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Organic Agriculture is worse for the environment than...

David Middleton
Watts Up With That?
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 00:01 UTC
organic agriculture


Inorganic agriculture?

Guest commentary by David Middleton
New study challenges beliefs about organic ag

BY MARK LYNAS
APRIL 9, 2018

Organic agriculture is not as good for the environment as commonly believed, according to a new scientific study reviewing multiple lines of evidence over more than two decades.

The study, conducted by German researchers Eva-Marie Meemken and Matin Qaim from the University of Goettingen and published in the journal Annual Review of Resource Economics, challenges many beliefs that have helped the organic food industry grow into an $82 billion global market.

Comment: The point against "climate-friendly agriculture" is well taken, but the rest of this post seems like pointless nit-picking. OK, the term "organic", as it applies to agriculture or foods, doesn't stand up to scrutiny. But the avoidance of glyphosate alone should be a good reason to try to get as much organic foods as possible. Yes, it's a buzz-term, and of course one needs to wary of marketing gimmicks, but does that mean we should throw out the baby with the bathwater and start poisoning ourselves?

See also:

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Footprints

BBC journalist tweets stunning evidence of staging of chemical attack in Syria - later deletes tweet

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:58 UTC
Twitter tweet BBC journalist Douma chemical attack
© Twitter / Riam Dalati
BBC journalist is confronted after deleting tweet calling chemical attacks in Syria "staged" scenes.

The Army of Islam and the ISIS PR White Helmets, that POTUS Trump is about to provide air cover for in Syria, have been caught staging corpses of dead children in Douma.

A BBC journalist expressed skepticism about an alleged chemical attack in Syria that the Trump White House has, without evidence, blamed on Bashar Assad.

The BBC journalist tweeted that he was tired of "staged" scenes before deleting the post.

Comment: RT's take on this issue:

BBC journo deletes tweet doubting 'staged' scenes in Syria: Twittersphere calls him on it

It is obvious that the so-called 'chemical attack' was staged by jihadists and their White Helmet friends. On this Facebook post you can see a picture of dead children's bodies, and next to it another with the extra body of a baby added - probably for additional dramatic effect.

Furthermore:

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Propaganda

Duma passes bill on multimillion-ruble fake news fines


RT
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:08 UTC
State Duma plenary session
© Photo from Russian parliament's web-site
State Duma plenary session.
The Russian lower house has passed in the first reading a bill that counters internet fake news by ordering fines of up to 50 million rubles (US$800,000) for refusal to delete illegal, false or slandering information.

Once the bill is passed into law, all owners of "public networks" or websites that attract over 100,000 visitors daily would have to delete fake news that touches upon important subjects, as well as any other banned topics, within 24 hours of receiving an official request. Network owners are also obliged to create and maintain a register of all such requests and present it to the state internet watchdog, Roskomnadzor, on demand.

Refusal to comply is punishable by fines between 3 and 5 million rubles for citizens ($48,000-$80,000) and between 30 and 50 million rubles for companies ($484,000-$806,000).

The main sponsor of the bill, MP Sergey Boyarsky (United Russia), said that its main purpose was to reply to "modern challenges," in particular to spreading fake information that slanders citizens, as well as other unlawful information on social networks.
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Eye 1

The School of Terror: The facts behind the 'staged' video of kids' chemical weapons drill in Syria


RT
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 13:21 UTC
Staged attack
© اعلامي ريف دمشق / YouTube
A video described as showing Syrian children being trained to fake the symptoms of a chemical weapons attack has been widely shared online with fake and menacing misinformation.

RT Digital investigated the origins of the video and found that it doesn't depict children being coerced and prepared for future propaganda videos, as falsely suggested by users on Twitter.

The video is more than four years old and the actions carried out by the children in the video are part of a play by a group called the Nesma Organization based in eastern Ghouta.

Comment: See also: Red Crescent found no trace of previous 'Ghouta chem attack' used by US to blame Syria & Russia

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Eagle

Syrian news cites local reports of US choppers evacuating more ISIS militants


Sputnik
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 14:33 UTC
us choppers
© AFP 2018/ JOSEPH EID
US Air Force aircraft have allegedly been spotted evacuating non-Syrian Daesh commanders with their family members from al-Hasakah province and transferring them to an unknown destination, according to the SANA news agency. The news emerged a day after US President Trump threatened Syria with a possible strike.

US military helicopters reportedly evacuated several Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) commanders from the al-Hasakah province, Syria's SANA news agency has reported on April 10, citing local sources.

The media outlet specified that the Americans conducted yet another operation rescuing three Daesh commanders of Iraqi origin along with their family members from Tal al-Shayer region 20 kilometers southeast of the Syrian city of al-Shadadi in Hasakah. The evacuees were transferred to an unknown location.

It was also reported that in the course of the evacuation, US troops organized a staged clash on the ground that resulted in the death of one civilian while several others were injured.
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X

Zuckerberg struggles to answer Sasse's plea to define hate speech during senate meeting

Curtis Houck | April 10, 2018 7:08 PM EDT
NewsBusters
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 13:08 UTC
zuckerberg sasse
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg grappled with questions of all stripes at Tuesday's Senate hearing on the social media platform and the 2016 election, but it was Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse's questions about hate speech that should alarm free speech advocates.

Along with inquiries from Texas Republican Ted Cruz, Sasse stood out. His portion began by acknowledging that companies like Facebook "have a hard challenge" when it comes to creating their own rules in addition to government regulations.


That being said, Sasse told him that he acknowledges yet worries about private groups like Zuckerberg being able to "make policies that maybe less than First Amendment-full spirit embracing" and "go from violent groups to hate speech in a hurry."

Sasse then asked the key question:
You may decide or Facebook may decide it needs to police a whole bunch of speech that I think America might be better off by not having policed by one company that has a really large and powerful platform. Can you define hate speech?

Comment: That's not the only question he was being evasive with. See also:

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V

A massive anti-war movement is needed right NOW

Michael Krieger
Libertyblitzkrieg
Mon, 09 Apr 2018 13:44 UTC
war is a racket
An alleged new 'chemical incident' in Syria reminds of a similar series of events we saw last year. We are told to believe that each time the U.S. pulls back from the war on Syria the Syrian government is responding with a 'chemical attack' that pulls the U.S. back in.

- From Moon of Alabama article: Syria - Timelines Of 'Gas Attacks' Follow A Similar Scheme
If you're genuinely against U.S. wars for profit, power and empire the current moment represents our best opportunity to push back aggressively and launch a real grassroots anti-war movement. The entrenched forces who'll stop at nothing to get their war with Iran and Russia going seem to believe that time's running out. As such, they're resorting to increasingly comical and preposterous interpretations of "events" to get their conflagration going. The war sales-pitch has become increasingly desperate and nonsensical, which provides us with a window of opportunity to push back.

It's hard to keep track of the timeline of events these days, but it was just last week that the British foreign office was caught deleting a tweet in which it had falsely claimed it confirmed the nerve agent used in the Skripal poisoning had been produced in Russia.

Comment: A couple of short great videos that can be used to make the case for No War in Syria:





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Health

Palestinian Ministry of Health: More than 100 people critically injured by Israeli attack of March of Return protest


Middle East Monitor
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 03:45 UTC
Representatives of the Palestinian Ministry
© Alresalah
Representatives of the Palestinian Ministry of Health express their concerns on the crisis in Gaza during a press conference on 28 June 2017
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that 105 Palestinians have been seriously injured by Israeli occupation forces since March 30 during their participation in demonstrations of the March of Return.

At a news conference in front of Al-Shefa Polyclinic, Ashraf Qedra, the ministry's media spokesman, said: "There have been about 3078 injured people, 105 of whom are still in a critical condition and are in intensive care units in hospitals."

Qedra explained that "the Israeli occupation forces have intentionally fired unarmed civilians participating in the marches." The ministry reported that 129 citizens have been injured in the head and neck.

The ministry has also documented the injury of 176 people in upper body parts, and 1027 in the lower part of their bodies, according to Qedra.

He continued: "The ministry has also reported that 51 people have been injured in the abdomen and chest, and 68 have been injured in the basin."

Qedra explained that there have been about 305 injured children under the age of 18, and about 78 injured women.
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People 2

While you probably think same-sex attraction is fixed, researchers don't

Jeremiah Keenan
The Federalist
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
'They've already lost the scientific battle, and so they've taken it to the legislative front to enforce their views.' Jordan Peterson's comment applies generally to sexual orientation.
Couple
© Virginia State Parks / Flickr
Tucker Carlson asked Jordan Peterson last week whether his views on sex and gender were rare in academia. "You can't be one of many people who has these views where you live and work," Carlson said.

Carlson was inviting Peterson to complain about leftist homogeneity in the ivory tower, but as usual Peterson refused to take the bait. "I think they're more common than you think," he said. "My views on gender, for example, and sex - they're shared widely among people in the psychometric personality community.... This isn't contentious; the only people it's contentious around are gender ideologues. They've already lost the scientific battle, and so they've taken it to the legislative front to enforce their views."
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Star of David

It's high time we Jews ditched Zionism for the sake of everyone

Robert A. H. Cohen
Patheos
Sun, 08 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
Theodore Herzl upside down
When Israeli soldiers shoot, maim and kill unarmed Palestinian protestors living under Israeli siege in Gaza - where has Zionism taken us?

When a nation descended from refugees turns it back on African asylum seekers because they will dilute the Jewish purity of the State - what moral integrity does Zionism have?

When the President of the Board of Deputies in Britain describes a left-wing religious Jewish group as "a source of virulent antisemitism" because they openly criticise Israel - what madness has Zionism created?

As Israel turns 70 later this month, Zionism, the political ideology that propelled the Jewish State into existence, is showing all of its failings and exposing the destructive force it's always been for Palestinians and, indeed, for Jews.

For everyone's sake, it's high time we ditched it.
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