The New Dark Age

The Global Justice Ecology Project released the following statement regarding the announcement by the USDA of the decision to deregulate the genetically engineered (GE) Darling 54 American chestnut tree: “Given the current trend toward the disregard of science and concern for the environment by US environmental agencies, the USDA decision to deregulate the GE American chestnut is not a surprise. But it is disappointing to those who care about forest health and the return of the wild American chestnut. This decision marks the beginning of an unprecedented, dangerous and irreversible experiment with our wild forests. Never before has a GE plant been released into the wild with the intent to contaminate its natural relatives with GE traits.” TAKE ACTION here. Global Justice Ecology Project via GMWatch

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government affairs (HSGAC) recently released a two year and three month long, thousand page transcript of Slack messages between leading virologists discussing the SARS-CoV-2 origin question. The transcript is an astounding record. It confirms beyond the possibility of doubt that there was a highly orchestrated cover-up involving coordination between these and other virologists and that also involved scientific journals and prominent journalists. But the sections of special importance, since they apply to the origin question itself, are the scientific admissions contained within those messages. The discussions reveal the inability of these virologists to refute important elements of the lab leak hypothesis – most specifically the idea that SARS-CoV-2 was human adapted. For example, whereas in other hosts SARS-CoV-2 immediately accumulates multiple mutations that are both adaptive and host specific, in humans it never did – right from the start it was perfectly adapted to humans. As Jonathan Latham, PhD and Allison Wilson PhD explain, and the Slack messages confirm, the human adaptedness of SARS-CoV-2 is, first of all, uncontested; and, second, it is decisive in refuting a zoonosis origin (natural spillover from animal to human). Independent Science News

As AGRA turns 20, a new report exposes its worsening failure to double productivity and incomes and halve undernourishment in participating African nations as promised. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, now known simply as AGRA, was established in 2006. The multi-billion-dollar initiative, by the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations, has been pursued over the last twenty years in 13 focus countries. After considerable evidence of failure became apparent, it abandoned its original ambitious goals in 2022, adopting AGRA 3.0, focusing on food systems and policy reforms. It also ‘rebranded’ by changing its name to AGRA, removing its explicit association with the much criticised Green Revolution. Tim Wise’s 2020 assessment of AGRA up to 2018 found progress on its own declared goals quite modest and uneven. Wise’s latest review finds even slower productivity growth and worsening hunger under AGRA compared to before 2006. Its improved seeds and fertiliser promotion did not even achieve sustainable intensification, i.e., growing much more food on the same land. iPES Food

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