Science Weak

 

The cracks are beginning to show in the so-called science behind the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Earlier this year, four high-profile studies appeared to show that the virus originated in bats and then jumped to humans via a type of anteater called a pangolin—among the world’s most trafficked wild animals.

But a series of recently published emails between U.S. Right to Know and the authors of those papers tell a different story. Answers to basic questions about the data have raised serious doubts about the validity of these studies.

They suggest that, in at least two of the studies, important data was missing and that there was no transparent peer review and editorial process. These papers are now under investigation by the journals that published them.

The focus on the natural origin of the virus has been used to direct public attention—and the global scientific conversation—away from a more horrifying possibility: that the virus originated inside a Chinese governmental laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

We need to get to the bottom of this.

READ: ‘Validity of Key Studies on Origin of Coronavirus in Doubt; Science Journals Investigating’

GET THE FACTS: Read more about our COVID-19 campaign

SIGN THE PETITION: Stop the Genetic Engineering of Viruses! Shut Down All Biowarfare Labs Now!

TAKE ACTION! Ask the scientists, lawyers and policy experts you know to sign our international Open Letter: “Why We Need a Global Moratorium on the Creation of Potential Pandemic Pathogens (PPPs) Through Gain-of-Function Experiments”

Grow It

 

Regenerative agriculture is the fastest-growing trend in farming and food. It offers a way for farmers who farm in Earth-friendly, climate-friendly and soil-friendly ways to come together and demonstrate their commitment to a better future.

Some worry that it has grown too big and too fast as more large food companies, producers and retailers, such as General Mills, Walmart and even Cargill, make regenerative commitments.

It’s also come under attack for being a vague term. Unlike “organic,” which is a defined term backed by a regulatory system, “regenerative” has no commonly accepted definition.

Some believe that farming organically should be a prerequisite for being considered regenerative. The Regenerative Organic Certification, awarded to farms and brands that meet all the existing high bar certifications, is in part a response to that.

These important questions and considerations are the growing pains of evolution and expansion. With the urgent need to farm in a way that builds resilience, the question is: Do we need a better definition, or a club with tighter membership rules—or do we need to grow a movement?

READ: ‘Regenerative Is the New Buzzword, but What Does It Mean?’

GET THE FACTS: Read more about our Regenerative Agriculture campaign

No Secrets

 

Today's Facebook Live is one you don’t want to miss.

In April this year, the U.S. Government abruptly terminated funding to the EcoHealth Alliance.

For more than a decade, the group had been sending teams to China to trap bats and test them, in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), for the presence of novel viruses.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), concerned that WIV was the source of COVID-19, told the research group that its funding would not be restored until it answered vital questions and arranged for an inspection of the labs it worked with at WIV.

Then, in August, EcoHealth Alliance received $82 million in funding for a five-year project to establish new Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

What happened between those two events? What did NIH find out in its investigation? Did the NIH-funded research result in a lab accident (or worse) that released a deadly virus on the world?

Freedom of information requests, sent by U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) to the NIH, were denied under a special exemption and are now the focus of a USRTK lawsuit.

Join OCA’s political director Alexis Baden-Mayer and Dr. Sainath Suryanarayanan, a senior scientist at USRTK, in a special Facebook Live event to learn more about the case.

This event will be broadcast November 19 at 2pm EST. Please tune in.

WATCH the Facebook Live event: ‘U.S. Right to Know Scientist Talks Lawsuit on Origins of COVID-19’

Eco Disaster

 

Let’s not mince words.

We are horrified that President-elect Joe Biden has installed Michael McCabe in his EPA transition team.

McCabe is a revolving door lobbyist who moved from a high level position as a communications consultant to companies like DuPont, to a position of real influence inside the U.S. government. He helped DuPont avoid responsibility for PFAS pollution. In fact, he was the architect of DuPont’s campaign to control the EPA’s regulatory decision-making.

He should be charged with criminal conspiracy and forever barred from having anything to do with the EPA. Instead he has been rewarded with more power and influence.

We need to take a stand. The incoming administration must appoint leaders at the EPA who have no ties to chemical companies or corporate lobbyists—and who are ready to fight with the urgency the crisis of pollution-related disease demands.

TAKE ACTION: Tell President-elect Biden: Drop Michael McCabe from Your EPA Transition Team

Transition

 

There’s probably no more potent word in the English language right now than “transition.”

It applies to so much more than the political process that’s going on all around us.

This process of changing from one way of being to another is at the heart of the Green New Deal. A desire for transition drives calls for new ways of farming, of doing business, of relating to, and meeting the needs of the 99% instead of the 1%.

Transitions can happen “organically”—often as a result of some extreme crisis when our options become limited. But mostly transitions happen as the result of pro-active, sometimes Herculean, efforts by those who have a vision.

We are working for a global transition not just in the way that we farm and eat but in the way that we think, our connections with others—even the ones we don’t agree with—and our habits and priorities.

When you support the Organic Consumers Association or Citizens Regeneration Lobby you are supporting that effort and the vision, the skills and the people that are helping to make it a reality.

Be part of the transition by making a contribution to our campaigns today.

Make a tax-deductible donation to Organic Consumers Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit

Support Citizens Regeneration Lobby, OCA’s 501(c)(4) lobbying arm (not tax-deductible)

Donate $100 or more and we’ll send you a copy of Ronnie’s new book

Click here for more ways to support our work

Small is Beautiful

 

If you are looking for a little inspiration look no further than Chris Smaje’s book “A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity, and a Shared Earth.”

Chris is a farmer and social scientist who believes that organizing society around small-scale farming offers the soundest, sanest and most reasonable response to climate change and other crises of civilization.

Doing this, he says, is humanity's best chance at survival.

Confronting both conventional wisdom and utopian blueprints, Smaje’s book offers rigorous original analysis of the challenges and opportunities on the road to inevitable agrarian and social change.

READ AN EXCERPT: ‘Why We Need a Small Farm Future’

BUY the book

Right to Choose

 

Many Americans use and derive real benefit from complementary and alternative medicines. The right to choose, to have free access to these alternatives is sacrosanct and yet it is constantly under threat.

Right now there is a petition before the FDA which aims to ensure that we continue to have access to homeopathic medicines. Adding your voice to the comments will help ensure the FDA acts to protect our right to choose.

Americans for Homeopathy Choice (AFHC) has provided an easy-to-use portal for submitting comments and a useful briefing document to help you organise your thoughts into your own words. The deadline for comments is December 2, so please act now.

ADD YOUR COMMENTS to The Petition to Protect Access to Homeopathic Medicines

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Essential Reading

 

Leading COVID Vaccine Candidates Plagued by Safety Concerns

Washington Court Upholds Record $18 Million Fine Against Food Industry

Oregon Becomes First State to Legalize Magic Mushrooms as More States Ease Drug Laws in 'Psychedelic Renaissance'

How COVID-19 Vaccine Can Destroy Your Immune System

Agribusiness Interests Hijack 2021 UN Food Systems Summit

Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be