April 25, 2009 at 8:50 am · Filed under Technology
Is the mapping of the cow genome about to transform farming? I certainly hope not. On a scientific level I think mapping the genome is interesting, and there is probably some responsible way to harness the knowledge gained. As shown in the Monsanto movie I just posted though, there is also a likely scenario where the genome information is used to be more useful for companies and less useful for people.
The biggest gripe I have with the attitude behind this project is shown here: ” ‘We chose to study the cow genome because these animals are of such immense importance to humans,’ explained Richard Gibbs from Baylor College of Medicine’s Human Genome Sequencing Center, a leading contributor to the project.”
Immense importance to humans? Excuse me? Many of the healthiest people I know do not eat beef. One of the biggest populations in the world, India, does not eat meat. Cattle production causes 20% of the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. Many people hypothesize that the rise of heart disease in North America is directly linked to the increased consumption of meat (see “In the Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan for a viewpoint on this). If anything, the world could use a moderation in the consumption of beef.
April 24, 2009 at 4:56 pm · Filed under Politics, Technology
At the bottom of this post I’ve linked an interesting documentary on the huge multinational company Monsanto. Chances are that you’ve heard of them and if not, you’ve at least heard of one of their prime products, “RoundUp.” It’s easy to think that Monsanto is an evil company and this movie will enforce that idea. Of course there are defenders of Monsanto, but whether by design and intent or not, it has to be said that Monsanto (and other companies like it) are purely driven by profits and money as opposed to making a positive impact on the world. This enables individual employees to make small decisions that when grouped as a whole, can have disastrous effects. With Monsanto specifically, it is very difficult to believe that any of the major decision makers actually care about the well-being of people or the planet. I’m sure there are numerous researchers and scientists that work for Monsanto whom believe they are working for the betterment of our world, but it also seems that whatever benefits that exist are swallowed by much less altruistic mechanisms.
There have been two somewhat well-known cases with Monsanto in Canada. There is Percy Schmeiser’s battle with Monsanto and the spread of Monsanto seeds on to his land, and there was Health Canada’s rejection of rBGH and Monsanto’s attempted bribery to get the drug approved in Canada. Excerpted The Ottawa Citizen, Fri 23 Oct 1998, Page A1, by James Baxter:
Scientists `pressured’ to approve cattle drug: Health Canada researchers accuse firm of bribery in bid to OK `questionable’ product
Veterinary scientists from Health Canada’s Human Safety Division testified yesterday that they are being pressured to approve a controversial hormone intended to boost milk production in dairy cattle. “We have been pressured and coerced to pass drugs of questionable safety, including rBST,” Dr. Shiv Chopra told the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.
The senators sat dumbfounded as Dr. Margaret Haydon told of being in a meeting when officials from Monsanto Inc., the drug’s manufacturer, made an offer of between $1 million and $2 million to the scientists from Health Canada — an offer that she told the senators could only have been interpreted as a bribe.
Dr. Haydon also recounted how notes and files critical of scientific data provided by Monsanto were stolen from a locked filing cabinet in her office. Dr. Chopra said that all files pertaining to rBST are now controlled by one senior bureaucrat and can only be viewed by gaining permission. “I can’t even believe I’m in Canada when I hear that your files have been stolen and that all the files are now in the hands of one person,” said Senator Eugene Whelan. “What the hell kind of a system have we got here?”
April 22, 2009 at 10:33 am · Filed under Just Stuff
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April 21, 2009 at 6:51 am · Filed under Just Stuff, Photos
When I put together the bee house last week, I wasn’t 100% sure that I was doing everything correct. In particular, I wasn’t sure about the placement of the house. I knew that the homes are best kept out of the rain but other than that I didn’t like my placement. I managed to get in contact with Hartley via the Environmental Youth Alliance (EYA) and he graceiously offered me some advice. He suggested that the most important aspect of placement was that the house face east or southeast, such that it receives warming sun in the morning. Second most important was shelter from rain.
I thought about this but wasn’t sure I could really mount my particular house design on the wall of the garage facing east. Then I had the idea to use the bike tubes to secure it to the east fence in our backyard. So I drilled a couple of holes in the fence, perched the house on the top rail, and tied it all down to the fence. I think it will work pretty well. Here is a photo of the mount:
And in this photo you can sort of see the house on top of the fence against the garage. It’s facing east and also faces the apple trees across from it:
