Guest guest Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Thanks for your response, Thomas (Re: Phcogmag). I have tweaked the subject line to more accurately reflect the topic. Yes, I do hope it evolves into a larger discussion. Thanks. You have made a number of suggestions as to how you feel I might better address this. Yes, every little bit helps. I figure among the struggling practitioners you describe and am doing what I can, to the extent I can, when I can. I post community supported agriculture connections on my clinic bulletin board. I have arranged a public showing of the Future of Food in my community as well as at the acupuncture college I attended (AOMA), with donations going to their Herbal Outreach program. I traveled to give a presentation on GM forest trees at a Natural Areas Conference last year in Nashville, the audio of which is available online. I'm looking for land. There are a number of existing websites, films (there are a lot of good films now) and publications that bring together more information than I can hope to, although I have considered creating a blog. I will make links to these resources as time goes by, if there is an interest. My website hasn't been updated for years; I would have to hire someone ---might be worth it just to fix the typos. In the meantime, I thought I would take a look at your blog and I found such beautiful photos! I will keep checking back. I was particuarly interested in your corporate tree planting efforts that you describe on April 27. Is synchronocity at work? China is the only country that has conducted massive plantings of genetically engineered forest trees (mostly poplars). Thankfully, I was unable to find any reference to China have genetically engineered Thuja occidentalis that you planted (although it's hard to know what is included in the " etc " that follows the list of tree species they have engineered). T. occidentalis does, unfortunately, figure among the many tree species listed on Arborgen's " Reproductive ablation constructs " USA patent application. I made the mistake of reading parts of it again, which has left me in a funk. It never fails to reduce me to tears. I mean what are intellectual property rights for, if not to inspire research leading to " cytotoxic nucleotide sequences " and the " genetic ablation of reproductive tissues " ? Toshiba (which also plants forest trees in China) reports on its website that it pledges its support for the " business forest system " as part of the " forest without pollen " initiative being advanced in Tokyo. They don't explain what they mean by " forest without pollen " but obviously it means a forest without pollen: i.e. sterile trees, terminal forests. (http://www.toshiba.co.jp/social/en/nature/index.htm) Raise your hand if you know that Toyota Motor genetically engineers trees. Increased carbon sequestration means more carbon credits, means reduced requirement to lower fuel emissions. I, a previously devout customer, complained by email. They said, " sorry about that " . The GE poplars in China are engineered for increased pest resistance. That sounds good, but it doesn't mean a plant with better wei qi. It means they're genetically engineered with the Bt toxin. It's true that Bt is accepted as a natural pesticide. But in the conventional use it is applied only at given times.. But GE poplars have the Bt toxin in every cell during the entire life cycle of the plant. And so it's present in the pollen. Pollen from GE corn deposited by wind on leaves consumed by monarch butterfly larvae has shown toxic effects for these pollinators. What about bees? Well, what about bees? What about the beneficial microorganisms in the soil responsible for soil fertility? What about human reaction to Bt toxin in windborn pollen? Here's some links on China and poplars: http://www.china..org.cn/english/environment/124471.htm http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/85/China.html Trees are also being engineered for faster growth and decreased lignin, to make it cheaper for the paper and pulp industry to process them. Obviously, this makes for weaker trees. And then there is herbicide resistance That way you can spray the forest and have nothing but the " product " left standing. The product is sure to have plenty of herbicide on it. Well, enough for one message. Thanks for listening to all who read this. best regards, Gena ________________________________ Monday, June 22, 2009 10:21:25 PM Re: Phcog Mag. - Exclusive Issue on Chinese Herbal Medicine Gena, This information is indeed disturbing, though not new to me, I suspect it is new to many people on the list. The problem is, as you may have gleaned from recent activity, most practitioners in the West are just that, practitioners, they are either uninterested in anything outside of clinical information or simply struggling to survive, feed their families, pay their student loans etc. and although I think nearly everyone would agree that the practices you are calling attention to are deplorable, most people simply don't have the time, and many don't have the inclination to get involved with this subject. Issues concerning proper identification, processing, formulation, and this issue have been relegated to sub-groups (mostly commercial, at least in the West) and although I agree that this is very sad, I myself do not have the energy to attack such a large project as I am already engaged in what believe to be critically important work. However, I would like to make a suggestion. It sounds to me like you have gathered a large amount of data from your research/ " self- education " and that information would have a powerful impact on people if it were organized, say on a website, where people could get easy access to said data. Also, may I suggest proposing written articles to be published in local, regional, national, and even international media. Every little bit helps. Thanks for bringing this important topic to the list, I sincerely hope it develops into a greater conversation. In Good Health, Thomas Beijing, China Author of " Western Herbs According to Traditional : A Practitioners Guide " Check out my blog: sourcepointherbs. blogspot. com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Gena, Thanks for the links. If you have any information specific to GM medicinal plant stuff, I am sure the group would be interested to read it. I was unaware, but not surprised, to hear about the GM tree planting here in Northern China. While I absolutely do not support it, I must say that there has been tree planting in this part of the country (probably both GM and non-GM) at a rate that is truly phenomenal. In fact, the last couple years there have been little in the way of sand storms here in Beijing, which is, of course, a good thing. That said, the tree planting, whether GM or not, is particularly ugly....most of it is row after row of trees, spaced exactly the same with little to no undergrowth. In Good Health, Thomas Beijing, China Author of " Western Herbs According to Traditional : A Practitioners Guide " Check out my blog: sourcepointherbs.blogspot.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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