Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying. I have no idea why you feel the need to be so snarky. Whatever your issue is perhaps you could just get the fuck over it? In the US and Canada there is no requirement to label food as GM. However food cannot be labeled 100% organic if it is GM, so consumers who wish to avoid GM foods can only easily do so by buying organic.
Oh, get the fuck over yourself. I specifically pointed out that I wasn’t trying to be snarky with that post.
I would think someone whose initial position in a discussion is to be snarky would have thicker skin when confronted with a little snark themselves. Oh well. I would also venture that if you are actually interested in fighting ignorance then maybe having douchebag as a default setting is counterproductive. When you feel the need to point out that you are not being snarky “this time” you should realize that maybe you need to tone it down. But of course YMMV.
We’re in the pit, dipshit. This isn’t a good place for you to cry like a small child.
If we didn’t have genetic engineering what would the Mad Scientists do? And is no one thinking of the Igors?
Are you compensating for a tiny penis?
No. Are you trying to deflect attention from that idiotic first post of yours by picking a cute little bickering contest with me?
You know, the post where you decline to fight ignorance, and instead decide to dry-hump it in the corner in front of a few casual acquaintances?
We get it. You’re a little sheepish after taking some collateral damage from one of Blake’s bitch-slappings. I’m sure it stings a bit.
I’m not sure how any of Blake’s posts are directed at me, but that is some pretty good material you’ve got there.
Ooh, a fucking moron and a hippie. It all sounds so 1960s Establishment. :eek:
Actually, I do know much more about bananas than I let on, including that they are not a GMO food. My apologies for neglect to enlighten you on my knowledge before. It was not one of my best-written statements. I was merely using bananas as an example of what could happen if we continue to narrow down the variety of any food crop food we grow. If all the DC bananas get wiped out by a blight, it will take years for the industry to recover. So goes it with wheat, corn, and rice unless we make an effort to make sure that varieties are available.
As for the rest, believe what you will about me. Even though I’ve been known to eat GMO corn under duress. Rice too. Hey, it was available food, that’s duress isn’t it?
Pssst, if I’m ranting and raving, I don’t want to see you when you get your knickers in a twist about a topic. Because, well, you aren’t ranting here are you?
While this is a legitimate concern, it has nothing whatsoever to do with genetically modified organisms. People have been growing small numbers of cultivars for centuries. If anything, genetic modification is increasing diversity, by definition.
You know what pisses me off?
People who get bent out of shape about imprecise nomenclature, and then use that as some grand platform to bash all those stupid idiots who use it, as well as the position they espouse.
If you have a point to make about GMOs (or whatever I’m supposed to call them), then make it. Don’t veil your position by starting with a snarky semantic argument. Grow some balls and just say what you think.
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And, as far as what I think, I agree with smeghead to some degree. The process is not in and of itself problematic. It’s that I am generally not satisfied that all possible effects of a given change are accounted for and tested, or even understood. When the developers of said product have their bottom line at the core of their motivation, I’m sure their level of rigor in testing drops to the minimum to cover their own liability, and to try to ensure that at least for the medium-term nothing horrible will come of it.
So, if I have a choice, I’ll avoid GMO.
Something horrible *will *come of it, sooner or later; and then they’ll fix it. That’s how progress works. Sorry to sound all cavalier about it, but I think the hundreds of lives and millions of dollars that will be lost as a result of GMO are the price we’ll pay for the millions of lives and billions of dollars saved, and I’m fine with that.
Maybe, and I certainly won’t tell you to feel otherwise. But, I reserve the right to make a personal choice about whether or not to be a guinnea pig, and I don’t think anyone has the right to not disclose the fact that they are using me as such. Label the products, and let consumers choose.
Well, yes, except that these products HAVE been tested. The actual guinea pigs were the guinea pigs. Ridiculous amounts of testing have gone into these products before they make it onto the market. There’s no reason to think these are any more dangerous than any other new product that comes out, be it makeup, candy bars, or soda flavors.
Which has had more testing: GMO food or the homeopathic remedies in the food co-op you undoubtedly shop at?
I didn’t know cigarettes could be domesticated.
The problem with that is that the consumers (on the whole) are an ignorant, poorly-educated, knee-jerking bunch who do what highly dubious sources (such as Jenny McCarthy) tell them to do.
I’m a fucking anti-GMO idiot. And yeah, it is fear. And what is that fear of? The long-term planetary price of industrial farming, the hegemony of a few global corporations over our food, the forcible wresting of control of food growing from small farmers, and all the other things that I shouldn’t be afraid of, because Big Brother loves me.
Plus, I slightly resent being called stupid. I don’t believe in unicorns or homeopathy or that vaccines cause cancer. I do believe that the more agriculture becomes open-air factories, the more the means to grow food is owned by mega-corporations, the less safe every living thing is.
I think of genetically engineered seeds as part of the constant progression toward turning us all into powerless slaves toiling away on a poisoned world devoid of joy. Yes, they are dangerous, in known and unknown ways. Some of the dangers are acute, some chronic, and all of them will be denied by those who make money off them and have all the power. And fuck you too.
Do you have anything substantial to add, or are vague accusations, scarey-sounding terms and worn-out clichés indicative of your knowledge on the subject?
Give me a little time, it is not my area of expertise. In general I do a ‘follow the money’ first, then if I need details I do that second. In this case the money trail is like a superhighway.