The Wall Street Journal's European edition published an
article on November 8, 2005 that sounds a legal alarm for
U.S. farmers and European farmers with geographically-significant
food products. Authors Scott Kilman and Scott Miller wrote
that "keeping out the GM strains that foreign customers
don't want is a growing expense for American exporters."
Craig
Wedig, a Cuba City, Wisconsin, farmer, blames contaminated
seed for the GM (genetically modified) crops that appeared
on his organic cornfield in 2001. Wedig
had a contract to sell his crop to a mill making organic
corn syrup for export.
When the mill detected GMOs (genetically modified organisms)
in the third and fourth truckload from his farm, he had to
sell the corn for less money to a
company making livestock feed. Mr. Wedig says the GMO discovery
cost him $2,250. Says Mr. Wedig. "Here, I'm responsible
for my neighbor's pollen, and that's not fair."
European reluctance to allow wider planting of
GM crops is part of a dispute the U.S. has brought against
the EU at the World Trade Organization. A ruling is expected
in
January.
The USDA Biotechnology
FAQ page states that: " Where biotech crops are
grown in proximity to related plants, the potential for
the two plants to exchange traits via pollen must be evaluated
before release. Crop plants of all kinds can exchange traits
with their close wild relatives (which may be weeds or
wildflowers) when they are in proximity. In the case of
biotech-derived crops, the EPA and USDA perform risk assessments
to evaluate this possibility and minimize potential harmful
consequences, if any."
--some text above excerpted from WSJ article,
also available on the web at http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5922
UN Links Poverty
to Violence Against Women
A report by the U.N. Population Fund's
annual State
of the World Population project concludes that
the world will never eliminate poverty until it confronts social,
economic and physical discrimination against women.
"Gender apartheid" could scuttle the global body's goal of
halving extreme poverty by 2015, the report said. "We cannot
make poverty history until we stop violence against women and
girls," the fund's executive director, Thoraya Ahmed
Obaid, said at the report's launch in London. "We cannot make
poverty history until women enjoy their full social, cultural,
economic and political rights."
In 2000, the U.N. agreed to eight Millennium Development Goals,
which include halving extreme poverty, achieving universal
primary education and stemming the AIDS pandemic, all by 2015.
The report said one of the targets promoting gender equality
and empowering women is "critical to the success of the other
seven."
Cities and Farmers Claim
Economic Harm from Climate Change, Are Allowed to
Sue Government
Aug 25, 2005 By David Gram,
AP Writer
MONTPELIER, Vermont. A Sharon maple
syrup producer and a Burlington law firm have won a key initial
round in a lawsuit that environmental groups say marks the
first time a federal court has allowed someone to sue over
alleged harm from global climate change. Among the other
plaintiffs are Boulder, Colorado, and three cities in California.
Arthur and Anne Berndt, who operate a 16,000-tree sugaring
operation since 1988,
said the farm's productivity was significantly less than he
had expected, given his level of investment in equipment and
time. He said maple sugaring season used to begin in March
or even early April but in recent years has begun more often
in February and has not lasted as long as it did before.
The government argued that the plaintiffs
lacked legal standing to bring the suit and could not connect the entities sued
to climate change.
Oshkosh Library Features
Web Exhibit of Life Stories
The Oshkosh, Wisconsin Public Library is slowly enlarging
a web-based
resource for personal histories in its region.
Personal stories and reminiscences of life in Oshkosh by "ordinary
people" are written
in their own words and share their childhood memories, recollections
of ordinary life, and memories of famous or little-known Oshkosh
events. Photos often accompany the stories.
Another section of the resource in progress is a new section
for women's stories. The website encourages women to submit
stories and photos from any time period. The resource would
complement the Oshkosh Public Museum's Virtual
Exhibit "Suffrage Movement and
Women's History".
AAG Organizes Clearinghouse for Fellow Geographers
In
order to respond to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina
and assist fellow geographers and others in need, the AAG is
organizing an online
clearinghouse and establishing a fund to support geography departments and
others impacted by the storm.
Departments and others in need
in the affected regions can send us a list of items (such
as books, other publications, maps, and electronic materials)
or services (including remote sensing, emergency mapping,
special expertise, etc.) and we will post these lists on the
clearinghouse as a way of linking colleagues interested in
helping out with those in need.
Craig
Wedig, a Cuba City, Wisconsin, farmer, blames contaminated
seed for the GM (genetically modified) crops that appeared
on his organic cornfield in 2001. Wedig
had a contract to sell his crop to a mill making organic
corn syrup for export.
When the mill detected GMOs (genetically modified organisms)
in the third and fourth truckload from his farm, he had to
sell the corn for less money to a
company making livestock feed. Mr. Wedig says the GMO discovery
cost him $2,250. Says Mr. Wedig. "Here, I'm responsible
for my neighbor's pollen, and that's not fair." 
harm from global climate change. Among the other
plaintiffs are Boulder, Colorado, and three cities in California.
In
order to respond to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina
and assist fellow geographers and others in need, the AAG is
organizing an 
