from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

The most extraordinary story this week is how the theft of a UC Berkeley geneticist's laptop has put the corporate sell-out of the public university on grisly display (THE AMERICAS). Don't miss the scary video footage (available online) of the biotech boffin bullying his students with dire threats of corporate vengeance.

Please also read the shocking tale of the Lancaster six, a group of British students who were convicted of criminal trespass at the behest of their university for staging a 3-minute peaceful protest when arms manufacturers, GM, oil and other corporates met on their campus to discuss commercial links with academe. (PROTEST IS A CRIME).

All of which leads onto a great QUOTE OF THE WEEK from an interview with John Le Carre, marking the opening of the film of his novel 'The Constant Gardener'.

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

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CONTENTS
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LOBBYWATCH
THE AMERICAS
AFRICA
ASIA
EUROPE
RESEARCH
COMPANY NEWS
FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
PROTEST IS A CRIME

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ MONSANTO'S THIRD-PARTY PR
Monsanto and the industry are now pursuing a consistent public relations strategy, as can be seen in the battle in Sonoma County, California, over the ballot measure placing a moratorium on genetically engineered crops.

With the California ballots, we have seen the move from Croplife America stomping into the locality unsuccessfully waving fistfuls of dollars, to *local* farm bureaus being at the heart of the fight without a Monsanto dollar in sight.

This neatly transforms the ballots from a punch-up between locals and giant multinationals into "environmentalists and organic food interests against traditional farmers", as a recent US press report on the California ballots put it. (GMO fight may hit record spending)

At the same time, we've got a series of Monsanto takeovers of farmer-friendly regionally based American seed companies that will now be used to punt Monsanto's seeds. It is emphasised that the company's local branding will be maintained, with Monsanto staying in the background. Local farmers will deal with the same folks they've always dealt with, who'll just happen to be controlled by Monsanto.

Then there's the upcoming TV series on farming - 'America's Heartland', courtesy of Monsanto and the Farm Bureau, and broadcast via the US's Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

It's all of a piece - "We are not the big bad multinational of the Future of Food (the film now on national release in the USA) but the unobtrusive partner of your local farmer". This neatly removes the image problems of a corrupt(ing) multinational putting its corporate padlock on the food chain.

In case anyone's in any doubt about the strategy, Prakash's AgBioWorld - the surest indicator of the industry's current PR approach - recently posted a carefully crafted defence of GMOs by... a California farmer.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5803

+ SMITH REPLIES TO AVERY
Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception, has replied in South Africa's Business Day newspaper to Alex Avery of the Hudson Institute, who recently proclaimed the safety of GMOs in the same newspaper.

EXCERPTS from Smith's letter:
A genetically modified food supplement killed about 100 Americans and caused sickness or disability in 5,000-10,000 others.

The people of SA may be the population most at risk. SA is the only nation to genetically engineer a staple food, and those already fighting HIV/AIDS may be particularly at risk from the dangers of genetically modified foods.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5797

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THE AMERICAS
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+ GLYPHOSATE RESISTANCE SPREADS WITH USE OF ROUNDUP READY CROPS
Glyphosate-resistant weeds continue to spread across America as Roundup Ready crops scatter their genes, according to several press reports.

EXCERPT:
"The [glyphosate] resistant type [of horseweed] was first discovered in Delaware in 2000. In 2001, it was found in western Tennessee. In 2002, it was found in Missouri and Arkansas. What's scary is exactly a year after discovery it was already widespread in Delaware. The same pattern was seen in Tennessee. The first time I started seeing it while driving around Missouri was in 2003. The last couple of years, phone calls to me on this weed have been heavy."
- Andy Kendig, Missouri extension weed specialist
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5795

+ PROF RINE'S STOLEN LAPTOP
Earlier this year, UC Berkeley geneticist Prof Jasper Rine's laptop was stolen. According to Rine, it was taken by a student who was after exam data. Rine's threat to his class at Berkeley is captured here on video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6219688484727192143
It makes for interesting viewing. The transcript is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5789

What's so striking is how Rine uses the importance of his industrial-consulting connections, his "pre-public" company etc., to intimidate. Here's how Rine explains to the hypothetical student-thief what a world of trouble he is in:

"You are in possession of data from a hundred million dollar trial... This involves some of the largest companies on the planet... You are in possession of trade secrets from a Fortune 1000 biotech company, the largest one in the