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VitaNews Breaking News: May 9th, 2008

Counterpunch: Broadcaster Fired After Ripping Monsanto's Goon Squads

Monsanto happens to be a big advertiser of the Learfield news division – to
the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Brownfield happens to
think that Monsanto is an evil corporation. Therein lies the rub. For weeks,
Brownfield had been ripping Monsanto on air for its policies of enforcing its
seed patents against farmers. On the April 16 show, Brownfield’s topic was
seed industry concentration in America.

Vanity Fair: Monsanto Unleashes Private Army Upon Small Farmers

Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in
the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They fan out into
fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph
farmers, store owners, and co-ops, infiltrate community meetings, and
gather information from informants about farming activities. Farmers call
use words such as "Gestapo" and "Mafia" to describe their tactics.

UK Independent Investigation Into Factory Chicken Farming

Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), which visited the farm in conjunction
with The Independent on Sunday, found hens unable to spread their wings
fully, nest, or exhibit other natural behaviour. Some had large bare patches
where they had lost their feathers. "As soon as you come in from the fresh
air, the smell hits you straight away," said a CIWF investigator, describing
the mixture of animal waste, ammonia and disinfectant emanating from
the cages. "If a bird is in the way, the others will clamber over them... It's
a fight for food if they all want to feed at the same time."

Alternet: Can We Escape the Artificial Food 'Frankenstate'?

Both the diversity and the integrity of seeds are threatened, in the wild and
on our farms. They are being put at risk by agricultural technologies,
patents and corporate ownership, and the overall degradation of the
environment. The plight of seeds is one of the most important stories of
our time but, until now, has not received the attention it deserves.

U.S. News and World Report: More Problems with Plastics

Human exposure to hormone-disrupting synthetic chemicals, which can
leach from a slew of consumer products, is continuous and widespread.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2005 that most
Americans have traces of hormone-disrupting chemicals in their body. An
analysis of the data by the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy
organization based in Washington, D.C., concluded that 84 percent of
Americans have at least six different phthalates in their urine.

Canada.com: Firefighters Show Higher Risks of Certain Cancers

In the current study, researchers found that professional firefighters had
higher-than-expected rates of colon cancer and brain cancer. There was
also evidence, albeit weaker, that they had elevated risks of bladder and
kidney cancers, as well as Hodgkin's lymphoma.

SF Chronicle: High Levels of Flame Retardant Found in Big City Birds

The eggs of peregrine falcons living in California's big cities contain some of
the highest levels ever found in wildlife of a flame retardant used in
consumer products, a new study has found. Studies of peregrine falcon
eggs and chicks by state scientists reveal that the birds hunting in San
Francisco, Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Diego are ingesting the flame
retardant called PBDEs, believed to leach out of foam mattresses,
synthetic fabrics, plastic casings of televisions, electronics and other
products. The research shows that the indoor chemicals can contaminate
the outdoors and even humans.

USA Today: Artificial Turf a Possible Health Hazard

There are increasing concerns that some synthetic fields — particularly
fraying AstroTurf surfaces that have been in place for years — are
contaminated with lead and could pose a health hazard to children,
athletes and others who use them. A half-dozen artificial fields in New York
and New Jersey as much as a decade old or more have been closed
because of concern about high levels of lead in the turf fibers.

Washington Post: Air Pollution Impedes Bees' Ability to Find Flowers

Air pollution interferes with the ability of bees and other insects to follow
the scent of flowers to their source, undermining the essential process of
pollination, a study by three University of Virginia researchers suggests.
Their findings may help unlock part of the mystery surrounding the current
pollination crisis that is affecting a wide variety of crops. Scientists are
seeking to determine why honeybees and bumblebees are dying off in the
United States and in other countries, and the new study indicates that
emissions from automobiles may play a part in the insects' demise.

Natural News: Morgellon's Disease May be Linked to GMO Food

As of February, 2007, approximately 10,000 families had registered with
the Morgellons Research Foundation (MRF) and felt they or a member of
their family met criteria for Morgellons as defined by the MRF. Of the U.S.
families in the MRF registry, 24% reside in California with geographic
clustering in the San Francisco metropolitan areas
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