Image via Wikipedia

Take action - wake up or become human clones New Zealand!







Okay, perhaps the headline is a tad sensationalist but after yesterday’s announcement that the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) has approved genetically modified goats, sheep and cows at AgResearch’s Ruakura research facility I wouldn’t be surprised if human cloning was on the cards soon.







I’m also not surprised that this consent was given considering ERMA’s rubber stamp approval of past applications. In the nearly 15 years since ERMA was formed it has yet to decline a single GE application. Talk about a lap dog for GE interests.







And yes, I can hear people say ‘but this application is different’ and ‘it will save people’s lives’. But human cloning is different, I guess.







I say ‘bollocks’. Yes, I know they say these GE applications will not be used for commercial interests in terms of developing milk. But, my sense is, that is exactly where this will lead. Along with the recent pro-GE grass articles these applications are for the commercial interests of big agri-business.







You may think, how cynical, but this is a subject close to my heart. Two of my siblings have muscular dystrophy. Several years ago there was a proposal to genetically engineer sheep to increase muscle mass up to four times. It was argued this process could be used to help people with muscular dystrophy. My siblings and I talked about this and we agreed that it seemed to be more about dollars in terms of ‘more muscle on sheep more dollars made in selling the meat’ than a genuine proposal to end muscular dystrophy. And where did that experiment end up? Nowhere and no cure in sight.







Greenpeace is not against GE for medical reasons. We believe that it should be kept in the lab and not out in our paddocks.







Plus, the Royal Commission (held in 2001 to determine whether GE should be allowed in NZ) recommended to use synthetic rather than human genes, and not use animals that could find their way into the food chain. Due to this and many other environmental and economic reasons this application should have been declined.







This government would support it friends in big business making money from cloning; even human cloning.



Acknowledgements:  Greenpeace New Zealand


Human cloning

Related articles by Zemanta

• Identification of the gene responsible for a new form of adult muscular dystrophy (scienceblog.com)
• Researchers discover chemical that may protect hearts of muscular dystrophy patients (scienceblog.com)
• Que. researchers uncover gene therapy treatment (cbc.ca)
• AVI Biopharma Drug Shows Hint of Effect Against Muscular Dystrophy In Small Study (xconomy.com)
• Researchers trace effects of genetic defect in myotonic muscular dystrophy (scienceblog.com)
• April 21, 1987: Feds OK Patents for New Life Forms (wired.com)

DO NOT GIVE SIDETICK A TICK.                                 .







Do not give Sidetick a tick, They ripped me off! They don't deserve to be on the internet - a big thumbs down!





First published at Qondio:











I'm really not a negative type, that why I'm always looking at new sites, especially blog and social network sites. I've had a few disabled for a variety of reasons, not usually my fault, in my opinion anyway.

If I allegedly break the TOS of a site, like Adsense for instance, I would appreciate being told the reason - Adsense never has told me. I can only presume I must have unknowingly and inadvertently clicked one of my own adds; if I did I am very remorseful about that. But Google Adsense the power and the glory on the internet didn't want to know. They made THEIR decision. But thats not what I'm actually writing about today, here at KR!



As I said earlier I'm always looking around at new sites. I've joined a couple of social network sites. Most are there for your enjoyment and social interaction - Netlog is a good example of that. Good site to communicate from.



But one day in the latter part of last year i was invited to a new site by one of my good blogging friends. So I signed up and began to navigate my way around the place. They said that this site is a paying site, and you got paid more if you intracted more. And so it appeared for many months. We got credited with Sidetick dollars for getting friends and interacting with them, setting up and participating in polls, writing on my blog, commenting on other blogs, downloading music,videos and games. I even took part in the NFL weekly game selections (despite knowing little about the American game) - football pools. I was earning a potential 3500-5000 Sidetick dollars, or SD's per week .By February of this year I had earned potentially 89,000 SD. 200,000 SD =US$100.00 at payout.



During February Sidetick made a bombshell announcement, which I didn't pickup until Feb 27, my birthday. Only citizens of the US and some obviously friendly countries, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Israel could continue to be allowed to earn money there. The rest of we members were foreigners and couldn't earn anymore. We had all participated and helped Sidetick to grow as a social site for all these months. Now we were being denied the opportunity to continue earning, and as a consequence to be able to have the opportunity to cash out what we may have already earned - in my case about US$45.00.



As a New Zealander and a friend and ally of the United States I was deeply angered and offended to be considered a mere foreigner, on a par with North Korea. I was irate, and sent messages to the Admin and wrote a couple of posts on my blog there. I received a reply which stated they were looking for ways for "foreign" members to continue earning money there.Yeah right! I didn't receive any opportunities to make more than pennies there. So I went on the attack outside of Sidetick! Now I'm not normally a vindictive person, but this kiwi doesn't appreciate being treated in such an unforgetable and off-hand manner - being ripped off!



Sidetick had actually committed offences against a New Zealand citizen and under NZ law would be guilty of false pretences and fraud. They continued to advertise their site without any mention of "two grades" of membership - Americans and buddies, and "foreigners" like me and those from North Korea, Zimbabwe, Iran and Fiji etc. But because they are registered in Atlanta, Georgia, there isn't anything I could do unless I went to Atlanta and took a case against them.



I wasn't surprised that after posting a few articles on various blogsites on the internet my account was disabled. Bully for Sidetick, the rip-off merchants of the internet! Many of my blogging friends are angered by Sidetick's actions, and one has said she will investigate ways within the US system to bring Sidetick to justice. Good for her!


Acknowledgements: Peter Petterson

Related articles by Zemanta

• Microsoft Has Sold More Than A Million Xbox 360s In AU And NZ (gizmodo.com.au)
• North Korea Denies Sinking Navy Ship (nytimes.com)
• UK still lousy on electronic nosiness (go.theregister.com)
• Where should you wish to visit in a hurry? (marginalrevolution.com)
• Yahoo pulls Facebook into Yahoo Mail (macworld.com)
• Concentrate on product quality in the US - not the clean green or carbon footprint... (peter-petterson.blogspot.com)
• Australia's 90-year 'apple row' with New Zealand resolved by WTO (telegraph.co.uk)
• Are Australia and New Zealand merging? (gadling.com)
• On New Zealand Not Being the Same as Australia (justinelarbalestier.com)