Indymedia

From the open publishing newswire:
Deeply concerned by the threat that biotechnology poses on our planet,
a group of activists followed in the tradition of Gandhi and Martin
Luther King by participating in nonviolent civil disobedience during
the recent Reclaim the Commons mobilization in San Francisco. They were
arrested for not leaving the street when ordered by police.

The
San Francisco District Attorney, Kamala Harris, is prosecuting these
activists far more harshly than is normal for San Francisco after
having told the National Lawyers Guild that she would only prosecute
vandalism and assaults in association with protests. They could face up
to one year in jail and hundreds of dollars in fines, which could
severely suppress the San Francisco protest climate, making others more
afraid to stand up for what they believe in. The SFPD is pressuring
Harris to be tougher after her brave decision not to seek the death
penalty for a man found guilty of murdering a police officer, and it
seems she is going after activists. [ learn how you can help ]

reclaim the commons coverage

From the open publishing newswire:
On the morning of June 8th, I awoke from frightful visions of being
surrounded by grotesquely mutated demons. Some were dressed in blue and
others wore pinstriped jackets and neckties. The ones in pinstripe
seemed to be in charge; they had monstrously bloated heads which
vaguely resembled Dick Cheney's.

Bluish
early morning light oozed in through the window and dispelled the
images, but feelings of apprehension lingered on as I dragged myself
out of bed, got dressed, found a bite to eat, and set out for San Francisco. That's where the BIO 2004 convention
was taking place, and this was the day of our protest. I was determined
to be extremely careful and not get arrested, clubbed, trampled by a
horse, or any of the other unpleasant things that seem to happen these
days to protesters at major conferences such as this one.

Despite my fears, I was glad to be demonstrating in San Francisco, which would at least be safer than Atlanta, where the G8 summit
was being held. I'd read that the governor of Georgia was going to
declare martial law in order to control protests in that area. The news
was disturbing. We all live in the shadow of the Miami Model. I hoped
the people in Georgia would be okay. [ Read more... ]

[ Biotech IMC ]

From the open publishing newswire:
According to the film The Corporation,
a corporation is simply a psychopath: Lying, harming others and not
caring about it, unable to learn from mistakes, and more. Biotech
croporations are just that: harming and threatening farmers around the
world, destroying biodiversity - and yet they describe themselves as
selling "Food, Health, Hope". ( interviews)

Some
17,000 people from biotech companies from about 60 countries are
meeting behind closed doors to set up more contacts, to sell their
ideas, to raise venture capitalism - and to convince journalists and
the public that biotech is just great. To spin pro-biotech PR,
corporate journalists were provided with story ideas already a week before the conference started, while Indymedia journalists were denied press credentials due to writing from an "activist point of view".
For corporate journalists, BIO2004 started out on Sunday with a media brunch full of GM food and corporate lies, promoting GM crops as the weapon against obesity.

From the open publishing newswire:
For updates from the streets, check [ Bay Area Indymedia | BREAKING NEWS FROM TODAY ] or [ Enemy Combatant Radio | TUNE IN NOW!!! | call 415-864-1006 to report live on ECR ] or [ Portland IMC Web Radio | TUNE IN NOW!!!]
For in-depth coverage and analysis, check [ Biotech IMC | Impressions from inside the BIO2004 Conference centre ]

From the open publishing newswire:
When GMO corporate crops are pushed on people as the only solution to
world hunger, we are neglecting the many wild food plants that can
sustain people without continuing the cycle of corporate dependency
started by spray herbicide/pesticides and continued into GMO patented
crops. Wild native food plants can sustain people's health without
corporate control. [ read the full article... ]

ALSO SEE: Biotech IMC I Reclaim the Commons I BioDevestation | NW RAGE

From the open publishing newswire:
Thousands of activists and organizers around the Western US will converge on San Francisco from June 3-9 to shut down the corporate takeover of basic life needs. While Savannah, Georgia will be the focus of G8 protests on East Coast, the West Coast G8 demonstrations
will target the biotech industry's largest meeting of lobbyists and
executives happening concurrently in San Francisco. However, this mobilization is much bigger than biotech.

Organizers have put out a call to not only target the meetings,
but to reclaim the city of San Francisco from the corporate oligarchs
and return it to the people. They plan actions that will create free
local food sources and community gathering spaces, as well as actions
that will bring together groups working for global, environmental and
racial justice. [ read the full article... ]

reclaimthecommons.net | BioDEVESTATION 2004 ACTION PAGE

From the open publishing newswire:

Call
for a West Coast mass mobilization and direct action from June 3rd-9th
of 2004 in San Francisco in solidarity with the mobilization against
the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Sea Island, Georgia:

This
summer, June 8 - 10, the 8 leaders (plus the European Commission
president) who represent the world's richest countries will meet at Sea
Island, Georgia -- an exclusive resort in the middle of the ocean. We
don't need to rub in the fact that this location was selected because
it keeps away the one thing that always ruins the G8 meetings: people.

This
year, a clear message needs to be sent to the G8. More than that, we in
the United States urgently need to send a message of solidarity to
everyone resisting the ruling class's adventures around the world. Part
of the message is that moving summits to obscure locations will not
stop us from using the occasion as a chance to be in the streets and
show opposition to what the summit represents.

[ Free Radio Santa Cruz Audio File | Contact Info | Reclaim the Commons ]

From the open publishing newswire:
Biotech,
bioweapons and pharmaceutical corporations are all in favor of less
restriction on animal testing to experiment with their genetically
engineered products. These same corporations will be in SF 4 the BIOtech 2004 conference June 3-9th, no doubt attempting to force their chemically altered products on animals and people..

Why are these corporations becoming so powerful, besides US gov subsidies?

Biotech
scientific establishment has a hold on the youth from an early age,
some of the intro biology textbooks published by Peter Raven may hold
clues why biotech is accepted by so many people. The Raven biology
textbook contains info on how to genetically engineer life forms by
inserting a viral/bacterial plasmid into the DNA of another living
organism. This presents the genetic engineering method as acceptable
and students are encouraged to pursue research in that field.
("Biotech's where the money is" said my biology teacher at community
college) Raven is also head of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St.
Louis, heavily subsidized by Monsanto. Raven called out to the
scientific community to document all the living plant species on the
plant and record their taxonomy info. This is a form of biopatenting,
claiming intellectual property rights of the genetic sequence of plant
DNA/RNA. Medicinal plants are sought after the most, pharmaceutical
products come from derived plant chemical compounds. By claiming
ownership of the plant's DNA, it becomes easier for the corporations to
manipulate the molecular biochemistry of the plant itself... [ READ MORE... ]

[ Reclaim the Commons | BIOTECH IMC ]

From the open publishing newswire:
March 12th, 2004 marked the beginning of the GEAN (Genetic Engineering Action Network) conference in San Francisco, CA, USA.
Events began with a public forum called "California at the Crossroads".
A roundtable of speakers talked about current GMO issues from the
struggles farmers are facing, activists passing legislation in Mendocino County, CA, USA and consumer issues from GE foods, mad cow and other safety and environmental concerns. [ AUDIO: GEAN Conference 03-12-2004 ]

The
GEAN conference wrapped up today, Sunday 03-14-2004. Many exciting and
informative discussions and workshops have taken place this weekend,
here is more audio collected from the conference so that you can plug
in to what is going in the fight against GE Food and other struggles
against GMO's. You can stream the audio from PDX IMC Web Radio-below is a list of what is available: [ Opening Session 03-13-2004 | International Policy 03-13-2004 | Corporate Campaigning 03-13-2004 | Family Farmers 03-13-2004 | Latest Science and Statistics with Michael Hansen 03-13-2004 | International Policy 03-14-2004 | Interview with Group that steered the successful campaign against GMO's in Mendocino County, CA 03-14-2004 ]

RELATED: [ BioDevestation 2004 | Bio Tech InfoNet ]

From the open publishing newswire:
Today, March 12th, 2004 marked the beginning of the GEAN (Genetic
Engineering Action Network) conference in San Francisco. Events began
with a public forum called "California at the Crossroads". A roundtable
of speakers talked about current GMO issues from the struggles farmers
are facing, activists passing legislation in Mendocino County, CA and
consumer issues from GE foods, mad cow and other safety and
environmental concerns. Here is a list of the speakers:

• Rebecca Spector, West Coast Director for Center for Food Safety
• Percy Schmeiser, Canadian Farmer
• Nick Greco - Organic Rice Farmer, Greco Farms, CA
• Renata Brillinger, Californians for GE-Free Agriculture
• Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association

The full audio is available for streaming from PDX IMC Web Radio: GEAN Conference 03-12-2004

Day 2 and Day 3

The
GEAN (Genetic Engineering Action Network) conference continues through
today, Sunday 03-14-2004. Many exciting and informative discussions and
workshops have taken place already this weekend and more scheduled the
rest of this afternoon. Here is more audio collected from the
conference so that you can plug in to what is going in the fight
against GE Food and other struggles against GMO's. You can stream the
audio from PDX IMC Web Radio-below is a list of what is available:

• Opening Session 03-13-2004
• International Policy 03-13-2004
• Corporate Campaigning 03-13-2004
• Family Farmers 03-13-2004
• Latest Science and Statistics with Michael Hansen 03-13-2004
• International Policy 03-14-2004
• Interview with Group that steered the successful campaign against GMO's in Mendocino County, CA 03-14-2004

From the open publishing newswire:
NW Resistance Against Genetic Engineering (NW RAGE) invites you to the 2004 Genetic Engineering Action Network (GEAN) Conference
to be held March 12-14 at the University of California at Berkeley. In
our view, GE represents the most serious threat to our health, the
health of the environment, and the safety of our food supply. Stop
corporate takeover of our food! Representatives from NW RAGE will be
attending the conference, and you are invited too! We are planning to
fly down, but if enough people are interested, we can organize a car
pool down to the conference. Call or email NW RAGE for more info. A
limited number of scholarships are available from GEAN for folks who want to go but don't have the cash.

The 2004 GEAN Conference will include speakers Percy Schmeiser,
a Canadian farmer whose Canola fields were contaminated with Monsanto's
Round-Up Ready Canola, and is currently being sued by Monsanto for
patent infringement; and Jeffrey Smith, the author of the recently
published book, Seeds of Deception. The conference will feature workshops from over 30 issue experts and leaders from the movement; a public forum hosted by Californians for GE-Free Agriculture; activist skill-building workshops; information and strategy sessions (including strategies for Biodev 2004), and more. read more >>