Publication date: 3/9/2010

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John,
Stop spreading your lies and fear. You present what appears to be the truth but it is nothing more than lies. I use to think you and your group (and groups like yours) were just a bunch of well meaning but ill-informed people. Now I’m convinced that you are either crazy or REAL stupid. If the CDFA had just bee allowed to spray what and when they wanted to in the first place, this wouldn’t even be an issue anymore because the moth would be gone.

Tom with Stop the Insanity

Tom C, Bay Area, USA - 3/10/2010 12:38:59 AM

THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE (CDFA) LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH (LBAM) PROGRAM IS A FRAUD FOR MONEY.

Over the last 4 years, scientists have had time to conclude their research:

1. The moth is not dangerous to crops in California any more than thousands of other moths & insects that live in California.

2. LBAM has caused NO damage in California, even though CDFA falsely reported damage to the media for three years now and unfortunately decent trusting people innocently repeat the false messages of danger.

3. CDFA top management do this program for about $100 Million of our taxpayer dollars every year for their agency & then they deliver the $$$ NOT TO FARMERS, but to privileged insiders at large chemical corporations in the form of contracts for unnecessary pesticides.

4. CDFA intends to stretch the program to decades, not just the seven years that they advertise.

5. The moth is not even suited to Fallbrook, only a few counties along the coast in Northern California where large LBAM populations live nicely and there it is not damaging anything.

6. The quarantines and inspections and use of expensive pesticides forced onto farmers is the real problem while the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) fakes the threat to keep the program (and $$$) going.

7. Check with the top Ag scientists at UC Davis. They know the truth, but they don't yet have the political clout to get these top management guys at CDFA put in prison for what they are doing.

Additional related to nctimes.com article:
a. The moth (LBAM) lands in lots of plants, but just like flies that land on plants, barbeques & fence posts, they don't damage any of them.

b. The only loss of money if this program does not go forward is to the top Management at the CDFA who are taking about $100 Million per year from taxpayers for this program. It is not easy to steal the money directly, so they give it to large corporate privileged insiders at chemical companies in the form of massive pesticide contracts that are unnecessary.

c. LBAM has been found at ports of entry for decades. Two moths, one each on separate occasions, were noticed recently in the back yard of a UC Berkeley Entomologist not in 2007, but in 2006.

Entomologists estimate that the moth has been in California for nearly half a century (30-50years). But CDFA always tries to pretend the moth "Just arrived." There is no crop damage from this moth, so CDFA uses the faked "Just arrived" angle to scare people with "Potential damage."

d. Any losses to Santa Cruz nurseries were caused by the quarantines, inspections and pesticides forced by the CDFA. LBAM has not caused any economic damage in the state.

e. The state environmental health people (OEHHA) said that they COULD NOT DENY the link between the spray and the illnesses. If you were there and saw the thousands of families who took ill, children, pets, birds, etc. you'd know the dishonesty and lack of morality of these Top CDFA Management who implemented this program.

f. Sterile moth release is still in development stage and it will never be effective for this moth because of the moth's biology and the inability of sterile lab-raised moths to compete with wild male moth in mating. To date, there has still been NO interference in reproduction by dropping sterile moths.

g. The moth is nearly identical to numerous other tortricidae moths that are native to California and fortunately eradication of this one moth is totally unnecessary. And it is impossible technically. That is why it is such a good candidate for CDFA. They will try to keep the program going for decades, which is what they do with their other "Eradication" programs.

h. The CDFA has been using Med fly as a cash cow for nearly 30 years now. Mostly what the CDFA does in California is to kill natural predators of pest insects with the excessive amounts of pesticides that they use throughout the state. Then real problems actually do occur and these super resistant bugs give the CDFA the opportunity to implement even more pesticide programs. So CDFA creates many of the problems and continues to rob the people's money pretending they are solving the problems.

*** If you are interested, download the Draft EIR and read in Chapter #3, page 3-20, lines 5,6 and page 3-21, lines 3,4 below table 3-16. You will see that CDFA actually admits that all the LBAM crop damage reports that they have delivered to the media for three years now were false.
"NO CROP DAMAGE" in California, ever by the Light Brown Apple Moth.

ps: comments taken from other article

John Dougan, Los Angeles, United States of America - 3/9/2010 9:27:51 PM

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