I received these pictures from a friend living in Africa, enjoy!

If you have any other nice pictures, share them with us!

I went partying on an island close to Montreal city this weekend. I was not expecting to discover a paradise so close from my house. It’s too bad my camera had no more power for the night. but I managed to film during the daytime.

This place is almost unreal, anyone living in Montreal or planning a trip here should visit this private island. If you want to organize a party or impress a group of friends this is something you need to do. The owner, Jay is a great host and will provide most of your needs: ” boat ride to the island, electricity, wood for the fire”. There are two kayaks available and plenty of nature ground to discover. They is also a sand beach not to far from the place. They have four fishing rods, it bites alot early in the morning or at sunset.You can settle your tent in the back of the house, the great thing about this place: There are no bugs since the constant little breeze takes them away!!!

You will need to bring your food and water!

Enough talking, check the video out!!!

Monsanto is a Biotechnology Multinational run by Chief executive Robert Shapiro. They spread everywhere they are tolerated in the world seeking to patent everything you eat. They own 90% of all GMO (genetically modified organism) crops in the world, 70% of these being Round Up resistant. The
rest creates an insecticide called BT. They bought 50 major seeds companies (tomato, potato, corn, soy , cotton…) from 1995 to 2005. This post might somehow be long, but you absolutely need to know about this corrupt company and the people behind all this. Everyone on the planet is concerned. Monsanto has been selling PCB’s and claiming their benefits for the environment knowing it was completely false. PCB have been banned in the beginning of the 90’s. PCB’s are present in the air, ground and water. They are for a big part in the well known disease: cancer.

Let’s start by analyzing their best product on the market.

Round Up Ready (RUR); this herbicide has been the number one seller for the past thirty years. (marketed in 74) It will kill every living plant but the Monsanto’s genetically modified. A very good example is their RUR Soy plant. Monsanto’s scientist identified a gene resistant to Round Up. Fixed on microscopic gold particles, these genes are bombarded with a canon gene into the soy cell. Combined with the RNA, it triggers the make of a protein that will create a Round Up resistant Soy plant. You can read an article from Dr Robert Belle on the Round Up technology. He explains their technology affects a key mechanism that controls cell division making them more keen to instability. A cell is not cancerous in the beginning, the principal modification toward cancer is when a cell becomes genetically unstable, this is exactly what Round Up does. In an experiment, Elena Alvarez Buylla demonstrates that flowers have a completely different phenotypes (expression of a gene) depending on the localization of the trans gene. Some specimen look like normal flowers, others present monstrous looks. Once a trans gene is released, with the wind carrying the pollen around, it can go infect any natural crop integrating those new modified genes into the environment.

The FDA ( Food and Drug administration) is in charge of the health regulations in the USA. In 1979, they accepted a law classifying GMO food and natural food in the same category. James Maryanski (1985-2006) the Biotechnology responsible of the FDA at the time admits in a video that the White House made some pressure in order to have no specific rules applied to GMO’s. This decision was political and not scientific. Michael Taylor became the Chief of regulations in the FDA (1991) when the GMO regulations were being written. They created the “Principal of substance equivalence” calling GMO’s “grass” in other words safe. Before giving the tittle of “grass” there are normally scientific studies made on the matter and it has to be approved largely by the scientific community, which was not the case. I forgot to mention Michael Taylor used to be a lawyer and worked on several cases for Monsanto. No conflict of interests here. We have never seen such a powerful company able to influence the government in charge of regulations, which were written at Monsanto’s desires. In USA, consumers cannot choose between natural and GMO food since labeling the difference is not permitted.

Monsanto wanted to introduce their bioproducts in Europe. Modified potatoes were tested on rats at the famous nutrition institute Rolet in Scotland. With their approval, the doors would be opened for Monsanto to invade the continent. Arpad Pusztai was in charge of the project and made an interview on the BBC. He expressed his fears (cell proliferation in the stomach and strong reaction from the immune system) towards the technology used to produce the potatoes , he added the British should not be treated as guinea pigs. He was fired the next day. Apparently it was a state matter, since USA technology was threatened. In 1985, Richard Burroughs was in charge of the group testing Posilac the bovine hormone. He expressed his concerns on the effect of the hormone over the reproduction, he also noted the cows were suffering from infections. He was discharged of his function, he intended a trial, but Monsanto’s lawyer threatened him they would bring him in trial if he would use secrets of the company for his case. Posilac was banned in Europe and Canada. Canada needed a scandal at “Sante Canada” because they normally follow the FDA’s regulation, we can thanks Shiv Chopra who lost his job for showing so much integrity. Guess what…Posilac was introduced in the USA in 1994, approved by the FDA when Michael Taylor was in charge. Statistically, we observe a dramatic increase of breast, colon, prostate cancers, this is only the beginning. The Cow hormone drug represents the first application of biotechnology at the animal production.

In India, Monsanto bought the number one cotton seed company in the country: Mahyco. They sell Cotton BT seeds and it becomes harder every year to find traditional ones. The plant has a bad interaction with the BT gene which creates a weakness inside. As a result they still need to treat the plant with herbicides. Monsanto controls almost all the cotton Market in India, where they sell their seeds 4 times the normal price. Vandana Shiva calls them the “seeds of suicide”. By reading her work I learned Monsanto is working to patent tomatoes, rice, cauliflower…. If they control the seed, they control the food: what a genious way to control the world.

In Mexico, corn is considered to be the most pure and preserved in the world. Ignacio Chapela wrote an article on their contaminated corn from GMO’s. Ignacio was discredited in the scientific world by Monsanto.
If you want to read how they did it, here is the link. Monsanto is having a fierce fight in Mexico to implant it’s industrialized corn. They sell it twice cheaper then the natural corn, and are polluting the gene basin of Mexican corn with a precise goal.

In USA, farmers sign a contract when they start using Monsanto’s seeds. Part of the contract is they are not allowed to keep any seeds for the next year. Monsanto runs a gene police causing terror among farmers in this world dominated by GMO’s.

There is something you need to understand. Under American laws, it’s very rare that the chiefs executives of a company are considered responsible. Your chances drop even more when the government is partners with them. On the other hand, it’s possible to attack them on the civil side for money. The truth, the money these companies pay (Monsanto) to the affected people is nothing compared to their gains made by lying to you all that time. The lesson to understand: It’s profitable to keep secrets. Do you wonder what Monsanto is hiding from you now? You cannot trust Monsanto.

On Monsanto’s website, you can read the following statement: ” Practical experience clearly demonstrate that coexistence of biotech, conventional and organic systems is not only possible, but is peacefully occurring around the world. I have shown you multiple examples where their saying is wrong. Educate yourself on Monsanto because it’s the source of life that is concerned here.

You can seek knowledge, get information and read as much as you want about the African continent, however, to fully grasp its meaning, you need to identify with some own life events. I was in the Democratic Republic of Congo in August 1998 when a well armed rebel group erupted in Goma about 100 kilometers from our camp. We had to organise an emergency evacuation leaving most of the equipment behind. Since President Kabila had stopped all aerial traffic in the country, we had to escape through roads that hadn’t been used over many years. We managed to cross the 200 kilometers separating us from Uganda in 4 days.
The war has been going on ever since; it’s the deadliest conflict since WW II. (around 5.4 million people)

I found a great website documenting this war, if you have four more minutes to spare, they have an interesting video detailing the crimes.

I had taken some beautiful pictures of our escape, however we were stopped on the third day by some rebel group and I did a mistake when some kid caught me taking a picture of them. The situation was not safe at all, they insisted on taking my camera and the film. Here are some souvenirs from my experience; I wonder how many of the people in these pictures are still alive.

Click to enlarge

Charles Darwin’s (1809-1882) waited twenty years before publishing The Origin of Species because he expected the chaos created by his theory (the accepted though in that time: the earth is about 10000 years old and living creatures are not related). Almost two hundreds years after his birth date, the humanity is still much devised on what to think, I’m sure Mr. Darwin would be very sad to know this.
The spec of Darwin is everywhere around you, every altered food you eat (GMO) comes from his work. We use his theory in all the different sciences of life: biology, ecology, psychology, human science, history, economy….His theory is a way to understand the world we are living in. Without it we can understand how an evolutionary phenomenon happens but not why it’s happening. This is the best idea in the past 500 hundreds years and it has been confirmed through years of observation and studies from thousands of Scientists. It’s said the Copernicus put the human race on a pedestal when he proved the earth rotated around the sun and that Darwin tumbled it off making us an animal like any others.

The problem is that we are taking a lot of time to understand and learn from his great idea. A mistake that could be fatal. A good example is the way our medicine is using antibiotics in fighting diseases. Tuberculosis, “the white pest” made ravages through centuries. In 1940, a miracle remedy Penicillin (let’s call it P) appeared and it was thought we could get rid of it. Canada has around 2000 cases of the disease every year and P doesn’t work like it used to!! What happened… The virus of tuberculosis first lost the battle against P. In 2008, with thousands of genetical modifications achieved, the virus has become very resistant to P. It’s the same story with many known viruses and insects we are trying to get rid of. Darwin Help!!!!

His theory changed the way we understand our origins, yet it’s not widely known, I propose some highlights:

• Everything living on the planet shares the same ancestor: The first cells that appeared on earth about 3.8 billion years. From them life evolved using natural selection, a mechanism by which the individuals having the best tools to face their environment will survive thus more chances to reproduce and give their characteristics.
• Humans don’t have monkeys for ancestors, we are monkeys and the chimp is a far cousin that shares the same ancestor living about six millions years ago.
• Humans are not more evolved than any other species living on the planet. He simply took a different trajectory.
• 54% of Americans believe in creationism or intelligent design (Harris survey)

The Origin of species is not a theory anymore. It has been proven with multiple examples and experiences. He could not explain everything but we are finding answers with all our hard digging. One thing is certain, every species is directly related to its environment. We will soon face some great dangers if we don’t learn to live in harmony with our ecosystem.

Technorati Profile