Bear Left!

Fact of the Week

**Fact of the Week**
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has a great website recourse called Integrity in Science, which shows which scientists and advocacy groups get funding from which industries. CSPI has long been a voice of skepticism, calling for healthier meals from fast food restaurants and avoidance of antibacterial products, just for starters. However, CSPI has been an advocate of genetically modified foods, in spite of several risks already apparent from the field, including transmission of modified genes to non-modified crops, lower yields, and poorer farming practices. Lo and behold, CSPI received this year a new grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, an important funder of research into genetically modified crops. Is this payback, payment for services rendered, or coincidence? You decide. Source: CSPI website

The Danish Dilemma: While the United States intends to put a missile defense radar at Thule in Greenland, Inuits are suing for their right to return there (Jørgen Dragsdahl, Bulletin of the Atmic Scientists).
Heart of Darkness: Ted Koppel presents a five-part series on the hidden genocide in the Congo. Is your cellphone a culprit? (Nightline, ABC News).
Surviving Mugabe: The west owes troubled post-colonial African states, like Zimbabwe, more than an apology (Gary Younge, The Guardian).
Donor cuts off $60 million to Stanford: To protest limits on stem cell research, Jim Clark is withholding part of his $150 million donation for a biomedical research center (Kelly St. John, San Francisco Chronicle). Here is his op-ed piece in the New York Times.
A Valuable Lesson from Fish and Forests: Destroying traditional cultures in pursuit of economic ideals does more harm than good (John Kay, Financial Times).
Laissez ain't so fair after all : The most striking feature of libertarian thinking is the avoidance of empirical investigation (Molly Ivins, Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
Unsettled Scores: If the Supreme Court had waited one more day to make its ruling in Bush v. Gore, Al Gore might well be President (Howard Fineman, Newsweek).
Governor Says Gramm Weighing Whether to Resign : Texas Republicans really do believe in affirmative action—they want Phil Gramm to resign so an Hispanic man can be appointed, not elected. (R. G. Ratcliffe, Houston Chronicle).

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