from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, since taking money from the pro-biotech Rockefeller Foundation, has generally adopted a position supportive to GM foods. So we have to take notice when even this group recognises biotech industry stagnation and that GM is "withering on the vine". This conclusion is backed by GeneEthics, which has totally demolished industry body ISAAA's recent claims of growing GM uptake (INDUSTRY NEWS).

Don't miss a startling new profile of pro-GM lobbyist Doug Powell, who attracts extensive biotech industry funding and is allowed to roam the world promoting GM and acting as a biotech 'attack dog', despite accusations of biasing research, of abusing his role as a faculty advisor, of being responsible for Orwellian-style disinformation, and of "aggressive if not vicious attacks on other scientists". Even criminal behaviour appears to have been glossed over. (LOBBYWATCH).

Claire [email protected]
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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CONTENTS
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LOBBYWATCH
INDUSTRY NEWS
EUROPE
THE AMERICAS
ASIA
AUSTRALASIA
FOOD SAFETY
REGULATION
MIDDLE EAST

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ GM WATCH "ANNOYING LIKE HELL" SAYS EX-SYNGENTA LOBBYIST
Pro-GM lobbyist and former Syngenta man Shanthu Shantharam has told AgBioView's readers, "I subscribe to GM Watch. It is annoying like hell to see all the nonsensical, diabolical and scheming spin put on every story."

He also says that these days he only reads the first sentence of anything we put out, which is fortunate because otherwise he'd have to read the truly "nonsensical, diabolical and scheming spin" reported at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4861
- his own!

Dr Shantharam told India's science and environment magazine, Down to Earth, that "gene contamination is a bogus issue" and that it is irrelevant to the case of the Canadian farmer, Percy Schmeiser, because, "Court records clearly establish that Schmeiser had planted GM canola which he had purchased illegally."

Court records, in fact, establish the exact opposite!
Even Monsanto's principal investigator stated under oath that they had no evidence Schmeiser had ever illegally purchased GM canola.

Perhaps Dr Shantharam sees "nonsensical, diabolical and scheming spin" in our bulletins because we're holding up a mirror.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4861

+ GM ATTACK DOG: DOUG POWELL
Dr Doug Powell has been called the "darling of the pro-biotech lobby and its chief attack dog" in Canada. From his Food Safety Network base at the University of Guelph, Powell's pro-GM communication activities attract funding from around the globe, not least from the biotech industry.

In an article entitled Rude Science in the Manitoba Cooperator (58(46):4 21 June 2001), editor John Morriss reviews Powell's performance as a science communicator, describing him as a 'tenured Assistant Professor at a Canadian university' who at some point 'morphed into a full-blown apologist for biotechnology, while still operating under his "food safety" umbrella'. For Morriss, even more serious than Powell's role as a biotech apologist, is his 'aggressive if not vicious attacks on other scientists who dare to challenge his views' .

Morriss takes as an example Powell's attacks on the Royal Society of Canada, after they raised quesions about the safety of GM foods and called for mandatory labelling. Powell dismissed their report as "a document that more resembled a Greenpeace hatchet job than a reasoned analysis of the science surrounding GM issues".

Powell's notoriety for "aggressive if not vicious attacks" extends beyond his "attack dog" defence of GMOs. In autumn 2004 he made the front page of Guelph's local paper when he pleaded guilty to assault. He was ordered by the judge to take counselling for domestic violence. It also emerged in court that Powell had two prior convictions for serious criminal offences, for which he had been sentenced to 17 months in jail.

A curious aspect of the case was that the judge was asked to give Powell a discharge - something normally only granted to first offenders - despite the fact Powell already had a criminal record. However, the judge was advised that Powell - "an expert in his field of food science who travels extensively" - had a travel waiver that allowed him to enter the United States despite his previous convictions. A criminal conviction for domestic violence might, however, prevent Powell from crossing the border. The judge indicated that he was only agreeing to the discharge reluctantly as "every abusive man needs to get the message" that they would not just get a slap on the wrist from the court.

Powell has run research on consumer responses to GM (Bt) sweet corn and non-GM (conventional) sweet corn and has repeatedly claimed the research shows 'consumers voting with their wallets' for the GM produce. But photographic evidence shows that the label on non-GM sweetcorn refers to its contents as 'Wormy Sweet Corn', while the wording on the Bt-sweet corn bin refers to 'Quality Sweet Corn', with the fact that it is Bt-corn only shown on a separate sign. What's amazing is that despite such clear experimental bias many consumers were still keen to buy the non-Bt corn.

As well as biasing research, Powell also stands accused of abusing his role as a faculty advisor.
Read on at: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4851

+ IRRI AND CIMMYT ALLIANCE TO SUPPORT GM RESEARCH
An alliance, which has amongst its aims providing information to support researchers developing GM maize, wheat and rice, has been formed between the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Both institutes are part of the CGIAR network of agricultural institutes.

For more on IIRI, its corporate backers and its disturbing agenda, including details of the Monsanto executive running its Golden Rice network: http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=296&page=I
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4846

+ OUTFOXED: MOVIE WORTH WATCHING
In December 2004, we reported on a new film, The Corporation, which features alleged attempts by Fox TV to suppress a report by journalists Jane Akre and Steve Wilson exposing unsavory facts about Monsanto's GM bovine growth hormone, rbGH.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4715

If you're interested in this film, you might also want to see another film along similar lines. The film, Outfoxed, uses Fox clips and interviews with former Fox journalists to show how Rupert Murdoch's Fox TV network (motto: "Fair and Balanced") allegedly distorts and invents the facts in pursuit of a far-right corporatist and pro-Bush agenda. It also shows how such 'news' first appears on Fox, to be blindly repeated by other networks without any awareness or mention of the source.

A few startling snippets from the movie:

***Today Murdoch owns: 175 newspapers, 40 TV stations, 100 cable channels, 9 satellite TV networks, 40 book imprints and 1 movie studio.

***Fox's US TV network reaches 280 million people; its Asian satellite network reaches 300 million; its cable channels reach 300 million homes; its magazines reach 28 million people. Fox's total audience is 4.7 billion people, or three-quarters of the population.

***Far more people who watch Fox TV than people who watch other channels believe