Latest collective theory on worldwide Animal deaths

[In three parts]

1. Wik-Bee Leaks Uncovers Government Bee Killing Conspiracy
http://animals.change.org/blog/view/wikileaks_uncovers_government_bee_killing_conspiracy

The November 2nd memo, leaked to a Colorado beekeeper, indicates that the EPA was well-aware that the pesticide Clothianidin posed some serious risks to honey bees. There have been concerns about this chemical from as far back as 2003, and it's already been banned in Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia because of its toxicity. But the EPA chose to sweep all that under the rug to keep the pesticide on the market.

Clothianidin, marketed as "Poncho" by Bayer, is widely used on corn, as well as canola, soy, sugar beets, sunflowers and wheat. As if the $262 million cash crop from last year wasn't enough, Bayer wants to keep expanding the pesticide's use. And the company's original registration was based on some seriously flawed science: they evaluated the wrong crop, with the wrong controls to assess the impact on bees.

This all adds up to some serious questions about the government contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder as they knowingly allowed Bayer to poison bees. And this is about a lot more than honey production ... native habitats, and as much as one-third of America's food supply, rely on the pollination provided by bees.

In light of the leaked memo, the National Honey Bee Advisory Board, American Beekeeping Federation, American Honey Producers Association, Beyond Pesticides, Pesticide Action Network North America, and Center for Biological Diversity sent a letter to the EPA requesting that the agency "take urgent action to stop the use of this toxic chemical."

The letter goes on to point out that this new information indicates an overuse of the Office of Pesticide Program's conditional registration program. This bee boondoggle "represents a failure that could and should have been avoided." As a result, the coalition is calling for an immediate moratorium on these types of registration until the program is evaluated.

There's still a lot we don't know about Colony Collapse Disorder and the massive bee die-offs it's been causing. One thing we do know is that bees are in trouble, and that's not good news for all the animals (and humans) who rely on the plants these important insects sustain.

Join the call for the EPA to stop the sale of Poncho and conduct a thorough study into the pesticide's impact on wildlife.




2. Bye Bye Blackbird: USDA Admits Responsibility for Mass Bird Death; 4,000,000 Birds Killed in ’09
http://morallowground.com/2011/01/20/bye-bye-blackbird-usda-admits-responsibility-for-mass-bird-death-4000000-birds-killed-in-09/

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had admitted responsibility for the poisoning of thousands of birds, many of which were found dead on the ground and frozen in trees in Yankton, South Dakota on Monday. According to Truthout, the USDA’s Wildlife Services Program works with farmers to cull birds which often eat large quantities of agricultural feed and defecate on livestock and farm equipment. There’s even a name for this little-known government bird control program: Bye Bye Blackbird. In 2009 alone, the USDA killed more than 4,000,000 red-winged blackbirds, starlings, cowbirds and grackles. Pesticides are the weapon of choice; an avian poison called DRC-1339 was used in the Yankton case. Up to 5,000 birds were sprayed in neighboring Nebraska and somehow managed to make it to South Dakota before dying. The USDA stresses that this incident is in no way related to the mass bird deaths that have made headlines this year, most notably in Arkansas and Louisiana.

Under the Bye Bye Blackbird program, farmers are allowed to kill any blackbirds, grackles and starlings deemed to be a health risk or damaging to the economy. Farmers often hire private contractors to do the dirty work. “Every winter, there’s massive and purposeful kills of these blackbirds,” Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation at the National Audubon Society told Truthout. Carol Bannerman, a spokeswoman for USDA Wildlife Services, dismisses the obvious animal cruelty implications of such killings. “It’s not that we have anything against starlings, but our charge is to help protect agriculture… and protect property and human health or safety,” she said. “And the fact is, in a lot of rural settings, people say, ‘It’s just birds, what’s the problem?’”

It’s “just birds”… including some endangered ones. Ornithologists believe the mass killings may be reducing the number of the rare rusty blackbird, which roosts with more common varieties of blackbirds. With private contract killers not required to keep tabs of how many birds they kill, the rusty blackbird could be in serious danger.



3. Dead Birds, Bees & Fish Explained By EPA Document? VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CeR8tV1iss

This video is the Young Turks breaking down the simple logic of, "Hello?" If you kill the honey bees with poison (albeit unintentionally), then you admit to feeding the birds poison (after the US government stated on record, that they did not poison the birds) you don't think there could be exponential effects on the rest of our ecosystem?

Any poison infected bird that dies and falls into streams, rivers and oceans will be eaten by fish (sound familiar?) and any birds that fall on land around carnivores can be possibly eaten as well. Also, poisonous bird droppings will land all over crops, grains, and food for us and other animals.

It obviously wasn't well thought out, but GOD DAMN. Einstein said, "If the bees die, the human race will be dead within four years," (no pollinators, no plants) and now we're finding out the only other pollinators are dying as well. It doesn't sound very bright. It sounds like greed and opportunism, similar to what we've been experiencing with many big business decisions as of late.



Thanks to all my fellow WikiLeakers for collecting these links and sharing them freely.



Transparency is the Apocalypse...literally...now what shall we do about it?