Ag._columnist_whose_brain_exploded,_and_other_bad_things

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Ag._columnist_whose_brain_exploded,_and_other_bad_things

> " GM_WATCH " <info

 

> Tue, 7 Sep 2004 22:55:39 +0100

 

>

> GM WATCh daily

> http://www.gmwatch.org

> ---

> Some recent excerpts from the enjoyable Bad Things

> blog: http://badthings.blogspot.com/

>

> EXCERPT FROM THE EXCERPTS: 'Harry Cline, an ag.

> columnist whose brain exploded when confronted with

> the idea that biotech wasn't necessarily the best

> thing ever, gets excited -- six-pack of Viagra

> excited -- when the OCA calls him a " biotech bully. "

> His only response is to call them socialists. And

> " out-of-staters. " Agribusiness: it's the new

> red-baiting! [Western Farm Press]'

> ---

> Monday, August 02, 2004

>

> The external review of the

> Berkeley-Syngenta/Novartis agreement concludes that

> it was a bad idea... Also, acccording to the Daily

> Cal, Ignacio Chapela's tenure review was " highly

> irregular. " No kidding.

> http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=15730

>

> Tuesday, August 03, 2004

>

> NEWSFLASH: gene expression is complicated

> Carlborg and Haley, " Epistasis: Too often Neglected

> in Complex Trait Studies? " Nature Reviews Genetics 5

> (2004), 618-625. Abstract:

>

> ...Epistasis is a fancy way of saying that multiple

> genes affect individual traits. I would argue that

> it is in part an intuitive grasp of this fact that

> makes people uncomfortable with the currently rather

> crude techniques of genetic engineering. There's

> more going on in the genome than 1 gene = 1 trait,

> and throwing foreign DNA at it and hoping something

> sticks (the fancy word for that is " microprojectile

> bombardment " ) seems like a good way to fuck up

> something more complicated than you understand. I'm

> just saying.

>

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/Dynapage.taf?file=/nrg/journal/v5/n8/abs/nrg1407_f\

s.html

>

> the farming news

>

> Alan Guebert takes John Cassidy's New Yorker article

> on free trade and applies the factor-price

> equalization theorem to the WTO ag. subsidy

> negotiations:

>

> This is important, because--all things being

> equal--in a world of conflicting trade, " trade

> between them (in this case, Brazil and the US) will

> reduce wages in the high-paying country and increase

> wages in the low-paying country until, eventually,

> workers in both places end up making the same

> amount. "

>

> By the way, the going rate for a skilled Brazilian

> farm laborer is $6 a day. In China, it�s $1.75 a

> day. In India, it�s $1 a day.

> [by the way, the average U.S. farmworker wage is

> currently $8.58/hr., so I guess we don't have much

> to fear from Brazil.]

>

> Then he talks to a friend with Roundup-Ready corn

> volunteers in his soybean field. The only problem is

> he never planted Roundup-Ready corn. Guebert

> consistently produces the most interesting thing you

> can can read about farming in America.

>

> On the other hand, there's poor Harry Cline, a

> columnist for Western Farm Press, who freaks out

> when confronted with a (slightly wacky, stupidly ad

> hom.) e-mailer who doubts the march of corporate

> biotech progress. Watch the carnage as worlds

> collide!

>

> Wednesday, August 11, 2004

>

> towel thrown

>

> Sorry everyone, I kind of shot my wad on the wheat

> genome this morning: still, I would like to point

> out: the death of Roxanne's and impending doom in

> Bordeaux.

>

> I also wanted to point out this news item [Honolulu

> Advertiser]:

>

> After weighing the arguments, U.S. District Judge

> David Ezra ordered the U.S. Department of

> Agriculture to identify where four companies have

> received permits for open-field testing of

> pharmaceutical crops in Hawai'i and to reveal the

> locations to the environmental watchdog group

> Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety, a

> nonprofit that challenges food production

> technologies.

>

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Aug/05/ln/ln07a.html

>

> Plus, more Chapela tenure-battle details from

> Nature:

>

> As the senate continues its inquiry, Chapela is

> hoping for a second tenure review. He has also filed

> two claims that may precede a lawsuit. In April, he

> accused the university of discrimination, saying

> that he was denied tenure because he is Hispanic.

> Early last month, he claimed he was victimized by

> the university for speaking out against the Syngenta

> deal.

>

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v430/n7000/full/\

430598a_fs.html

>

> Monday, August 30, 2004

>

> in the news

>

> Birth of the Chez Panisse curriculum [Chron]; more

> competition for Monsanto [st. L. P.-D.];

>

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/Business/story/84AE92C6C7D\

4562586256EFD0038D79E?OpenDocument & Headline=Monsanto's+rivals+want+a+bigger+piec\

e+of+biotech+crop+pie & highlight=2%2CRACHEL%2CMELCER

>

> Harry Cline, an ag. columnist whose brain exploded

> when confronted with the idea that biotech wasn't

> necessarily the best thing ever, gets excited --

> six-pack of Viagra excited -- when the OCA calls him

> a " biotech bully. " His only response is to call them

> socialists. And " out-of-staters. " Agribusiness: it's

> the new red-baiting! [Western Farm Press]

>

http://westernfarmpress.com/news/8-27-04-column-new-bully/

>

>