The PR machine for genetically modified foods scored a big one in Slate. The case is artfully made in favor of frankenfoods: it produces less green house gases to have genetically modified cows, nitrogen is poisoning the soil if specially-tailored franken-vegetables are not created to use less nitrogen, and we have been using "hit or miss" breeding for centuries in developing the livestock we have now.
I have an idea. Let's use the methane gas produced by grass-fed cows to create electricity. Let's rotate crops to mitigate the gathering of nitrogen in soil. Let's allow nature to create animals in her own way instead of adding cucumber genes to chickens to get them to be more convenient to us.
What's interesting about the article, linked to the title of this post, is that it represents the PR efforts of Big Agribusiness to persuade the public that their weird combination of genes is just fine - and to stem the support of environmentalists for natural foods by dragging climate change into the debate. They are trying to sow divisions in the Green movement.
Reporters are lazy. If you hand them a press release with research that they can just reword, often they will use it. I'm not saying that's what happened here, I'm just saying that someone paid a lot of money to try to get this message into the mainstream media.
Antibiotics, Bacon, Biotech Agriculture, Center For Food Safety, Dna, Eating Matters, Fda, Food Matters, Genetically Modified Food, GM Foods, Green Living, Health, Hormone Treated Meat, Los Angeles Times, Nutrition, Salmon, Vegan, Vegetarian, Green News, Frankenfood, public relations, food, natural, organic, health, healthy
Showing posts with label DNA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DNA. Show all posts
8.05.2008
Bruce Ivins: Sorority stalker! Anthrax killer!
Now reports are coming out that Bruce Ivins, the scientist driven to suicide by an impending arrest as the Anthrax killer, was obsessed with a sorority.
Way to go, FBI leakers, way to go. And shame on the media for going along with it, once again.
So it isn't enough to harass the wrong scientist for years. It isn't enough to try to ruin his life through leaks in the investigation. Once his innocence is shown and actual damages are needing to be paid, the F.B.I. then does the same routine with another scientist.
It is interesting to note the evolution of the leaks. Right off the bat, the FBI knew they had pushed the guy too far. So they let loose with his alleged homicidal plans. But let's face it, there isn't real evidence to connect Bruce Ivins to the Anthrax killings, so the next piece of evidence to emerge was the DNA connection.
Funny thing about DNA. It's everywhere. DNA from your coworkers is all over your house. The presence of DNA in itself doesn't prove anything unless there is no other way for it to be there except that the person committed the crime. The FBI knows that. Most people don't.
And in leaking little tidbits to the media about DNA, the FBI is trying to justify its actions in harassing a man to death.
The latest salvo in the "Slaughter Ivins" campaign is to paint him as a weird sorority stalker. Again, there is no evidence. But who cares? The media is eating this up just like they did with the first innocent scientist.
Where is press responsibility in all this? It is not their role to eat up whatever is given them and spit it out at well-timed intervals. Reporters are supposed to ask questions and challenge assumptions. Why aren't they now?
There is NO EVIDENCE linking Bruce Ivins to being in Princeton the day those Anthrax letters were mailed. NONE. Let's not forget that while you are pounding the drums for yet another potentially innocent man.
Way to go, FBI leakers, way to go. And shame on the media for going along with it, once again.
So it isn't enough to harass the wrong scientist for years. It isn't enough to try to ruin his life through leaks in the investigation. Once his innocence is shown and actual damages are needing to be paid, the F.B.I. then does the same routine with another scientist.
It is interesting to note the evolution of the leaks. Right off the bat, the FBI knew they had pushed the guy too far. So they let loose with his alleged homicidal plans. But let's face it, there isn't real evidence to connect Bruce Ivins to the Anthrax killings, so the next piece of evidence to emerge was the DNA connection.
Funny thing about DNA. It's everywhere. DNA from your coworkers is all over your house. The presence of DNA in itself doesn't prove anything unless there is no other way for it to be there except that the person committed the crime. The FBI knows that. Most people don't.
And in leaking little tidbits to the media about DNA, the FBI is trying to justify its actions in harassing a man to death.
The latest salvo in the "Slaughter Ivins" campaign is to paint him as a weird sorority stalker. Again, there is no evidence. But who cares? The media is eating this up just like they did with the first innocent scientist.
Where is press responsibility in all this? It is not their role to eat up whatever is given them and spit it out at well-timed intervals. Reporters are supposed to ask questions and challenge assumptions. Why aren't they now?
There is NO EVIDENCE linking Bruce Ivins to being in Princeton the day those Anthrax letters were mailed. NONE. Let's not forget that while you are pounding the drums for yet another potentially innocent man.
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