March 2001:               suggested link The Quiet Campaign for Genetically Engineered Humans A new report from the Spring 2001 Journal of the  Earth Island Institute "There is little public awareness of the full implications of the new human genetic engineering (HGE) technologies or of the campaign to promote them."

About Earth Island Institute
http://www.earthisland.org

"Earth Island Institute is a nonprofit conservation and education organization,
founded by David R. Brower in 1982. Among the many projects around the
world sponsored by Earth Island is the Brower Project, housing Brower's
papers and mementos of his many environmental campaigns, and Brower Youth
Awards, given to young people who conserve, protect, and restore the Earth.

David R. Brower Dies at 88
[November 6, 2000]

"All I have been able to do in my career is
to slow the rate at which things get worse."

"Brower's career ranged from climbing some of the Sierra's most formidable
peaks, to successfully fighting to stop dams in Dinosaur National Monument
and in Grand Canyon National Park, to leading environmentalists to re-think
support of nuclear power, to being the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club
and going on to found Friends of the Earth. [...]

Among his other accomplishments, he led campaigns to establish nine new
national parks and seashores including Point Reyes, the North Cascades, and
the Redwoods, and helped gain passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which
protects millions of acres of public lands in pristine condition. He created the
genre of "exhibit format" books of exquisite outdoor photography, always tied
to a conservation theme, and pioneered the practice of running full-page environ-
mental campaign advertisements in newspapers. Many consider him the founder
of the modern environmental movement, alongside John Muir and Rachel Carson."



Recommended links to the Spring 2001 Journal:
Vol. 16, No. 1

The Hidden Fallout of Mad Cow Disease
Deadly mountains of toxic meat

"UK - After failing to acknowledge the spread of "mad cow disease"
until scores of British beef-eaters had died of Creuztfeldt-Jacob Disease
(CJD, the transmitted human variant of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
or BSE), British officials belatedly ordered the mass slaughter of 4.7 million
cattle. British cattle were exposed to BSE when they were fed bonemeal made
from the ground-up carcasses of infected livestock. To date, 85 Britons have
died from the incurable brain-eating disease."

The Quiet Campaign for Genetically
Engineered Humans
by Richard Hayes

"We are fast approaching the most consequential technological threshold
in all of human history: the ability to directly manipulate the genes we pass
on to our children. [...] There is little public awareness of the full implications
of the new human genetic engineering (HGE) technologies or of the campaign
to promote them. There are few popular institutions and no social or political
movements critically that are addressing the immense challenges these
technologies pose."

Interesting Miniatures from the Spring 2001 Journal:

Over Two Million Serving

"US - America's prison population now tops 2 million. According to the
Justice Policy Institute (JPI), the US, with five percent of the world's
population, now incarcerates 25 percent of the world's prisoners. "The
US now has more prisoners than farmers," the JPI notes, "There are more
people behind bars in the US than there are behind the wheel of a tractor."
The US now spends approximately $40 billion a year to house prisoners.
Why? In his book, Lockdown America, Christian Parenti offers this explanation:
"Capitalism... creates poverty [and]... surplus populations, yet faces the threat
of political, aesthetic, or cultural disruption from those populations. Prison and
criminal justice are about managing these irreconcilable contradictions.""

Lawns and Odor

"Canada - North Americans pour more pesticides on their lawns than on their
farms. In addition to causing birth defects and cancers, lawn chemicals also
smell bad. Landscapers in Ontario think the solution is Masker-Aid Odour
Concentrate, a sweet-smelling chemical concoction that covers up pesticide
fumes. Canada's Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency blesses this approach:
"It's like adding lemon scent to bleach." But the Toronto Environmental Alliance
fears that the chosen aromas - bubblegum and cherry! - are likely to attract children
too young to read pesticide warning signs."