Enmanji Temple and Round-Up

[Shepherd]

Dear Enmanji Temple,
I have been informed by credible sources that you use Roundup. Is that accurate?

If so, I beg you to discontinue that use, since it is a primary cause of Sonoma and Napa counties having the highest amount of cancer victims in California. If you decide to stop or continue, please let me know, so I can inform the thousands of people who will be receiving this email, as well as others challenging your use of this deadly poison.

I write you as an ordained United Methodist minister. I was also married to Arlene Otani, whose family helped found Enmanji. I have been to your wonderful temple many times and appreciate the good work that you do.
Dr. Shepherd Bliss, Doctor of Ministry, University of Chicago Divinity School

(Enmanji Temple can be reached at [email protected])

[ray50sfo]

Sorry to say, Shepherd; you are tilting at windmills, but I respect you for taking action you believe will make a difference.

While it may feel good to publicly shame the tiny Buddhist Temple in down the street, if you want to make a real impact go to work on the Wine Industry!

Local wines test positive for glyphosate.

Or, pick your battles...

Dear Enmanji Temple,
I have been informed by credible sources that you use Roundup. Is that accurate?...

[deepresto]

Ray50sfo, you may not know that Shepherd has been working many years to hold the Wine Industry accountable. Unfortunately, our county has elected, and continues to elect, supervisors who only drag their feet in creating regulations of any type. And once regulations are created, the supervisors will find a way to not enforce them. Add to that the fact that most vineyard owners are busy proclaiming that they're "sustainable" (a b.s. marketing term meant to confuse the public into thinking they're "organic") while continuing to use not only glyphosate but mancozeb, which the National Academy of Sciences urged the EPA to ban starting in 1987, calling it one of the most potent carcinogens in agriculture.

I applaud Shepherd, not for "publicly shaming" Enmanji, but for asking them to stop in a reasonable and respectful manner. Something we see little of these days.

...if you want to make a real impact go to work on the Wine Industry!,,.

[O.W.]

Shepherd & deepresto have a point that when is it right, knowing what we know now about glyphosate and other cancer causing chemicals, to poison not only your environment but the neighborhoods? This is what the wine industry has been doing for years. There is a reason that our county remains number 3 in the entire state for high childhood cancer rates. While Napa continually goes up in organic/biodynamic acreage, Sonoma County has now declined to barely 1% from 2.6% of wine growing acreage just a few years ago.

The Sonoma Winegrape Growing Assoc and Sustainable Sonoma program has done such a good job of their promo and bogus certifiers that people actually believe we're doing better. NOT. The world is embracing organic wines. France is over 30% now and demand is high.

Many of you might remember that Shepherd was a leader to stop aerial spraying in this county when the wine industry demanded it. Thank goodness he helped stop it as it appears the industry was able to find alternatives.

Deepresto you are right about electing the same folks every election cycle that claim to be for the people and then only vote for the wine and real state special interests that have decimated our quality of life for their profit. Can anyone out there name a vote that Hopkins did against the wine industry?
Emanji, you nurture the spiritual world how about doing that for the environment? We are all connected...…

[eddierosenthal]

when i first saw this post i went over to facebook and found the emanji buddhist temple and copied and pasted the post "Dear Enmanji Temple... " . That was Friday 3:31pm and still waiting for their message back to me. Perhaps more pressure could be build by social media?

[tommy]

Can you reference any findings that Roundup is bad? Online, it states that Roundup stays in the plant that it kills, does not migrate or breakdown in the soil, and is not poison itself. There is conflicting info on the web, some saying it's safe, others saying it's not, that it causes cancer, and may be bad for your gut.

I did hear that a few yrs ago, a rep from Monsanto, who makes Roundup, was on TV promoting how it's not bad for you, & the interviewer wanted him to drink a bottle of it... but he refused.

[deepresto]

Tommy---if you're looking online, best to go to the research.
Here's an excerpt from a letter I posted on Nextdoor:

Roundup may not be illegal, but that doesn't mean it is safe to use. For many years its effects weren't researched (and why would we have trusted Monsanto?) however numerous studies now show that it not only increases the toxicity of glyphosate (an ingredient in Roundup) but that Roundup is toxic to humans, pets, wildlife and also to honeybees.
For more info on the University of Texas at Austin study, see:

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ne...dup-kills-bees

For those of us who enjoy eating, try doing it without those honeybees.

Given the serious doubts about Roundup's safety in the U.S. as well as massive protests against its use in Europe, it makes little sense to use it when there are other solutions.

[O.W.]

Monsanto has been trying to muddy the waters for decades on this. California does have label warning as there are scientific studies now showing a strong correlation to all forms of cancer, Parkinson's, lymphoma, kidney failure and more. This is the company who produced DDT and said it was just fine. The book Silent Spring stopped that phony PR. Their motto should be poisoning the planet for profit. Note that the "studies" done by Monsanto to get this approved stop after 60 days as the longer term effects cause tumors and cancers.

In our county we use around 80,000 pounds of the concentrated herbicide yearly. The CDPR has all the exact amounts used on their site if your are curious.

You can look at sites like GMWATCH, Pesticide Action Network (PAN), Mom's Across America and Non Toxic Irvine for just a few of the studies. Of course the CEO's wouldn't drink the stuff as they know what's in it and are being sued right now for suppressing critical data from the public. The name Monsanto is so toxic Bayer is phasing out the name and just going with Bayer.

Can you reference any findings that Roundup is bad?....

[Shepherd]

These details and this history are important. More details can be read and the Wine and Water Watch website. The main user of this poison in Sonoma County is the bloated wine industry

[kane]

NCAP out of Eugene is ALWAYS a good place to begin research on pesticides:
https://www.pesticide.org/

Can you reference any findings that Roundup is bad? ...

[Lilith Rogers]

Thanks for persisting with info re Monsanto and Round-up. Of course it's toxic and of course Monsanto is suppressing the info.. Just as, as you say, they did with DDT. Rachel Carson saved the day about DDT. If you'd like to see her in action--or, that is, a performance by me playing the part of Rachel Carson--check out RACHEL CARSON RETURNS on Youtube. And let's talk to Enmanji and anyone else we're aware of about Round-up. Lilith Rogers

Monsanto has been trying to muddy the waters for decades on this....

[Allorrah Be]

I am grateful Shepherd is watching out for us and doing all that he can to help spread the word that glyphosate is killing us. I am extremely sensitive to glyphosate and many other things, since moving to wine country. I cannot drink California wines... I buy French or Spanish or sometimes wines from other countries. Trader Joe's has a lovely Proseco for less than $10 and there is French jug wine for about $9... perfectly respectable wine for those who don't need to pay a fortune to enjoy a glass of wine. I learned a lot about glyphosate from an in-flight magazine from Hawaiian Airlines, when I was returning from a trip to Kona. The article noted that the seats and carpeting are sprayed with glyphosate-containing pesticides to keep bugs from crawling on passengers and deplaning to infest our ecosystem. Many airline employees were suing them for spraying poison in the work environment. I will never fly again without a silver Mylar "emergency blanket" on the seat and seatback to keep the poison from penetrating my clothing and skin and circulating in my body through my blood. It is verrrry painful and extremely stressful. I consider myself blessed that I saw that article and became aware of what happened to me. When I got to Kona my legs were on fire for weeks! I had to bathe them with apple cider water sprays and lying on the beach with legs in the ocean to cool the inflammation. It didn't really work, but helped me feel better temporarily. I probably still have a high amount in my system but do not know how to get tested or anything further to do about it, except pray and fast and cleanse as best I can. If anyone knows anything specific that can be done for victims of Glyphosate spraying on Sonoma County, I would love to hear about it. We gotta get rid of glyphosate!!!
Rev. Allorrah Be, CAHt.
Mobile Minister
Circles of Light Ministries
Sebastopol California
(707) 634-6262
[email protected]
[email protected]

[Shepherd]

Lilith does incredible performances of Rachel Carson, evoking this great scientist into the 21st century. Sonoma State University also named ones of its buildings Carson Hall, to memorialize her. She is important to remember.

[Shepherd]

PD article on Sonoma County Conservation Action event, quotes from Native American Greg Sarris, other details on poisonous glyphosate found in vineyards.

SCCA's event yesterday was well attended and in case you the recap in the PD... see below PD quote from Greg Sarris....

· " In his keynote speech, Greg Sarris, chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, urged greater political unity among those in the crowd, especially to confront environmental issues.

· He also called out the county’s signature wine industry, a warning shot lobbed by a newly emboldened and moneyed political player whose tribe spent at least $329,000 on a pair of housing and park-related campaigns in the recent election.

· “There are some vineyards in our backyard that are exploiting workers and destroying the environment,” Sarris said without sharing names. “We need more organic farming and more money towards saving our environment.”

Thanks to Bryan for sharing this one... Glyphosate Found in 100% of California Wine Tested, Even Organic

[BManna]

A simple google search on "glyphosate testing" brings up Great Plans Laboratory for glyphosate testing. There are articles on their website, too, and lots of other info sources. The so-called "inert" ingredients in Round-up are also noted to be of concern, perhaps even more than glyphosate.

[podfish]

A simple google search on "glyphosate testing" brings up Great Plans Laboratory for glyphosate testing. There are articles on their website, too, and lots of other info sources. The so-called "inert" ingredients in Round-up are also noted to be of concern, perhaps even more than glyphosate.

"a simple google search" is a poor way to determine whether something's a threat or not.

Google's very useful, and you can use it to make a case against RoundUp. But you can use it to make a case for its safety too. What you can't do is trust it when all you do is type in a term. If you intended to use Great Pla(i?)ns Laboratory's site to highlight the dangers of glyphosate, you really need to show why they're trustworthy. And since they offer testing, they're actually suspect because of their vested interest. If you distrust Monsanto because of their vested interest, what makes these guys any different? In fact, you can also do a simple search on them and find that some employees have charged them with being dishonest.

[Lilith Rogers]

Wow, did not know that Hawaiian Airlines does this--awful!! And I've flown them many times to visit myson and family on the Big Island but thankfully am not so sensitive as you are, dear. Imagine others have had strong reactions as well but had no idea of the source. Must stop this poisoning.

Lilith

... I learned a lot about glyphosate from an in-flight magazine from Hawaiian Airlines, when I was returning from a trip to Kona. The article noted that the seats and carpeting are sprayed with glyphosate-containing pesticides to keep bugs from crawling on passengers and deplaning to infest our ecosystem. ...

[Barry]

.. in-flight magazine from Hawaiian Airlines, when I was returning from a trip to Kona. The article noted that the seats and carpeting are sprayed with glyphosate-containing pesticides to keep bugs from crawling on passengers and deplaning to infest our ecosystem

I found this article from 2015 in USA Today about this:



Should fliers worry about pesticide spraying on planes?

[BEE KIND]

Just came across this and think it's relevant: https://www.naturalnews.com/2017-03-...-property.html

[podfish]

Just came across this and think it's relevant: https://www.naturalnews.com/2017-03-...-property.html

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/natural-news/
ok, I'll stop for a while. But really, isn't it worth looking for some supporting info that's somewhat impartial? If someone's defending Trump by forwarding RNC stuff, or Pelosi by forwarding DNC stuff, I'm not likely to be convinced. That being said, I'd still take the DNC's info as fairly credible while the RNC is total bullshit -- but if I wasn't already predisposed, you'd be more successful sending me info from a theoretically independent analyst. I hope the analogy is clear. NN is preaching to the choir..

[O.W.]

A great new study just came out from Europe on the varying reports on glyphosate. It was scientific and they looked at the reports and came up with biased pro Monsanto folks from industry supported shills vs real science showing how toxic it is..... https://enveurope.springeropen.com/a...302-018-0184-7

How did the US EPA and IARC reach diametrically opposed conclusions on the genotoxicity of glyphosate-based herbicides?

• Charles M. BenbrookEmail author

Environmental Sciences Europe201931:2
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-018-0184-7
© The Author(s) 2019

• Received: 23 November 2018
• Accepted: 28 December 2018
• Published: 14 January 2019

[Shepherd]

Padi Selwyn of Preserve Rural Sonoma County (PRSC) just sent out the following article from today's North Bay Business Journal. They have an excellent website and Facebook page, for more information.

From today's North Bay Business Journal.... Consumers want pesticide free wine!

"...sales of... wines classified as sustainable, Biodynamic or organic, (increased) 68 percent. "

See article here

Padi Selwyn, PRESERVE RURAL SONOMA COUNTY

Visit our website at - https://www.preserveruralsonomacounty.org

Like us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/preserveruralsonomacountyg

[Shepherd]

The ED of Sonoma County Conservation Action put out the following notice:

Did people see this recently released (though small) study, with results showing that even organic and biodynamic wines have small levels of glyphosate?

https://returntonow.net/2019/01/13/g...d-even-organic

Daisy Pistey-Lyhne, Executive Director, Sonoma County Conservation Action, Office: 707-571-8566

[Shepherd]

I received the following email from Enmanji Temple. I want to appreciate them for their prompt response and decision to stop using RoundUp (Glyphosate).

Dear Dr. Bliss,

My name is Diane Ono, a new co-President of Enmanji Temple’s Board of Directors. Thank you for your inquiry and concern regarding Enmanji’s weed control issues. As you may know, we are a small congregation with declining membership, like many other churches. For years, we have depended on unpaid volunteers to help us with our yard maintenance that historically included commercial gardeners whose practice had included the use of the product Roundup (Glyphosate).

We wish to be good neighbors and share your concern about our community’s health, so we have asked our 2 main yard keepers to now try using a diluted white vinegar spray which we found on the internet/Google.No doubt we all will be watching to see how effective this alternative is.

Please help us by offering any other alternative weed management methods and providing the sources for the alarming cancer statistics you mentioned. (I looked on the American Cancer Society’s “California Cancer Facts & Figures 2017” and National Institutes for Health sites but did not find that same study data.) I realize that no matter the exact statistics, anyone diagnosed with cancer will feel deeply about potential exposures (having been an oncology nurse).

I truly hope you will receive this letter as our intent to work with you. In the spirit of shared concern and collaboration,
Diane

[O.W.]

Thank you ENMANJI Temple for stepping up to the plate on this issue. For everyone who wants alternatives to glyphosate here are alternatives from Wine and Water Watch and commercial products from Non Toxic Irvine groups. They have these as handouts at their meetings.

Vinegar / Orange Oil Weed Be Gone
(from Kathy Tresch)
Ingredients: 20% vinegar, orange oil, Dawn dish soap (the blue stuff)
To make a gallon:
About 80% vinegar
20% orange oil
1 cup Dawn
Apply mid day when leaves are dry and air is warm.

Vinegar / Epsom Salt Weed BeGone (from Sonoma Beekeepers Group)
Ingredients:
1 gallon 10% vinegar
2 cups Epsom Salt
¼ cup Dawn dish soap

Mix and spray weeds early in the day for best effect. Wear Goggles and Gloves before handling vinegar and remember, that this mixture is deadly for amphibians like frogs, lizards, and salamanders if you get any spray on them, so check your weeds before you start spraying this stuff.


2019 - Preferred Product List:

Weed Abatement
Suppress EC (Non-selective)	OMRI® Listed/weed control, as needed (Caprylic Acid and Capric Acid) https://westbridge.com/suppress-herb...-epa-approval/
Scythe (Non-selective)	OMRI® Listed/weed control - Scythe® is a non-selective contact herbicide https://www.biconet.com/lawn/infoshe...ythe_label.pdf
Final-San-O (Non-selective)	OMRI® Listed , NOP Approved/fast-acting weed, grass, algae and moss killer. It suppresses the growth of some bi-annual and perennial weeds. Final-San-O can be used at any time during the year, and areas can be re-sown 5 days after treatment. https://www.neudorffpro.com/index.php?id=1838
Weed Zap (Non-selective)	OMRI® Listed/broad spectrum, biodegradable, foliar herbicide is made from clove and cinnamon oils. It will only control actively growing emerged green vegetation and controls annual and perennial broadleaf and grassy weeds. It will only affect plants that are coated with the spray solution and does not damage non-green woody plants. https://www.arbico-organics.com/prod...c-weed-control
Weed Pharm (Non-selective)	OMRI® Listed, and WSDA Certified/University trials that prove 20% Acetic Acid is as effective as Glyphosate in killing annual and broadleaf weeds with one application. It also works on poison ivy and poison oak. https://www.pharmsolutionsinc.com/weedpharm.htm
A.D.I.O.S. (Selective/ Post-emergent)	OMRI® Listed, A.D.I.O.S. is a post-emergent foliar herbicide used for the control of broadleaf weeds. Can safely be used on turf & lawn or around plants, bushes, small trees, fruits and vegetables gardens. Once sprayed on the weed, A.D.I.O.S. travels right away through the foliage, stems and all the way down to the roots. All natural, A.D.I.O.S. can be used around children and pets. No buffer zone is required when applied next to drinkable fresh water wells. https://herbanatur.biz/bio-herbicide...-products.html

...
We wish to be good neighbors and share your concern about our community’s health, so we have asked our 2 main yard keepers to now try using a diluted white vinegar spray which we found on the internet/Google.No doubt we all will be watching to see how effective this alternative is.

Please help us by offering any other alternative weed management methods ...

[BEE KIND]

I received the following email from Enmanji Temple. I want to appreciate them for their prompt response and decision to stop using RoundUp (Glyphosate)....

Confirmation that one person can make a difference. BRAVO for your effort, Shepherd !

[BEE KIND]

Just saw this: https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/1-19-...ILKBXnJZ4w-qGc

[handsomeswami]

How can anyone even question if round up is bad? DUH it's a cancer bomb. Shame on anyone who uses that garbage. Specifically the strawberry stand on hwy 12 they're the worst. Use your intuition..

[BEE KIND]

This is from a dedicated man who I personally know. He has devoted the past few decades to studying this issue and is internationally recognized as an expert on this topic.
https://www.facebook.com/responsible...wUK_bsU--mwzak

[deepresto]

This week, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, the federal judge in San Francisco overseeing 620 cases involving Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller and cancer victims, ruled that evidence against Monsanto could not be suppressed:
https://winewaterwatch.org/2019/02/a...-for-monsanto/