General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Like Your Most Paranoid, Far-Out Conspiratorial Left-Wing Nightmare," But It's True...
http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/10/you-wont-believe-how-one-chemical-company-tried-to-discredit-a-scientists-researchWE'RE NOT MAKING THIS UP!
You Wont Believe How One Chemical Company Tried to Discredit a Scientists Research
February 10, 2014
Rachel Aviv has a reported piece in The New Yorker that reads like pulp fiction. She tells the tale of a scientist who discovered that a popular herbicide may have harmful effects on the endocrine system. As he continued to investigate the matter, he came to believe that the chemicals manufacturer was out to get him. He thought they were following him to conferences, tapping his phones and systematically trying to drive a wedge between him and the scientific community. Many of his colleagues believed that he was paranoid until a lawsuit yielded a slew of internal corporate documents showing that everything he imagined the company had been doing to discredit his work had in fact been true.
As Kathleen Geier put it for the Washington Monthly, This story reads like your most paranoid, far-out conspiratorial left-wing nightmare come true.
Aviv writes:
- snip -
Liu and several other former students said that they had remained skeptical of Hayess accusations until last summer, when an article appeared in Environmental Health News (in partnership with 100Reporters)* that drew on Syngentas internal records. Hundreds of Syngentas memos, notes, and e-mails have been unsealed following the settlement, in 2012, of two class-action suits brought by twenty-three Midwestern cities and towns that accused Syngenta of concealing atrazines true dangerous nature and contaminating their drinking water. Stephen Tillery, the lawyer who argued the cases, said, Tyrones work gave us the scientific basis for the lawsuit.
Hayes has devoted the past fifteen years to studying atrazine, and during that time scientists around the world have expanded on his findings, suggesting that the herbicide is associated with birth defects in humans as well as in animals. The company documents show that, while Hayes was studying atrazine, Syngenta was studying him, as he had long suspected. Syngentas public-relations team had drafted a list of four goals. The first was discredit Hayes. In a spiral-bound notebook, Syngentas communications manager, Sherry Ford, who referred to Hayes by his initials, wrote that the company could prevent citing of TH data by revealing him as noncredible. He was a frequent topic of conversation at company meetings. Syngenta looked for ways to exploit Hayes faults/problems. If TH involved in scandal, enviros will drop him, Ford wrote. She observed that Hayes grew up in world (S.C.) that wouldnt accept him, needs adulation, doesnt sleep, was scarred for life. She wrote, Whats motivating Hayes?basic question.
ORIGINAL AT: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/10/140210fa_fact_aviv
dionysus
(26,467 posts)truedelphi
(32,324 posts)And with the information he has collected being distilled to a public that will still believe in him.
Other scientists have had their reputations shredded, and cannot make a living or even be out in public without derisive comments surrounding their presence.
reusrename
(1,716 posts)No one comes to mind.
"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology." - Carl Sagan
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Last edited Wed Feb 12, 2014, 02:00 PM - Edit history (1)
CNN Runs Scared from the Truth about Andrew Wakefield
By John Stone
An incident on a CNN blog on Friday morning revealed how sensitive the news channel could be about arguing with the official dogma surrounding Andrew Wakefield. When the present writer posting at breakfast UK time and the middle of the night Eastern - contested the fraud allegations repeated in an op ed piece by Frank Y. Wong, an associate professor at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University the news channel responded with blocking tactics. Pointing to the exoneration of Wakefields senior colleague and author, Prof John Walker-Smith, in the British high court two years ago, I was immediately countered by a poster called Tony quoting paragraphs from the Wiki entry on Andrew Wakefield. I then found that my next response went straight into moderation never to see the light of day and a similar comment forwarded to me by an acquaintance was also blocked by the same method. The page now reveals that no less than nine responses to Tony were deleted (presumably all before publication).
The Wiki entry on Andrew Wakefield has a pharmaceutical Praetorian guard surrounding it preventing it from ever being corrected, and plainly CNN realised that they were on to a loser if this discussion continued. My deleted comment read: HIGHLY ACCURATE AND ARCANE/TECHNICAL.
<>
So Wiki does not tell you any of this but repeats an account that is long disproven.
And shamefully CNN are hiding behind it.
John Stone is UK Editor for Age of Autism.
Posted by Age of Autism on February 10, 201 at 5:46 AM
COMMENTS
MORE (below):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4484420
74. Unfamiliar with the facts? Join the club.
reusrename
(1,716 posts)Dr. Tyson?
siligut
(12,272 posts)reusrename
(1,716 posts)Great quote, too!
rickyhall
(4,889 posts)and was thinking he is the new Carl Sagan
EOTE
(13,409 posts)and autism? If so, I hardly think he can be considered a successor to the late, great Carl Sagan.
EOTE
(13,409 posts)But so far, the only defense I've seen of Wakefield seem to come from anti-vaccine wackos. If he's been unjustly persecuted, I'd love to see some legitimate source that explains how he was.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Weekly Wrap: Andy Wakefield and the Uses of Adversity
By Dan Olmsted
Mainstream medical and media types have decided to kick Andy Wakefield in the terminal ilium again. As John Stone outlined in an AOA post on Monday, CNN (home of Anderson Coopers famously vile grilling) weighed in with a column by Frank Y. Yong titled, Blind Eye to Scientific Fraud is Dangerous.
<>
As Carl Sagan said, and Paul Offit likes to parrot, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The claim that the Lancet paper is a fraud, and that Andy alone perpetrated it, is extraordinary. But heres the truth: There is no evidence that any let alone all of the Lancet case histories were manipulated to suggest a link to the MMR. Not a one.
And that, folks, is the real fraud, one that the journalism establishment is at grievous fault for repeating as fact rather than ferreting out. Despite that failure, Andy Wakefield is not history. Hes historic.
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.
Posted by Age of Autism at February 15, 2014 at 5:46 AM
BTW, the BBC recently linked to Age of Autism as one of two "Related Internet Links." Yes, that's right. Check it out. Scroll to bottom of page.
13 April 2013 Last updated at 02:34 ET
ARTICLE
Related Internet links
Age of Autism: http://www.ageofautism.com
Public Health Wales: http://www.publichealthwales.wales.nhs.uk
This a completely legitimate BBC decision. To see why, do a site search for 'John Stone' at AOA (UK editor). Stone's detailed reporting is outstanding.
FSogol
(45,355 posts)Here's what I think of your suggestion:
EOTE
(13,409 posts)I don't believe that Sagan would have given that fraud the time of day.
FSogol
(45,355 posts)Wiki and CNN are not allowing Wakefield's truths to be told.
EOTE
(13,409 posts)Hell, even one of the head nuts Jenny McCarthy relented when she found out that her son never had autism to begin with. I know many of these people are good intentioned, but what will it take to drive home how much damage they're doing?
reusrename
(1,716 posts)The damage they are doing. It's one of those cases where the public is much better off - REALLY - believing a lie than they would be if they were told the truth.
And there's the rub, IMHO.
Was a correlation found between MMS and autism. Sure. Is it in the public interest to suppress this information, sure, it probably is. Does it promote the scientific method to smear a researcher in order to keep this information from the public. Of course not.
There truly is a problem with rampant psuedo-science. Most people can mouth those words but can't tell the difference. It's a real problem.
EOTE
(13,409 posts)There is NO supression of information here. He falsified data and he got caught. Just because there are a few kooks out there who support him doesn't make him persecuted, it makes him an asshole. And I assume you're referring to MMR and not MMS, eh? MMS appears to be a quack 'cure' for autism which seems to basically be just bleach. But then again, that's the kind of shit you can expect from people who push this anti-vaccine bullshit.
reusrename
(1,716 posts)When any member of a discussion board projects an ideology onto another member, an ideology that is false, an ideology that the other person has never claimed to hold, in fact, an ideology that the other member has specifically denied holding, then that is a very nasty bit of business.
EOTE
(13,409 posts)I never ascribed to you ANY ideology. I simply called out Wakefield for what he is, a fraud. I also mentioned the ridiculously horrific things that the anti-vaccers like to treat their children with, like bleach. Nothing I said was inaccurate in the least.
reusrename
(1,716 posts)The only real anti-vaccination argument that I know of is that folks who are allergic to egg whites are advised against getting a flu shot. That's been the case for a long time.
EOTE
(13,409 posts)But I do think people like Wakefield do an incredible amount of damage as they are considered to be 'respectable' scientists, at least at one point.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Love Strength, Joy and Devotion in Pictures
Posted on February 14, 2014 by Thinking Moms' Revolution
Love is not a powerful enough word when it comes to our children. Words always fail to adequately express how we feel about our brave, hardworking, extraordinary kids. There simply arent sentiments that describe the reality: that every one of our heartbeats, every breath, every moment is dedicated to our amazing children. We will move heaven and earth for them.
So, we wont use words today. Happy Valentines Day to ALL of our kids out there.
You are so very loved.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo http://instagram.com/p/kaKCqLC6Wi/
And be sure to check out the TED Talk with Tyrone Hayes + Penelope Jagessar Chaffer: The Toxic Baby. Odd, that topic wasn't mentioned in The New Yorker.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Autism RECOVERY: Ill Say It Loud, Hes Recovered and Im Proud
by Zorro
February 13, 2014
About a year ago I was invited to speak at a local autism/ADHD conference. I was nervous because it had been a while since Id spoken in front of an audience, or even dressed up (make up! lipstick! hair blown out!) like a professional-ish adult. What I was really nervous about was telling our story and coming out . . . as the mom of a recovered kid.
Yeah, I said it. Recovered.
Recovered kids are not fairy tale creatures. I know of a few other recovered kids, and theyre all underground. Passing for normal. Correction: just being normal, typical, not-special-needs kids. They all switched schools, and no one in the new school knows. So why did I buck the status quo? Why do I insist on telling this story? I felt feel! its important for parents just starting out to know that kids can and do improve. Not false hope. Real hope. Its hard work and expensive, but its real.
Formally assessed at age four, Code Name: Connor had a full 299.0 autism diagnosis. What speech he had was limited to echolalia, all done and no. He tested at the 2nd percentile for expressive language. He flapped his hands, toe-walked, lined things up, and ran in circles. He threw monster tantrums daily (think toddler Chernobyl). I want to be clear that we did all the speech therapy, OT, Floortime, special day class, etc., that was recommended PLUS a full immersion in biomed intervention. Gluten-free diet alone is NOT enough. These kids have what Ive come to think of as NICF: neuro-immune clusterfrak. Its complicated, and it takes time and effort to unwind.
The talk went well, but more than one mom challenged me that he wasnt really recovered because he struggled with anxiety when he hit puberty, like they didnt believe my story.
Sigh.
I concede that anxiety is a vestige of a larger brain-based issue that has been resolved. But its not autism. Its not a mountain. Its a molehill and its a molehill thats since been swept away.
If you met him, youd just think he was a nice kid, kind of quiet, good looking in a swarthy, one-eyebrow-cocked way. He has friends, he was a junior counselor at his school camp, he loves movies and acting, and hes on the yearbook staff. Girls think hes cute. Hes funny as hell and has a heart for social justice.
I am honestly perplexed that more people dont ask me how this happened. My son is walking around having successfully scaled a mountain, for heavens sake. Geesh, someone drops 10 pounds and theyre met with How did you do it?? Someone drops an autism diagnosis and . . . crickets.
<>
Our stories, our successes, our anecdotes are the first step in the scientific process. Ask a question, form a hypothesis, make a prediction, test the hypothesis through experimentation, analyze results. Where do you think the questions come from?
If we dont talk this up, we dont create a buzz of anecdotal experience that leads to a question that leads to a hypothesis that leads to testing that leads to scientific validation. The buzz of anecdote also reaches other parents, more now than ever before.
Doctors at UC Davis have been studying methylcobalamin. A Stanford doctor has been studying N-Acetyl Cysteine, a means to boost glutathione, in children with autism and has had positive results. They didnt pull these ideas out of thin air.
You see, theyd heard about these unicorns . . .
<>
Jenny McCarthy's Official Statement
by Generation Rescue on 4 January 2014
"Stories circulating online, claiming that I said my son Evan may not have autism after all, are blatantly inaccurate and completely ridiculous. Evan was diagnosed with autism by the Autism Evaluation Clinic at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and was confirmed by the State of California (through their Regional Center). The implication that I have changed my position, that my child was not initially diagnosed with autism (and instead may suffer from Landau-Kleffner Syndrome), is both irresponsible and inaccurate. These stories cite a "new" Time Magazine interview with me, which was actually published in 2010, that never contained any such statements by me. Continued misrepresentations, such as these, only serve to open wounds of the many families who are courageously dealing with this disorder. Please know that I am taking every legal measure necessary to set this straight. "
- JENNY MCCARTHY, @JENNYMCCARTHY
Related: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014690087
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Professor John Walker-Smith was Dr. Andrew Wakefields co-author on the controversial Lancet MMR paper" and is widely regarded as the co-founder of pediatric gastroenterology as an independent field with Dr. Allan Walker of Harvard Medical School. Really.
Professor John Walker-Smith appealed the original verdict, despite the enormous toll in time and expense, and in 2012 was completely exonerated of all charges. John Stone has written extensively about the excruciating minutiae of the case and is highly capable of vigorously refuting any detractors WITH THE FACTS. Perform a site search for his columns at AOA, then read his work.
Full UK Court Decision in John Walker-Smith Appeal here: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2012/503.html
Alternatively, read a brief article from The Guardian or a press release by parents of children with autism from the US (the Canary Party) or parents of children with autism from the UK (Cry Shame), as I did.
MMR doctor wins High Court appeal
Press Association, Tuesday March 6 2012
Professor John Walker-Smith appealed against the General Medical Council's (GMC) determination that he was guilty of serious professional misconduct. His fight for his reputation was supported by the parents of many children with autism and bowel disease seen by him at the Royal Free Hospital, north London, up to his retirement in 2001.
Mr Justice Mitting, sitting at London's High Court, ruled the GMC decision "cannot stand". He quashed the finding of professional misconduct and the striking-off.
Calling for changes in the way GMC fitness to practise panel hearings are conducted in the future, the judge said of the flawed handling of Prof Walker-Smith's case: "It would be a misfortune if this were to happen again."
<...>
In a written ruling, the judge made it clear the judgment was the end of the case, and the GMC did not intend to appeal.
Senior Author of MMR Paper, John Walker-Smith, Wins Appeal
Written by The Canary Party
Wednesday, 07 March 2012 16:13
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Dr. Andrew Wakefields co-author on controversial Lancet MMR paper completely exonerated of all charges of professional misconduct
World renowned pediatric gastroenterologist Prof. John Walker-Smith won his appeal today against the United Kingdoms General Medical Council regulatory board that had ruled against both him and Andrew Wakefield for their roles in the 1998 Lancet MMR paper, which raised questions about a link to autism. The complete victory means that Walker-Smith has been returned to the status of a fully licensed physician in the UK, although he had already retired in 2001 six years before the GMC trial even began.
Justice John Mitting ruled on the appeal by Walker-Smith, saying that the GMC panels determination cannot stand. I therefore quash it. He said that its conclusions were based on inadequate and superficial reasoning and, in a number of instances, a wrong conclusion. The verdict restores Walker-Smiths name to the medical register and his reputation to the medical community. This conclusion is not surprising, as the GMC trial had no actual complainants, no harm came to the children who were studied, and parents supported Walker-Smith and Wakefield through the trial, reporting that their children had medically benefited from the treatment they received at the Royal Free Hospital.
While John Walker-Smith received funding to appeal the GMC decision from his insurance carrier, his co-author Andrew Wakefield did not and was therefore unable to mount an appeal in the high court.
<...>
Today, almost 14 years after the paper was published, the high court determined that John Walker-Smith was innocent of the wrongdoing alleged by the GMC. Judge Mitting reported that the GMC, on the basis of sensible instructions, does not invite me to remit it to a fresh Fitness to Practice panel for redetermination. The end result is that the finding of serious professional misconduct and the sanction of erasure are both quashed.
More at link.
(Scroll down)
CryShame press release - 9 March 2013
Important new research ( http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0058058 ) reports similar findings to the work of Dr Andrew Wakefield in the 1998 Lancet and in subsequent paper in the early 2000s
Groundbreaking new research examines the molecular structure of inflammatory material taken from the bowels of autistic children. It compares the structure of diseased biopsies in the autistic children with biopsies from three groups of non-autistic children with Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, and histologically normal (the controls).
Previous research confirmed the pathological and immunological make-up of biopsies of autistic children, but had not to date identified its specific molecular structure. Children with the four different conditions have been found to have similar findings of inflammation. But it was not clear if this was the same condition shared by all four groups; or if a distinct condition was specific to autistic children alone; or if indeed there was no disease in the autistic group. A molecular analysis of the genetic structure found in the inflamed bowel tissue of children in each group would provide initial answers to these questions.
To date government and medical scientists continue to deny an association between autism and bowel disease. In the UK there is currently no research into the association between autism and chronic bowel disease. This has been the predicament since the government and medical profession waged a campaign to discredit research from the Royal Free Hospital led by Dr Andrew Wakefield in 1998 and the early 2000s that first identified the presence of bowel disease in autistic children.
Following years of denial from government and the medical profession, new research published in the leading online journal PLOS ONE confirms the presence of intestinal disease in autistic children and supports reports from many parents of ongoing painful gastric problems in their autistic children.
The research studied bowel samples from 25 autistic, 8 Crohn's, 5 ulcerative colitis and 15 normal control children and found that inflammatory material obtained from the biopsies of autistic children had a distinct molecular structure that was different from the other three groups.
This is an important finding of the distinct genetic expression that has now been identified in autistic children as distinct from non-autistic children with Crohns, ulcerative colitis and normal bowels. It paves the way for future research into the specific molecular structure of the inflammation affecting autistic children and hopefully will lead to new interventions and treatment.
Background Notes
1. The first paper to bring to public attention the presence of bowel disease in autistic children was Wakefield AJ, (1998) 'Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children'.The Lancet published this paper in 1998 but subsequently retracted it in 2010 after the GMC found Dr Wakefield and Professor Walker-Smith guilty of serious professional misconduct.
2. Several former colleagues went on in the early 2000s to study the nature of the bowel disease in autistic children, focusing on the pathology of gut tissue and the presence of autoimmune features in the bowel (eg Furlano et al (2001) 'Colonic CD8 and γδ T-cell infiltration with epithelial damage in children with autism', Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 138, 3).
3. The senior research leader of the Lancet and subsequent papers was Professor John Walker-Smith who in March 2012 had all the charges of professional misconduct made by the GMC quashed on appeal by Justice Mitting in the High Court.
4. Government Minister admits more needs to be done to research autism and bowel disease. Read letter here.
MORE (links cited in comments of 2012 post discussing resolution of appeal at AOA):
http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/news/clue-gi-problems-plague-many-kids-autism
http://mbio.asm.org/content/3/1/e00261-11
Apparently, this information is actively blocked at Wikipedia. Why might that be? It is obscene to disparage these suffering parents while deliberately misrepresenting THE FACTS, as some (not all) do.
FSogol
(45,355 posts)proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)FSogol
(45,355 posts)truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Regarding voting activist Andy Stephenson, using Stephenson's own words. I was told that since this was only my second foray into "editing" on Wikipedia, the entry had to remain the way it was.
Several others here on DU joined in trying to get Stephenson's words added to the debate, which was after all, about him. The Wikipedia Big Wigs decided to take down the entire bio of Stephenson down, rather than acquiescing to our requests!
I do occasionally use Wikipedia, if for instance, I wanna know the population of the Ukraine, or which city is the capital city of South Dakota. But for anything which has any controversy attached to its discussion, Wiki entries are far from dialectical, and can be quite slanted, with no ability to correct the entries' sins and omissions.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)It's astounding to behold, yet I can't quite believe it, and so continue to repost solid research and analysis by autism parent activists. Their stories are too numerous and consistent to discount.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Heart breaking.
And it is heart breaking also, that your efforts are not paid for. Meanwhile the Big Pharma forces possess deep pockets and can employ people night and day to appear on discussion forums and make it look like no one believes in people and the stories themselves. Yes, give an industry enough money and only the "science" and "research " and headlines that Big Pharma has created will have sufficient numbers of trolls to appear. We activists have to be deeply committed, and then the other side has the money to make it look like we need to "be committed!"
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)And I'm not anyone's target, tool, or fool, lol.
El_Johns
(1,805 posts)doing research that exposed the dangers of a corporate product?
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)points regarding Greenwald, that we have, shamefully, seen right here on DU.
I remember the emails from HB Gary regarding how to smear Greenwald, who was not nearly as important as Hayes. But it shows how controlled this country is.
I am of the opinion that these kinds of deceptive practices, the hiring of Big Security Corps to falsely smear good people, needs to be made illegal. I don't know why it has not. Clearly there are people with so few, if any, principles, they will do ANYTHING to silence those who are telling the truth.
Shameful, this should not be a civil matter, as it involves LIVES. It should be a criminal matter. But I won't hold my breath considering the power structure that has been built here over the past decades.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)anything to muddy the waters. It's upsetting how often it seems to work.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Response to sabrina 1 (Reply #4)
Post removed
neverforget
(9,433 posts)Well done, bobduca, well done!
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)questionseverything
(9,631 posts)The contract calls for the development of "Persona Management Software" which would help the user create and manage a variety of distinct fake profiles online. The job listing was discussed in recently leaked emails from the private security firm HBGary after an attack by internet activist last week.
Click here to view the government contract (PDF)
According to the contract, the software would "protect the identity of government agencies" by employing a number of false signals to convince users that the poster is in fact a real person. A single user could manage unique background information and status updates for up to 10 fake people from a single computer.
The software enables the government to shield its identity through a number of different methods including the ability to assign unique IP addresses to each persona and the ability to make it appear as though the user is posting from other locations around the world.
Included in HBGary's leaked emails was a government proposal for the government contract. The document describes how they would 'friend' real people on Facebook as a way to convey government messages.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8363
bvar22
(39,909 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)No question.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)smear anyone who dares to speak the truth. THAT should be a major goal of the left, to expose and stop these smear campaigns once and for all. If they cannot deal with truth, they should not be allowed to lie and to destroy lives and reputations.
bobthedrummer
(26,083 posts)they are based in Madison, here are some of their links
http://prwatch.org
http://sourcewatch.org
http://banksterusa.org
http://alecexposed.org
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)'Progressive Media Resources Forum' here on DU. It's a great forum, have to spend more time there. If not, would you consider posting them there?
I think they need as much support as they can get, especially if, as you say, they are relentless. That is what is needed. The bad guys are relentless, we have dropped the ball imo.
Btw, off topic, but I always wondered, are you a drummer?
bobthedrummer
(26,083 posts)come from a musical family, etc. sabrina 1.
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)As I, and other journalists, have been plowing through some of the tens of thousands of emails from HBGary's CEO --- as stolen and released by the "hacktivist" organization calling themselves Anonymous, following Barr's public threat to expose their names --- I've been able to learn a lot more about the U.S. Chamber plan.
Part of the plan included highlighting me as a "Tier 1" player in a sophisticated disinformation/discrediting scheme that relied on high-tech tools developed for the U.S. Government's "War on Terror".
Team Themis' U.S. Chamber of Commerce plan was to deploy the very same techniques and technology used to track terrorists, terror organizations, and nations such as Iran, against private non-profit political advocates and citizens in the U.S.
As disturbing (and there is a lot that every American citizen and every member of the American media ought to be very disturbed by in this story) Hunton & Williams (H&W), the law firm working on behalf of the U.S. Chamber and the Bank of America, had been recommended to BofA, the nation's largest bank, for the parallel hit scheme to target and discredit WikiLeaks, by our own U.S. Department of Justice.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8354
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)'illegal'. A committee was set up to investigate a few years ago, but nothing has happened so far. Nothing EVER happens to reign in these rogue corporations.
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)Particularly as events continue to develop around the world, we can all agree that free and open debate, discussion and criticism as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution are absolutely necessary to a healthy and vibrant democracy. We must guarantee not just free spoken, print and broadcast media but unfettered Internet and electronic communication as well. Citizens who exercise their rights should not be the victims of illegal and insidious electronic attack any more than peaceful protesters should be the victims of intimidation or physical violence.
Enclosed you will find a packet of summary information describing the parties and recently revealed events in more detail.
The emails and documents that have come to light thus far provide a window into a deeply concerning set of circumstances, but not all of the facts are known. We believe it is therefore incumbent upon the Committee to investigate this matter thoroughly and with the utmost urgency. We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Hank Johnson, Keith Ellison, Luis Gutiérrez, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Sheila Jackson Lee, Chris Murphy, Edolphus Towns, Betty Sutton, Peter Welch, Raúl Grijalva, Bruce Braley, Mike Honda, Barbara Lee, Jim McDermott, Tim Ryan, Pete Stark, Maxine Waters, Bob Filner, Barney Frank, Donna Edwards
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8376
////////////////////////////
when the fox is in charge of the hen house.....
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)done. I used to get excited when a few Dems in Congress would do the right thing, but looking back now, not a single thing ever came of any of it.
There must be some powerful forces controlling this government to the point where even a member of Congress has rendered as impotent as the average voter. See Ron Wyden eg, trying to get the word to the people about what the NSA was doing, but gagged by Congress and able only to warn us 'that if the American people knew what they were doing, they would be angry'. I feel certain that he was more than happy when Snowden did what he could not, among a lot of others who KNOW how bad it is but are unable to do anything about it.
Skittles
(152,963 posts)oops, sorry, I veered off the subject
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)So here's one for you ....
A heart, I mean ...
Skittles
(152,963 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)bvar22
(39,909 posts)!
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Exactly right.
alittlelark
(18,886 posts)I am in an Environmental Horticulture program... Been talking about the issue (research suppression) for awhile.
Gonna send it to a few professors.
me b zola
(19,053 posts)arikara
(5,562 posts)Thanks Hissy
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)KT2000
(20,544 posts)this has happened to so many scientists who speak the truth that corporations do not like.
Anderson Labs that tested carpets for neurotoxins were attacked in the same way. We should all feel good that adherence to manufacturing safe carpets is voluntary.
GMO researchers who find organ damage are destroyed as well.
Scientists who studied and wrote about the dangers of many chemicals including formaldehyde and metals, particularly lead were attacked mercilessly.
drokhole
(1,230 posts)...one of the most blatant bits of character assassination I've seen as of late. And, as intended, they've established cause (phony as it may be) to pre-emptively dismiss any new research that he might be a part of, like this new report on the underestimation of toxicity of pesticides:
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Pesticide-toxicity-vastly-understated-claims-new-Seralini-study (article)
Major pesticides are more toxic to human cells than their declared active principles (study PDF)
From one of the article comments:
"is anyone still reporting on anything Seralini says? He is not a scientist. Studies by non-scientists aren't news."
And so it goes.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)Expose ALL these bastards.
btrflykng9
(287 posts)I will do my part to tweet and share this story amongst my friends.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)I posted the same source article at approximately the same time, Mon Feb 10, 2014, 11:26 PM: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=174903
Hekate
(90,189 posts)I hope Tyrone Hayes ultimately wins his battles -- and finds inner peace. What an amazing man.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)myrna minx
(22,772 posts)Th1onein
(8,514 posts)This is a great article. Thank you for posting. I can't believe what they did to that scientist. How arrogant they are.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)DU paid sockpuppets have full time employment.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)looked like:
It was disgusting to read. They 'suggested' finding out if Greenwald had a wife, children, what schools they went to etc.
It also reminds me of the CIA memo one month before the so-called Assange 'sex scandal'. I remember Wikileaks put it up on their site. Apparently they were discussing how to shut him up and a few 'methods' of doing so were discussed then set aside in favor of 'discrediting him'.
Apparently this is the new method of trying to silence people. They stated that 'if he were to be involved in a sex scandal, eg, that would cause many of his supporters on the left to abandon him. This was right after he had casually dropped a hint that Wikileaks had info on a Big Bank that 'could bring them down'. They obviously believed him since it was Wikileaks who exposed the Bank Corruption in Iceland.
One month later he WAS involved in a 'sex scandal'. Anyone who has followed this from the beginning knows that the 'sex scandal' was manufactered.
But now there are three incidents exposing their tactic to try to silence 'inconvenient' truth tellers. ALL THREE involve 'discrediting' them.
And yes, right here on DU we see many of the 'suggestions' regarding Greenwald which leads me to believe that the contract on Greenwald which HB Gary was bidding on, for BOA who were angry that he was writing about the leaks by Wikileaks, has been given to someone. I thought at first that once it was exposed, it would not happen.
But it's clear when you see those talking even here on DU, that someone got that contract.
stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)AND, she's an agribusiness corporate manager.
But I repeat myself.
jollyreaper2112
(1,941 posts)The sad bit is this isn't news to me. Companies pull this shit all the time.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead
When they tried putting this shit in gas, states around the country tried to ban it. The company who made it got a federal law passed to overrule the states and poisoned us for the next 60 years. We don't have an accurate count on how many people were killed either by direct poisoning or by people driven criminally inane from lead exposure. Estimated 5000 direct deaths per year, 300k in rough terms, plus environmental damage. Wouldn't be surprised if the full amount is in the millions.
Free markets don't work. Anyone who argues otherwise should be executed along with this corporate mass murderers. I'm not joking. They should be given the nice barbiturate cocktail the death with dignity groups use and left to slip away. Our very lives are at stake due to the depraved indifference of our corporate masters. They must be ended.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)100% of the male smallmouth bass collected in the Potomac river in the Washington D.C. area exhibited female ovaries. These chemicals have far reaching consequences that we have only just started to unravel.
And corporations are ruthless. They will do ANYTHING. They are the real enemy, the real terrorists.
siligut
(12,272 posts)No mention will be made regarding the possible cause. Same with endocrine related cancers, health professionals are gagged.
ck4829
(34,969 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)Not. As the advertisers who can afford tee vee ads are the ones who most profit from keeping the public in the dark. Plus, they don't want any pesky class-action lawsuits interfering with the upward transfer of wealth.
Moyers has been one of the few brave enough to go up against Big Chemturdco: chemical body burden.
McClatchy Newspapers also are a mark of integrity.
FSogol
(45,355 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)Berlum
(7,044 posts)Trying to stamp out truth. Same as it ever was.
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)'Tyrone Hayes'
Written and Directed By George Clooney
Starring:
Jamie Foxx as Tyrone Hayes
Robert Redford as Thomas Steeger
Glenn Close as Sherry Ford
John Goodman as John Coursey
ReRe
(10,597 posts)... I do "casting" in my mind all the time, as well as book titles and stories.
"Somebody ought to write a book" about this or that. Carry on.....
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)boblgumm
(23 posts)Much like right wing and left wing "scandals", the difference between right wing paranoia and left wing paranoia is that the latter is fact based.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)I'm happy the scientist won his case. This one chemical company will never be punished or 'make whole' all the persons, our air/land & animals they harmed.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)get the red out
(13,458 posts)I continue to learn what lows corporations will stoop to in order to make money.
hue
(4,949 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Maybe a lot of people need to be reined in and not just the NSA????
Maybe the First Amendment needs to be somehow applied to private individuals and companies?
Climate scientists are also constantly under pressure I should think. I have no proof for that, but judging from the calumny in the news at times I wonder.
2banon
(7,321 posts)Brings to mind, George Clooney's film Michael Clayton, in a way..
tk2kewl
(18,133 posts)A: Truth rather than profit!
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)The thought of commitment to integrity as a motive would never cross their minds.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)called human. Empathy, integrity, honesty, just plain conscience. They possess none of these qualities and are willing to destroy, both physically and emotionally, anyone who gets in their way, along with their families, their children, pets.
They are despicable people and something needs to be done to get them OUT of power, but maybe we've all been too apathetic as they worked hard to take over. Maybe it is too late.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)How many times over, and in how many variations, is this story repeated, both in our faces, as with Snowden, and without our knowledge?
The corruption that rules our system now has a mammoth propaganda and smear machine to destoy opposition and sustain itself. The malignancy is advanced-stage.
Thank you for this post.
malthaussen
(17,065 posts)They've been pulling crap like this for years.
-- Mal
ReRe
(10,597 posts)I am marking this to come back a read later tonight. I am falling asleep sitting up.
K&R
mountain grammy
(26,568 posts)allan01
(1,950 posts)if taking care of the sick. the poor . the elderly . the disabled and feeding said therof , and reparing our roads . being good stewards of the earth make me leftist , SO BE it
blackspade
(10,056 posts)My guess is that this is in no way an isolated incident in any scientific community.
Corporate America is in the business of destroying independent science for their own financial gain.
El_Johns
(1,805 posts)CFLDem
(2,083 posts)Cheating your way to top is the capitalist way!
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)are shocked-stunned-amazed, as if it had never happened before.
Big Corporations regularly engage in every criminal activity ever defined in the regular course of business.
& R
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)about these criminals, and then nothing happens. Because the media is coopted by the very criminals who are doing all of this.
Imagine if we had an actual NEWS MEDIA. A story like this would be all over the news, every day, investigative journalists would be digging for more, and eventually Congress would have to do something about it.
But they anticipated everything and made sure to control the media before the people woke up to what they've been up to.
So I won't get my hopes up, yet.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Last edited Sat Feb 15, 2014, 12:41 AM - Edit history (2)
Hear Tyrone Hayes discuss #Syngenta attacks with @kvetchingguru http://b4uleap.org/2013/07/29/when-corporations-attack/ and watch our talk http://on.ted.com/ToxicBaby #tedtalks
Tyrone Hayes + Penelope Jagessar Chaffer: The toxic baby
FILMED DEC 2010 POSTED FEB 2012 TEDWomen 2010
Filmmaker Penelope Jagessar Chaffer was curious about the chemicals she was exposed to while pregnant: Could they affect her unborn child? So she asked scientist Tyrone Hayes to brief her on one he studied closely: atrazine, a herbicide used on corn. (Hayes, an expert on amphibians, is a critic of atrazine, which displays a disturbing effect on frog development.) Onstage together at TEDWomen, Hayes and Chaffer tell their story.
Tyrone Hayes studies frogs and amphibians -- and the effects on their bodies of common farming chemicals. Full bio »
Penelope Jagessar Chaffer made the film "Toxic Baby," exploring environmental toxins through interviews and surreal imagery. Full bio »
When Corporations Attack
July 29, 2013
Eveline Lubbers studies corporate campaigns to undermine human rights and environmental activists. We speak to her, and to Dr. Tyrone Hayes, who has been the subject of attacks by a leading pesticide company after his studies showed that their blockbuster chemical feminizes male frogs.
<>
Silent3
(15,018 posts)...as many conspiracies theories are.
People shouldn't walk away from a story like this thinking that just because this has happened, that somehow all other conspiratorial suspicions become justified and vindicated.
LiberalAndProud
(12,799 posts)It becomes a question of whom the price is required and how much influence they have. When we measure everything in dollars and give quality of life no weight at all, things don't end well.
bobGandolf
(871 posts)it must have been a living hell for. Majority of his peers thnking he was out to lunch.
The truth should have been plastered all over the news! Instead we get to see Miley's tongue hanging out.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Pro bono defense offered
Posted: Friday, February 7, 2014 1:30 am
Chris DAngelo - The Garden Island
LIHUE A pair of attorneys have followed through on their offer to defend the County of Kauai free of charge in a lawsuit filed last month by three biotech seed companies related to the passing of Ordinance 960.
However, it comes with conditions. And whether the county accepts the offer is yet to be seen.
<>
Last month, Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer and Agrigenetics Inc., a company affiliated with Dow AgroSciences, filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, which aims to block implementation of the county legislation.
Ordinance 960, according to the complaint irrationally prohibits Plaintiffs from growing any crop, whether genetically modified or not, within arbitrarily drawn buffer zones inapplicable to other growers, and restricts Plaintiffs pesticide use within those buffer zones.
The Bill also imposes unwarranted and burdensome disclosure requirements relating to pesticide usage a
nd GM crops that compromise Plaintiffs confidential commercial information and unnecessarily exposes Plaintiffs to risks of corporate espionage, vandalism and environmental terrorism, states the complaint.
Ordinance 960, set to take effect in August, requires Kauais largest agricultural entities to disclose their use of pesticides and genetically modified crops, as well as establish buffer zones around sensitive areas.
Posted previously, http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=696757
3 companies sue to block Kauai's new law on GMOs, pesticides
By Star-Advertiser staff
POSTED: 12:42 p.m. HST, Jan 11, 2014
LAST UPDATED: 12:38 a.m. HST, Jan 12, 2014
Syngenta, Pioneer Hi-Bred and Agrigenetics -- an affiliate of Dow -- have sued to block Kauai County from implementing its new genetically modified organism and pesticide regulation law.
The law, which takes effect in August, imposes greater disclosure requirements on restricted use pesticides and creates buffer zones for crops near schools, homes, and hospitals.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, contends that the law irrationally prohibits the biotechnology companies from growing any crops GMO or not in arbitrarily drawn buffer zones, and restricts the companies' pesticide use within the buffer zones.
The disclosure requirements, the lawsuit argues, expose the companies to risks of "corporate espionage, vandalism and environmental terrorism."
Proponents of the new law decried the lawsuit as "shameful."
"Kauai's ordinance is a sound and well-crafted law. The industry's challenge is without merit, and we will vigorously defend it," said George Kimbrell, senior attorney with the Center for Food Safety.
Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff said, "The chemical industry has been using bullying and misinformation all along to try to derail this law. They consider their impacts on the health of Kauai's residents as collateral damage."
<>
Link from: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_29059.cfm
Related: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024286798
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)BASF joins 3 seed companies in suit against Kauai County law
By Rosemarie Bernardo
A fourth seed company has joined a lawsuit against Kauai County that attempts to block implementation of a new law regulating pesticide use and the farming of genetically modified crops.
BASF has joined the suit with Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer and Agrigenetics, doing business as Dow Agro-Sciences, on Feb. 7, four weeks after a joint complaint was filed by the three seed companies in U.S. District Court. In the suit, the companies contend that Ordinance 960 is "fatally flawed" and is pre-empted by state and federal laws that regulate pesticides and genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
Log in required.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Cargill to reject for export crops with new GMO Syngenta corn trait
Fri, Feb 14 22:30 PM GMT
By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Cargill Inc, the top exporter of U.S. grain and oilseeds, on Friday said it will reject crops containing a new genetically modified Syngenta AG corn trait that are delivered to its grain elevators for export contracts.
Corn seeds containing Syngenta's Agrisure Duracade trait are available for planting in the United States for the first time this year after U.S. authorities cleared the trait in 2013. The trait has not been approved for import by China or the European Union, both major buyers of U.S. crops.
Duracade has import approval from some other big buyers, including Mexico, South Korea and Japan.
"For export contracts, we will not accept delivery of any commodity containing the Duracade trait," Cargill told Reuters in an e-mail.
<>
The commercialization of Duracade has split the U.S. farm sector and pitted global grain merchants against Swiss-based Syngenta, the world's largest crop chemicals company. Some U.S. growers say they need access to the new trait, which is engineered to fight pests called rootworms, while exporters warn it threatens to disrupt trade.
Bunge Ltd, one of the world's top agricultural trading houses, on Thursday signaled it will refuse to handle crops containing Duracade unless the product is cleared by China.
<>
The United States is expected to export 1.6 billion bushels of corn in the marketing year that ends on Aug. 31, accounting for 11 percent of the last harvest. The rest of the crop will be used domestically to feed livestock and produce ethanol.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Agribusiness Tries to Destroy a Critical Scientist
Tyrone Hayes' research was so threatening to Syngenta that they tracked the biologist and tried to discredit his work.
February 11, 2014
by Alex Kane
...In a New Yorker article published this month, reporter Rachel Aviv delves deep into Hayes relationship with Syngenta, and details how company documents show that, while Hayes was studying atrazine, Syngenta was studying him, as he had long suspected. Because Hayes research did damage to Syngenta, which manufactures the second most widely used herbicide in the U.S., they tried to discredit Hayes. The company looked for ways to exploit Hayes faults/problems, as a document said. Syngenta also had third party allies that wrote Op-Eds in regional newspapers defending atrazine.
The documents were released in 2012, after a settlement was reached between Syngenta and 23 Midwestern cities and towns that accused the company of contaminating their drinking water. As the lawyer for the cities, Stephen Tillery, put it, Tyrones work gave us the scientific basis for the lawsuit.
A lot was, and is, at stake for Syngenta. Theyre trying to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from banning their herbicide, which is one of the most common contaminants of drinking water; an estimated thirty million Americans are exposed to trace amounts of the chemical, the New Yorkers Aviv writes.
Its been banned in Europe, and the EPA is reviewing the herbicide this year.
<>