It's a cop-out, and an Appeal to Authority logical fallacy, to paint all 'influencers' with a broad deleterious brush. But if I were to play along with that thought process, I would point out the influencer in question has over 1.1 Million followers. Which means, at the very least, he's providing non-zero value to the market. It implies a trust-bond with his sizeable audience. I certainly didn't proffer an account with a few thousand followers.
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I agree the example is anecdotal, however, the single largest variable in Chamath's tweet regarding to living in Italy for two months per year, is the absence of glyphosate/gluten. Again, anecdotal, but I know other people who simply can't eat pasta in the US because of gluten intolerance, but have zero problem in Italy - reducing the common variable to glyphosate.
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Over and over again Monsanto - now Bayer - is paying out BILLIONS in damages and settlements along with other pending long protracted legal battles of its chemicals. Chiefly glyphosate.
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Bayer seeks legal shield from suits claiming Roundup causes cancer
Des Moines, Iowa — Stung by paying billions of dollars for settlements and trials, chemical giant Bayer has been lobbying lawmakers in three states to pass bills providing it legal protection from lawsuits claiming its popular weedkiller Roundup causes cancer.
Nearly identical bills introduced in Iowa, Missouri and Idaho this year - with wording supplied by Bayer - would protect pesticide companies from claims they failed to warn that their product causes cancer, if their labels otherwise complied with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regulations.
But legal experts warn the legislation could have broader consequences - extending to any product liability claim or, in Iowa's case, providing immunity from lawsuits of any kind. Critics say it could spread nationwide.
"It's just not good government to give a company immunity for things that they're not telling their consumers," said Matt Clement, a Jefferson City, Missouri, attorney who represents people suing Bayer. "If they're successful in getting this passed in Missouri, I think they'll be trying to do this all over the country."
Bayer described the legislation as one strategy to address the "headwinds" it faces. About 167,000 legal claims against Bayer assert Roundup causes a cancer called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, . The company has won some cases, settled many others but also has suffered several losses in which juries awarded huge initial judgments. It has paid about $10 billion while thousands of claims linger in court.
Though some studies associate Roundup's key ingredient with cancer, the EPA has regularly concluded it is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.
The costs of "defending a safe, approved product" are unsustainable, said Jess Christiansen, head of communications for Bayer's crop science division.
The legislation was introduced in targeted states pivotal to Bayer's Roundup operations and is at a different stage in each. It passed the Iowa Senate, is awaiting debate in the Missouri House and was defeated in Idaho, where this year's legislative session ended.
Farmers overwhelmingly rely on Roundup, which was introduced 50 years ago as a more efficient way to control weeds and reduce tilling and soil erosion. For crops like corn, soybeans and cotton, it's designed to work with genetically modified seeds that resist Roundup's deadly effect.
Missouri state Rep. Dane Diehl, a farmer who worked with Bayer to sponsor the legislation, cited concerns that costly lawsuits could force Bayer to pull Roundup from the U.S. market, leaving farmers to depend on alternative chemicals from China.
"This product, ultimately, is a tool that we need," said Diehl, a Republican.
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I am truly agnostic on the idea of oats. I really am open to being challenged on the issue.
However, to dismiss the effects of glyphosate on the food supply out-of-hand is ignorant at best.
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