WEEKLY WATCH number 234

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WEEKLY WATCH number 234
from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

When GM Watch was first launched nearly a decade ago, it was as part of the global campaign of opposition to the imposition of GM crops and food. But as that battle continues to rage we've come to realise that the biotech industry and its supporters have a far bigger agenda than just radically transforming the molecular basis of the world's food supply.

The rows exploding over biofuels and pharma plants bear witness to this, but so too does the rush to introduce food from cloned and genetically engineered animals, not to mention synthetic biology, nano-biotech and other extreme technologies the industry's promoting. And we mustn't forget that many GM proponents also support the cloning and 'genetic enhancement' of human beings.

Like it or not, we're part of a multifaceted battle for the future, and that's why we're delighted to be able to include in this week's Weekly Watch a new section - GENETIC CROSSROADS - from the Center for Genetics and Society. It has summaries of news and comment pieces, linking to the CGS website and to their blog - Biopolitical Times, that sound the alert on many of the critical choices over the governance of these technologies that we all need to face.

Based in Oakland, California, CGS bring not only an unmatched dedication, intelligence and articulacy to their work, but a willingness to reach out to diverse groups in society in order to share and encourage recognition of the need:

Because these issues are of such critical importance to the future of not just the planet but our own humanity, we hope GENETIC CROSSROADS will become a regular part of Weekly Watch.

Claire This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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CONTENTS
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AUSTRALASIA
EUROPE
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
LOBBYWATCH
QUOTES
NEW BOOK
GENETIC CROSSROADS

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AUSTRALASIA
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+ 250 MAJOR COMPANIES BACK GM CROP BAN
250 major food companies are supporting the continuation of the GM moratoria by Australian states. The companies include Goodman Fielder, the biggest user of canola oil in Australia, and the Tatiara Meat Company (TMC), the biggest producer and exporter of Australian lamb. TMC's managing director, Eckard Huebl, says there is a risk it will lose a premium now being paid for Australian lamb.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8473
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8481

+ VICTORIA GOVT TOLD TO SAY NO TO GM CROPS
Campaigners have delivered 15,000 signatures to the Victorian government asking for the GM moratorium to continue.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8473

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EUROPE
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+ THREE MILLION ITALIANS SIGN ANTI-GM PETITION
More than three million Italians have signed a petition against GMOs. The petition was organised by the Italy/Europe GMO-Free coalition, bringing together 32 organisations of farmers, consumers and environmentalists.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8480

+ IRELAND: FOOD MINISTER URGES COLLEAGUES TO DECLARE GM-FREE ZONES
At a meeting of Green Party councillors in Tipperary, the minister of state for food and horticulture, Trevor Sargent, urged his party colleagues to declare their local authorities GM-free zones.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8492

Irish Senators oppose GM farming:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8492

+ MILK, CHEESE, AND PORK ARE BEING INVADED BY GM
Most of our milk, cheese, yoghurt and pork comes from animals raised on GM food, the Soil Association says. A spokesman said: 'This GM stealth invasion of the UK food chain is denying consumers their right to make fully- informed choices.' It is thought more than 70 per cent of dairy cattle and pigs are given GM feed at some point.

According to the Soil Association, four studies by different scientific teams have detected GM DNA in milk and pig and sheep tissues from GM-fed animals (Sharma et al, 2006; Agodi et al, 2006, Mazza et al, 2005; reports by Ralf Einspanier, 20 October and 20 December 2000).
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8491

FOR COPIES OF THE REPORT AND HOW TO *TAKE ACTION* http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8490

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ASIA
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+ STOP GM RICE TRIALS IN INDIA
India is at a critical juncture. Food regulatory authorities there have approved field trials of GM rice. But the economic impacts of last year's US rice contamination scandal show that GM field trials can cause massive economic losses. Global rice traders and marketers could reject GM contaminated rice products from India, costing farmers dearly.

India's Supreme Court has delayed the trials with a number of conditions, but India's Government and regulators are trying to press ahead regardless. It's time to act. TAKE ACTION: India's food regulatory authorities need to receive a blast of messages from around the world - from people in countries which currently import Indian rice - to understand how costly and unwise these GM field trials would be. Please send a message to the food-for-export regulatory authority (APEDA) http://www.email.greenpeace.org/dwzzqah_ufffgap.html?RECIPID=888904

+ INDIA: 1016th FARMER SUICIDE IN VIDARBHA
A progressive farmer owning 22 acres of land became the 1,016th cultivator to commit suicide this year in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, which has become the epicentre of agrarian crisis in the country. Narayan Uggewar is said to have taken out a massive loan to buy Bt cotton to sow on 18 out of 22 acres of his farm. The yield was poor - only 25 quintals as against the 100 that he expected, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti leader Kishor Tiwari said. This follows a frequent pattern amongst Bt cotton growers.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8479

+ RESPONSE TO 'LET BIOTECH CROPS BLOOM'
PV Satheesh, director of the Deccan Development Society, has responded to a pro-GM article by Dr Gurcharan Das in the Times of India called 'Let Biotech Crops Bloom', in which Dr Das accuses environmental activists of 'spreading disinformation and misleading the public'.

EXCERPT from PV Satheesh's response:
Let us get back to Dr Das' argument that Bt technology has proved a miracle in tackling the pest problem on cotton. The major pest on cotton is bollworm... In 2006 Bt cotton farmers in AP spent 41% more than those cotton farmers who were practicing Non Pesticidal Management methods. And what was the yield difference between the two? NPM farmers who had access to good non-Bt hybrids earned Rs. 4500/acre whereas Bt farmers earned Rs. 4408/acre. Thus non-Bt farmers had not only spent 40% less on pesticides but also earned 2% more than Bt farmers in terms of net returns ... This has been a consistent trend over the last five years.

And how has the Bt industry responded to this trend? Almost as if by the wave of a magic wand, the seed industry which formed an undeclared cartel, made non Bt seeds disappear from the market... Consequently whether they are willing or not, farmers are now forced to plant Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8482

Dr Suman Sahai's response to 'Let Biotech Crops Bloom' points out the 'many factual inaccuracies' in the article: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8488

+ THAILAND'S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OPPOSES GM TRIALS
Thailand's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government not to approve open-field trials of GM crops until the biosafety law is in effect. The agency also asked the government to come up with a clear explanation about the extent of GM contamination in the environment from previous GM trials. The agency made its call amid speculation that the cabinet of the military government would soon give the nod to GM field trials.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8474

+ PHILIPPINES NGO ASKS GOVT TO DENY BAYER PETITION ON GM RICE
The Southeast Asia Regional Initiative for Community Empowerment (SEARice) has asked the government to deny an application by Bayer for commercial distribution of its GM rice - Liberty Link Rice 62, because the evaluation process is 'concealed from the public'.

Greenpeace warned of an impending 'economic and ecological disaster' if GM rice became available commercially. Greenpeace said that economic costs associated with the contamination of US rice stocks sold in the global market are 'staggering, with losses expected to exceed $1.2 billion'.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8495

+ PHILIPPINES: FARMERS AND SCIENTISTS DECRY ENTRY OF GM RICE
At a press conference at Quezon City, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) decried the increased entry of GM rice such as LL601 and LL Rice 62 into the country in U.S. rice products and the depletion of traditional rice varieties. The groups presented thousands of signatures of people aiming to protect rice culture. According to Danilo 'Ka Daning' Ramos, secretary general of KMP and APC, 'This is the sorry state of our rice industry now and it is all because of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), an institution which is mainly to blame for the deterioration of our country's rice culture.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8495

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THE AMERICAS
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+ VENTRIA SOWING A STORM WITH GM RICE
Ventria plans to commercialize its rehydration product made from GM pharma rice next year. But controversy around the product is intensifying. Consumer groups say the product is untested and potentially dangerous. The rice and food processing industries worry Ventria's medicine-rice will get mixed up in the food supply, leading to costly recalls.

Dr Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of Concerned Scientists told GM Watch: 'Especially troubling is that Ventria apparently is able to declare that this protein should be classified as a medical food rather than a drug, which would require rigorous safety testing. For example, another company, Agenix, is producing human lactoferrin in yeast in a contained facility for treating cancer, and is going through the typical drug safety-testing route. The actions of Ventria are yet another demonstration of the recklessness of the industry.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8475

+ U.S. FARMERS DEMAND PATENT REFORM
Keith Bolin, president of the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA), has commended the actions of Senators Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee for recently completing action on the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1145).

'Currently farmers are vulnerable to attack from biotech interests that sue family farmers for allegedly infringing on their patent rights due to actions that are often beyond their control,' explained Bolin. 'ACGA urges quick passage of legislation that would help level the playing field for family farmers defending themselves against dubious claims of patent infringement.' Farmers in many cases are sued after their fields are contaminated by pollen that drifts over from a neighboring field, Bolin pointed out.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8487

+ UC BERKELEY OFFICIALLY ENTERS FAUSTIAN DEAL WITH BP
As the San Francisco Bay Area reels from the worst oil spill in living memory, UC Berkeley and oil giant BP secretly signed a $500 million deal despite public criticism and calls for transparency. The contract will create an Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) to do research on GM agrofuels and microbes for enhanced oil and coal production. The final agreement allows BP to conduct secret research in the publicly-funded EBI building, while reaping the benefits of the open research done by university scientists on the project.

EXCERPT from release by the Student Campaign to Stop BP at Berkeley:
BP and Berkeley administrators have referred to this project as 'our generation's moon shot' and compared it to the Manhattan project, the unprecedented large, fast and secret research project that created the Atomic Bomb. Like the Manhattan Project, the EBI is unprecedented in scale, is being initiated at Berkeley, and has been rushed into existence in secrecy. Democracy has no more place in this project than in its predecessor, and the damage it ultimately causes may be just as severe.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8485

+ PENNSYLVANIANS WON'T KNOW ABOUT GM HORMONE-PRODUCED MILK
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has decided that consumers are too dim to make their own shopping decisions. Agriculture officials in Ohio are contemplating a similar decision. As of January 1, Pennsylvania is banning labels on milk and dairy products that say it comes from cows that haven't been treated with GM bovine growth hormone, rBGH or rBST. State officials say the labels are confusing and impossible to verify.

The decision, made by Dennis Wolff, Pennsylvania's agriculture secretary, 'will benefit Monsanto and a bunch of whiny dairy farmers', says an unimpressed article in the New York Times. Wolff himself is a dairy farmer.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8477

+ CLONED FOOD APPROACHING SHELVES
Foods from cloned animals could enter the US food supply by the end of the year, despite calls for further review of the long-term risks of such products. 'Animal cloning is a new technology with potentially severe risks for food safety. Defects in clones are common, and cloning scientists warn that even small imbalances in clones could lead to hidden food safety problems in clones' milk or meat. There are few studies on the risks of food from clones, and no long-term food safety studies have been done,' according to the Center for Food Safety.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8496

+ QUESTIONS OVER BT CORN PERMITS
In July, Maine's Board of Pesticides Control decided to allow the planting of Bt corn in the state for the first time. But the decision did not take into account the recent study by the National Science Foundation showing that toxins from GM corn can get into streams and harm insects that are an essential food for fish, including caddisflies. An editorial in the Maine newspaper, the Morning Sentinel, argues that the Board of Pesticides Control should revoke the Bt corn permits until they can be reconsidered in light of the latest study.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8484

+ BEES NEAR CROPLAND FALL SHORT IN HONEY PRODUCTION
When beekeeper John McDonald published an article about bee colony die-off called 'Could genetically modified crops be killing honeybees?' the response was, he says, 'universally positive from laypeople and beekeepers. Most researchers, however, rejected the idea out of hand.'

In the absence of official research into the problem, McDonald did his own study. Having bought new bees and hives after his own bees died last year, he sited one group of hives near agricultural land and another group near a forest with no agricultural land within foraging distance. He found the farmland hives failed to gain weight. The non-farm hives did gain weight.

When this part of the experiment was terminated in October, McDonald says, 'The farmland bees had not even started to work in the honey supers [where the honey is stored] and will require extensive feeding before winter sets in. The non-farm bee colonies produced, in total, nearly 200 pounds of extra honey in addition to about 150 pounds per hive stored in the overwintering brood supers.' McDonald adds, 'These results should encourage new research to determine what factor or factors are present in farm country to cause such a discrepancy in honey production.' John welcomes comments or questions about the bee problem at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8483

+ GMOs: ARE THEY SAFE?
Earlier this year Monsanto expanded its operations on Molokai, Hawaii, to 1,650 acres. Hawaiian newspaper the Molokai Dispatch has published an interesting debate between supporters and opponents of GM crops, titled, 'Genetically Engineered Organisms, Are They Safe?' You can read the debate at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8486

+ HAWAIIAN KING REJECTS GM
His Majesty Akahi Nui, the King of Hawaii, has proclaimed that genetic engineering is a violation of the ancient Hawaiian laws of living in harmony with nature. The King stated: 'We don't want the purity of our Hawaiian lands polluted with GMO's - there's nothing natural about GMO's. We are supported by many countries which refuse to accept this technology. We feel safety is the best policy for Hawaii.' Other leaders who are taking a strong stand are candidates for the 2008 US Presidency, including Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, Senator Edwards, Senator Dodd, and Governor Richardson. Each candidate has stated that, if elected, they would require mandatory labeling of GM foods in supermarkets.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8492

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ THE EXCOMMUNICATION OF A HERETIC
A perceptive article on the recent hatchet job performed by pro-GM lobbyists on the researcher Irina Ermakova with the connivance of Nature Biotechnology has been published in the German-language Swiss newspaper WOZ. Ermakova, it seems, had to be silenced after she discovered ill effects in rats fed GM soy. The article emphasizes the departure from usual scientific procedure on the part of the journal's editor, Andrew Marshall:
*in allowing Ermakova's work to be subjected to criticisms which were hidden from her until the publication of the article, and to which she therefore could not respond
*in deceiving her as to the nature and content of the article prior to publication
*in allowing scientists unqualified in Ermakova's field to comment on her work.

EXCERPT: The supposed experts who reviewed Ermakova's work hardly had a good word to say about her. And they were so intent upon 'shooting the messenger' that they criticized aspects of her work on which they themselves had no expert knowledge. Marshall himself is forced to admit this. When asked whether the four would be acceptable as referees in a peer-review process, he replies evasively that for 'some aspects' they might be included. But in practical questions about feeding studies or regarding animal physiology and toxicology all four referees should have had professional expertise. They had sought additional expertise, says Marshall. One can imagine where. Because the four men are not impartial or unknown. They are all well known as GM advocates, with a variety of relationships with industry.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8470

+ SEEDING MONSANTO ON THE WEB
James Wachai, author of the pro-GM GMO Africa Blog, has been accused of seeding links to his blog and to Monsanto on the public news site newsvine - a violation of the site's policy. We at GM Watch have no idea what the precise relationship is, if any, between James Wachai and Monsanto, but this latest development is interesting in the context of understanding how pro-GM lobbying is currently played out on the net.

In the past, making their case beyond Monsanto's own websites and listservs was via a few apparently 'independent' websites and, in particular, two big subscription listservs: Doug Powell's Agnet and CS Prakash/CEI's AgBioView.

But these days AgBioView is kept mostly on the leash - after the debacle over its tie-up with Monsanto and the company's internet PR firm Bivings. Instead opinion pieces and attacks are pumped out via a proliferation of blogs by pro-GM lobbyists (e.g. James Wachai's GMOAfrica, Shane Morris's GMOIreland, David Tribe's GMOPundit, CS Prakash's GMOfoodforthought), plus websites. Monsanto itself churns out film clips of GM proponents from all around the world making their pitch, which are then not just openly pushed by Monsanto but 'independently' posted onto youtube.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8478

+ GM THE ONLY WAY OF SOLVING DIETARY SHORTCOMINGS!
Genetic engineering is 'the sole practical means' of getting more critical omega-3 fatty acids found chiefly in oily fish into the food chain without damaging fragile fish stocks, according to scientists based at Rothamsted research station. The claim appeared in an article by pro-GM science editor Mark Henderson in the UK's Times newspaper.

This is a typical piece of mendacious hype from the GM lobby. The omega-3 fatty acids mentioned in the article, EPA and DHA, do occur in oily fish, as noted in the article. But the article doesn't mention that they also occur in seaweed, which is already part of some countries' diet, and that they can be, and are, made in the human body from omega-3 and -6 'parent' fatty acids, which are available from many other sources, including nuts and seeds.

This particular project was funded by the European Union - see the LIPGENE project website for more details: http://www.ucd.ie/lipgene/ We understand that the overall funding for the project as a whole was in excess of 10M. euros. That money could easily have been spent on less risky and more practical projects to improve human nutrition that would be far more likely to win public acceptance.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8489

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QUOTES
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+ IS GM MORALLY ACCEPTABLE?
'The entire concept [of genetic engineering] nurtures the pride and arrogance of human nature. Scripturally speaking, man becomes like the Great Deceiver who said, 'Ye shall be as gods' (Genesis 3:5 ).' - Pastor Raymond Davis Jr., Greater Corinthian Church of the Christ

'Today, we shall truly ''eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil'' (Genesis 1.17), for two teams of scientists... have come together to announce the decoding of the alphabet of human life. And ''we shall be as gods'.' - GM enthusiast, Prof Philip Stott (on the human genome project)

'...genetics - and biotech more broadly - has all the social power of a belief system or surrogate religion' - Leigh Turner, Biomedical Ethics Unit, Department of Social Studies of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8494

+ MORE NOTABLE QUOTES ON GM
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8476

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NEW BOOK
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+ GOOD CROP / BAD CROP - SEED POLITICS IN CANADA
In his new book, Good Crop / Bad Crop, Devlin Kuyek of the biodiversity organisation GRAIN examines the economic and environmental background of the modern seed trade from a Canadian perspective. Historically, seeds were viewed more as public goods than as commodities, and plant breeding objectives were widely shared by scientists, governments, and farmers. Now that approach is changing; seeds have become commodified, and plant breeding has become subject to corporate priorities. Farmers and citizens in Canada, Kuyek points out, need to heed the hard-won lessons from the developing world, where farmers greatly damaged by the much-heralded approaches of the Green Revolution are now taking steps to reclaim control over seed supplies, food security, and their futures.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8493

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GENETIC CROSSROADS
Center for Genetics and Society
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+ SCIENTISTS REPORT CLONING MONKEY EMBRYOS
A U.S. research facility has reported the ability to create cloned embryos from adult monkeys, raising the prospects of both cloned human embryos and cloned human beings.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3763

 

+ NANO-PARTICLES IN SUNSCREEN: DON'T GET BURNED
by Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical Times
Some sunscreens currently on drugstore shelves contain nano-particles. But you'd never know, because they're not labeled. And no government agency has reviewed them to see whether they're safe.http://biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=3757

 

+ CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AT THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES' COMMITTEE ON CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
by Jesse Reynolds, Biopolitical Times
The Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization closely affiliated with the US government, has established a panel of experts to create guidelines for managing conflicts of interest in all aspects of medicine. When it turned out that a number had their own conflicts of interest, the IOM gave them waivers.
http://biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=3754

+ SATIRE MAVEN MEETS SYNTH BIO KING
by Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical Times
Celebrity scientist-entrepreneur Craig Venter appeared this week on The Colbert Report to explain that his company is creating synthetic life to solve the energy crisis and save the world - and to plug his new autobiography.
http://biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=3749

[includes the comment to Venter: 'Oh, you're only patenting creating life, that's all? Is the government controlling you at all?']

+ WILL GENETIC ENGINEERING SAVE US FROM OURSELVES?
Osagie Obasogie, Biopolitical Times
Japanese researchers have used genetic engineering to produce mice with altered olfactory senses, obscuring their ability to pick up on cat odors that instinctively suggest danger. Some journalists and researchers are speculating that humans are similarly hardwired for group-based conflict.
http://biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=3769

+ MONKEY CLONING RAISES TROUBLING QUESTIONS UNCONNECTED TO THE STATUS OF EMBRYOS
Legislation is needed to prohibit reproductive cloning and reduce risks to women who provide eggs. [press statement]
http://geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3770