Laugh of the Day - Monsanto on the French maize decontamination, ""This unspeakable act of criminality..."
1. Munlochy GM Planting STOPPED (for tonight!!) - PLEASE HELP
2. French GM crop foes destroy maize at Monsanto site
3. Greenpeace In Doll Demo Over [Novartis] GM Baby Food 4. NZ: Celebrities to lead anti-GM march in Auckland on September 1
5. Hong Kong: Protesters in court over Nestle blockade
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1. Munlochy GM Planting STOPPED (for tonight!!) - PLEASE HELP
Dear All
At 12 noon today Jan, Nancy and myself went along to Munlochy [in the Black Isle in the Highlands of Scotland] to look at the site of the new GM crop trial. As far as we were aware, the new GM crop had not yet been planted. As we were standing looking at the (huge!) field a tractor appeared with drilling equipment and went on to the field. We didn't want to believe that the GM oilseed rape was being planted in front of our very eyes! We spoke to the driver, who assured us that he was only fertilising the field.
An observer phoned the media - the press started arriving, and the police. More supporters began arriving. We watched the tractor go up and down the field. It became apparent that it was the GM crop that was being planted. At about 6pm we could stand there no longer and went out on to the field in front of the tractor. There must have been about 12 of us. The tractor stopped and after many hours of us standing in front of it, chatting to the police and the media, the driver announced to the police just after 9:30pm that he was going home for the night. The police promised us that he would not return tonight.
YES! We stopped that crop being planted tonight! BUT we need more help! We are not asking you to walk on to the field (if you don't want to!) we are just asking you to come along and show support (and maybe bring a flask of coffee/some food or blankets!). Please support us, even if you just come for an hour. We aim to have a 24 hour presence and we can only do it WITH YOUR HELP!
Look forward to seeing you!
Pam
Directions to field: Going north on the A9 from Inverness, take the first turning for Munlochy; go through the village; at the crossroads go straight on (it's a staggered crossroads so it's a right and first left); the field is approx 1 mile along this single track road on the left; there is a layby on the right - you will see supporters' cars and possibly our caravan HQ!!
[CHECK OUT THE HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS EXCELLENT GM CONCERN WEBSITE: http://www.gmconcern.freeserve.co.uk/]
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2. French GM crop foes destroy maize at Monsanto site
Wednesday August 22, 12:43 PM EDT
BEAUCAIRE, France, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Around 150 activists destroyed genetically modified (GM) maize plants on Wednesday at a test site run by Monsanto Co (MON) in France, drawing condemnation from the U.S. biotechnology giant. The activists, including members of the left-wing Confederation Paysanne farm union, tore up bio-engineered maize being grown on around 800 square metres in the southern French town of Beaucaire, government authorities in Nimes said.
Monsanto France denounced the destruction of its experimental crop, noting that the French farm ministry had approved the test. "This unspeakable act of criminality undermines the freedom of research that is conducted, paradoxically, with the specific goal of answering legitimate questions posed by scientists and civil society about GM organisms," Monsanto said in a statement.
The company also urged authorities to increase security around GM crop tests and to take steps to uphold the law.
The French minister in charge of research, Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg, issued a more subdued criticism of GM crop destruction, saying it was not a "progressive" approach. "We do not want violence but rather a civil debate on GM organisms. In a democracy, one can make oneself heard... without relying on force," Schwartzenberg said in a statement.
It was at least the fourth incident of GM crop destruction in France since late June, when the farm ministry was forced to publish the list of districts where genetically engineered plants were being tested.
Jose Bove, the fiery founder of the Confederation Paysanne, demanded a complete ban on GM crops in France earlier this month and threatened to begin uprooting test fields across the country if the government did not outlaw the controversial crops.
Monsanto condemned Bove's threat as a "veritable incitement to unlawfulness and violence".
In March, a French court gave Bove a 10-month suspended jail sentence and two years' probation for destroying GM rice plants at a research institute in June 1999. Two months earlier, Bove and other anti-globalisation activists helped uproot some three hectares of GM soybeans at an experimental farm in Brazil operated by Monsanto.
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3. Greenpeace In Doll Demo Over GM Baby Food Claim
Greenpeace activists have blocked the HQ of a Swiss-based food manufacturer with hundreds of baby puppets. Greenpeace says it found between 34 and 66% of soya in Gerber/Novartis baby food products sold in the Philippines was genetically modified. The company says its baby food is GM free and that it will investigate the claims.
The baby puppets blocked the entrance to the company's HQ in Basel. The puppets held signs saying, 'Novartis/Gerber, keep your promise!' and 'Novartis/Gerber, stop genetically modified Baby food!'. "We demand an immediate stop to Novartis' double standards policy," Bruno Heinzer of Greenpeace Switzerland said in front of the Novartis building. A Novartis spokesman told Ananova: "Our policy is that we don't actively source GM products for this food." He added the company will investigate, saying: "We will have to check and verify to see if these claims are correct." He also said: "We must also stress this is not a safety issue. We stand firmly behind the safety of the product." Greenpeace say they tested three baby food products at the Hong Kong laboratory, DNA Chips.
*See this story on the web
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_379960.html
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4. GM rally spurred by death of sister
Sat 18 Aug 2001
NZ Herald
A group of New Zealand celebrities, organised by former international pop star Alannah Currie, is trying to mobilise protest against the royal commission report on genetic modification. Ms Currie, a member of the 1980s British band the Thompson Twins, said she became interested in issues surrounding food technology, and later in submissions presented to the commission, after her sister died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Auckland last year.
She said she felt powerless following the release of the report, which paved the way for the controlled release of genetically modified organisms. "We felt as though we were being steamrolled into having something that we didn't want to have in New Zealand.
"We don't mind GE being in labs but we think it should be kept out of the foodchain, because otherwise we have no choice."
Over the past few days, she has assembled an ever-increasing collection of New Zealand entertainers, including Bic Runga, Rena Owen, Rachel Hunter, Dave Dobbyn, Stella, Mikey Havoc and Newsboy, cast members of Shortland Street, and a group of doctors and scientists.
This weekend, they will pose for photographs wearing T-shirts designed for the event by Karen Walker, Marilyn Sainty, Zambesi and World to raise support for an anti-GM march in Auckland on September 1. On Monday, the group is to unveil a billboard outside her Ponsonby home.
Ms Currie said she had been a member of Greenpeace for 20 years, but had not been politically active since she arrived in New Zealand, opting instead for a "fairly reclusive" life. But the protest, one of many under way around the country, was an effort by concerned citizens like herself wanting to be heard on the issue, she said. "It's about having a say. We feel that the Government's not listening to us."
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5. Noise drowned police arrest warning, court told
Angel Lau
South China Morning Post August 17, 2001
[case now concluded, demonstrators fined]
Noise drowned out an arrest warning to two Greenpeace activists protesting against genetically modified food outside a dairy products company, a court heard yesterday. The pair went on trial yesterday in what Greenpeace says is the first such prosecution against its protesters in Hong Kong. Fung Ka-keung, 22, had chained himself underneath a van hired by the environmental group, which was parked outside the rear exit of Nestle Dairy Farm's factory in Yuen Long on May 28. Co-accused Fung Kai-yuen, also 22, had chained himself to the front of the van with his back to the road, the court heard. Fung Ka-keung told the court he did not hear Superintendent Lam Chark-sang's warning at 1.45pm because of noise, but he did hear the officer later telling him he was under arrest. "I was lying face down with my head on the ground. I couldn't see anything and it was rather noisy in the background. I was not aware if anyone was speaking," he said. The two Chinese University students deny obstructing Superintendent Lam in the execution of his duty, and obstruction causing nuisance in a public place.
"I was aware that whatever form of protest we took, someone could be obstructed in some way," Fung Ka-keung told Tuen Mun Court. He said that at no time during the eight-hour protest did he see or hear anyone from the police or Nestle ask him to leave. The accused had chained themselves to the van at 6am at the start of the protest.
They were among 11 Greenpeace activists in the marathon demonstration against what Fung Ka-keung told the court was Nestle's change of heart on a pledge to phase out genetically modified ingredients. The others had formed a human chain at the front exit. Earlier yesterday, Superintendent Lam told the court he had warned the accused to unchain themselves and leave or be arrested. Nestle's operations manager, Choy Wai-ban, told how he could not get into the factory through either entrance because of the protest. The trial continues before Magistrate Tam Hop-hon.