Letters for March 6, 2016

Letters for March 6, 2016

Republicans finding a following

The problem with all the back and forth with Republican/Democrat talk is the elephant in the room (no pun intended). The fact is the Republicans had an increase of 66 percent more people show up to vote in the primaries/caucus as opposed to the Democrats decrease of 31 percent. It is obvious the Republicans’ solutions to problems are resonating with people.

JoAnne Georgi

Eleele

A belated mahalo for assistance

Almost exactly a year ago, while walking with my husband, I fell downhill at the intersection of Pe‘e Road and Hoone Road. I shattered my wrist and was in too much pain to walk back to the Waiohai and afraid to have my husband leave me. Two young men wearing orange T-shirts, obviously on their way to work in their truck, helped me into the truck and drove me back.

I don’t know what we would’ve done without their kindness and I have wanted to say mahalo ever since. I eventually flew home where I had surgery several days later. After many months of physical therapy, I am once again in good shape, back on my beloved Kauai and hiking every morning (but very carefully!).

A very big belated mahalo to those kind young men who helped me that day.

Linda Waldman

Guilford, Connecticut

Glyphosate’s safety in question

Glyphosate use has tripled since 1997, mostly due to Round Up Ready (GMO) crops of soybeans and corn.

The manner in which representatives of Monsanto, the original patent holder for glyphosate continue to deny the threat to life posed by this herbicide is a classic business posture. Any industry with a profitable product to sell will do all it can to protect and expand the market and will not hesitate to dominate scientific research and governmental actions related to the product.

Monsanto has avoided full disclosure of its own 1980s glyphosate safety testing data upon which the EPA made regulatory decisions. This company’s acute toxicity research ignored developmental and physiological effects and the EPA does not evaluate the peer reviewed scientific literature that documents the damage done by glyphosate.

Independent research such as: Celine Gasniere et al., “Glyphosate-Based herbicides are Toxic and Endocrine Disruptors in Human Cell Lines,” Toxicology 262 (2009): 184-91-Alejandra Paganelli et al., “Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Produce Teratogenic Effects on Vertebrates by Impairing Retinoic Acid Signaling,” Chemical Research in Toxicology 23, no. 10 (August 2010): 1586-95. (Teratogenic means causing birth defects. The retinoic acid pathway is used by all vertebrates to ensure normal development of bones, organs and tissues in embryos). Julie Marc et al., “Glyphosate-Based Pesticides Affect Cell Cycle Regulation,“ Biology of the cell 96, no.3 (April 2004): 245-49. (Cell-cycle dysregulation leads to cancers. In 2015 the World Health Organization classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen)

In May 2013, Monsanto successfully petitioned the EPA to double the maximum residue limits for glyphosate in soybeans and canola, while raising limits up to 30 times for other food crops.

I am not surprised that Monsanto employees spread the myth of glyphosate safety throughout the media. I am surprised that The Garden Island publishes industry propaganda as letters to the editor.

Ned Whitlock

Kilauea