SOC: Radical Anti-Genengineering

From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Tue Jun 27 2000 - 15:52:00 MDT


[[ Forwarded from an email forum frequented by the very (and I mean VERY)
radical greens ]]

<< Please distribute this to anyone/everyone. Try to make it here if you can.
 It's important! We need to show these people(monsters), that we won't
 tolerate the genetic manipulation of our animal kingdom. There's an
 interesting article at the bottom from the Minneapolis Star Tribune about
 the issue.
 Peace,
 -Matt
 
 
 
 ANIMAL GE RESEARCH - http://www.tao.ca/~ban/madscience.htm
 
 please circulate
 
 -------+++++++------+++++++-------+++++++++
 
 JULY 20-26
 STOP THE MAD SCIENTISTS IN THEIR TRACKS!
 
 Earth and Animal Liberation activists will converge in the Twin
 Cities of Minnesota, to greet the International Society for
 Animal Genetics (ISAG) at their University of Minnesota
 conference. A wide range of activities is planned to help
 mobilize against the rapidly developing bio technologies that
 threaten wildlife,
 and aim to control and commodify living beings on a entirely new
 level.
 
 Workshops, discussions, trainings and presentations on science,
 ethics, politics and action strategy and tactics, as well as
 direct action videos, will provide the inspiration we need to
 join forces
 and bring down the heinous biotechnology industry.
 
 BACKGROUND ON ISAG
 (http://www.wisc.edu/animalsci/isag/index.html)
 The International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) is based in
 Madison, Wisconsin and includes animal geneticists around the
 world. They publish a highly technical journal out of the UK
 called Animal Genetics
 (http://www.blacksci.co.uk/products/journals/agen.htm),
 reporting on the research frontlines of economically important
 and domestic animals. ISAG scientists are busy mapping the
 genomes of common livestock animals, to determine new and
 cutting edge methods of disease resistance and improvement for
 market and laboratory uses. Cattle, Sheep and Goats, Dog, Horse,
 Pig, Poultry, and Rabbit are all in the research pipeline, and
 mice and monkeys are already being genetically manipulated for
 lab science. The University of Minnesota and is a major center
 of animal GE research, especially in the genetic enhancement
 and improvement of livestock that is more suited to the
 livestock industries. These industries fund conferences like
 ISAG, hire such scientists for their own R&D departmenrts, using
 the genetic technologies developed in the universities. The
 federal govt is a major sponsor and contributor to animal GE,
 through the Agricultural Research Service and the USDA.
 
 For an example of government-funded livestock improvement
 projects, check out:
 http://sol.marc.usda.gov/marc/html/gene1.html
 Any time you see that the government or a corporation is
 mapping the genome of a species, it means they are doing so to
 eventually manipulate the genetic make-up of that species. Such
 manipulation is often justified as only one step beyond
 conventional breeding, yet the intention is the same,
 especially with animals, who have no worth to scientists,
 corprations or universities, beyond their economic use. Genetic
 engineering IS only one step beyond conventional breeding, and
 we contend that even most conventional breeding is driven by
 both profit, AND an extreme disregard for the role of non-human
 animals in the interdependent web of life.
 
 While the suffering of animals is definitely a major concern
 with animal GE, the problems inherent in animal science run much
 deeper. Animal GE is simply the latest tool of capitalist
 technology, but one we feel could finally awaken people to the
 crisis faced by every species on this planet: the corporate
 ownership and commodification of life itself. After conquering
 almost every mountain, forest, river and distinctive human
 community on earth, business elites are seeking new colonies to
 control and exploit. Factory and fur farming have already
 created waste and enslavement of wildlife. Now the mad
 scientists are eager to offer GE animals up to the market.
 
 Will it take the total control and manipulation of humans
 themselves (notice that public and private agencies alike are
 racing each other to map the human genome?) to provoke a
 reaction? If they are so willing to improve the non-market
 friendly traits of domestic animals, why should we think that
 simliar traits in humans wont be the next of sciences targets?
 Already, domestic companion dogs can be froxen and cloned for
 $20,000, so good olkd Spot will never really die. (see:
 http://www.geneticsavingsandclone.com).
 
 You may think that scientists are the least responsible for such
 madness- that its the policy makers who decide what falls
 within socially accepted boundaries. But under a government
 based on the accumulation of capital, and the assumption of
 industrial progress, no rulers could be expected to value the
 inherent freedoms of living beings- animal or human. ISAG is
 being targetted as a challenge to the very scientific
 establishment itself. None of us will understand the terminology
 they throw at us - and hopefully people will not feel the need
 to play into their science-based justifications for the
 atrocities to which they are so desensitized, and which they
 perform daily without question.
 
 Our society has to start posing a serious challenge to their
 industrial science dogma, and the capitalist ideology that
 accompanies it so conveniently. This means crafting our demands
 on different terms from theirs. It is expected that the
 corporate media will disregard our perspective since we are not
 willing to play by their rules of engagement by debating the
 level of suffering of cloned animals, or the scientific
 usefulness of thir practices. Our demands must go farther. ISAG
 is a good excuse to rail against one of the foundations of our
 death-culture.
 
 And as usual, action always speaks louder than words.
 
 
 Sponsors of ISAg 2000 include:
 (http://www.cvm.umn.edu/isag2000/sponsors.html)
 American Kennel Club
 Canine Health Foundation
 Ralston Purina Company
 Hybrid Turkeys
 PE Celera AgGen
 Pig Improvement Company, Inc. (see info below)
 University of Minnesota (Agricultural Experiment Station,
 College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences and
 College of Veterinary Medicine)
 
 For more information:
 Upper Midwest Resistance against Genetic Engineering (RAGE):
 (651) 213-6131
 PO BOX 580444
 Minneapolis, MN 55458-0444
 grainrage@visto.com
 http://www.tao.ca/~ban/grainrage.htm
 
 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-
 
 STOP THE MAD SCIENTISTS! SCHEDULE
 
 FRIDAY JULY 21 - SUNDAY JULY 23
 DIRECT ACTION CONVERGENCE - Minneapolis
 Meet Friday morning at the Bedlam Theater for check-in and a
 vegan/organic breakfast.
 
 FRIDAY JULY 21
 TEACH-IN, VIDEOS, ORGANIC/VEGAN CAFE, MUSIC - 7pm
 Walker Church? (location TBA)
 
 SUNDAY JULY 23
 ISAG OPENING CEREMONY
 Community Dinner and Speakout, Candlelight Vigil and Noise
 Brigade
 Meet at 5pm at Loring Park
 
 MONDAY JULY 24
 SHUT EM DOWN at the ISAG Conference - Location TBA
 
 SUNDAY JULY 23-WEDNESDAY JULY 26
 AUTONOMOUS DIRECT ACTIONS everywhere
 
 --=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==--
 
 A few words from an ISAG sponsor:
 
 PIG IMPROVEMENT COMPANY
 http://www.pic.com/usa/
 PIC's core business is delivering healthy genetic improvement
 to pig industries around the world...
 
 PIC is the international leader in the genetic improvement of
 swine for breeding and the food industry. Offering the pig
 farmer such services as artificial insemination, husbandry and
 management, superior breeding stock, and the latest in porcine
 biotechnology advances. With companies in over 30 countries
 worldwide, PIC is able to cater to the specific needs of each of
 its customers.
 
 PIC is a supplier of pig breeding stock. We have proprietary
 purebred lines that we continually improve by applying
 scientific principles to the selection of each new generation.
 Specialist subcontracted multiplication farms then crossbreed
 the purelines to produce breeding stock that is sold by PIC to
 the worlds commercial pig producers. Thus, PIC concentrates its
 investments on the technology of improving pigs and the
 servicing of commercial producers. PIC is clearly the world
 leader in its field; operating in 30 countries, PIC has
 established businesses in Western Europe and the Americas and is
 currently investing in the developing markets of Asia and
 Central Europe. PICs BIOTECH AGENDA:
 http://www.pic.com/r_and_d/biotechnology.asp
 
 
 
 ---
 JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO PROTECT THE FABRIC OF LIFE
 Bioengineering Action Network
 P.O. Box 11331
 Eugene, Oregon 97440
 (541) 302-5020
 http://www.tao.ca/~ban
 ban@tao.ca



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