Re: Terminator Seeds & SuperWeed
On Thu, Feb 18, 1999 at 01:48:35PM -0800, B Rado wrote:
> Hi everyone.
>
> Terminator seeds, SuperWeed... They sound pretty scary. I wrote to
> David Emery who maintains a website about hoaxes and urban legends and
> such (http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm) after I
> failed to find any reference to these topics on his site. I'm
> forwarding his response below.
>
> ‘Too good to be true' items always deserve a closer look and hard
> questions, so too ‘too scary to be true'. I hope we can all sleep a
> little easier now knowing our efforts aren't doomed to extinction.
The Terminator Technolgy that RAFI has been publicizing is real, well
documented, and has been covered in many credible journals including
Organic Gardening and the Seed Savers Exchange quarterly publication.
Lots of information on Terminator Technology can be found at
http://www.rafi.org/misc/terminator.html; the patent covering it can
be found at
http://www.patents.ibm.com/details?pn=US05723765__&s_clms=1#clms
Regarding the SuperWeed kit: it may be a hoax, but I submitted my
postal address to the email address mentioned on the web requesting
one and it arrived two days ago, free of charge. Someone sent it
to me all the way from England to the US with their own money, and it
definitely contains brassica seeds. Of course I can't tell whether
or not any of them are genetically engineered to resist roundup just
by looking, but maybe I'll do a germination test and spray whatever
germinates with roundup and see if any live. Now if I can find a
friend that admits they use RoundUp and will give me some...
I am very careful about forwarding material I suspect to be hoaxes;
generally I will send email or make phone calls to try to track
down a source if something is suspicious (e.g. the story about
oranges genetically modified to produce THC). As far as I have been
able to determine neither of the above two stories is a hoax but I
would love to read proof either way.
Shaun in Spokane.
> #########
>
> B Rado wrote:
>
> > Good morning!
>
> > Following is a post (& followup) from a horticultural mailing list >I
> am on. Please tell me that 'Terminator Seeds' and 'Superweed' are
> >urban legends or hoaxes or something. Couldn't find any reference >to
> it on your site.
>
> Hi, Beth. This is the first I've heard of "superweeds." It *appears*
> that all this is a politically-motivated hoax originating from a group
> called the Cultural Terrorist Agency (http://www.irational.org). They
> state their methods, in part, like this:
>
> "Cultural terrorism can be defined as an
> offensive against dominant systems of
> meaning, and their defining of reality and
> nature, within the realms of propaganda and
> disinformation."
>
> "Propaganda" and "disinformation" are the key words. My working
> assumption is that the "superweed" threats are designed to attract
> publicity and make a point, but that they're unlikely to be real.
>
> I'll keep an eye on this one.
>
> Thanks for writing!
>
> David
>
>
> #######################################################
> >
> > Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 15:53:18 -0800
> > From: Patrick Olaris <polaris@WOLFENET.com>
> > To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
> > Subject: Re: Seed "Terminator" (Must Read !!!)
> > Reply-To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
> >
> >>On Mon, Feb 08, 1999 at 08:24:22PM -0800, harry hurley wrote:
> >> Any one interested in growing and saving seeds should read the
> >> stuff on these two sites.
> >>
> >> > http://king.igs.net/~wacoppin/seeds.htm
> >> > http://www.sedos.org/Food/terminator.html
> >>
> Not so long ago when I was younger and slightly more foolish I gave a
> speech in a public speaking class in favor of genetic engineering of
> crop plants. At the time Genentech was creating frost-resistant
> strawberries which seemed harmless, and Jeremy Rifkin seemed like a
> crazy luddite. Having seen the uses biotechnology is being put to, like
> those above, I am now far, far more cautious. The technology above
> needs to be banned world-wide and the people at the USDA and Delta and
> Pine Land Company jailed for life for crimes against humanity. This
> sort of thing is just unforgivable.
>
> People are really upset. Check out the following article and try to
> figure out what our global ecosystem is going to look like twenty years
> from now. What do I think it will look like? How can one even make a
> guess? But it's sure going to be different. I sure hope cucurbita
> maxima with terminator technology in them don't accidentally crossbreed
> with and wipe out my ability to save AG seeds.
>
> Shaun in Spokane
> #########
> GENETICS ACTIVISTS CREATE SUPERWEED
>
> Launch of Natural Reality SuperWeed Kit 1.0
> Photo-opportunity
> 12.00 noon Wednesday 27th January 1999
>
> On Wednesday 27th January 1999, Michael Boorman of Natural
> Reality will launch the 'Natural Reality SuperWeed Kit 1.0 - a
> DIY kit capable of producing a genetically mutant superweed,
> designed to attack corporate monoculture'. Heath Bunting and
> Rachel Baker, founders of The Cultural Terrorist Agency [1] who
> have financed SuperWeed Kit 1.0 will also speak at the launch in
> the Nash Room, The Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK. The
> launch starts at 12:15 noon and will be completed by 13.00.
>
> Natural Reality SuperWeed Kit 1.0 [2], contains a mixture of
> naturally occuring and genetically mutated (GM) Brassica seeds
> (e.g. Oilseed Rape, Wild Radish, Yellow Mustard, Shepard's
> Purse). If these seeds are allowed to germinate and cross
> pollinate, a SuperWeed [3] will be created that will be resistant
> to current herbicides (e.g. Monsanto's Roundup.), thus not only
> threatening the profitability of conventional and GM Brassica
> crops [4], but also of herbicide production and distribution.
>
> This kit be will distributed throughout the UK to interested
> parties along with tactical suggestions and planting instructions.
>
> If released, SuperWeed 1.0 will not only destroy the
> profitability all GM crops, but also of conventional and organic
> crops. This genetic contamination will be irreversible.
>
> Michael Boorman is one of the California Croppers who held
> football match early Thanksgiving morning at the "Gill Tract"
> gardens, California, USA, resulting in the destruction of a crop of
> genetically-engineered corn owned by the University of
> California, in protest over UC-Berkeley signing a multimillion
> dollar research deal with biotech giant Novartis.[5]
>
> Michael Boorman of Natural Reality said "Genetic hacker
> technology gives us the means to oppose this unsafe, unnecessary
> and unnatural technology. I hope that this SuperWeed Kit will
> empower others in their actions. We are engaged in a biological
> arms race with corporate monoculture."
>
> Heath Bunting is a well known internet hacker activist
> responsible for information subversion campaigns against
> organisation such as Glaxo, Nike and 7-Eleven stores. He is a
> founder member of irational.org collective [6].
>
> Heath Bunting of irational.org said "Biotechnology is not only the next
> battleground on which the control of life and land is fought, but also
> on which life itself is redefined. It is essential that the concepts of
> property and representation in this arena are seriously challenged."
>
> Rachel Baker is a network activist with a well documented history
> of actions against organisations including Sainsbury, Tesco and
> American Express. She is also a member of irational.org
> collective [6].
>
> Rachel Baker of irational.org said "Millions of ordinary people
> are very worried about genetically modified foods and I am one of
> them....With genetically modified foods I believe we have reached
> the thin edge of the wedge, we are messing with the building
> blocks of life and it's scary."
>
> Michael Boorman email: superweed@hotbot.com
> Heath Bunting email: jan99@irational.org
> Rachel Baker email: rachel@irational.org
> Hayvend email: hayvend@backspace.org
>
> SuperWeed Kit 1.0 can also be ordered free of charge by post
> directly from the Natural Reality via the internet.
>
> Website: http://pages.hotbot.com/politics/superweed/
> --- Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is
> the fragile blossom that opens in the snow. -Alice M. Swaim
>
> polaris@wolfenet.com ++ PGP email welcome
>
> >David Emery
> >Urban Legends and Folklore
> >http://urbanlegends.miningco.com
> >Email: urbanlegends.guide@miningco.com
> >Newsletter: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/gi/pages/mmail.htm
>
>
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