Date: Wed, 02 Aug 2000 11:58:43 -0400
From: "Michael S. Lorrey" <retroman@turbont.net>
Subject: Re: SOC/BIO: Rifkin's "worldwide moratorium" on genetically
Steve wrote:
>
> > Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 12:47:01 -0400
> > From: "Michael S. Lorrey" <retroman@turbont.net>
> > Subject: Re: SOC/BIO: Rifkin's "worldwide moratorium" on genetically
> > modified organisms
>
> You made the initial comparison with H-bombs ...... I only point out that
> the dangers are more subtle and we should tread carefully.
>
No, I compared YOUR fears and level of alarmism to similar levels of
alarmism
about nuclear power and nuclear war. I did NOT compare GM to H-bombs. Please
re-read what I posted.
Sellafield, three mile island, chernobyl .... need i go on? surely the
"alarmist" fears about nuclear power have been born out?
> > It is more like a forest fire, which it is possible to fight
> >and contain and eliminate (much as we have eliminated smallpox and other
> >diseases).
>
> Yes, but even forest fires are harmful .... and aren't some diseases (TB?)
> that were once thought to have been eliminated fighting back?
>They fight back where people don't actually give them a good fight.
Resistant TB
>strains evolved specifically because people with TB, in their
characteristic
>lack of attention to detail, stopped taking the antibiotics when they
started
>feeling better, rather than completing the entire regimen of antibiotics as
>instructed by their doctors.
But unlike forest fires & disesases .... we are deliberately introducing GM
strains into the environment.
>
> There are no remote mountains or whatever in the UK that can be freed of
> bees, even if there might be in the States. But surely other insects move
> pollen about as well as bees?
>None do to the same extent, though butterflies are pretty good, and
hummingbirds
>are also, but these do not deal with corn. Corn's overwhelmingly primary
method
>of pollination is by wind.
So the safety of tests *can't* be guaranteed then?
>
> OK, so you question the motives of "greenies" who may have left-wing
> politics. But for sure the motives of Monsanto and the big agri-businesses
> pushing this GM thru as fast they can *ARE* motivated solely by
> self-interest and financial gain.
What is your reply to this point?
>
>What is permaculture?
Unfortunately there aren't big agri bucks to be made out permaculture ....
although apparently NY city could be self-sufficient in food if it was
introduced in the city limits! Its real benefits would be if introduced in
developing countries, but isn't an instant fix, takes a while to establish
... but after that, easy street.
Best
www.steve-nichols.com
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