies. However, it has always been our core principle that our research is never influenced in any way by those that fund us.”
Wynn and her colleagues, unsurprisingly, came down in favor of continued glyphosate use. The research concluded, “the loss of glyphosate would cause very severe impacts on UK agriculture and the environment,” as The Guardian reported. In the 2014 study they concluded that Europe would see a 20 percent fall in wheat and rapeseed production if glyphosate were banned.
Other researchers came to a different conclusion, noting that farming practices would change. The Andersons Centre at Oxford Economics challenged the conclusion of the Monsanto-funded studies.
In its report on a glyphosate ban in the UK, it said, “The Andersons Centre believe that this may be rather high given the mitigation efforts and the rotational changes discussed elsewhere. A similar process has been undertaken for all the major crops grown in the UK, using the best available data and knowledge of industry experts.”
The 2010 and 2014 studies were instrumental in the lobbying efforts of the National Farmers Union and others to successfully campaign against a European ban of glyphosate in 2017, as The Guardian reported. The new revelations have spurred the National Farmers Union to note the source of the funding on its glyphosate information.
The National Farmers Union was not alone in using the research. Industry lobbyings groups the Glyphosate Task Force (now renamed the Glyphosate Renewal Group), also used the research, as did the Crop Protection Association, according to The Guardian.
By Jordan Davidson | Creative Commons | EcoWatch