An Economist's 10 Objections to the Minimum Wage

The fundamental problem with minimum wage as presently imagined by the idiots is that it is price control rather than market intervention.  This makes it market interference.  Market interference by regulation is meaningless unless it is combined with a properly managed market with ample liquidity.


Without true planned and capitalized liquidity you have a discount market in which a portion of the population is not able to participate except as slaves which is obviously illegal.  That means they do not work and instead are enslaved to a government handout and all the baggage associated with that.


Since it is obviously stupid it needs to be addressed.  I have done that through the creation of the four hour standby job that provides a night's rest in a warm bed, a shower, laundry,  breakfast and lunch in exchange for four hours of light work.  This protocol is easily implemented using resources already available and its purpose is to make the idea of a minimum wage meaningful.


Thus  worker can after lunch then take on a full eight hour shift if it becomes available and not disturb his options..
 
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An Economist's 10 Objections to the Minimum Wage

Price controls have serious consequences

MARK J. PERRY Friday, December 11, 2015

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/an-economists-10-objections-to-the-minimum-wage/

#Employment

One of the biggest political issues right now nationwide, and one that will likely be an important issue in next year’s presidential election is the minimum wage.

Economists are generally in agreement that increases in the minimum wage, especially large increases to $15 an hour like in Seattle, will reduce employment opportunities for unskilled workers.

Despite the inevitable negative outcomes that will surely result from a $15 minimum wage — we’ve already seen negative effects in Seattle’s restaurant industry — politicians and unions seem intent on engaging in an activity that could be described as an “economic death wish.”

Proponents of a higher minimum wage point to the obvious and visible benefits to some workers — those who may find a job at the higher wage or keep their existing job and get a higher wage.

But that is only part of the story — there are many less obvious downsides to an artificially high minimum wages that take longer to recognize, and it’s those inevitable negative effects that lead economists to generally oppose minimum wage laws.

What are the specific objections of economists to the minimum wage and why do they generally favor market wages instead? Here are ten reasons in favor of market wages over a government-mandated minimum wage:

Proposed minimum wages are almost always arbitrary and never based on sound economic analysis. Why $10.10 an hour and not $9.10? Why $15 an hour and not $16 an hour?

A uniform federal minimum wage may be sub-optimal for many states, and uniform state minimum wages may be sub-optimal for many cities. A one-size-fits-all approach to the minimum wage is really a “one-size-fits-none.”

Minimum wage laws require costly taxpayer-funded monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, whereas market wages don’t.

Minimum wage laws discriminate against unskilled workers in favor of skilled workers, and the greatest amount of discrimination takes place against minority groups, like blacks.

Adjustments to total compensation following minimum wage laws will disadvantage workers in the form of reduced hours, reduced fringe benefits, and reduced on-the-job training.

Many unskilled workers will be unable to find work and will be denied valuable on-the-job training and the opportunity to acquire experience and skills.

Minimum wage laws prevent mutually advantageous, voluntary labor agreements between employers and employees from taking place.

To the extent that higher minimum wages result in lower firm profits and higher retail prices, that’s a form of legal plunder by workers from employers and consumers that is objectionable.

Market-determined wages are efficient, whereas government-mandated wages create distortions in the labor markets that prevent labor markets from clearing.

Like all government price controls, minimum wage laws are distortionary. If you trust government officials and politicians to legislate and enforce a minimum wage for unskilled workers, you should logically trust those same bureaucrats to set all prices, wages and interest rates in the economy. Realistically, if you agree that those economy-wide price controls would be undesirable, then you should also agree that the minimum wage law is also undesirable.

In summary, economists are not unconcerned about unskilled workers, we are actually very concerned about those workers. And it is because of that concern to maximize employment opportunities that economists oppose the minimum wage.

Simply put, we would rather see unskilled workers employed at a market wage — even if that wage is only $5, $6 an hour — that allows them to gain valuable work experience and on-the-job training, than to be unemployed at $0.00 an hour. And unfortunately, a $15 minimum wage maximizes the probability that an unskilled worker will be unemployed at $0.00 an hour instead of being gainfully employed.

Methelene Blue Reverses Progeria Symptoms and Normal Age-related Damage

Skip the clinical trials on this protocol.  It has been safe for one and one half centuries and readily obtainable.  Thus it is certain that every supplement supplier is packaging it up as we speak.  Their customers will do all the experiments you can imagine.

 If the general effect is as persuasive as suggested by this work, then what we can expect is major cellular regeneration and a suspension of age related decline.  That is hard to miss.

 It may well turn out that the cause of cellular aging has also been tripped over here as well.  It is all very encouraging and available soon..

Common chemical reverses progeria symptoms and normal age-related damage

Methylene blue reversed the effects of progeria on cells

(Credit: Kan Cao/Zheng-Mei Xiong/UMD)

A new study by a team of scientists at the University of Maryland (UMD) indicates that a common chemical can reverse the symptoms of the premature-aging disease progeria and perhaps even those of normal aging. According to the study, small doses of methylene blue can undo the damage done to cells by the genetic defect that causes progeria with a speed and reliability that the scientists claim is "like magic."

Progeria is a rare, notorious, and tragic genetic disease that afflicts the young. The patients usually show symptoms in the first year of life, which are similar to normal aging, except greatly speeded up. They become thin, the bones and joints grow fragile, the skin wrinkles, all hair is lost, and death occurs from organ failure and complications by the time most reach their teens.

It's caused by a defect in the gene that controls the production of lamin A protein, which is part of the cellular nucleus under the nuclear membrane. According to the UMD team, healthy cells cut off a small part of each lamin A molecule, which allows it to carry out its function properly. In progeria, the molecules remain unaltered and interfere with the workings of the nuclear membrane until it starts to bulge and deform and the cell stops looking like a ball and resembles a sick popcorn kernel.

For the first time, the team recorded the extent to which progeria affects the mitochondria, which are the powerplants of the cell. The progeria defect causes them to swell, fragment, and malfunction. This was suspected, but not properly seen before.

But the bigger discovery by the UMD team is that small doses of methylene blue, a common, inexpensive, water-soluble can reverse the symptoms of progeria in less than eight weeks.

First produced in 1876, methylene blue is used as a bacteriological stain, for treating plaque psoriasis and other diseases, in cases of cyanide poisoning, and even for cleaning aquaria because its toxicity is so low it won't harm fish eggs.

Working with human fibroblast cells, the team discovered that methylene blue changed progeria-affected cells from deformed to normal round shapes in a matter of weeks and almost completely repaired the damage until they are nearly indistinguishable from normal cells. Exactly how methylene blue does this is still not clear, but the team reports that repeated experiments have not revealed a single failure.

According to the team, methylene blue can also reverse the effects of normal aging in healthy cells, including damage to the mitochondria. The researchers say that the next step will be to test the chemical on animal models. If the results pan out, it could be used as an inexpensive disease treatment, as well as in non-prescription anti-aging treatments, cosmetics, and nutritional supplements.

"So far, we have done all of our work in stem cell lines." says Kan Cao, senior author on the study and an associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at UMD. "It is critical to see whether the effect extends to whole animals. We also want to see if methylene blue can repair specific effects of progeria in various cell types, such as bone, skin, cardiovascular cells and others. Further down the line, other groups might begin human clinical trials. It's very exciting."

The study was published in Aging Cell.

Why is There a Mysterious Boundary Deep in the Earth's Mantle?

This identifies a deep transition zone.   I do not think we really know enough to be comfortable, not least a meaningful assay of composition.  We do not know even what we do not know.  Yet an apparent transition is taking place here and it is certainly driven by temperature.

I also maintain a very aggressive conjecture suggesting we have a natural slip plain around one hundred miles deep made up of elemental carbon and almost no viscosity.  This is too thin to show up easily and it would have to be inferred indirectly.  Except for compelling surface confirmation ignored by most, i have nothing deep to prove it one way or the other.

Again resolution is far too weak.

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Why is there a mysterious boundary deep in the Earth's mantle?

Two separate teams of scientists propose explanations for a suspected boundary marking a property change in our planet's mantle.

By Eva Botkin-Kowacki, Staff writer DECEMBER 13, 2015

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1213/Why-is-there-a-mysterious-boundary-deep-in-the-Earth-s-mantle

Scientists attempting to reach Earth's mantle

About 1,000 kilometers, or 621 miles, below the Earth's surface, something strange is happening.

Partway through the Earth's mantle, the layer between the crust and the outer core, there seems to be a boundary. Slabs of the Earth's lithosphere, the rocky layer just under the surface, are dragged down into the Earth by subduction only to be stalled at this depth. Also, as hot rock upwellings push up through the lower mantle, the material is deflected sideways around the same depths.

This phenomenon puzzled scientists so much that two separate research teams set out to figure out what's going on down there.

One group of scientists proposed that a change in viscosity, how sluggishly a material flows, is responsible. The other team blames a change in composition, and therefore density, at the suspected boundary.

 

Both teams found a shift in the property they studied, about 1 megameter, that is, 1,000 kilometers, or 621 miles, below the Earth's surface. One suggests that the mantle beyond that depth is more viscous, flowing more slowly, than the shallower parts of the mantle. The other suggests a shift in rock composition around the apparent boundary meaning the lower mantle is more dense.

In either explanation, a subducting tectonic plate would have trouble sinking any deeper into the Earth past that property change. Likewise upwelling hot rock would also react to the change.

Although separate explanations for the same phenomenon, "The two explanations aren't incompatible," geologist Maxwell Rudolph, lead author of the paper on viscosity published Friday in the journal Science, tells The Christian Science Monitor in an interview. "A change in composition could certainly be accompanied by a change in viscosity."

The paper that focuses on a composition and density change deep in the mantle was published Friday in the journal Science Advances.

"The existence of the megameter boundary has been suspected and inferred for a while," geologist and co-author of the Science paper Vedran Lekic said in a news release. "These papers are the first published attempts at a detailed explanation and it's possible that both explanations are correct."

Both research teams used computer models to test their hypotheses.

"Earth's mantle is solid rock," Dr. Rudolph says. So how could a tectonic plate be moving through this section of the planet? "On very long timescales, timescales of tens of millions of years, it can deform just like these fluids that we encounter in every day life," he explains. So "as a tectonic plate goes back into the mantle, the mantle is flowing around the plate."

Determining basic physical properties, like density and viscosity, of the mantle can help scientists learn more about the processes deep in our planet.

"Learning about the anatomy of the mantle tells us more about how the deep interior of Earth works," geologist and co-author of the Science Advances paper Nicholas Schmerr said in the news release.

"The dynamics deep within Earth's interior do have important consequences for the long-term evolution of the planet," Rudolph says. "Not just for the deep interior of the planet, but for all of the other systems."

"This work can tell us a lot about where Earth has been and where it is going, in terms of heat and tectonics," Dr. Schmerr said. "When we look around our solar system, we see lots of planets at various stages of evolution. But Earth is unique, so learning what is going on deep inside its mantle is very important."

How Anxiety Works and How You Can Dissolve It

It turns out that a lot of anxiety is simply unwanted bio feedback into a part of the body producing discomfort.  It can be identified and released producing immediate relief from the cause of the anxiety..

 

This is good news and this method can be taught to teachers in particular and should be. It is a form of mental first aid and it is certainly needed.

Who would have guessed something so apparently complex might be so handily resolved for most.

How Anxiety Works and How You Can Dissolve It

12th December 2015


By Tomasz Kopec, MD


Guest Writer for Wake Up World

http://wakeup-world.com/2015/12/12/how-anxiety-works-and-how-you-can-dissolve-it/


I work as a family doctor and I often see patients complaining of anxiety and panic attacks. At one time, my local counselling service was very slow and the only help I could offer those people was a promise that someone will contact them in 2-3 months.


It did not sound right to me. I was letting my patients down.


I had to find a way to help them during my appointments. I had 10 minutes for one patient and I quickly realized that it was impossible to have a lengthy discussion about anxiety within this time. Problems related to anxiety were always complicated and took time to explain.

I had to find a method of helping them without listening to the story.



I started researching it and I was surprised to learn that there are quite a few such methods around. I tried one of them on my friends and my family and I found it very effective. It did not suit everyone, but there was a good number of people reporting a significant improvement. And it really did not matter what they were anxious about. The story was not important. What mattered was HOW they knew they were anxious.

This is How I Help My Patients to Understand How Anxiety Works


First I ask them to become anxious about this ‘thing’ while they sit in front of me. It is usually very easy. Then I ask them to grade the anxiety on a scale from one to ten. It takes a few moments. Once the number is decided I ask them to become a bit more anxious and jump one point higher on the scale. They are usually surprised with this request but after a short while everyone does it.


When they finish, I ask how they know the anxiety has become worse. They seem confused and usually say ‘I just feel it.’ Then I ask, ‘But what exactly do you feel?’ They look at me even more confused and they do not know what to say.


Then I explain –


‘The moment you try to become more anxious you think about someone or something that triggers the anxiety. At the same time, you sense the physical tension growing somewhere in your body, like a lump in the throat or knot in the stomach. It is a spasm of the muscle group reacting directly to the anxious thinking. Once the spasm gets stronger you know that the anxiety has worsened.’
 

 

Then I Explain More…


A physical sensation related to anxiety is caused by a spasm of a specific group of muscles and helps us to recognize how we feel.


For example, muscle spasm can be felt as:


Tight band over the head – this is caused by a tension of muscles located on the skull. Long term tension of these muscles can cause tension headaches. It is because a cramped muscle cuts itself from a regular blood supply and becomes unhealthy.


Lump in the throat – it is triggered by muscles located in the throat. They are responsible for swallowing and speaking. People who suffer from anxiety which affects these muscles have problems with public speaking, and eating in public places.


Butterflies in the stomach – it is a spasm of muscles which are in the bowels. These muscles are used to push swallowed food down along the digestive system. They form something called a peristaltic wave. It has to be very precisely coordinated. Anxiety makes the peristaltic wave very chaotic, causing poorly digested food to become stuck in the bowels. After some time it ferments (like a compost in the garden) and starts releasing gases which have nowhere to go, causing us to feel bloated. This is how Irritable Bowel Syndrome starts.


Knot in the stomach – knot in the stomach is caused by tension of the diaphragm, which is a flat group of muscles dividing our body into to a chest and an abdomen. The diaphragm is the main muscle we use for breathing. When anxiety is located in the diaphragm it does not move properly we can feel short of breath, lightheaded, or faint. Extreme tension of the diaphragm is responsible for panic attacks.


You can watch a clip below to understand it better. This explanation gives my patients profound insight into the mechanism of anxiety.


The only thing left is to show them how they can relax the cramped group of muscles and dissolve their anxiety. This is when I lead my patients through the dissolving anxiety exercise. You can use this short version here. It will guide you through a series of small attention tasks to release a cramping feeling in your body linked to an anxious thought. It is gentle and soft like guided meditation but is backed up by EEG neuro-feedback research conducted by Dr Lester Fehmi, neuroscientist and psychologist from Princeton, US.

What Else Can It Do?


The technique of dissolving body sensations can be used for various feelings that are making life more difficult. For example, I dissolved a body sensation related to the desire of having a good-looking car and I am now very happy with my 10-year-old Toyota. It is a very reliable car but it doesn’t look good anymore. I felt a growing need to buy a new one only for that reason. Then I realized that this feeling is just another feeling I can dissolve. I detected a sensation in my body related to wanting a new car and then successfully dissolved it. Now I am very happy with my Toyota and I do not need to work longer and harder to buy a new one.


I successfully dissolved so-called ‘Sunday evening blues’ and the frustration of having to return to work after holidays. I also dissolved the guilt of not coming to work when I felt really ill. It was stopping me from waiting for full recovery before returning to work, making my life more difficult.


The same technique can be used to stop worry about future or past events. When the present life is affected by a traumatic event from the past, like a car accident, and someone still feels upset about it, one can dissolve this feeling by using the exercise. The traumatic event will still be remembered but it will not trigger upsetting feelings anymore.


If someone feels anxious about something which is going to happen, like a coming exam or important presentation, one can dissolve this feeling using the exercise. This enhances confidence and readiness to perform.

 

About the author:





From Tomasz Kopec MD: I enjoy helping people and making the Universe a happier place. Fortunately, I work as a family doctor and this is a part of my job description. For many years I had some questions at the back of my mind, like: what is happiness, what is love, who we are, where we go after death, where this all suffering is coming from…? I have been a regular meditator since I was a teenager (mostly Zen tradition) and I was searching for answers in my head and in my heart.


My turning point was reading a book The Open Focus Brain by Dr. Lester Fehmi. He runs a neurofeedback clinic for attention disorders at Princeton, New Jersey, US. I enrolled an Open Focus workshop and I became a true enthusiast of Dr. Fehmi’s approach. I love it because it beautifully connects the western scientific way of thinking with far east approach to reality. It also gives a very simple, practical solutions to a physical pan, anxiety, insomnia, creativity etc. I would like to make Open Focus a lot more recognizable because it is worth it!

Are Angels Visiting Earth and Creating Miracles?

The first thing that needs to be clarified is that angels are advanced human spirits who act to provide guidance for the physically living.  They interact with our own spirits and as I have been posting, both are physically real entities based in the second tier of matter whereas we are based in the third tier of matter.

However, it is also obvious that alien beings also have the capacity to operate as a second tier entity as well.  This nicely explains the whole of the abduction experience reports that fill the UFO literature.  It is also clear that we have similar abilities that are poorly developed.



The bulk of all conscious existence is in the form of second tier spirit bodies.  Our third tier existence is the exception rather than the rule.


This report continues to discuss what is known or presently surmised.

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Are Angels Visiting Earth and Creating Miracles? 

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. died at 93 in 2006, and was the 38th President from 1974–1977, and 40th Vice President of the United States. He became the only president in U.S. history to fill that office without having been elected either President or Vice-President.

I queried President Ford concerning UFOs through a friend. He wrote to me saying:

“During my public career in Congress, as Vice President and President, I made various requests for any information on UFOs. The official authorities denied the UFO allegations. As a result, I have no information that would be helpful to you”. Signed Gerald R. Ford, March 17, 1998

ANGELS — It seems fitting that during the holidays that we should discuss angels that many people feel have a connection to UFOs and extraterrestrials.

Angels are depicted with wings indicating they can fly. Countless witnesses claim to have seen angels, and many believe they even have their own Guardian Angel. Thousands of books, television shows, paintings, and movies indicate angels are real. Some people claim to have seen bright lights or human like beings that they associate with angels.

According to the scriptures, angels are messengers of God and visitors from Heaven. Of course, many think of Heaven as a mystical home of God, but many passages in ancient scriptures indicate Heaven is actually another planet in the northern sky. Angels are essentially spiritual and superhuman beings who are credited as coming from Heaven bringing God’s message to humankind. The scriptures state that God created the Heavens and the Earth. In various scriptures, angels clearly state God should be glorified, but not them. Our ancestors who saw strange craft in the sky or alien beings several thousand years ago often thought of these landings as being religious in nature.

Evangelist Billy Graham on Angels and UFOs

Evangelist Billy Graham has had a ministry for 50 years to almost every US. President since Truman and is close to the Clinton’s. In his bestselling book, “Angels God’s Secret Agents” Graham states, “Some reputable scientists deny and others assert that UFOs do appear to people from time to time. Some scientists have reached the place where they think they can prove that these are possibly visitors from outer space. 

Some Christian writers have speculated that UFOs could very well be a part of God’s angelic host who preside over the physical affairs of universal creation. While we cannot assert such a view with certainty, many people are now seeking some type of supernatural explanation for these phenomena. Nothing can hide the fact, however, that these unexplained events are occurring with greater frequency. (Page 21) 

Released bits of the ancient Angel Scroll, “thought to be a genuine part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The bits of the scroll that is available for public examination deal with “divine chariot-throne themes with elaborate details of angels ascending Heaven’s multiple gates. According to the plan of that day, the Voice went forth and directed me and he drove me by the Spirit. And a vision was revealed to me from the Most High, and the Prince of Angels lifted me up in the Spirit and I ascended Heavenward above the high places of the clouds and he showed me the great world and the image of the gods. The dominion of darkness was over all of the earth round about.”The Angel Scroll written over two thousand years ago gives an accurate description of a trip in a Space Shuttle of the Earth explaining the Earth is surrounded by a dark space.

Based on the various scriptures it appears the time of travel between Earth and Heaven takes only a few hours. Suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to Heaven in a whirlwind.

Much of what is written could be explained by extraterrestrial visitors and advanced technology. I personally feel that the stories in the scriptures are true, based on the knowledge then available. An Angel of the Lord spoke with Abraham in the Torah, when he was 99 years old and childless, telling the Jewish leader he would become the father of a multitude of nations. According to Genesis, the prediction was full-filled.

The Eastern religions speak of Devas who are organized in a military hierarchy and operate in a similar manner to angels. One angel brought the message of the Quran to Mohammed and the Moslems.

The Annunciation

In the New Testament of the Bible, it states: “In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth and a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings you are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end”. Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over 

shadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God!” Luke 1-verses 26 to 35. Angels are often reported in flying chariots of fire. Two thousand years later, much of world celebrates this birth at Christmas.

Much of our history revolves around visitors from a planet called Heaven. In Indian Vedic writings the topmost authority in the material universe are known as Brahma, and he lives in the highest material planetary system, called Brahmaloka.

Ancient Vimana

In these writings, they describe UFO like craft called vimanas flown by angelic like alien beings. These extraterrestrial angelic visitors are real according to most of the great historic religious writings of humanity. It seems reasonable that these are not simply myths, but are based on actual visits by angels, visitors, watchers, ET, Devas or whatever you choose to call them. They are given credit for bringing writing to Earth.

When I spoke to Presbyterian minister Barry Downing with a Ph.D. in science and religion, who has written extensively about UFOs such as the “Bible and UFOs” told me, “ UFOs provide evidence for the reality of Biblical phenomena, such as visits by angels that have often seemed mythical to many people.” Recently in Philadelphia dozens of children during a church service claim to have seen angels, while older people were unable to see them. NASA is already planning to terraform Mars, to create an inhabitable atmosphere and eventually settlers. Is it possible angels were sent to develop Earth, similar to our plan to transform Mars? Thousands of books have been written describing angels interactions with Earth bringing knowledge, new types of food, healing and even intervention in human DNA creating modern human beings.

Sumerian and Babylonian texts according to Zecharia Sitchin and geologist Christian O’Brien the Elohim or angels manipulated from earlier human forms. Genesis 6 tells us that, “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” If you visit the great temples and churches around the world, almost all have the story of an angel who oversaw their construction.

Often there are similar stories of strange flying objects in the sky. Several friends of mine seriously claim angels healed them. To understand the full meaning of Christmas is to realize not all that happens in the world may be simply by chance, but angels may be accomplishing miracles among us. So remember when you enjoy Christmas it all started with an angel. In addition, if you are ever in trouble or need, never forget this wonderful promise, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Psalms 91. 

This image is by Flemish artist Aert De Gelder and is entitled “The Baptism of Christ” by angels. It was painted in 1710 and hangs in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. A disk shaped object is shining beams of light down on John the Baptist and Jesus.

Court Finds Monsanto Responsible for Poisoning French Farmer

This is a sad tale that may well have happened to anyone. However, it opens the door to another issue. Just why are profoundly toxic chemicals been applied by untrained personnel?  I cannot walk into that same business and purchase a stick of dynamite without a proper proof of some ability with that explosive.  The same needs to apply to all chemicals used in agriculture.

It is obvious the industry has lobbied long to avoid that.  A rash of lawsuits may change their mind on that score..
The whole problem of both herbicides and pesticides now needs to be thoroughly revisited.

Court Finds Monsanto Responsible for Poisoning French Farmer

Alex Pietrowski, Staff 

December 14, 2015

The court of appeals in Lyon, France, has found agribusiness giant Monsanto guilty of poisoning a man named Paul François. François is a farmer who claimed that he suffered a multitude of ailments, including headaches, memory loss, neurological problems and stammering, after he unintentionally inhaled Monsanto’s herbicide, Lasso.

François used Lasso for over 15 years, and in 2004 accidentally inhaled the product. After the incident, the farmer began getting severe headaches and experienced moments of mental absence and an inability to speak.

The chemical’s effects on François were so severe that he fainted, was hospitalized and fell into a coma. François was diagnosed with monochlorobenzene poisoning by his doctors, who found that the chemical permanently damaged his brain. Monochlorobenzene makes up 50% of the herbicide Lasso.

It is worth noting that the herbicide was prohibited in France and the rest of the European Union in 2007, and at the time of the incident, it was already banned in Canada (since 1985), Great Britain and Belgium (since 1992).

During the court hearing, Monsanto’s attorneys repeatedly claimed that the herbicide Lasso was not dangerous. François claimed that the company was aware of the toxic nature of the herbicide but failed to adequately warn about the potential health risks.

The Appeals Court in Lyon upheld the original 2012 decision and ruled that the biotech giant, notorious for what some believe is a toxic combination of GMOs and Roundup herbicide, was “responsible” for the poisoning and must “fully compensate” François for damaging his health. Monsanto has stated that it will appeal the ruling at the French Supreme Court.

Monsanto attorney Jean-Daniel Bretzner, made a statement regarding François potential compensation, should the ruling be upheld by the highest court:

“We are speaking about modest sums of money or even nonexistent. He already received indemnities (by insurers) and there is a fundamental rule that says that one does not compensate twice for a loss, if any.” (Source:Reuters)

Yet, regardless of the fine, François’ win against Monsanto would set an important precedent for others who suffer from ailments due to herbicide and pesticide exposure.

“It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning.” – François Lafforgue, François’ lawyer (Source: Reuters)

This case could be a significant game changer for Monsanto, who sells many potentially-dangerous chemical products, many of which are used on food crops. For example, another common ingredient in Monsanto’s products is alachlor, which “has the potential to cause damage to the liver, kidney, spleen, nasal mucosa and eye from long-term exposure,” as stated by the EPA. Monsanto is also well-known for its glyphosate products such as Roundup. Glyphosate has been identified by the World Health Organization as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” a claim that Monsanto is insisting is based on pseudo-science and should be withdrawn.