We Are ( Still ) Winning

Hungary Destroys All Monsanto GMO Corn Fields

Hungary has taken a bold stand against biotech giant Monsanto and genetic modification by destroying 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, according to Hungary deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar.

Unlike many European Union countries, Hungary is a nation where genetically modified (GM) seeds are banned. In a similar stance against GM ingredients, Peru has also passed a 10 year ban on GM foods.

Almost 1000 acres of maize found to have been ground with genetically modified seeds have been destroyed throughout Hungary, deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar said.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/hungary-destroys-all-monsanto-gmo-corn-fields/5342913

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Breaking: Dutch Citizens Successfully Sued Their Own Government

The changing face of democracy: Who needs leaders when you've got lawyers?

banks1“You have been negotiating all my life!” This powerful cry from a 21 year-old female Dutch activist set a precedent for the way citizens deal with the false promises, corruption and greed of their political leaders. Today, for the first time in history, people have bypassed their local representatives in power and headed directly for the law courts to get their voices heard. The best bit? They won!

This all began when the above-mentioned activist, Anjali Appadurai, stood up at a UN climate change conference four years ago and addressed her leaders in the Netherlands (and others throughout the world). Her passionate voice, full of anger and frustration, made a huge impact and mobilized a generation. She was fighting for action on climate change and referencing the fact that over two decades of talks had failed to reach the point of conclusive action.

Today, that unthinkable dream was realized by the 886 Dutch activists who campaigned long and hard to see justice for generations to come.

The Guardian reported that the decision could ‘inspire a civil movement.’ James Thornton, chief executive of environmental law organisation ClientEarth, told the newspaper: “A major court has broken through a political and psychological threshold…It is remarkable.”


Read More: http://www.trueactivist.com/breaking-dutch-citizens-successfully-sued-their-own-government/?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=sh

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Nanotech tea bag creates safe drinking water instantly, for less than a penny.

http://io9.com/5611927/nanotech-tea-bag-creates-safe-drinking-water-instantly-for-less-than-a-penny

Nanotech tea bag creates safe drinking water instantly, for less than a penny
117,056
Alasdair Wilkins
Filed to: Nanotechnology 8/13/10 12:00pm

Nanotech tea bag creates safe drinking water instantly, for less than a penny

A new "tea bag" uses nano-fibers to suck contaminants and bacteria out of water, providing a desperately-needed, cheap solution for the billions of people without clean drinking water.

Researchers at South Africa's Stellenbosch University made the device from the same material used for the bags of the country's popular rooibos tea. Inside the sachets are two tiny destroyers of all things unsafe: ultra-thin nanoscale fibers, which filter harmful contaminants, and bacteria-killing grains of carbon.

'Hobbit House' Family Succeed in Quest to save Home from Bulldozers

A young family has won its epic battle to live in a real-life “hobbit house” after defeating an attempt by planners to bulldoze it.

Charlie Hague and Megan Williams, both 27, used natural materials to build their unique home in a secret location blending in with the rolling countryside of Pembrokeshire in west Wales.

The couple did not have planning permission and applied for approval only after moving in with their newborn son Eli three years ago. They were ordered to flatten it.

Their battle to save their £12,000 eco-home from demolition – supported by thousands of people from around the world – ended in victory when they won a final planning inspector appeal.

read on: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/hobbit-house-family-succeed-in-quest-to-save-home-from-bulldozers/

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Victory! Animal Sacrifice Banned at Nepal's Gadhimai Festival, Half a Million Animals Saved

Gadhimai Temple Trust agrees to cancel all future animal sacrifice, urges devotees not to bring animals to the festival

Humane Society International, Animal Welfare Network Nepal

A water buffalo calf during the 2014 Gadhimai festival. Kuni Takahashi/AP Images for HSI

New Delhi—In a move that will spare the lives of millions of animals over coming years, animal sacrifice has been cancelled indefinitely at Nepal's Gadhimai festival, the world's biggest animal sacrifice event held every five years for around 265 years. The decision announced by the Gadhimai Temple Trust follows rigorous negotiations and campaigning by Animal Welfare Network Nepal and Humane Society International/India.

Gauri Maulekhi, HSI/India consultant & Trustee, People for Animals, who petitioned India’s Supreme Court against the movement of animals from India to the Gadhimai festival, said, “This is a tremendous victory for compassion that will save the lives of countless animals. HSI/India was heartbroken to witness the bloodshed at Gadhimai, and we've worked hard to help secure this ban on future sacrifice. We commend the temple committee but acknowledge that a huge task lies ahead of us in educating the public so that they are fully aware. HSI/India & People for Animals will now spend the next three and a half years until the next Gadhimai educating devotees in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal on the Temple Trusts’ decision not to sacrifice animals. Animal sacrifice is a highly regressive practice and no nation in the modern world should entertain it.”

read on: http://www.hsi.org/world/india/news/releases/2015/07/gadhimai-festival-animal-sacrifice-cancelled-indefinitely-072815.html?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hsi.org%2Fworld%2Findia%2Fnews%2Freleases%2F2015%2F07%2Fgadhimai-festival-animal-sacrifice-cancelled-indefinitely-072815.html&h=iAQFokHst&s=1%3Freferrer%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fl.facebook.com%2Flsr.php%3Fu%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.hsi.org%2Fworld%2Findia%2Fnews%2Freleases%2F2015%2F07%2Fgadhimai-festival-animal-sacrifice-cancelled-indefinitely-072815.html%3Fu%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.hsi.org%252Fworld%252Findia%252Fnews%252Freleases%252F2015%252F07%252Fgadhimai-festival-animal-sacrifice-cancelled-indefinitely-072815.html%26h%3DiAQFokHst%26s%3D1&ext=1438073302&hash=AcnQeSIS_v3gFZa5stBEeGpctbJeXjhfxY2oOZgu6LVegw

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Costa Rica Becomes First Latin American Country to Ban Hunting for Sport

Costa Rica just became the first country in Latin America to ban hunting for sport. Costa Rica’s Congress voted unanimously on Monday to approve the ban, which will protect the country’s wildlife – including several species of native big cats. Any hunters caught breaking the new law will face jail time or hefty fines.

Hunters from around the world flock to Costa Rica to hunt the country’s jaguars and pumas for sport – or to capture the cats and sell them on the black market as pets. Illegal hunting tours bring in a pretty penny for tour leaders, and their popularity helped spur the newly announced ban. Parrots are also a target, since they can be captured and smuggled out to be sold as pets around the world.

read on: http://inhabitat.com/costa-rica-becomes-first-latin-american-country-to-ban-hunting-for-sport/?nocahe=true

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Winning!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZMzQR7SPnw


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Breaking: Germany Follows Scotland’s Lead And Opts To Ban GMOs

New rules implemented by the European Union now allow individual member states to block farmers from using GM organisms, even if the variety has been approved on an EU-wide basis. As TrueActivist shared before, Scotland was quick to take up that opportunity.

To “preserve the country’s clean and green brand,” Scotland chose to ‘opt out’ of growing GMO crops. And now, Germany is following suit.

As Independent.UK reports, Germany has begun taking the steps necessary to ban the use of all genetically modified (GM) crops.

According to Christian Schmidt, Germany’s agriculture minister, Germany will persist with its previously-announced ban on GM crops, which made headlines on the 24th of August.

At present, EU countries have until October 3, 2015, to inform the commission if they intend to opt out of the bloc-wide approvals. Will more countries join Scotland and Germany? Many suspect, ‘yes.’

“The German decision shows that Scotland is now also leading Europe on GM crops,” said SNP’s Rob Gibson.

Controversy concerning the safety and/or necessity of GMOs persists. But while the debate rages on, countries like Germany and Scotland are not going to idly sit by while the effects posed by long-term consumption of GM foods is discovered.

This move makes Germany one of between 64-74 countries (at biotech’s admission) that has currently instated some type of ban or mandatory labeling requirements.

http://peacefulwarriors.net/breaking-germany-follows-scotlands-lead-and-opts-to-ban-gmos/

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Latvia and Greece Start Green Wave of GM Crop Bans across Europe

Latvia and Greece are the first countries in the EU to have had their geographical opt-out’s from growing GM crops accepted by Monsanto. Many other EU countries, including Germany and France, are expected to request geographical opt-outs from growing Monsanto’s MON810 GM Maize over the next month.
mon810

MON810 is currently the only GM crop that is allowed to be grown inside the European Union.

Under the EU law signed in March individual countries can seek geographical exclusion from any approval request for GM cultivation across the EU. While the European Commission is responsible for approvals, requests to be excluded also have to be submitted to the company making the application i.e. Monsanto for MON810.

read on: http://sustainablepulse.com/2015/08/27/latvia-and-greece-start-green-wave-of-gm-crop-bans-across-europe#.VeHIUc76XIq

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France Opting Out Of Vaccines

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? The question that weighs heavily on the minds of so many parents as they're guided or misguided by those around them. But when it comes to vaccinations, there's a major difference in the United States compared to France and it's not the number of children being negatively affected by vaccines, it's that the truth about the harm that vaccines can cause is revealed to the population, not hidden.

The French people are no fools. As a culture, France seems to see through clever marketing ploys concocted by abusive corporations intent on perverting the laws of honest capitalism for their own profit. And, the French people seem to catch on long before most other countries raise a collective eyebrow.

In 1992, for example, more than two decades before Americans finally started to turn their backs on fast food, French citizens were protesting in the streets against McDonalds. The activism spilled into violent confrontation as protesters lit a bonfire outside a McDonald’s and again in 1999 when José Bové dismantled a McDonald’s under construction in South France with the help of a group of fellow farmers.

France doesn’t trust Monsanto either as the country has banned the sale of herbicides containing deadly glyphosate (Roundup) at French nurseries and mandated the labeling of GMOs along with restrictions on their cultivation.

This collective distrust of corporate ulterior motives extends to the vaccine industry as well. Since 2005, the doubts of the French public along with a large percentage of its medical doctors over the safety and effectiveness of vaccines has continued to skyrocket.

A recent presentation by Michèle Rivasi of the European Ecology MEP (Member of the European Parliament), highlighted her nation’s skepticism about vaccine safety, which “as a general rule, is being questioned”. Rivasi said:

"Between 2005 and 2010, the proportion of French people in favor or very in favor of vaccination dropped from 90% to 60% (2013 INPES Peretti-Watel health barometer). The percentage of French people between the ages of 18 and 75 who are anti-vaccination increased from 8.5% in 2005 to 38.2% in 2010. In 2005, 58% of doctors questioned the usefulness of vaccines administered to children while 31% of doctors were expressing doubts about vaccine safety. These figures must surely have increased since."

Yes, you read that correctly.

In five short years between 2005 and 2010, the percentage of the French public who are anti-vaccination increased from 10% to 40%. French medical doctors are no more convinced as 58% question the usefulness of vaccines given to children and nearly one-third are concerned about safety.

Oh, and there are no more outbreaks in France than in the United States where vaccination compliance exceeds 95% in most cases demonstrating once again that herd immunity doesn’t apply to inferior, temporary vaccine-induced immunity – only naturally acquired immunity that lasts a lifetime.

read on: http://foodmatters.tv/content/france-opting-out-of-vaccines

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Big Win for Beekeepers as Court Voids Insecticide

A United States appeals court ruled on Thursday that federal regulators erred in allowing an insecticide developed by Dow AgroSciences onto the market, canceling its approval and giving environmentalists a major victory.

The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, is significant for commercial beekeepers and others who say a decline in bee colonies needed to pollinate key food crops is tied to the widespread use of a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids.

The lawsuit was filed in 2013 against the Environmental Protection Agency by a number of organizations representing the honey and beekeeping industries. The groups specifically challenged the E.P.A. approval of insecticides containing sulfoxaflor, saying studies have shown they are highly toxic to honeybees. Sulfoxaflor is a neonicotinoid subclass, according to the ruling.
Continue reading the main story
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Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical, first sought approval for sulfoxaflor in 2010 for use in three different products. Brand names include Transform and Closer.

read on: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/11/business/energy-environment/big-win-for-beekeepers-as-court-voids-insecticide.html?_r=2

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NEW FRENCH LAW PASSED: ALL NEW ROOFTOPS MUST BE COVERED WITH PLANTS OR SOLAR PANELS

Do you live in France? If you’re getting a new house, you might have to follow this incredible, sustainable law.

A new law that was passed that mandates that new buildings in commercial lots need to have either plants or solar panels on the roof. Having a garden on your roof sounds like a paradise, one that’s easily obtainable and should be happening all over the world. Plants create an isolating effect to help reduce the energy needed to heat or cool houses.

They also absorb rainwater to help prevent leaks, provide a home to small critters and insects and most importantly it connects us back to nature. Combining modern society with the natural world is exactly what we need to do and this is a good start.

Originally, French environmental activists wanted the law to cover the entire roof but they decided to start with participially covered roofs to see how it does.

Solar panels on the roofs of businesses is amazing because it helps reduce the amount of energy they use while creating sustainable, renewable energy instead.

This concept is already popular in parts of the world like Germany and Australia, as well as Canada’s city of Toronto (which is interesting as I’m from there and never really noticed this.)

When ideas like this come out, it’s both exciting and frustrating. Why are there so little concepts like this actually coming to fruition? Many artists, designers, architects and scientists have created incredible, sustainable ideas that corporations just can’t seem to bank on so the attention is never properly given.

If we globally demanded things like this, there would be a greater push to create them. We need to collectively see the importance and demand that our world start shifting into sustainability because we truly are running out of time.

Not to worry, there are plenty of people around the world working towards the benefit of humanity.

read on: http://www.offgridquest.com/energy/new-french-law-passed-all-new-rooftops-m

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/20/france-decrees-new-rooftops-must-be-covered-in-plants-or-solar-panels


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GM crop-growing banned in Northern Ireland

Stormont's environment minister has banned the growing of genetically modified (GM) crops in Northern Ireland.

Mark H Durkan said he was "unconvinced of the advantages", and his decision would hold for the "foreseeable future".

The European Union said earlier this year that its 28 member states could adopt their own positions on the issue.

Each regional assembly within the UK is making its own decision.

While no GM crops are being grown commercially in the UK, imported GM commodities, especially soya, are being used mainly for animal feed, and to a lesser extent in some food products.
'Controversial'

Mr Durkan said the relatively small size of farms in Northern Ireland could create "potential difficulties if we were to seek to keep GM and non-GM crops separate".

He said the costs of maintaining separateness could be expensive and impractical.

read on: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34316778

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Sikkim becomes India’s first fully organic state

Kolkata, Jan 14 (PTI) Sikkim has become India's first fully organic state by implementing organic practices on around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land.

"We have achieved fully-organic status in the end of December. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally announce this at a sustainable agriculture conference in Gangtok on January 18," Sikkim Organic Mission's executive director Dr Anbalagan told PTI.

He said around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land was gradually converted to certified organic land by implementing organic practices and principles as per guidelines laid down in National Programme for Organic Production.

It was 12 years ago in 2003 when the Pawan Chamling-led government decided to make Sikkim an organic farming state through a declaration in the legislative assembly.

Later the entry of chemical inputs for farmland was restricted and their sale banned. Farmers therefore had no option but to go organic.

Organic cultivation is free of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilisers as it tries to strike a harmonious balance with a complex series of ecosystems.

In the long term, organic farming leads in subsistence of agriculture, bio-diversity conservation and environmental protection, agriculture secretary Khorlo Bhutia said.

Sustainable farming will also help in building the soil health resulting in sustainable increased crop production, he said.

Besides it will also boost the tourism industry in the tiny landlocked Himalayan state.

Resorts have already been marketing themselves as completely organic where tourists can pluck, cook and relish fresh organic food from their kitchen gardens..

read on: http://www.ptinews.com/news/6972003_Sikkim-becomes-India-s-first-organic-state-.html?utm_source=inshorts&utm_medium=inshorts_full_article&utm_campaign=inshorts_full_article

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Uruguay Does Unthinkable, Rejects Global Corporatocracy

The historic decision is met by a wall of media silence.

By Don Quijones, Spain & Mexico, editor at WOLF STREET.

Often referred to as the Switzerland of South America, Uruguay is long accustomed to doing things its own way. It was the first nation in Latin America to establish a welfare state. It also has an unusually large middle class for the region and unlike its giant neighbors to the north and west, Brazil and Argentina, is largely free of serious income inequality.

Two years ago, during José Mujica’s presidency, Uruguay became the first nation to legalize marijuana in Latin America, a continent that is being ripped apart by drug trafficking and its associated violence and corruption of state institutions.

Now Uruguay has done something that no other semi-aligned nation on this planet has dared to do: it has rejected the advances of the global corporatocracy.
The Treaty That Must Not Be Named

Earlier this month Uruguay’s government decided to end its participation in the secret negotiations of the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). After months of intense pressure led by unions and other grassroots movements that culminated in a national general strike on the issue – the first of its kind around the globe – the Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez bowed to public opinion and left the US-led trade agreement.

http://wolfstreet.com/2015/09/22/uruguay-does-unthinkable-rejects-global-corporatocracy-tisa/

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Norway Becomes the First Country to Ban Deforestation

On May 26th the Norwegian Parliament pledged to be deforestation-free. They are the first country in history to ban deforestation.

The ban is a part of the government’s procurement policy and includes eliminating the use of any product that contributes to deforestation as well as a request that the government exercise due care for the protection of biodiversity in its investments.

This will also affect how Norway sources products such as palm oil, soy, beef, and timber in order to leave little to no impact on their ecosystems. These products are responsible for 40 percent of deforestation between 2000 and 2011 in several countries, including Argentina and Brazil.

read on: http://www.nationofchange.org/news/2016/06/08/norway-bans-deforestation/

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Following in Taiwan's Footsteps, Australia Returns Land To Aboriginals

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on June 22 ended one of the longest-running native land-right claims in the country's history. Under the agreement, which was 37 years in the making, the Australian government has returned 52,000 hectares of land to Larrakia Aboriginals.

Along with recognizing the Larrakias’ rights to the land, the government has furthermore agreed to provide about US$3.1 million for land rehabilitation. In return, the people will grant public access to beaches and camping areas in the region.

The Larrakia are the original inhabitants of the Darwin region in Australia, and their land claim, the Kenbi Land Claim, is one of the longest-running in the country. The claim was filed in 1979 and native title rights were rejected in 2006 before being returned to the people yesterday.

Precedent set by Taiwan

While Australia has settled one of its land right claims, Taiwan has also been dealing with similar issues for the past two decades. The most recent case pertains to an area of 100 hectares that was returned to Aboriginals in Namasiya (那瑪夏), Maolin (茂林), and Taoyuan (桃源) districts in Kaoshiung last month.

read on: http://international.thenewslens.com/article/42664

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Obama Administration Gives Up on Pacific Trade Deal
Congressional GOP leaders indicated they wouldn’t consider Trans-Pacific Partnership in lame-duck session

A sweeping Pacific trade pact meant to bind the U.S.and Asia effectively died Friday, as Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress told the White House they won’t advance it in the election’s aftermath, and Obama administration officials acknowledged it has no way forward now.

The failure to pass the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership—by far the biggest trade agreement in more than a decade—is a bitter defeat for President Barack Obama, whose belated but fervent support for freer trade divided his party and complicated the campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

The White House had lobbied hard for months in the hope of moving forward on the pact if Mrs. Clinton had won.

The deal’s collapse, which comes amid a rising wave of antitrade sentiment in the U.S., also dents American prestige in the region at a time when China is flexing its economic and military muscles.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-administration-gives-up-on-pacific-trade-deal-1478895824

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The Coming Anastrophe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIAmx6EPk3w


In this age of economic and societal Armageddon, everyone is looking for peace and stability: so why are so many agitating for violent revolution? Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we take a page from “It’s A Wonderful Life” to explore the possibility for peaceful, community-based solutions to our problems and attempt to answer the question: what is the opposite of catastrophe?

Show notes: https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-170-the-coming-anastrophe/

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It's All Over For Monsanto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3PXZeOTQ-k


In this video, Jason Bermas of WeAreChange gives you the latest breaking news on the landmark decision by a jury to find that Monsanto's Roundup weed killer and glyphosate, in particular, caused Dewayne Lee Johnson's cancer. This opens the floodgates for hundreds of lawsuits, it's all over for Monsanto

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