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> WEEKLY_WATCH_number_81

> " GM_WATCH " <info

> Thu, 15 Jul 2004 22:59:04 +0100

>

---------------------------

> WEEKLY WATCH number 81

>

---------------------------

> from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor

---------------------------

>

> In an attempt to head off public hostility to GM in

> Europe, the industry has shifted its focus from food

> to pharming. The European Union has handed over 12

> million in taxpayer Euros to research the production

> of drugs in plants - and the UK's John Innes Centre

> is among the first in line to trouser its share of

> the cash. Of course, the European public won't

> tolerate pharmacrops growing amongst its food crops,

> so the dirty side of the business will be done in

> Africa! (see PHARMING)

>

> Don't miss a brilliant ARTICLE OF THE WEEK at the

> end of this bulletin by biologist David Schubert on

> how the US now has the worst ever censorship of

> scientists through Bush's espousal of

> industry-dictated 'sound science'.

>

> Talking of which, the news has just broken that Sir

> John Krebs is quitting as head of the UK's Food

> Standards Agency and Tony Blair is quoted as saying,

> " [Krebs] has been robust in ensuring that the Agency

> bases its advice on sound science and in ensuring

> that it promotes the interests of consumers " .

>

http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/jul/krebsdown

>

> Which is a classic piece of Blairite spin about a

> scientist who put the CON into consumer protection.

> GM WATCH gave Sir John a PANTS ON FIRE award, for

> not just emasculating the Food Standards Agency but

> turning it into a public platform for his extreme

> support for GM and his antipathy to organic food.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/p2temp2.asp?aid=6 & page=1 & op=1

>

> Apart from Krebs quitting, some more good news this

> week came from chemical giant BASF which is making

> noises about moving its GM work out of Europe (see

> GM MELTDOWN CONTINUES). The bad news for our friends

> in America is that the firm may follow Syngenta

> there. But on the plus side for the US, Monsanto's

> GM cattle drug Posilac, which failed to win approval

> in any major industrial country other than the

> States, seems to have bit the dust (see US) after

> just 10 years on the market.

>

> Claire claire

> www.lobbywatch.org / www.gmwatch.org

>

>

---------------------------

> CONTENTS

>

---------------------------

> PHARMING

> LOBBYWATCH

> GM MELTDOWN CONTINUES

> EURO-NEWS

> UK-NEWS

> US-NEWS

> OTHER GLOBAL NEWS

> ARTICLE OF THE WEEK - BUSH'S 'SOUND SCIENCE':

> TURNING A DEAF EAR TO REALITY

> DONATIONS

>

>

---------------------------

> PHARMING

>

---------------------------

>

> + GM 'PHARMING' PROJECT FOR EUROPE

> Scientists across Europe, including Britain, are to

> explore the possibilities of producing

> pharmaceuticals grown in genetically modified

> plants. The European Union has awarded 12 million

> euros (GBP8 million) to a network of experts in 11

> European countries and South Africa and they aim to

> begin human trials of the drugs within the next five

> years.

>

> The aim of the " pharming " project is advertised as

> being to use plants to produce vaccines and

> treatments against major diseases including Aids,

> rabies, diabetes and TB. Which sounds very noble,

> but GM WATCH has already discovered that one of the

> two projects planned for the UK involves developing

> cheap pig vacccines, presumably to assist industrial

> agriculture.

>

> The consortium, called Pharma-Planta, will develop

> the concept from plant modification through to

> clinical trials. The scientists involved will be all

> too familiar to GM WATCH readers: Phil Dale who

> worked so hard to bring us GM food plants, Paul

> Christou who was at the forefront of the attacks on

> Ignacio Chapela over his maize contamination

> research, and Julian Ma who has been at Peter

> Lachmann's shoulder in his attacks on the BMA and

> others.

>

> The John Innes Centre will also be involved in

> " exploring biosafety issues " associated with pharma

> plants.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4118

>

> + FROM NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY EDITORIAL ON PHARMING:

> The Pharma-Planta publicity makes it clear that they

> are going to be making use of food crops like maize

> in their erffort to grow cheap drugs, but as even

> the normally vigorously pro-GM science journal

> Nature Biotechnology has warned:

>

> " The problem is - as anti-GM lobbyists have argued

> already - that the production of drugs or drug

> intermediates in food or feed crop species bears the

> potential danger that pharmaceutical substances

> could find their way into the food chain... This

> position is not anti-GM (something industry should

> appreciate) - we should be concerned about the

> presence of a potentially toxic substance in food

> plants. After all, is this really so different from

> a conventional pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical

> manufacturer packaging its pills in candy wrappers

> or flour bags or storing its compounds or production

> batches untended outside the perimeter fence? "

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4132

>

> + US SOY DESTROYED AFTER PHARMA CONTAMINATION

> In 2002, crops worth millions of dollars were

> destroyed in the US after soya contaminated by GM

> maize plants used to produce a pharmaceutical or

> industrial chemical was discovered in a US grain

> elevator.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=13 & page=A

>

> + SOUTH AFRICA TO BECOME PHARMA TESTING GROUND

> Recently we've noted the weak biosafety system in

> South Africa and how, starting back in the apartheid

> era, South Africa's regulatory system has been

> shaped by industry-backed lobbyists.

>

> A recent court case has also highlighted the

> extraordinary secrecy surrounding GM crops releases

> in South Africa, with officials accused of

> repeatedly failing to release information to which

> the public has a statutory right.

>

> 'Pharma-Planta' is an EU-funded project which is

> entirely European except for one partner - the

> Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

> (CSIR) in Pretoria, South Africa.

>

> It is becoming clear that the Europeans plan to use

> South Africa as the testing ground for their GM

> pharma crops.

>

> Excerpts from an article from the Cape Times:

>

> " ... concerns about direct action by

> environmentalists opposed to GM crops has led to the

> scientists behind the project collaborating with a

> South African research institute that has offered to

> grow the first crop. "

>

> " Philip Dale, a plant technologist at the John Innes

> Centre in Norwich and the project's biosafety

> co-ordinator, said the cost of 24-hour surveillance

> of GM fields in the UK has made it expensive to

> conduct similar trials in Britain. "

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4131

>

> Check out GeneWatch UK's report on pharma crops:

>

http://www.genewatch.org/CropsAndFood/Reports/Producing_Drugs_in_GM_Crops.pdf

>

> A revealing profile of pharma godfather, Charles

> Arntzen, is at

> http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=13 & page=A

>

>

---------------------------

> LOBBYWATCH

>

---------------------------

>

> + SUBVERTING THE CARTAGENA PROTOCOL - WILLY DE GREEF

> An article in Nature Biotechnology by one Willy De

> Greef blames the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

> (which demands labeling of GM imports and gives

> countries the right to refuse them on safety

> grounds) for stalling " significant ... contributions

> of biotech to public health improvement in the

> developing world " like Golden Rice. He demands more

> public sector input - a trend we've increasingly

> noted as private investment for biotech dries up.

>

> Nature Biotech bills De Greef only as " at the Plant

> Biotechnology Institute for Developing Countries

> (IPBO), Department of Molecular Genetics, Ghent

> University " . However " public sector " that may sound,

> until the end of 2002 Willy De Greef was the Global

> Head of Regulatory Affairs - Biotechnology for gene

> giant Syngenta.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4130

>

> + LOBBYIST E-MAIL TEARS INTO SENATORS

> A lobbying strategy memo from the Competitive

> Enterprise Institute that describes targeted

> senators in disparaging terms was inadvertently sent

> to news reporters by an industry-supported think

> tank opposed to legislation to combat global

> warming.

>

> The memo describes Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., as

> " our leading internationalist (who) wants to send

> even more manufacturing jobs in Indiana overseas so

> that important diplomats at UN receptions will be

> nice to him. "

>

> Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., " hates Bush " and " is

> increasingly frail, " the memo said. Tim Johnson,

> D-S.D., another targeted senator, probably will not

> change his vote, the memo says, " but it's fun to see

> him squirm back home. " Other senators are described

> in similarly negative fashion.

>

> Myron Ebell, head of the climate section at the

> Competitive Enterprise Institute, acknowledged that

> he inadvertently sent " three or four reporters " a

> memo outlining the lobbying strategy of opponents to

> the bipartisan global-warming bill.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4113

>

> GM WATCH comment: The Competitive Enterprise

> Institute takes money from Monsanto. It has a

> staffer (Greg Conko) as Vice President of Prakash's

> AgBioWorld, which it claims as part of its wider

> campaign against " Death by regulation " .

>

> The CEI has also received nearly $1.5 million in

> donations from ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil

> company, and lobbies accordingly. Among many other

> statements denying the seriousness of global

> warming, CEI has argued that climate change would

> create a " milder, greener, more prosperous world "

> (http://www.exxonsecrets.org).

> For more on CEI:

> http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=30

>

>

-------

> GM MELTDOWN CONTINUES

>

-------

>

> + BASF'S GM DIVISION MAY QUIT EUROPE

> An article in the Financial Times says BASF, the

> world's largest chemical company, may move its GM

> crop research to the US unless Europe becomes more

> receptive to new technologies. JŸrgen Hambrecht,

> chief executive, said the German chemicals giant

> could not afford to keep investing in research if

> there was no market for its products. The

> Anglo-Swiss agrochemicals company said it would

> close its laboratories because of the poor business

> outlook for the technology.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4116

>

> + BIOTECH INVESTMENT BUSY GOING NOWHERE

> In an article for ISIS, GM Watch editor Claire

> Robinson takes a look at the biotech industry's

> track record and prospects. This article can be

> found on the I-SIS website at

> http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BIBGN.php and also at

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4134

>

>

---------------------------

> EURO-NEWS

>

---------------------------

>

> + UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC RESENTMENT TOWARDS BIOTECH

> It is too easy to blame the media, and its tendency

> to dumb down and sensationalise scientific

> discoveries, for public hostility towards biotech,

> says a report by Italian researchers Massimiano

> Bucchi and Federico Neresini ( " Why are people

> hostile to biotechnologies? " , Science, Vol 304,

> Issue 5678, 1749)

>

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/304/5678/1749

>

> The picture the research discloses in relation to

> public concerns over GM crops gives the lie to GM

> proponents who argue that such concerns are

> prejudices due to ignorance and media (or NGO)

> 'anti-science' misinformation.

>

> The researchers found that being better informed

> about biotech is not a precursor to being more

> accepting of it. Italians were also capable of

> making a distinction between " the sciences " in

> general and different biotech applications. They

> conclude that the negative attitudes of Italians

> towards biotech " are not part of a more general

> public prejudice against science " .

>

> Elements of the Italian findings are confirmed in

> other studies, including the EU's Eurobarometer

> survey of public opinion on science.

>

> The authors note that scientific research appears to

> have lost its air of impartiality, with 69% of

> respondents concurring that it is " loaded with

> interests " , and has developed a split personality

> over certain issues.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4133

>

> + WINE GROWERS DECLARE WAR ON GM GRAPES

> French vintners are up in arms about a threat to

> their centuries-old winegrowing traditions - GM

> grapes. Earth and Wine of the World, an association

> that includes nearly 400 French winegrowers, is

> worried about a government research project to

> tinker with grape genes.

>

> " It is of utmost importance that the future of our

> profession is not determined solely under the

> influence of scientists, industrialists and

> technocrats, " the group said.

>

> The National Institute of Agricultural Research is

> seeking ways to make grapes resistant to disease,

> and it plans to replant a batch of GM vines after a

> five-year pause.

>

> A small crop of GM grapes was planted in 1996 in

> eastern France by the champagne manufacturer Moet et

> Chandon in partnership with the agricultural

> institute. But consumer pressure forced the company

> to dig up the plants in 1999.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4110

>

> + EUROPEANS SCOFF AT GM BEER

> Spurned across the continent by food-fastidious

> Europeans, the biotech industry has turned in its

> quest for converts to GM beer. A consortium of the

> world's largest biotech companies led by Monsanto

> helped fund a Swedish brewer's new lager that's

> produced with the usual hops and barley - and GM

> corn.

>

> Kenth beer is hardly a barroom hit. The brewer won't

> say how many bottles have been sold since the beer

> was unveiled earlier this year in Denmark and

> Sweden. But he says 4,000 bottles are on their way

> to stores and pubs in Germany and he's in talks with

> stores in the UK.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4110

>

> + GM FOODS HEAD FINN FOOD WORRIES

> A study conducted earlier this year by Finland's

> National Consumer Research Center showed that of all

> the concerns about manufactured food that Finns

> have, GM foods topped the list. Some 60 percent of

> the population expressed " strong concern " .

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4110

>

>

---------------------------

> UK

>

---------------------------

>

> + ARCHBISHOP ATTACKS TECHNO-UTOPIANISM

> The leading UK Anglican cleric and Archbishop of

> Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has given an interesting

> lecture on the guiding myths that make environmental

> remediation so difficult. The lecture contains a

> clear attack on GM techno-utopianism.

>

> Full text of his speech is at

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4075

>

> Excerpts:

> " [Mary Midgley's recent book on 'the myths we live

> by'] offers some startling examples of the naked

> presupposition that what 'really' exists is sets of

> function-patterns which can be reshuffled at will to

> produce results yet more malleable to manipulation -

> including the designing and redesigning of humans as

> well as of other organisms.

>

> " ...And the news for humanity is both joyful and

> sobering: there is a possible human future - but it

> will be costly for us. The question is whether we

> have the energy and imagination to say no to the

> non-future, the paralysing dream of endless

> manipulation, that currently has us captive. "

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4075

>

> + NO RESPITE FOR SAINSBURY'S

> Supermarket actions in Sherborne, Plymouth and

> Swansea hammered the " no GM in the food chain " and

> " fair price for farmers " messages home ahead of

> Sainsbury's AGM in London, on Monday.

>

> In Swansea, Greenpeace activists dressed as

> pantomime cows chained themselves to the dairy aisle

> of a Welsh supermarket in their latest protest

> against imports of GM crops, following their

> blockade of a ship outside Bristol (those who were

> arrested were in court in Barry, South Wales 12

> July).

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4114

>

>

---------------------------

> US

>

---------------------------

>

> + MONSANTO LIKELY PHASING OUT BOVINE GROWTH HORMONE

> While Monsanto remains quiet about the fate of its

> GM cow hormone, Posilac, signs are that more rats

> are jumping off the ship. In late January 2004,

> Monsanto announced a 50% reduction in sales of

> Posilac to regular customers.

>

> According to the publication Milkweed, at a Posilac

> sales force meeting in March, numerous sales persons

> were terminated by Monsanto.

>

> In early May, Brian Robert Lowry, Monsanto's dairy

> mouthpiece, departed dairy responsibilities at the

> company. Lowry had issued a media statement on April

> 28, claiming that the March 29, 2004 FDA warning

> letter to Monsanto's Austrian-based Posilac supplier

> was merely business as usual. That warning letter

> blistered the Austrian manufacturer for bad

> manufacturing practices and failed quality control

> oversight.

>

> The latest " rat " to jump Monsanto's ship is the

> " Milk is Milk " website maintained by the Hudson

> Institute. " Milk is Milk " was hatched in recent

> years to attack critics of milk from

> Posilac-injected dairy cows. The Hudson Institute

> uses Dennis Avery and his son Alex as a " hit squad "

> attacking persons opposing food biotech.

>

> Monsanto has been both a member and a major

> contributor to the Hudson Institute. Since Monsanto

> is the only corporation selling recombinant bovine

> growth hormone (Posilac), it's presumed Monsanto has

> been the source of money for the " milk is milk "

> website. No More.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4114

>

> + FBI HARASSMENT CONTINUES - ARTIST FACES 20-YEAR

> CHARGES

> Dr Steven Kurtz, Associate Professor of Art at the

> University of Buffalo, was arraigned and charged in

> Federal District Court in Buffalo on 8 July on four

> counts of mail and wire fraud, which each carry a

> maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

>

> Kurtz was arrested and harassed by the FBI after art

> materials consisting of (perfectly legal) harmless

> bacteria and a GM testing kit were found in his

> home.

>

> The arraignment of Dr Robert Ferrell, Professor of

> Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, who was

> indicted along with Kurtz, has been postponed for a

> week for health reasons. Ferrell sent the bacteria

> to Kurtz.

>

> The defendants were charged not with bioterrorism,

> as listed on the Joint Terrorism Task Force's

> original search warrant and subpoenas, but with a

> glorified version of " petty larceny " . The laws under

> which the indictments were obtained are normally

> used against those defrauding others of money or

> property, as in telemarketing schemes. Historically,

> these laws have been used when the government could

> not prove other criminal charges. (See

> http://www.caedefensefund.org/ for background and

> full text of indictment.

>

> Under the arraignment conditions, Kurtz is subject

> to travel restrictions, random and scheduled visits

> from a probation officer, and periodic drug tests.

>

> A number of people are wondering why this seemingly

> absurd case is still being pursued.

>

> " I am absolutely astonished, " said Donald A.

> Henderson, Dean Emeritus of the Johns Hopkins

> University School of Hygiene and Public Health and

> resident scholar at the Center for Biosecurity of

> the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

> Henderson was awarded the Presidential Medal of

> Freedom by President Bush for his work in heading up

> the World Health Organization smallpox eradication

> program and was appointed by the Bush administration

> to chair the National Advisory Council on Public

> Preparedness.

>

> " Based on what I have read and understand, Professor

> Kurtz has been working with totally innocuous

> organisms... to discuss something of the risks and

> threats of biological weapons - more power to him,

> as those of us in this field are likewise concerned

> about their potential use and the threat of

> bio-terrorism. " Henderson noted that the organisms

> involved in this case - Serratia marcescens and

> Bacillus atrophaeus - do not appear on lists of

> substances that could be used in biological

> terrorism

>

(http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item & itemid=646).

>

> University of California at San Diego Professor of

> Design Engineering Natalie Jeremijenko noted that

> scientists ship materials to each other all the

> time. " I do it, my lab students do it. It's a basis

> of academic collaboration.... They're going to have

> to indict the entire scientific community. "

>

> Kurtz's activist art group had intended to use the

> bacteria concerned in a project critiquing the

> history of US involvement in germ warfare

> experiments, including the Bush administration's

> earmarking of hundreds of millions of dollars to

> erect high-security laboratories around the country.

> Many eminent scientists likewise view these plans as

> a recipe for catastrophe.

>

> " I'm concerned about them from the standpoint of

> science, safety, security, public health and

> economics, " writes Dr Richard Ebright, lab director

> at Rutgers University's Waksman Institute of

> Microbiology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute

> investigator. " They lose on all counts. "

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4115

>

>

-------

> OTHER GLOBAL NEWS

>

-------

>

> + PROTEST AT GM CONTAMINATION OF MEXICAN MAIZE

> Scientists from Mexico, Canada and the US met on

> March 11 this year in the Hotel Victoria in Oaxaca

> for a symposium on the effects and possible risks of

> the presence of GM maize in Mexico. This seems to

> have been a " two-tier " event, with the organizing

> pro-GM scientists and technocrats pursuing one

> agenda and groups representing indigenous people,

> environmentalists and progressive intellectuals

> arguing for an alternative vision.

>

> An excellent article on this topic is at

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4112

>

> Excerpt:

> ..groups representing indigenous people,

> environmentalists and progressive intellectuals ...

> rejected ... the " intolerable corruption " of

> officials who promote genetically modified organisms

> like-it-or-not style. " We are not interested in

> confirming whether or not they receive money from

> the corporations, whether they behave out of

> mercenary self-interest, ignorance or recklessness.

> We are not the police. But nor do we need more

> investigation to be able to affirm unreservedly that

> they do not represent us and that they are incapable

> of understanding our reality and aspirations, much

> less defend them.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4112

>

> + ARGENTINA: MONSANTO GETS OK TO SELL BIOTECH CORN

> Monsanto has received approval to sell in Argentina

> its NK603 corn genetically modified to survive

> applications of the company's Roundup weedkiller.

> Roundup Ready soybeans and cotton - as well as corn

> and cotton varieties genetically modified to resist

> insects - already were approved for planting in

> Argentina.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4136

>

> For more on how Monsanto has bullied Argentina into

> such approvals and how Monsanto's Roundup Ready

> crops are destroying Argentina's agriculture,

> ecology, and economy:

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4136

>

> + INDONESIA: GM COTTON NOT PRODUCTIVE

> Farmers in South Sulawesi had to destroy five

> hectares of cotton plantations in September 2001

> after discovering that the GM cotton was not as

> productive as scientists and businesspeople had

> claimed.

>

> PT Monsanto, supplier of the transgenic cottonseeds,

> had assured the farmers that each hectare would

> produce about four tons of cotton per hectare at

> every harvest. But farmers reported that they reaped

> less than half a ton. " We were duped, " said a

> farmer, Muhammad Amir.

>

> The company's claim that the seeds were highly

> resistant to pests and diseases also fell short of

> farmers' expectations.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4117

>

>

---------------------------

> ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

>

---------------------------

>

> + BUSH'S 'SOUND SCIENCE': TURNING A DEAF EAR TO

> REALITY

> By David Schubert

> San Diego Union-Tribune, 9-7-04

>

> The foundation of our modern society and its

> continued existence is dependent upon our scientific

> understanding of the world around us.

>

> During the last three years, we have witnessed an

> unprecedented assault by the executive branch of our

> government upon the ability of US scientists to

> freely share their data and insights about our world

> with the public. Much of the justification for this

> repression of scientific communication falls under

> the Orwellian concept of " sound science, " which is

> clearly understood by the scientific community to

> mean the misrepresentation of scientific data to

> reflect the administration's political and social

> agendas.

>

> This political manipulation of US science began well

> below the level of public awareness within days

> after the current administration took office. Highly

> respected scientists on dozens of advisory

> committees were replaced with individuals who

> promote the sound science defined by industry and

> the religious right.

>

> The concept of sound science, not to be confused

> with good science, was coined by Newt Gingrich and

> the incoming 1994 Republican Congress as part of an

> effort to bypass regulatory hurdles. Sound science

> required endless analysis and an extreme burden of

> proof of harm before anything could be regulated by

> federal agencies such as the Environmental

> Protection Agency. However, the legislation proposed

> by this group was never made into law.

>

> Now that the Republicans are in total control of the

> government, the promises of sound science are coming

> to fruition. The egregious censorship and

> interference with independent scientific inquiry by

> the Bush administration were explicitly documented

> on a case-by-case basis in a recent report published

> by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The report was

> endorsed by over 60 Nobel prize winners and leading

> scientists.

>

> During the last few weeks, the administration has

> added to this list an unprecedented series of

> declarations that have the potential to even more

> seriously affect public health and safety.

>

> First, they have demanded the power to approve all

> US scientists who sit on World Health Organization

> committees. The WHO is the public health arm of the

> United Nations responsible for coordinating

> responses to epidemics like SARS and eradicating

> diseases such as smallpox. It also makes

> recommendations on environmental and industrial

> threats. The WHO's expert panels have historically

> been made up of the very best scientists chosen on

> the basis of expertise and merit, not political

> ideology.

>

> Second, the U.S. Department of Health and Human

> Services blocked the travel of over 150 US

> scientists to the International AIDS Conference to

> be held in Bangkok next week. Many believe that this

> is because the organizer of the conference refused a

> request by US officials to invite the Rev. Franklin

> Graham, the evangelist Billy Graham's son, as the

> keynote speaker to promote faith-based approaches to

> the global AIDS epidemic.

>

> Third, in the name of sound science, the US

> Department of Agriculture denied the Creekstone

> Farms slaughterhouse in Kansas a request to test all

> of its cattle for mad cow disease. The testing was

> an effort by Creekstone to promote the sale of its

> beef to Japan, where all cattle are routinely

> tested.

>

> The most likely reason for the denial of this

> increased safety precaution is that the government

> fears additional cases of the disease will be found,

> for only a tiny fraction of the 35 million cattle

> slaughtered each year are examined. Indeed, another

> case of the disease was recently identified, but the

> USDA rapidly proclaimed the test to be a false

> positive without giving any details.

>

> This incident brings me to the most frightening

> administration policy of all, which is an attempt by

> the White House Office of Management and Budget to

> gain complete control over the release of all public

> declarations from federal agencies responsible for

> public safety, health and the environment. OMB's

> Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs uses

> the excuse of sound science to justify stripping

> scientists of their traditional authority and adding

> an additional layer of political review for such

> life-threatening scenarios as epidemics, nuclear

> accidents and cases of mad cow disease?

>

> Although this policy has been criticized by every

> scientific organization in the country, the OMB has

> already silenced EPA statements regarding public

> health threats due to arsenic, lead and mercury in

> our environment, rewritten the EPA science on global

> warming and prevented the EPA from declaring a

> public health emergency due to a case of asbestos

> contamination in Montana.

>

> Just as the Bush administration manipulated the

> intelligence on Iraq, it is now trying to change the

> facts of nature to meet their political and

> ideological goals. This distortion of reality is

> going to have long-term consequences for our health,

> safety and the environment.

>

> If you believe that Big Brother is taking care of

> you, you can rest assured that he is doing it in the

> name of sound science.

>

> Schubert is a professor and laboratory head of the

> Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk

> Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla.

> http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4135

>

>

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> WATCH. You can donate online in any one of five

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> your support.

>

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