Sorry for my last post, I forgot to redo the title and to put blank spaces in between the paragraphs.
Political Hucksterism??
http://www.rachel.org/search/index.cfm?St=1
To get a stream of genetically-engineered products to market, Monsanto will need to convince the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that these products are safe for human consumption. In the past, Monsanto has been able to do this partly because former Monsanto officials have become FDA officials, who have then been assigned to approve Monsanto products--in some cases, the products they worked on while at Monsanto. [15]
There can be no doubt that a high-level revolving door exists between Monsanto and the administration in Washington. The WASHINGTON POST reported April 21, 1997, that Marcia Hale, President Clinton's assistant for intergovernmental relations, would be taking a "sweet" job with Monsanto. She will coordinate public affairs and corporate strategy in the United Kingdom and Ireland for about six months. She will then come back to work out of Monsanto's Washington office to handle international and "other matters."[16]
The St. Louis POST-DISPATCH reported May 17, 1997, that Monsanto's vice-pres ident, Virginia Weldon, is a "top candidate" for the job of chief of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[17]
--Peter Montague (National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981/AFL-CIO)
[15] Bill Lambrecht, "House Members Urge BST Inquiry; Conflict Alleged in Three FDA Officials' Past Work for Monsanto," St. Louis POST DISPATCH April 19, 1994, pg. 2A. And see: "3 FDA Staffers Cleared in Milk Drug Probe," St. Louis POST DISPATCH October 29, 1994, pg. 9A.
[16] Al Kamen, "THE FEDERAL PAGE--IN THE LOOP --Clinton Assistant Going Private," THE WASHINGTON POST, April 21, 1997, pg. A15.
[17] Jerry Berger, "Dr. Weldon is Reported Top Pick to Head FDA," St. Louis POST DISPATCH May 20, 1997, pg. D1.
http://www.rachel.org/search/index.cfm?St=1
Opposing GM doesn't look like it's likely to benefit large corporations the way the regulating "storm" that followed Sinclair's _The Jungle_ benefited large meat packers. If anything it looks like it's being used to further squeeze smaller scale farms and even subsistence farmers....
http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/bulletin.cfm?Issue_ID=1329&bulletin_ID=48
Monsanto's plans have gone awry in the Third World, too. Monsanto planned to introduce its genetically modified seeds accompanied by its patented "technology protection system" which makes the seeds from this year's crop sterile. Critics call Monsanto's seed sterilizing technology "terminator" and "suicide seeds." Wherever suicide seed technology is adopted, farmers will have to go back to Monsanto year after year to buy a new ration of genetically modified seeds.
"By peddling suicide seeds, the biotechnology multinationals will lock the world's poorest farmers into a new form of genetic serfdom," says Emma Must of the World Development Movement. "Currently 80 per cent of crops in developing countries are grown using farm-saved seed. Being unable to save seeds from sterile crops could mean the difference between surviving and going under," she says. "More precisely," says Canadian journalist Gwynne Dyer, "it would speed the consolidation of small farms into the hands of those with the money to engage in industrialized agribusiness -- which generally means higher profits but less employment and lower yields per [unit of land]."[4]
[4] Gwynne Dyer, "World View, Biotechnology," [Toronto] GLOBE AND MAIL February 20, 1999, page unknown.
http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/bulletin.cfm?Issue_ID=1329&bulletin_ID=48
Again sorry for the last post, I was rushed, trying to balance e-mail time and quality family time - lotsa pressure.
This Brown Stuff thread is turning into a GM discussion, should the title be changed to GM?
Brian