About 30 activists with red berets forced their way into the Caracas headquarters of Globovision, lobbed tear gas and threatened staff with handguns.
Chavez has repeatedly assailed Globovision - the South American country's last opposition network - as an instrument of oligarchs and US imperialists who are waging 'media terrorism'.
The government quickly distanced itself from the raid.
Stress-Free Spaces are Created through Fragrance
Depression Among the Very Young: Chronic Sadness in Preschoolers
From the Editor
When corporations rule the world
The Black Hills of South Dakota in the United States are famous for two gigantic monuments, each sculpted out of a mountain. One, still to be completed, is in honour of Crazy Horse, Indian leader belonging to the Lakota tribe, who led his peoples in fierce battles for their right to land and livelihood against the intruding European settlers. A short distance away, on land stolen from Crazy Horse and his peoples, is Mount Rushmore, the "shrine of democracy", complete with the towering faces of four US presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln - gazing serenely into the distance.
Today, American farmers are fighting for both democracy and their livelihood against the corporate overlords. Feudalism has returned to farming in the US and Canada, according to a report published by the Center for Food Safety.
Farmers buying GM seeds are required to sign technology agreements that relinquish to Monsanto their right to plant, harvest and sell the GM seeds and also leave them vulnerable to harassment from the company, such as having their property investigated, litigations and out of court settlements.
Farmers not buying GM seeds are not spared, as Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser learned when he found his fields contaminated by Monsanto’s GM canola, and has had to spend years locked in a harrowing battle with the company accusing him of infringing its patent rights in a legal system that’s on the side of the corporation. He was not alone in being persecuted by Monsanto, although he was unique in not giving up the fight to the very end.
To-date, Monsanto has filed 90 lawsuits against American farmers involving 147 farmers and 39 small businesses, with an estimated $15m gained from judgments granted in its favour. Since 1999, some 500 farmers have been investigated and harassed by Monsanto every year. The Center for Food Safety has set up a hotline for farmers (p.48).
The fight against corporate feudalism is not restricted to North America. Farmers across the globe have been battling for their livelihood and their traditional democratic right to plant, harvest, and sell the seeds of their choice against Monsanto and its subsidiaries pushing GM crops through hype, half-truths, lies, and even bribery, uncovered recently in Indonesia (see SiS25).
Indian farmers have been driven into debt and suicide after three successive years of failed harvests from planting GM cotton since three varieties were approved for commercial growing in 2002. Independent researchers and film-makers have documented the failures, and exposed Monsanto’s trail of propaganda, including a doctored report attempting to exaggerate the yields of its GM cotton, thereby substantially reducing the compensation it owes to farmers for crop failures in Andhra Pradesh. A coalition of ngos called on the Indian Prime Minister to withdraw Bt cotton, referring to its imposition on farmers as a "scientific fraud".
Since March 2005, however, the country’s Genetic Engineering Advisory Committee (GEAC) has approved 22 new varieties of Monsanto-derived Bt cotton seed for commercial growing, twelve in the central states, four in the south, six for the first time in the fertile northern state; and eleven new varieties for large-scale trials in the fertile northern states.
In May 2005, the ngos and farmers’ organisations in Andhra Pradesh claimed a significant victory. The GEAC discontinued the commercial cultivation of all three Monsanto varieties approved in 2002 in the state. This victory in Andhra Pradesh may spur opposition in other parts of India where the GM cotton has still to be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, the United States has put in place a new legislation under "Order 81", which gives protection to "new and improved plant varieties", paving the way for patenting plant varieties, and for introducing GM crops into the country. It will effectively bring the country’s agricultural sector under the control of corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta; and at a time when Iraq is experiencing a food crisis. Iraq, once self-sufficient in agriculture, has seen its food production collapse since the first Gulf War; and more than half of the population is now affected by food insecurity. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is ostensibly helping rebuild Iraq’s farming sector under the Agriculture Reconstruction and Development Program for Iraq, but critics say it is really to help corporations capitalize on market opportunities.
Science and democracy
Scientists, like farmers, have fallen prey to corporate feudalism; and there is a disturbing trend within the scientific establishment against democracy. The latest high profile victim Ignacio Chapela is fighting for tenure at the University of California at Berkeley - once the hotbed of radicalism and independence now beholden to Novartis – simply because he and his graduate student had published scientific findings uncomfortable for the biotech industry. Please help his campaign (http://www.tenurejustice.org/pages/donations.html). (Note: Chapela has just been granted tenure, to the delight of all his supporters. This is a most significant victory against corporate feudalism. We thank him for all the hard work and the hardships he has endured on our behalf.)
Behind the persecution of scientists who dare to tell the truth are the many scientists who have given up the fight, or have willingly chosen to serve the corporate agenda.
As Michael Meacher, ex-environment minister and UK Member of Parliament points out (p.5), "companies have learned that small investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programmes or hiring professors for out-of-hours projects can produce disproportionate payoffs in generating reports, articles, reviews and books, which may not be in the public interest, but certainly benefit corporate bottom lines." A recent study found that of the five scientific committees advising the UK government on food and safety, 40 percent of the committee members had links with the biotech industry, and at least 20 percent were linked to one of the Big Three: Monsanto, AstraZeneca, or Novartis.
Meacher told a public conference on science, medicine and the law that we need independent science and scientists who take the precautionary principle seriously, and called for sweeping changes in science funding and scientific advice to the government that will ensure the protection of independent science, and hence, the public.
Science for a sustainable world
As Europe is finalising its Framework Programme 7 for the next round of public research funding, the Independent Science Panel (ISP) has submitted a comment to the European Commission, demanding maximum transparency and democratic input in deciding funding and research priorities, support for independent science and scientists and explicit funding criteria that includes ethical and safety considerations.
The ISP also wants a redistribution of research budget away from industry- and technology-driven areas like genomics and information technologies towards sustainable agriculture, ecology and energy use in sustainable systems, and holistic health. This is particularly relevant as the "gene gold" predicted for the human genome project is rapidly turning to dust (this issue) and the safety of mobile phones and newer generations of telecommunication technologies are increasingly called into question (SiS25). At the same time, evidence is mounting that the most environmentally destructive and energy intensive aspects of our food production system can all be addressed by sustainable alternatives (see especially the multiple uses of forests featured in this issue). More than 200 organisations and individuals from 32 countries have endorsed the ISP comment so far, including many university professors and researchers that some of you will recognize. Add your name here http://www.i-sis.org.uk/ISPF7.php
The relentless march towards corporate feudalism across the globe is another major reason why no one can afford to do nothing. Please support the Sustainable World Global Initiative to make our food production system sustainable, to ameliorate climate change, to guarantee food security and food sovereignty for everyone, and most of all, to dismantle the corporate empire:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/SustainableWorldInitiativeF.php
Sustainable World - A Global Initiative
Current food production system due for collapse
World grain yield fell for four successive years from 2000 to 2003, bringing reserves to the lowest in thirty years. The situation has not improved despite a 'bumper' harvest in 2004, which was just enough to satisfy world consumption.
In too many food production regions of the world, conventional farming practices have severely depleted the underground water to the point where rivers and lakes have dried out, topsoil has been eroded away, and wild life decimated. At the same time, world oil production may have passed its peak; oil price hit a record high of US$58 a barrel on 4 April 2005, and is expected to top US$100 within two years. This spells looming disaster for conventional industrial agriculture, which is heavily dependent on both oil and water. The true costs of our current food production system are becoming all too clear (see Box 1).
Box 1
True costs of industrial food production system
* 1 000 tonnes of water are consumed to produce one tonne of grain
* 10 energy units are spent for every energy unit of food on our dinner table
* 1 000 energy units are used for every energy unit of processed food
* 17% of the total energy use in the United States goes into food production & distribution, accounting for more than 20% of all transport within the country; this excludes energy used in import & export
* 12.5 energy units are wasted for every energy unit of food transported per thousand air-miles
* 20% of all greenhouse gases in the world come from current agriculture
* US$318 billion of taxpayer's money was spent to subsidize agriculture in OECD countries in 2002, while more than 2 billion subsistence farmers in developing countries tried to survive on $2 a day
* 90% of the agricultural subsidies benefit corporations and big farmers growing food for export; while 500 family farms close down every week in the United States
* Subsidized surplus food dumped on developing countries creates poverty, hunger and homelessness on a massive scale
Getting our food production sustainable is the most urgent task for humanity; it is also the key to delivering health, ameliorating the worst effects of climate change and saving the planet from destructive exploitation. The benefits of sustainable food production systems are also becoming evident (see Box 2).
Box 2
Some benefits of sustainable food production systems
* 2- to 10-fold energy saving on switching to low-input/organic agriculture
* 5 to 15% global fossil fuel emissions offset by sequestration of carbon in organically managed soil
* 50 to 92% reduction in carbon dioxide emission from the soil on switching from conventional tillage to no-till agriculture
* 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission disappear with every tonne of nitrogen fertilizer phased out
* 2-3-fold increase in crop yield using compost in Ethiopia, outperforming chemical fertilizers
* Organic farming performs as well or slightly better than conventional industrial farming in the US
* Small farms are 2 to 10 times more productive than larger farms
* Organic farms support significantly more birds, bats, invertebrates and wild plants than conventional farm in Europe
* Organic foods contain more vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients than conventionally produced foods
* 1 000 or more community-supported farms across US and Canada bring $36m income per year directly to the farms
* £50-78m go directly into the pocket of farmers trading in some 200 established local farmers' markets in the UK
* Buying food in local farmers' market generates twice as much for the local economy than buying food in supermarkets chains
* Money spent with a local supplier is worth four times as much as money spent with non-local supplier
The Independent Science Panel (ISP) and the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) are launching this Sustainable World initiative to engage with all sectors of civil society to make our food production system truly sustainable.
We are convening a special ISP group on Sustainable Agriculture (ISP-SA) - currently 18 strong - and a task force of sponsoring organizations and individuals who will make direct input into a comprehensive report on sustainable agriculture at the end of a year. The report will include a series of recommendations for government and inter-governmental agencies on the social, economic and political policy and structural changes needed to implement a sustainable food production system.
ISIS and ISP are in a unique position to draw these previously disparate strands together into a powerful scientific and social consensus. We have scientists in many disciplines working together and some of the scientists are competent across several disciplines. A majority of the scientists are already working with grass-roots organisations and local communities in both the developed and developing countries, or are supporting their activities in other ways.
There will be a series of consultations (by post or e-mail) with our sponsors, and two to three working conferences throughout the year when the report is being drafted, depending on finances available.
A major international conference to launch the final report will take place in 2006. Copies of the report will be sent to all relevant governments and inter-government agencies as the start of a campaign to get the recommendations implemented.
Ever heard about 'weather wars'? I hadn't until my attention was drawn to some recent, scientific finds on satellite weather images. Loving sailing I know how closely dependent that is on 'weather'. And to be true: aren't you gradually fed up with the 'climate change' scam that rages on in 'green' activist and 'progressive' political circles? Well, I am, failing to find any evidence other than the natural course of events on our planet. Having said so: how natural is natural these days? Didn't the Pentagon claim some years ago to be able to 'control the weather' in 2020? One tries to hide some intriguing facts from us. Is mankind trying to play God?
( R M-M has a video posted, a rather strange picture, and notes a conversation with surprising content. Creative Commons (C) notice)
Equity for Open-Access Journal Publishing - PLoS
Stuart M. Shieber¶*
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
As subscription fees hyperinflate, libraries with budgets that at best merely match inflation must inevitably drop subscriptions, reducing access to the scholarly literature. The problem has been dramatically exacerbated by the current economic downturn. Some research institutions, including my own, are beginning to entertain wholesale elimination of subscription access to entire groups of serials, as library budgets take large cuts....access to scholarly articles has been reduced to essentially zero marginal cost, thanks to digital network technology (think hyperlink). In a world where the first-copy cost of publishing an article is essentially the entire cost, a business model for publishing that charges per article for article-processing services (the very services listed above) makes a lot of sense.
Neural Substrates of Mounting Temporal Expectation-PLoS
Jennifer T. Coull*
Laboratoire de Neurobiologie de la Cognition, Pole 3C, Université de Provence, Marseille, France
The ability to anticipate the timing of an event allows an organism to optimize behaviour and, thus, conserve precious resources. Experimentally, it has been known for almost a century now that as the delay (or “foreperiod”) between a warning cue and a response signal steadily increases, so too does the speed of responding to that signal [4] (Figure 1B). One long-standing theory, proposed to account for this effect, is the so-called “strategic” account [5], in which motor preparation processes are honed as a function of the increasing conditional probability of signal appearance over time. This honing process prepares the subject to respond as quickly as possible when the signal eventually appears.
Seniors defend Medicare plan Obama calls 'wasteful' - USA Today
Medicare Advantage has its roots in the 1970s but was bolstered in 2003 in hopes that private companies could manage Medicare patients more efficiently. Partly because it often has lower out-of-pocket costs than traditional Medicare, enrollment has nearly doubled over six years, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.
Critics, including Obama, say the plans offer lower premiums because insurance companies are subsidized by taxpayers at a rate 14% higher per patient than regular Medicare.
( One senior does not a movement make - nor should it be the headline )
We've just received an advance transcript of tonight's Special Comment by Keith Olbermann on his MSNBC show. It is nothing short of brilliant -- and if all of America were to hear what he is going to reveal tonight, we are certain the vast majority of Americans would be on the phone to their elected representative immediately, calling for an end to the private, for-profit, rip-off health insurance companies who have wrecked our country.
Bring Them Home Now
U.S. MILITARY DEATHS (IRAQ): 4330
U.S. MILITARY WOUNDED (IRAQ): 31446
IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS: 151000
'EXCESS' IRAQI DEATHS: 655000
Printable Representations: U.S. Deaths, U.S. Wounded, 'Excess' Iraqi Deaths
( Some of the last figures I saw on Iraqi deaths were double that noted here. Then again, I expect the wounded American tally vastly understated as well. PTSD alone runs 20% of those deployed 'in country' : concussion from IEDs is common and is associated with personality change and violence. Hey, even the caskets of the dead aren't normally photographed.
Government unveils high-speed rail plan to ground short flights-Guardian UK
Replacing plane journeys with ultra-fast train services 'manifestly in the public interest', transport secretary says
Strap-on mini helicopters the latest way to travel
The Martin Jetpack – literally a personal strap-on aircraft – is a two-litre jet-powered engine designed to soar across the skies at 100km/h at heights of up to 50 metres.
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