No problem, Debbie. Bill, I had your quote wrong: it was the ideological aisle and falling out of the pew. As I said, good metaphors. Tom In a message dated 12/19/2008 2:40:17 P.M. Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: I am sorry if this offended anyone. Debbie Neustadt wrote: > Tom has started and its seems that every comment made keeps him going. > > Thomas Mathews wrote: >> Spot-on metaphors there regarding the ideological pew and >> Clintonitis, Bill. >> >> So, how do we mobilize the amazing outpouring of grassroots support >> for Obama that we saw during the campaign and put it to work to >> vaccinate the Obama administration against Clintonitis? That's not a >> rhetorical question. >> >> As for Ken's complaint that my single issue has not registered with >> the general public, well I do have to apologize for that. I am not a >> very good activist. I'm too busy earning a living to have much time >> or energy left when I get home from work to do much organizing or >> educating. I'm on winter break now, so I can e-mail during the day. >> (And by the way, I'm concerned with many issues, most of which >> Vilsack is bad on. Let's hope Obama proves to be better on those >> issues than he appears just now. He hasn't even been inaugurated, >> after all.) >> >> But the fact is, we as environmentalists should be concerned about >> the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment. >> Life may not exist anywhere else in the Universe. If it does, it's >> safe to say the life forms on Earth are unique and irreplaceable. >> Genetic engineering mutilates life at the molecular level. And the >> transgenes introduced into organisms by genetic engineering are >> passed on to future generations. >> >> (Genetically engineered organisms are now commonly referred to as >> genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Transgenes are sections of >> DNA (genes) transplanted from one organism into another of a >> different species. Genes from a fish have been engineered into a >> strawberry plant, for example.) >> >> If General Motors puts bad brake pads in some of its vehicles, those >> products can be recalled and the mistakes corrected. No recalls are >> possible for transgenes from GMOs released into the environment. >> Transgenes from GMO corn have been found in native corn in Mexico in >> the region of origin for maize. This could ultimately mean that the >> entire species that we call corn (Zea mays) will be contaminated with >> transgenes. >> This is a very serious health concern, as Gov. Vilsack and others >> support using corn as a "pharm" crop, that is, to engineer genes into >> corn plants that cause the plant to produce pharmaceutical >> substances. If these pharm genes spread into corn grown for food >> there could be toxic or allergenic effects on people eating that >> corn. If the pharm genes spread widely, corn would no longer be >> available as a food crop. >> >> Corn is only one species, but the supporters of GMO agriculture see >> no limits to the number of different crop species that could be >> "improved" by genetic engineering. >> >> It is simply wrong in a moral sense for humans to inflict this >> genetic damage on other species. There is even an effort to produce >> GMO trees. This must be stopped and it is Sierra Club that should >> play a leading role-- THE leading role--in stopping it. (Current >> national Sierra Club policy calls for a moratorium on the release of >> GMOs into the environment.) >> >> Genetic engineering, confined to a laboratory or factory, is being >> used to do important research and to make useful substances for >> medicine and other fields. All GMOs should be confined. Releasing >> them into the environment is an action that has grave moral, >> environmental, and safety implications. All pharm crops should be >> confined in greenhouses. >> >> For about the past two decades, the federal government, through the >> EPA, USDA, and FDA, has taken the role of promoter of genetic >> engineering in agriculture, when they should have been strictly >> regulating it. We must convince the Obama administration to reverse >> this pattern. Early indications are that this will be a daunting >> task. After 100 days I hope to be proven wrong. That's as positive an >> attitude as I can manage now, Ken. >> >> Space does not permit my discussing in this note other issues of >> concern to me. >> >> Tom >> >> >> In a message dated 12/19/2008 11:48:59 A.M. Central Standard Time, >> [log in to unmask] writes: >> >> I for one don't intend to apologize for voting for Obama, nor for >> that >> matter am I sorry that my wife and I supported him financially (with >> more $$ by at least an order of magnitude than we've ever given >> another candidate); we also housed an Obama staffer, gratis, for 7 >> months; and we volunteered many days of effort. I am concerned, >> however, that Obama may be developing a more serious case of >> Clintonitis than I'd expected, and that it should be treated early. >> >> I'm bothered by the Vilsack appointment--Tom Matthews is right >> that Vilsack panders to the corporate imperators, >> while paying loftysounding lip service to us non-rich, >> non-influential, plebeian >> types. SC's concerns about his "truthiness" were conveyed in the >> tone of the news release, >> which expressed "congratulations." Compare that to the release >> on the >> Solis appointment, in which Carl Pope uses the word "overjoyed". >> >> I'm also bothered by the naming of Rick Warren to give the >> invocation at the Inauguration. This is a symbolic and >> momentary appointment >> of course, but it is also high-profile. I have gay and >> lesbian friends who are thunderstruck that such a prominent >> homophobe will be >> first on the podium on the Capitol porch. Obama may see this >> as reaching across the ideological aisle, but he can reach >> without falling out >> of the pew. >> >> BW >> >> >> >> Quoting KENNETH LARSON <[log in to unmask]>: >> >> > Some need to get "real" and give the Obama administration a >> > chance... Maybe a positive attitude would go a long way to >> success > when advocating for your seemingly single issue >> that has not > registered with the general population... >> > **************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. 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