Here's the rest of Judy Kew's email: In the meantime, please note that some of our best champions for this cause are the candidates for the Natural Law Party. One of their major platforms is a stand against GEO's . They are calling for mandatory labeling and a moratorium until they are proven safe. This Wednesday we can join in a Conference Call with Dr. John Hagelin, the presidential candidate. Dr. Hagelin is a 42-year-old award-winning physicist who received his Ph.D. in particle physics from Harvard. He is the founder the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, a think tank of scientists, scholars and social policy makers to "offer practical solutions to the problems we face as a nation." He is a whole, compassionate person who, along with his party, has already done much for us, such as, help derail a U.N. level effort to get genetically engineered foods labeled as "organic." The Natural Law Party National Conference Call will be at 8 p.m. Eastern, Central & Pacific Time. Call 412-858-4600 to join in. (This is a change from the previously scheduled date of Sept. 26 due to the rescheduling of the presidential debates to that evening.) OR If you live in Austin you can listen to the call and join in the the plans for Dr. Hagelin and Dr. John Fagan"s visit to Texas, including Austin, Oct. 13-17 come this Wednesday, Sept. 25, (tomorrow ) at Sandie BonSell's at 8 p.m. -- 2000 Key West cove in Lost Creek in Austin. All are welcome. (Dr. Fagan is a molecular biologist who used to be a genetic engineer and returned $600,000 award money (given him by the NIH to do g. e. research) because he prefers to use his knowledge for life-supporting purposes.) This Wed: Conference call with Dr. John Hagelin, Dr. Mike Thompkins and Kingsley Brooks. We will be planning the National Tour and brainstorming venues for when they come through Texas. October 13-17 Dr. John Fagan and Dr. Thompkins tour Texas. Austin dates TBA. Other news from the Natural Law Party: October 17 Thurs. at 7PM Dr. Ed Fasanella, NLP Candidate,has been invited to the SouthWest Texas University political debates for District 14, Hays County. We are carpooling to the event to show our support and ask questions. Call Carol for carpool info. October 28 & 29 Dr. Hagelin to tour Texas. Austin dates TBA. Larry King has committed to have third party candidates on his show for 3 nights following the scheduled pres. debates. He offered to do this because we have been denied participation by the FCC- their reasoning is such that anyone who doesn't really have a chance to win shouldn't take up our time. Since when are they predictors of election outcomes? Who gave them the power to deny the voters information to make their own choices and hear other ideas and solutions to our nation's problems? If this makes you want to let your voice be heard you can do the following: e-mail debates 96@USA. pipeline. com. and tell them you support Dr. John Hagelin and Dr. Mike Thompkins to be included in all debates since we are on the ballot in 47 states and the D.C. and are the fastest growing political party in the nation. You can also sign a petition which will be delivered to the commission - go to www.hagelin.org then on to Politics now and they have the petition posted for anyone who wants to add their name. Call the FCC at 202-872-1020 directly and voice your support for third party candidates to be included in the nation's dialog and especially for NLP. Green Building Conference Nov. 7-10, 1996 http://www.greenbuilder.com/conference/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Texas InfiNet - an online community for progressive information BBS 512.462.0633 Telnet shakti.txinfinet.com:3000 WWW http://www.greenbuider.com

Did you know: There are no regulations on bottled water at the present time. Bottled water can be packaged in plastic containers (the 2nd largest landfill problem) straight from a municipal water source that may be contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, lead, chlorine (turns into gas in a hot shower), feces and several hundred other chemicals deemed "within acceptable limits" by the powers that be. I don't care what anybody says -- levels of these ANY levels of these are not acceptable to me.

Then you prolly shouldn't drink *anything*, Stacey... 100% pure water is only theoretically possible, never actually existed, even before life arose on the planet. The reality is that ppm and ppb concentrations of all kinds of nasties are present in water from all sources. But if there's not enough to damage you, what's the difference? The powers that be (usually the EPA or health department) have tons of info on the concentrations of most of the bad actors that have a measurable impact on human health, and they base their limits on that data (usually making the limit 100 or so times less than the measurable effect range). Got to tell you though, water with chlorine is going to be much better for you than water without. I like my bacteria dead, thank you very much. :)

Yes, the EPA has come up with "acceptable levels" of poisons in the drinking water but, what few people realize, is those levels are determined on a toxin by toxin basis w/o taking into consideration the AMA and independent research who have determined that the toxicity increases dramatically when the toxins are found in conjunction with others. Kinda like bleach and ammonia, eh?!?

Everybody vote for Synergy! Keep this in mind when self medicating, kiddies... WER

Genetic engineering of food is not almost here. Dolly the clone sheep presages herds of identical animals. Genetically engineered corn with pesticide resistance and insect resistance as well as potentially a different nutritional make up is on the way. Would you eat foods from these crops? Would you raise these crops?

Deja vu...

Whenever I address this topic, I think of my friend Judy Kew, who is a tireless campaigner for safe foods. I hope she jumps in here at some point. I irradiate foods every day. I have a microwave oven. Admission. I wish I knew what was actually bad for me, in the way of treated, irradiated, and genetically engineered foods. Where do you draw the line between hype and fact?

Personal experimentation based on all available data...

and sometimes you just have to guess...

IMHO, a little loss of nutrient value (on par with cooking) from irradiation (ionizing gammas, not microwaves) is worth it to save the literally hundreds of lives and hundred of thousands of illnesses caused annually by biologically contaminated food. The doubling of the shelf-life of produce is icing on the cake.

Man, talk about timing. I post on irradiation in foods and we get a rocket scientist checking in. So, Steve, would *you* eat irradiated foods (I think I know the answer) and what about genetically engineered foods?

i think i'd enjoy a five pound mushroom, how 'bout you?!?!

How much Marsala sauce would that require, Stacey?

if it's your Marsala, I want lots and lots!!

Anything else of mine that you want lots and lots of?

*grin* whatcha offering?!?

whatever it takes...

(in keeping with the topic) got anything genetically engineered?!?!

LOL! I'll work on it!

well, before you work too hard... maybe we should do some early studies ( before and after type thing!)

oops! just discovered this topic was linked to the environment conference... poor unsuspecting tree huggers!!!

Okay, when do you want to schedule the exam? (the end of June is my birthday...)

mine is sooner!

yeah, well, so?

(just thought we could move the date up. i mean, why wait 'til June?) (unless you're shy)

Okay, so when's your birthday? (thought you already knew...)

April 16

wanna pre-party?

sure, when and where?

well, if we can't fly to Bali... I suppose we will have to meet on some virtual plane

Formal or informal attire?

GOOD MORNING! (what category does birthday 'suit' fit into?

GOOD MORNING!!! (depends on the party...)

good point. besides, you don't want to start with nothing, when it's more fun to work your way there.

This is true...speaking of, where's Bambi?

sleeping off last night, will I do for now? (only problem with Telnet is there is no handy little "latest posts" at the bottom, so I have to quickly run through the 10 or 15 most likely places!)

I much prefer you, yes... (you're still faster on here than I is...)

got UNIX on my side!

left, right, in or out?

Oh, sure, go on Spring break just to avoid the question...

heh heh heh! left brained, right handed and an innie for a belly button. was that the question?

no, silly, what side you got your Unix on... (but I do appreciate the information!)

There's a jolly good reason why nature is the way it is: because it works. When not-very-clever little Johnny-Biologist goes around tinkering, he's going to screw it all up. Mark my words :)

GENITICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS! There is growing consumer concern over the growth of Genetically Engineered Foods and potential health risks we face. You can obtain detailed information on this subject at the following web site: http://www.safe-food.org/

Does anyone who has ever had a 'Real" tomato like the weird ones with the chicken genes in them? They are worse than none at all!

are they better than the ones with the fish genes?

I don't even want to think about tomatoes with fish genes...but that might be a quick way to make lomilomi salmon...hmmmmm!

We had some company wanting to try out genetically altered crops on some test fields, but that didn't get very far... Some kids skipped school to squat on the fields, and know what? They were well supported by their folks, and rotated around who had duty on the lot and who went to school. They were raided by the police after being observated upon, too. Great story.

Stunts like that give your cause a lot of free publicity! I was distressed to find out that both Morningstar and Bocaburger use genetically-altered soy in their products.

What happened was the company went to another state to test their crops. Not a real defeat. But I was on the field a week after they were driven off when they held a press conference there - featuring great homemade cakes and stories, about how rough the policy played their hand, nearly killing kids that had locked themselves up in an trailer...

Biofood Rules Mean Few Changes for Companies WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Clinton administration sought on Wednesday to reassure American consumers that genetically modified foods are safe, saying it will require developers to meet with regulators who will publish research and safety data on the Internet. The initiative was immediately criticized by some environmental and consumer groups for failing to follow the lead of the European Union, Japan and other nations that require labels on biofoods. The measure also does not require specific safety tests or monitoring the long-term impact on human health and wildlife. The Food and Drug Administration said it planned to begin mandatory consultations between seed companies and regulators, replacing a voluntary system in effect for the past eight years. Under current rules, seed companies such as Pharmacia Corp.'s Monsanto and DuPont Co. frequently meet with FDA scientists on a voluntary basis anyway. FDA officials acknowledged the new rule will mean few, if any, changes for biofood developers. The companies have considerable freedom to decide what research information and data to share with the agency. The FDA's mandatory consultations will not affect that. The agency's current guidelines for companies to conduct pre-market safety and environmental tests are already strict enough, Joe Levitt, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, told Reuters. They will be part of the FDA's proposed rule, to be published in the autumn. But the agency saw no need to require specific safety tests a demand of some environmental and consumer groups -- because of rapidly changing science and an array of testing procedures, he added. ``We think the guidance we have provides a high level of rigor,'' Levitt said. The testing guidance asks seed companies to examine human safety issues, such as allergens and changes in the composition of and nutrition from foods. The new policy is mostly intended to reassure consumers that companies are providing scientific data and tests to back up claims that biofoods are safe. ``We want to send a strong signal that the FDA is looking carefully at these products,'' Levitt said. ``We will add to the transparency of the process by putting our reviews up on the Web when we're done.'' Administration officials said that while American consumers may want more information, genetically altered foods are safe and special labels are unnecessary. UNITED STATES REITERATES BIOFOODS ARE SAFE ``There is no scientific evidence that foods produced through genetic engineering are any less safe than any other foods,'' said Neal Lane, the president's top science adviser. Mandatory labels were opposed by the U.S. food and agribusiness industries as too costly and potentially frightening to consumers. The FDA requires special labels only when a food's nutritional content is changed or allergens introduced. Consumer and environmental groups have demanded the FDA impose mandatory labeling to give shoppers more information about what they are buying. Genetically altered soybeans, for example, are a common ingredient in everything from snack foods to puddings and salad dressings. A growing consumer backlash recently prompted Frito-Lay, Gerber baby foods, McDonald's and other foodmakers to halt or reduce their purchases of gene-spliced ingredients. Instead, the FDA will help the food industry develop voluntary guidelines for companies that wish to market their foods as free of genetically modified ingredients. Those labels are likely to have to carry language to the effect that conventional foods are no safer than gene-spliced foods. Under the new initiative, the U.S. Agriculture Department will oversee tests to detect tiny amounts of genetically altered ingredients. All federal agencies involved in biotech regulations the Department of Agriculture, FDA, Environmental Protection Agency and State Department are also planning a public education effort to explain what they do to protect consumers. Food industry groups, who in April launched a $50 million advertising campaign touting the benefits of biofoods, praised the administration's actions. ``The FDA's current voluntary consultation process is actually mandatory already. There are no products on the market that have not gone through this process,'' said Rhona Applebaum, vice president of the National Food Processors Association. Green groups said the initiative did not go far enough. ``Consumers want genetically engineered foods to be safety tested and to be labeled. This plan does not require either,'' said Rebecca Goldburg, a scientist with Environmental Defense.

I think the idea of genetically engineered foods is just plain weird.

In the grand design of things, I don't think this was considered an option. The tomatoes we get here which are that way are worse then none at all

In Britain there is a back-lash and most people I know check labels and don't buy GM unless we have too. I take your point Marcia though.