Search LBO-Talk Archives

19816 [lbo-talk] winning Iraq -- rank: 1000

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/default.aspx?ci=18094> Further evidence of fuzzy opinion on Iraq comes from a Gallup survey, conducted July 25-28. It did not ask about likelihood of succeeding, but rather about winning or losing. All respondents were asked whether the United States "can or cannot" win the war in Iraq, and whether it "will or will not" win the war. The results show that 47% of Americans believe the United States can and will win the war, 6% believe i ...

Document Size:	6316
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 23 08:12:44 PDT 2005

19817 [lbo-talk] Alex Cockburn on India: wrong? (was, U.N. seeks aid...) -- rank: 1000

ravi wrote: >first we create a caricature out of shiva. <http://www.gene.ch/gentech/1999/Nov/msg00040.html> >We feel that Oxfam risks betraying the South, the poor and food >security objectives by calling for support for promotion of G.M. >crops in the South instead of calling for support for ecological and >sustainable agriculture which is much better suited to the small >farmers in adverse agroecological zones. > >Research from our own programmes in India and stud ...

Document Size:	9063
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 23 08:09:24 PDT 2005

19818 [lbo-talk] Alex Cockburn on India: wrong? (was, U.N. seeks aid...) -- rank: 1000

ravi wrote: >first we create a caricature out of shiva. Hardly necessary; she does a fine job by herself: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/reith_2000/text5.stm> Prof. Vinod Chowdhury, reader in economics at St. Stephen's College: It strikes me as very extraordinary that Vandanaji should have such a one sided approach. And I'm saying that with due respect to the sheer vivacity of her presentation. Vandanaji seems to believe that there are two clearly antithetical paradigms ...

Document Size:	10009
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 23 08:00:46 PDT 2005

19819 [lbo-talk] Lanier v Merck: masterful lawyering -- rank: 1000

Carl Remick wrote: >As Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen's Health Research Group notes, >due to the Prescription Drug User Fee Act pf 1992, the >pharmaceutical industry gained new influence over the FDA "by their >directly funding, paying cash right up front, for FDA review. So in >many ways, the FDA started looking upon the industry as their >client, instead of the public and the public health, which should be >the client." > ><http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pa ...

Document Size:	5485
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 23 07:13:42 PDT 2005

19820 [lbo-talk] Quebec separatism -- rank: 1000

tfast at yorku.ca wrote: > > Besiddes, the French they speak in Quebec sounds strange to my ears, >> which learned the little French they know at NYU. I could swear they >> pronounce "fumer" like the Spanish "fumar." >> >> Doug > >In which tense? When you go to a restaurant, they ask "fumar?" Doug

Document Size:	4941
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 23 07:12:06 PDT 2005

19821 [lbo-talk] Alex Cockburn on India: wrong? (was, U.N. seeks aid...) -- rank: 1000

Michael Perelman wrote: >Even if the regulatory process is relatively strong, based on strong >science, the corporate influence on science is quite thorough now. > >Finally, scientists and technologists often get carried away with >their own technologies. There is a large literature about scientists >introducing invasive species in order to accomplish certain ends, >oblivious to the numerous other problems. > >We are talking about complex ecosystems, already stressed i ...

Document Size:	6465
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 23 07:04:12 PDT 2005

19822 [lbo-talk] AC on The Real Peace Ticket! -- rank: 1000

C. G. Estabrook wrote: >It was you, Doug, and not Cockburn, who proposed the across >the board comparison of the two. Comparing quotes on Iraq doesn't qualify as "across-the-board." Some wisdom from Ron Paul - does any of this matter? <http://www.house.gov/paul/bio.shtml> >While serving in Congress during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dr. >Paul's limited-government ideals were not popular in Washington. He >served on the House Banking committee, where he was a st ...

Document Size:	20276
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 23 06:57:52 PDT 2005

19823 [lbo-talk] Michael Perelman: a Technophile -- rank: 1000

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: >I believe that Michael Perelman is a technophile. Not on agriculture, or so I've seen in the past. But he's being quiet. Doug

Document Size:	4702
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Aug 23 06:41:03 PDT 2005

19824 [lbo-talk] Alex Cockburn on India: wrong? (was, U.N. seeks aid...) -- rank: 1000

uvj at vsnl.com quoted: >One thing I will say, we must not become anti-science. It will only put us >backward. So, you must have the power to discriminate, analyse to find what >is good for us. We must not say, bio-technology is good or bio-technology is >bad. There is nothing like that. Anything may be good or bad, depending on >how you use it. That is when ethical considerations come in. I always said, >you need three kinds of mechanisms -- bio-surveillance, bio-ethics and &g ...

Document Size:	5667
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Aug 22 15:55:23 PDT 2005

19825 [lbo-talk] Lanier v Merck: masterful lawyering -- rank: 1000

Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: >Carl: >> Laypersons and even scientists outside their narrow specialty are simply >not >> equipped to understand and judge disputes involving advanced technologies. > >True, but the other side was even worse. Is a jury verdict resulting from >manipulation by lawyerly tricks and emotions toward something they cannot >understand a cause to celebrate? It is a sad day when politics is reduced >to choosing between technocratic mumbo-jumbo ...

Document Size:	5451
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Aug 22 15:01:39 PDT 2005

19826 [lbo-talk] Alex Cockburn on India: wrong? (was, U.N. seeks aid...) -- rank: 1000

ravi wrote: >>The unnamed critics of "yield-enhancing techniques" would seem to >>include Cockburn's guide and the likes of Vandana Shiva. But is >>there any popular support for that reactionary kind of approach? >> > >reactionary towards/against whom? monsanto? No, reactionary in the sense of going backward in time, to an allegedly better moment. And of course I'm no fan of Monsanto. I hate the way the choice is so often framed as Monsanto or Shiva's nobl ...

Document Size:	5653
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Aug 22 14:03:10 PDT 2005

19827 [lbo-talk] Lanier v Merck: masterful lawyering -- rank: 1000

Carl Remick wrote: >Bingo. That may be the best example ever of my longtime view that >the Age of Enlightenment hasn't improved all that enlightening and >the technocratic society is ultimately ruled not by rationality but >faith. First, according to the OECD, American 15-year-olds rank 14th (out of 27) countries in tests of scientific knowledge. What you say might not apply as strongly to Korea, Japan, or Finland (numbers 1-3 respectively). And second, what's the takeaway, as they ...

Document Size:	5271
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Aug 22 13:59:24 PDT 2005

19828 [lbo-talk] FT on Bush's work ethic and ours -- rank: 1000

John Lacny wrote: >Doug Henwood: > >> I'm not sure. I've interviewed UAW people who say their >> members prefer long hours and lots of overtime to leisure. > >Doug, while that may be true, it's still fucked up I couldn't agree more. American society is sick with overwork, and the rest of the world has to suffer a lot of the consequences (vicious competition, environmental degradation, dumbass politics, etc.). Doug

Document Size:	5097
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Aug 22 13:49:28 PDT 2005

19829 [lbo-talk] Alex Cockburn on India: wrong? (was, U.N. seeks aid...) -- rank: 1000

uvj at vsnl.com wrote: >You may look at the following link for an overview of growth and >sustainability in Indian agriculture, 1947-1997. Swaminathan, a >leading Indian geneticist is secular and leftwing. > >Ulhas > >Frontline >August 9-22, 1997 >Growth and Sustainability >by M.S. Swaminathan >http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1416/14160460.htm In which this graf appears: >It is equally clear that we would not have been in a position to >take an independen ...

Document Size:	7054
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Aug 22 13:28:56 PDT 2005

19830 [lbo-talk] Quebec separatism -- rank: 1000

tfast at yorku.ca wrote: >As far as I know, and I am not immigration lawyer in Quebec nor have >I ever been >an immigration lawyer in Quebec nor have I ever known an immigration lawyer in >Quebec, Quebec immigration attempts to discern an individuals ease of >integration and likelyhood of staying in Quebec. Hence I think an American >with some evening classes in French is not going to score high. But >then again >if you promise to vote yes in the upcoming ref on Sov the ...

Document Size:	5338
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Aug 22 13:21:24 PDT 2005