Anti-GMO hysterics...

[Archae]

Last edited Thu Sep 3, 2015, 09:15 PM - Edit history (1)

It's not just this guy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027135050

There is a guy named Jeffrey Smith, who is an anti-GMO hysteric.

How stupid is he?

http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2014/09/1157-jeffery-smith.html

He even got chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall to write glowing reviews of his absolute stupidity.

Smith himself has *NO* background in science, in fact he got a business degree from the Maharishi "university."
A "college" with no accreditation at all.

Anti-GMO people have no credibility, no sense of decency, and no class.

[immoderate]

1. Does wanting food labeled make me all those things?

Flattery?

--imm

[mythology]

18. All food has been genetically modified,

even the organic produce purchased at a farmer's market.

If what you want is food labeled as GMO that has been modified in a lab, explain how that is substantively different from food that has been modified in the field (whether by intentional human intervention or by random chance of nature).

The milk you get from a cow, is from a cow that was selectively bred over decades or more from a wild ancestor to the modern day milk cow. By definition, that is a genetically modified food. And other than people who are lactose intolerant, there isn't a mass health hazard from that.

Should food be tested for safety? Absolutely, that is one of the things the FDA is there for. But there also needs to be a better understanding of exactly what GMO means and what people who are calling for labeling or banning mean when they say that. If we blanket ban or even label all food that is genetically modified, then the label or banning applies to everything and is thus meaningless.

[immoderate]

19. Selective breeding, hybridizing, is not the same as foreign gene implantation.

I also don't think that corporations are people, or that money is speech.

Here is some pertinent reading:
Text of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
http://bch.cbd.int/protocol/text/


--imm

[mcranor]

2. Is this hysteria? "EPA Raises Alarm.."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112790641

Just wondering where you're coming from. Do think GMO's are in the least bit problematic?

[HuckleB]

4. The way that piece frames the issue is hysteria, yes.

First of all, it pretends that this is new news, though the links it uses are months and more older. (And the story is much older.) Then it tries to tie several unrelated issues into one big attack on GMOs, generally. Such tactics indicate that's not a page to be trusted.

This is a much more reasoned explanation: http://grist.org/food/bt-resistance-is-futile-whats-all-this-about-a-gmo-eating-bug/

And here is what the EPA is actually doing on this issue:
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides/pips/corn-rootworm.htm

[HuckleB]

3. Senator McCaskill Stands Up For Science

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/higher_education/anti-gmo-movement-ag-research-funding-strike-nerve-with-mccaskill/article_55bebc84-50d2-11e5-b288-470b14909303.html

[Art_from_Ark]

23. Monsanto's headquarters are in McCaskill's home state

She's not "standing up for science" as much as she's "standing up for a local corporation".

[HuckleB]

24. So let's see the consensus of peer-reviewed science that opposes her stance.

Thanks.

PS:

Can you name a safety risk associated with genetic engineering that could not also be applied to other plant breeding methods?

[brentspeak]

5. Pro-Monsanto apologetics

Get paid to shill.

[LostOne4Ever]

7. #shillproblems

[HuckleB]

8. +1,000,000 ... 000

[LostOne4Ever]

9. Another #shillproblems

[HuckleB]

11. Awesome! Have you seen the Dihydrogen Monoxide fallout at Millions Against Monsanto Calgary?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/March-Against-Monsanto-Calgary/160604977445164

The original repost of the parody meme is a few posts down, but the guy who runs the page posted a silly bit this morning, too.

It's rich.

[LostOne4Ever]

12. Not only have a seen it, I am following the Dihydrogen Monoxide Awareness page!

https://www.facebook.com/h2oawareness?fref=ts



[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!!!

[font color=crimson size=7 face=papyrus]Not Even Once~![/font][/font]

[HuckleB]

15. I love that page.

[HuckleB]

6. Anti-GMOer use of the SHILL GAMBIT tends to show your last sentence as being rather accurate.

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/logical-fallacies/shill-gambit-logical-fallacies/

[Archae]

10. To those who call me a "Monsanto Shill..."

Take your wild accusation that has nothing to back it up, and shove it back up where you got it.

You know exactly where.

"Organic" is a scam.

[SidDithers]

13. DU rec...

And somehow, the BFEE is behind it all. I'm sure.

Sid

[HuckleB]

14. Why ‘GMO-free’ is a marketing ploy you shouldn’t fall for

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/09/02/why-gmo-free-is-a-marketing-ploy-you-shouldnt-fall-for/

[progressoid]

16. Maybe Transcendental Meditation makes the corn grow better!

[HuckleB]

17. That will be the replacement for the organic label, come the 2020s!

Shhhhhhhh.

[Marrah_G]

20. I would like to know what I am eating

I am not talking about selective breeding. I am talking about adding DNA, especially non-plant DNA, viruses or bacteria that would never have happened in the natural world.

I want to be an informed consumer so I can make choices about what I eat. I also want the choice to not support GMO crops that I feel harm our future crops, our soil, other plants or animals or our water systems.

[HuckleB]

21. Do you know all the plant breeding technologies, and how they work?

If so, please explain them to us. Thank you.

Also, can you name a safety risk associated with genetic engineering that could not also be applied to other plant breeding methods?

[former9thward]

22. The war on science never ends.

Even among progressives. The majority of whom never took a science class in college --if they went.

[Art_from_Ark]

25. Oh, for crying out loud

The vast majority of arts and sciences students in state universities HAVE to take science classes to fulfill their degree requirements. Hell, I had 15 hours of 5 different science courses in my undergraduate studies, and more as a graduate student. My work currently involves a lot of science, in one of the world's premier science cities. I have seen good sides and bad sides of science, and am under no illusion that all scientific discoveries are beneficial.

[former9thward]

27. Well I agree that not all scientific discoveries are beneficial.

For example scientists have invented drugs for almost every problem, real or imagined, and have gotten people hooked on them. That is one reason our health care costs are obscene but I guess this is for another thread.

[HuckleB]

28. They're usually not taught how the actual scientific process works.

Thus, we get people pushing single, small, cherry picked studies that match their preconceptions, and often those studies have been shown to be off base, while ignoring a vast swath of studies that show things as different than their preconceptions.

[hunter]

26. NRaleighLiberal did a pretty good job in the thread you linked to.

GMO GOOD! vs. GMO BAD! is a silly way to look at this.

Anyone who thinks all GMO agricultural products are wonderful isn't thinking like a scientist.

Modern industrial agriculture is often a nasty business and some sorts of GMO do not make this world a better place.