An argument for genetically-modified food sources

[jorvik]

Quote
"Is the US government (through its agencies) spying on ecoterrorists? Duh!!! "

Apparently they are spying on everything

[Glenn]

I sure hope so, my safety depends on it!

Besides, it is the 21st century, everyone is spying on everyone. You live in CCTV land, you should be use to it.

[jorvik]

Yeah, doesn't make me feel safer, in fact quite the reverse

[Glenn]

They always seem to improve safety in Midsomer Murders. Speaking of safety, y'all seem to be having a bit of a heat issue across the pond.

[jorvik]

Not really, the U.K. is historically grey and dull..sunshine frightens us, we are not used to it.

[Glenn]

That's not the news we're getting over here. News here makes it sounds like your country is about to go up in flames!

Heat Wave Death Toll Rises in U.K.

Research conducted for The Times by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated the death toll for the first nine days of the heat wave as between 540 and 760 people in England alone.

And I think "not use to it" is an understatement!

Despite temperatures not yet reaching into the 90s, doctors say British citizens are not prepared for the high temperatures, especially in London's underground trains, according to Sky News.

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, told Sky News: "Other countries are used to very hot summers, we are not ready for this".

[jorvik]

Well it is hot and supposed to get hotter, most Britains holiday abroad in either Spain or Greece, southern France or Italy so to say that we are not used to hot weather is facsile...still nick clegg is an arse .....I think the moral is don't believe all you read. You want to see the stuff that we get about America

[Glenn]

Teaching a World Regional Geography class I regularly check out news sources from around the world, including BBC, The Times, The Guardian, and The Telegraph, so I see some of that.

But of course we all know that "they can't put anything on the internet if it isn't true"!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpbS00RNZhY

[jorvik]

Hi Glen
I don't really listen to mainstream media anymore, IMHO they are bought and paid for. They seem to run the same stories even internationally. ignore all the major issues , or even missreport them, and hold nobody to task for what they said . Look at Syria, we were told they had used WMD i.e Sarin gas and Obama said they had crossed a line and the US must do something ( backed of course by Cameron)............yet when it was found out that it was in fact the rebels who had used Sarin the whole matter was forgetten .. and look at poor Ron Paul, the treatment he got

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_WBo4sfmi4

So I don't even trust them with the weather, I have been looking at this site though, and it seems to me that it is the US that is getting all the heat literally, droughts etc , correct me if I'm wrong ( btw what do you think of this site ,I am unqualified to give an oppinion on it's veracity)

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiL1q9YbrVam5nP2xzFTWQ

[Valkenar]

Last I heard on this story (on NPR) was that there may have been a can of insecticide sitting around near the food in the kitchen. That is, this may not even be related to the food supply as much as it is the preparation - people spraying bugs too close to the food.

That aside, glyphosate (roundup) is not safe, it's just safe-r than some things. It's also less safe than some things. GM as a technology doesn't automatically reduce insecticide/herbicide content of foods. One concern is that if a plant is modified to produce its own natural pesticides, then there's a likelihood that those pesticides are present at some level in a greater portion of the plant (e.g. inside all of its cells). The chemicals a plant produces may or may not be healthier than the chemicals we put on them, and that's true of both GM and naturally occuring chemicals (scopolomine). There's no one answer to whether GM increases or decreases harmful chemical content of the food we buy. It depends entirely on the specifics. Even something like Roundup Ready genes have mixed results in that they permit very broad application. And, as should be obvious to anyone, these kinds of technologies are stopgaps. The weeds start to become resistant in relatively short timeframes.

As for your own lawn, the most effective way to reduce chemical use and time spent is to learn to appreciate what other people call weeds. We haven't mowed our lawn this year, and only did a couple times last year. We've got a nice variety of flowering plants, and a rich array of insect life. Also it never looks burnt and horrible, even though we never water. There are plants I don't really want (milkweed, mugwort) and so I pull those up occasionally and let other plants outcompete them with my help.

[Glenn]

As long as no one complains. Here in Lincoln if someone complains about a weedy lawn the city gives the property owner 5 days to correct it or they send someone to take care of it and then put a lien on the property for the cost of the weed control, plus interest until it is paid. From some lawns I have seen, I would say such complaints are rare.

Entertainingly, a couple of decades ago someone reported the Nebraska state botanist's (and university botany professor) very diverse yard to the city. She knew every species in her yard and naturally challenged the report. A city weed specialist came out to assess her lawn and he also tried to claim there were weeds present, but everything he pointed to (mainly native prairie plants that were not very common in lawns at that time but she had planted) she could identify as not a weed. The weed specialist finally gave up and left, ending the matter. The botanist use to love to tell her students that story.

[jorvik]

Yeah, but what is the definition of a weed?.basically it's any plant that you don't want to grow

[Valkenar]

I don't know what Lincoln's laws are, but in Marlborough if your neighbors complain to the city they mail you a warning that you have to mow your lawn or pay fines. However, I just called the city and said that I'm intentionally keeping a wildflower meadow asked for specific details about what I have to do to be in compliance. In my case, they said I need to keep the weeds low to the ground on the corner where people turn (for safety), but otherwise it's my right to keep it as I see fit. Score one for property rights, right? I know Lincoln is a bit more hoighty-toighty, but I'd still be surprised if you couldn't just say "hey, these aren't weeds, these are plants I actively enjoy having." Personally, I like dandelions a lot more than grass. Plus, they have edible greens.

As Jorvik says, a weed is just a plant you don't want. Now if you're in an HOA then it's a different story (and one of the reasons I'd never belong to one of those).

[Glenn]

Weed = any plant that grows well on its own without any fertilizer or water added, and being cheaper and easier to grow has been deemed undesirable

Here are Lincoln's rules
http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/attorn/l ... /ch846.pdf

They use the noxious weeds list maintained by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, and as can be seen from the Weed Complaint Form
http://lancaster.ne.gov/weeds/complain.htm
it ranges from economically and ecologically damaging invasive species for the county to "Weeds & Worthless Vegetation (in the City of Lincoln)" which is a pretty broad sounding, catch-all category.

I don't mind dandelions either, or clover, not fond of spotted spurge though. I work at keeping all of these, and other weeds like foxtail and crabgrass, out of my yard though, with varying degrees of success. I think in general most property owners are OK if they keep their yard cut and seem to get in trouble only if they never cut it and let it get too tall. That said, I do let my yard grass go to seed once a year, for a natural reseeding, and fortunately I have a fescue that goes to seed at about 6 inches so it does not take too long to reach that stage or look horrible in the process.

Do not get me started about HOA's, I am in one because this is my first house and I did not know better, but I never will again if I can help it. Oddly enough my lawn is not one of the things we have had disagreements over.

[Valkenar]

Weed = any plant that grows well on its own without any fertilizer or water added, and being cheaper and easier to grow has been deemed undesirable

This is one among my many soapbox issues. The suburban lawn is just one of those repugnant conspicious consumption things. No thanks. I hate most of the sentiments that created the culture of the subburban lawn.

Here are Lincoln's rules
http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/attorn/l ... /ch846.pdf

They use the noxious weeds list maintained by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, and as can be seen from the Weed Complaint

That list is actually quite short and reasonable, seemingly based on invasiveness. I like the look of purple loosetrife, but I would pull it out if I had it because it's an invasive species. Similarly with those others. I wasn't able to pin down what "weeds and useless vegetation" consists of, but if it's not written anywhere I'd probably appeal. That said, this makes me feel lucky I randomly picked a town that doesn't have a strong version of this kind of law. I knew an HOA would be horrible for me, but it never occured to me that a town would make laws like that. I almost wonder if it's really constitutional. Real estate property rights tend to be taken seriously in this country, and I don't believe there's a genuine public interest argument to be made against keeping high grass.