US Government Okays Planting of Genetically Engineered Trees

Federal regulators gave clearance Wednesday for a large and controversial field test of genetically engineered trees planned for seven states stretching from Florida to Texas.

Genetically engineered trees have the potential to arouse even more controversy than genetically modified crops like corn or soybeans, which are made using the same techniques. That is partly because many people have an emotional attachment to forests that they do not have to cornfields.

Moreover, because trees live longer than annual crops and generally can spread their pollen farther, there are concerns that any unintended environmental effects may spread and persist longer in a woodland environment than in crop fields.

The Agriculture Department said Wednesday that it had received comments opposing the field trial from 12,462 people or organizations, compared with only 45 supporters of the trial. But a vast majority of the opposing comments were nearly identical form letters, it said.'

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White House Had Long Planned GM and Chrysler Bankruptcies

While the Obama administration publicly claimed it was seeking to avoid bankruptcy filings by Chrysler and General Motors, behind the scenes the White House was determined to throw the two Detroit automakers into the bankruptcy courts.

Documents filed with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York make it clear that Obama’s Auto Task Force—headed by millionaire private equity manager Steven Rattner—had decided as early as Inauguration Day that a court-ordered restructuring of GM and Chrysler was needed.

The administration saw this as the most effective means for the companies to jettison unprofitable factories, brands and dealerships, gut the jobs and living standards of current auto workers and escape obligations owed to hundreds of thousands of retirees.

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Genetic Engineering Fails to Boost Crop Yields

Despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialisation, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase crop yields in the United States, while traditional breeding continues to deliver better results, according to a new study by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

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General Motors Invests $1Billion Dollars of Your Bailout Money In Brazil

General Motors plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market, said the beleaguered car maker.

According to the president of GM Brazil-Mercosur, Jaime Ardila, the funding will come from the package of financial aid that the manufacturer will receive from the U.S. government and will be used to "complete the renovation of the line of products up to 2012."

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And now they wan even more of your taxpaye dollars , probably to invest in Israel or china!

When will you WAKE UP!

FDA Proposes Approval Process For Genetically Engineered Animals

The regulations would treat the creatures like drugs. Critics fear that environmental concerns aren't being given proper weight

The Food and Drug Administration today opened the way for a bevy of genetically engineered salmon, cows and other animals to leap from the laboratory to the marketplace, unveiling an approval process that would treat the modified creatures like drugs.The guidelines for the first time make explicit the regulatory hoops companies would have to jump through to sell salmon that grow twice as fast as wild fish, pigs with high levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids in their meat or goats that produce beneficial proteins in their milk.

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GM plants found in Scotland

Safety regulations to stop the planting of genetically modified plants in Britain are too weak, environmentalists have claimed, after GM plants were found in Scotland.
The oil seed rape was being grown on two sites near Aberdeen and one near Arbroath as part of a trial into new varieties.

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Resistance to GM “Exacerbates Famine’

Britain’s former chief scientist will warn Monday night that Europe’s resistance to Genetically Modified (GM) crops is contributing to famine in Africa. In a speech at the BA Science Festival at Liverpool University, Sir David King will warn that aid agencies are causing food shortages in Africa by encouraging farmers to continue with traditional "organic" farming. He claims that 700,000 lives were unnecessarily lost every year because of malnutrition and unhygienic food and water, many of which could be prevented if GM were introduced. "The most advanced form of plant breeding, using modern genetic techniques, is now available to us" says the former chief scientist appointed during the Blair years.

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This is the Sir David King that set up the United Kingdom Energy Technology Institute at a 10 yr cost to the taxpayer of £500 million to, quote, “accelerate the development of secure, reliable and cost-effective low-carbon energy technologies towards commercial deployment”.

As well as £500 million of taxpayers money the other companies pumping money into the Institute are EDF Energy, Shell, BP and E On so we all know how effectively our money is being spent in the name of Global warming !!!

Lord Winston To Farm Genetically Modified Pigs For Human Transplants

'Lord Winston, the fertility expert and Labour peer, is to begin breeding genetically modified pigs in the next three months to produce hearts, livers and kidneys for transplanting to humans.
Winston has pioneered a simplified technique to create pigs with “humanised” organs that will not be rejected by the patients’ immune systems.
He expects the technique to provide a solution to the shortage of donor organs within 10 years. Attempts to transplant animal organs – xenotrans-plantation – were abandoned because the tissue was rejected and because of fears that animal viruses would spread to humans. Enthusiasm for the procedure waned in the late 1990s after patient deaths.'

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