Petitions
Sign! Petition Statement: call to action vs the planting of GMO corn in open field situations in Mexico
Imminent approval of large-scale planting of GMO corn:
Scientists alert over threat to maize in its center of origin and diversification. Human health is also at risk.Unión de Científicos Comprometidos con la Sociedad (UCCS)
November, 2012
Statement
A pro-forma public consultation period in Mexico of five requests for commercial-scale planting of GM maize promoted by some of the biotechnological corporations (Semillas y Agroproductos Monsanto S.A. de C.V. and Monsanto Comercial S.A. de C.V.; PHI Mexico S.A. de C.V.) has just finalized, all but clearing the path for the final approval by the Mexican government of the large-scale, commercial planting of GMO corn in its center of origin: Mexico.
This process has not been transparent and has lacked a trully public or scientific discussion, or consideration by the affected sectors of society (peasants, farmers, consumers). For example the results from the previously performed “experimental” and “pilot” plantings has not been made public and thus the process lacks both scientific certainty and social endorsement.
This is grave, as Mexico is not only the cradle of corn, the second most important commodity crop in the world, but it also stewards one of the few Centers of Origin and Diversification, from which the world derives the genetic diversity needed to maintain its production in the mist of new plagues, climatic challenges (Ureta et al., 2011), and consumption preferences.
Unlike other countries, where corn production is controlled by corporations and maize is used mainly as feed and as an industrial raw material, in Mexico thousands of different varieties of open-pollinated landraces are cultivated by millions of indigenous and campesino families, with all the Mexican territory being maize Center of Origin and Diversification. Campesinos produce most of the corn for human consumption and Mexico’s population ingests large amounts of corn directly, placing its entire population at an acute level of risk from the large-scale exposure to GM agriculture that uses hybrids that are nutritionally inferior to landraces (i.e., higher glycemic index, less fiber, less antioxidants, etc.), as well as to its associated agrotoxics and derived products.
Independent scientists from the world, heeding a call by the Union of Scientists with Social Commitment (Unión de Científicos Comprometidos con la Sociedad, UCCS; www.uccs.mx) call upon the current Mexican Government -as well as to the upcoming administration of the elected president Enrique Peña Nieto- not only to prevent the large-scale planting of GM corn, but also to cancel all permits for open-field releases of transgenic corn in Mexico already in place as “experiments” or “pilot-scale” plantations. The interests of transnational biotechnological and seed companies should not ride roughshod over those of the Mexican population or the environment in this most important and delicate biogeographical and cultural region.
Not long ago, Mexico used to be a net exporter of corn but the erosion of its campesino economy and lack of government support to agricultural production, have generated a production deficit for this, its main staple. This situation is used as the main excuse to consider the planting of GM corn as an inevitable future for Mexico. Well-established scientific evaluations show, however, that GM corn does not provide a solution to this problem as it does not provide higher yield when compared to conventional varieties. Furthermore, Mexico has other alternatives to face its corn deficit without GM corn plantations (Turrent et al., 2012; and forthcoming second part of the UCCS announcement). It is also crucial to consider that it is impossible to contain transgenes within the GM corn plantings; and given that transgene flow from such plantings would occur up to thousands of km via pollen and seed (Quist & Chapela, 2001; Acevedo et al., 2011; Cleveland et al., 2005; Dyer et al., 2009; Piñeyro-Nelson et al., 2009 a y b; van Heerwaarden, et al., 2012) and that thousands of locally adapted native varieties are distributed over the whole country (data from the Mexican Commission for Biodiversity; CONABIO: http://www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/genes/origenDiv.html), such GM corn plantings would imply the infiltration and accumulation of transgenes into the genomes of landraces, with unpredictable and non-desirable consequences.
Far from being a solution to Mexico’s problems, GMO corn has become the spearhead of agricultural and economic practices that are deeply damaging to the social and agroecological fabric that underlie traditional agricultural practices in this part of the world. These systems are invaluable and through the investment of resources aimed at perfecting them, they could be key for a sustainable agroecological solution for the production deficit with the provision of healthy food.
The system of approval used to justify the planting of GM corn is inadequate and inapplicable in the specific Mexican context. At the heart of this regulatory failure is the inability of the Mexican Government to reject the promotional stance forced upon it by transnational corporations, and its failure to implement a precautionary stance with rigorous scientific bases and without a conflict of interest in order to protect the environment and the society with which it is entrusted. The consequences of this failure are of dire global importance and many of them will be irreversible.
Call to Action
The undersigned, scientists, scholars and intellectuals of the world call on the Mexican Government, Mexican Citizens and those around the world with a stake in the well-being of the food and agricultural basis of the world and our culture:
- To stop the processing of any application for open-field release of GM corn in Mexico and in its place promote a thorough, transparent and publicly acceptable review of both the specific crops and transgenic lines, as well as the process of review itself leading to their possible planting vis a vis technological alternatives that do not imply the use of GMOs and/or highly indistrialized agriculture.
- To cancel all existing permits for “pilot scale” and “experimental scale” releases into the open, public environment.
- To begin an immediate review of the environmental and social aspects of GM corn plantation in Mexico based on thorough scientific criteria and public engagement, through a transparent and participatory process that can lead to a set of criteria that are socially and environmentally acceptable. Such process should consider the best technological options to address issues of food production in our country, and should consider traditional alternatives that gave way to the diversity of cultivars in their Centers of Origin and Diversification and that continue to be instrumental for their dynamic conservation, as well as the representatives of expert campesino and indigenous maize production cultures in Mexico whose livelihoods are acutely endangered by the introduction of GM plantations.
- To review, through thorough and transparent scientific and public consultation, the overeaching policies leading to the planting of GM corn in Mexico. We believe that such a process should be guided by a precautionary approach as well as by criteria guided by social justice and sustainability assessments, based on rigorous scientific knowledge, not an unquestioning acceptance and promotion of the studies done by the corporations that produce and commercialize GMOs and that promote the open-field planting of GM corn in Mexico.
Sign here please
(via cultureofresistance)
We Won! Tell Obama: Don't Appeal #NDAA Court Ruling
We did it! But now we need your help putting pressure on Obama.
A federal court in New York just ruled indefinite detention UNCONSTITUTIONAL and issued a permanent injunction against use of that law. The provision would have allowed the military to detain civilians — even Americans — indefinitely and without trial if they’re accused of certain crimes or even just associated with certain criminals.
Please add your name at right (on this website) to tell Obama to back off of his support of indefinite detention, and tell your senators to oppose it when it comes up for a vote this fall.
It’s an egregious violation of the Constitution, a disgusting infringement upon our due process rights, and has already had a chilling effect on activists and journalists.
That’s why writer Chris Hedges, Noam Chomsky, Tangerine Bolen, and others sued to block it.
Shockingly, the Obama administration has consistently supported indefinite detention this year — signing it into law in the dark of night on New Year’s Eve and defending it in court. If we don’t do anything, they’ll probably keep fighting to protect this law!
We Won! Tell Obama: Don’t Appeal NDAA Court Ruling | Demand Progress
Note: Okay, and add that this goes for people elsewhere in the world too. No indefinite detention, and certainly no more Quantanamo Bays. Clean up your act wholly, and release prisoners from the secret prisons too.
Animals Petition: Prevent the Extinction of the Vaquita Porpoise - the world's most endangered marine mammal!
The vaquita is a small porpoise (whales, dolphins, and porpoises are called cetaceans by scientists). It is one of only seven species of true porpoises, and is the only one that occurs in warm waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is found in a tiny area in the extreme northern Gulf of California, in Baja California, Mexico. It is a unique species, with a body shape and color pattern unlike that of any other. It has a tall dorsal fin (for a porpoise) and a beautiful color pattern on the face, with dark eye rings and lip patches that look like an application of “goth” make-up. There is only one small population, and if the species goes extinct, they will be gone forever.
The vaquita has probably always been a rare species. But in the last few decades, the small population has plummeted, as gillnets set for fish and shrimp kill more porpoises than are born. The nearly-invisible gillnets trap vaquitas and they drown. The current population is thought to be around 200-250 individuals, and is declining rapidly. If prompt progress is not made, the vaquita may be extinct in a few short years. The very perilous situation of the Vaquita has been recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which lists it as Critically Endangered.
Can the Vaquita be Saved?
Yes! Unlike some endangered species that have no place left to live in the wild, the vaquita’s home in the Gulf of California is clean and healthy. The only real problem is the gillnets that entangle and kill vaquitas. If the fishing practices can be moved out of the small area where they live, the species will likely recover.
The Mexican Government is working on a plan to compensate gillnet fishermen for giving up gillnet fishing in the vaquita’s range. This is being done through various efforts, including a ‘buy-out’ program, a ‘rent-out’ program, and the development of alternative fishing gear that does not harm vaquitas. We applaud Mexico for these efforts, but recent economic events have slowed progress. Please sign this petition to encourage the Mexican Government to implement conservation measures immediately and fully.
With your help, we can save the Vaquita!!
Vaquita Facts:
The vaquita has only been known to us since 1958.
Vaquita means “little cow” in Spanish.
At about 5 feet (1.5 m) long, it’s the smallest species of cetacean.
The vaquita lives only about a 4 hour drive from San Diego.
Unlike other porpoises, vaquitas give birth only every other year.
Newborns are born in the spring (March/April).
They live to be about 20-21 years old.
Vaquitas have never been held in aquaria.
It is the rarest and most-endangered species of marine mammal in the world.
Its fate is tied to that of the upper Gulf of California ecosystem.
The vaquita could go extinct in two years if we do not act NOW. -> Petition
Faced With #Violence and #Censorship, #Tunisian Artists Launch Urgent #Petition Calling for International #Solidarity
Artists in Tunisia have begun circulating a petition calling for international solidarity from arts organizations in condemning the country’s government for censoring an art exhibition and siding with Salafist Islamic fundamentalists following riots incited by an art fair in the capital city.
After the 10th edition of a Tunisian art fair, “Printemps des arts,” which featured work from several local galleries as well as a curated exhibition of works by independent Tunisian artists, thousands of protesters took to the streets in the worst wave of violence since the 2011 revolts that ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and began what would become the Arab Spring. Among the works the extremists objected to was Nadia Jelassi’s “Celui qui n’a pas…,” which includes sculptures of veiled women in the midst of a pile of stones. Another work featured a string of ants coming out of a child’s schoolbag to spell the word “Allah.” The primarily fundamentalist mob threw rocks and homemade bombs, set fires, destroyed many of the artworks at the exhibition at the Abdelliya Palace, and clashed with police, according to Reuters.
The petition, however, is not directed at the fundamentalists that incited the violence, but the moderate Islamist government that has since backed the Salafists and shut down the fair, even after many of the artists began receiving death threats via phone, text message, and social networking sites. The text reads, “M. Mehdi Mabrouk, Minister of Culture, contributed to blacklisting of creators by deciding to close the space Abdelliya and by suing the organizers of the exhibition, thus exposing the artists to popular condemnation and trial by the mob.”
[…]
Petition to move #CeCe to a women's facility
please take a moment to sign this petition and to pass it on.
It asks that CeCe serve her time in a women’s prison rather than a men’s facility, where she is currently set to serve her time.
Petition to move #CeCe to a women’s facility
(via cultureofresistance)
