Geneticall Modified Food - what do you think?

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:25 pm

Tora wrote:
As long as there are regulatory processes in place and the people making the decision are SCIENTISTS not POLITICIANS then I have absolutely no problem with GM.

So, in your (GM?) mind, all scientists are good, moral people, i.e., normal human beings - and all politicians are bad? I am neither a scientist nor a politician, but I have enough humanity in me to know that that crazy woman scientist (on the Ch4 prog) was a clone, par exellence! I wonder what lab she was "created" in

The fact is: we elect people (politicians) to represent our needs as human beings, and in a democracy, it is the largest section of the populace that gets to decide how our society (shared community) functions. If our democratically-elected politicians ignore the wishes of the people and instead let mad/bad profiteering scientists do what they like with our natural resources just to generate monetary profit for themselves, then we had better start changing our voting habits, and ditch this illusion of democracy for real democracy!

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:36 pm

CitizenPaine wrote: I'm with Tora there. The level of hype attached to GM, generated by people who have no idea what is involved scientifically, is enormous.

One doesn't have to be a scientist to know the harm that Genetically Modified food does to the human body, never mind what harm it does to the planet. Its a long story and I'm not going to bore you with it now, but I know (from personal experience) the damage that GM food does to the human body. NB: its one thing to interact with Nature - its quite another thing to meddle with Nature. The two are very different things entirely.

Sorry, CP, if I come across as lecturing you, but I take it you don't have children? If you did, you would have some idea of what I'm talking about - unless you're one of those parents who are so cloned you are bereft of human feelings?

Neesik · Post by **Neesik** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:50 pm

Martha, you are one feisty wuman

Please, don't ever change.

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:34 am

tony wrote:The patenting of GM crops is what i'd be weary about, where farmers in the third world cannot reuse seeds each year.

See this link. http://www.organicconsumers.org/article ... e_1030.cfm

That worries me too, but what worries me even more is that GM foods are virtually mainstream (normal) now in Irish supermarkets, unbeknownst to the general public!!!

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:36 am

Neesik wrote:Martha, you are one feisty wuman Please, don't ever change.

I won't, believe me, I won't ever let the GM clones clone ME!

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:10 am

tony wrote:The patenting of GM crops is what i'd be weary about, where farmers in the third world cannot reuse seeds each year.

And what about organic farmers in the so-called developed world? We are also affected by this GM psychosis!

brianmmulligan · Post by **brianmmulligan** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:48 am

tony wrote:The patenting of GM crops is what i'd be weary about, where farmers in the third world cannot reuse seeds each year.

See this link. http://www.organicconsumers.org/article ... e_1030.cfm

This has been true of many seed varieties traditionally developed. Most potato farmers in Ireland repurchase their seed potatoes every year. I could argue that a farmer has the option to stick to what they were already doing. You might argue that this would make them uncompetitive, to which I would respond - of course, that indicates that the new seeds are more efficient.

But then, the environmentalist would shift the argument to the potential for damage. When you get the data come back to me. "Data is not the plural of anecdote".

Sometimes I think that environmentalism is not a 'movement' but a 'style'. I was a teenager in the seventies and I played folk music with some musicians that were much better than me. The musicians were fine (mostly), but the hangers on were all left wing, environmentalist, alternative medicine, long hair (as I had myself) and all argument wes done with the answer already known (as opposed to having an open mind). No time for evidence and logic. Wall to wall cliches. I'm afraid that as a result of all that, I just can't take these people seriously anymore. Sorry.

brianmmulligan · Post by **brianmmulligan** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:51 am

Martha wrote:
Sorry, CP, if I come across as lecturing you, but I take it you don't have children? If you did, you would have some idea of what I'm talking about - unless you're one of those parents who are so cloned you are bereft of human feelings?

I am a parent. I have no human feelings. I was cloned from my brother when he was two years old. They forgot the human feeling genes in the cloning process.

brianmmulligan · Post by **brianmmulligan** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:53 am

Martha wrote:
brianmmulligan wrote:I have no objection to people making a profit if they provide a useful service.
Useful for who, exactly?

For anyone. If something is useful for anyone it is useful. If it useful for a lot of people then they might make a profit out of it. If people want it. Let them provide it. Is this a complicated idea?

brianmmulligan · Post by **brianmmulligan** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:55 am

Martha wrote:
brianmulligan wrote:No doubt the developers want to make a profit but that does not mean that they want to do harm. In fact they are more likely to make a profit if they do more good than harm.
Just like the Catholic Church, eh? All they ever want to do (so they claim) is "save our souls" (from who or what, I ask, them?) But all they've ever actually done is to make themselves very, very, very rich - to say nothing of the wake of human destruction they have left in their trail, and continue to do so.

Martha, you've totally lost me here. Is this a rational point you are trying to make? Remember we already know you do not like the catholic church.