Please inform your friends, family and associates regarding this message (terminator seed tech). There is significant danger with regard to GE (genetically engineered) foods . Think.....(what happens when original 'seeds' are eliminated...) GE food equals planned starvation...famine on demand). Original seeds (self replicating) are life sustaining for the people of this planet.....without which we all die from starvation...on demand. This is serious business...requiring your immediate attention.....Do what you can do ....(at your level) Just remember that ALL Protein originates as 'seed' (from amino acids in the right sequence in the proper combinations) which is fed to us in the form of bread, meal and meat (grain fed cows, chickens, hogs). With out the proper combination and quality of amino acids....you will starve to death. These amino acids create protein...which creates cells within your body...to replenish and replicate (nourish) your life form..ie your body. There is no other way (with the exception of fish protein). Les (now read the message below) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rural Advancement Foundation Intl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, August 31, 2001 5:12 PM Subject: RAFI News Release > > RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation > International) > www.rafi.org | [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > News Release - 31 August 2001 > > Terminator Takeover? > Will financial troubles put Delta & Pine Land Inc. on the auction > block? > > Delta & Pine Land, the maverick seed company that vows to commercialize > the notorious Terminator technology, is in trouble. Delta & Pine Land > announced earlier this week that its president is > quitting, the company will eliminate seven percent of its work force, > and > they are shutting down a facility in Arizona. > > The Mississippi-based cotton seed company, the ninth largest seed > business in the world, is the only company to publicly announce its > intention to commercialize Terminator seeds - a technology that > genetically modifies plants to produce sterile seeds, forcing farmers > to return to the commercial seed market every year. The USDA and Delta & > Pine Land jointly own three patents on genetic seed sterilization. On > August 1 the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it had > concluded negotiations to license the Terminator > technology to Delta & Pine Land. (See RAFI News Release, "USDA Says > Yes to Terminator," 3 August 2001, www.rafi.org) > > Will financial hard times put Delta & Pine Land (D&PL) on the auction > block? Which Gene Giant will risk acquiring Terminator technology > next? Is Terminator an asset or a liability? > > Financial Advice for D&PL: "USDA's recent announcement on the > licensing of Terminator technology is perceived internationally as a > 'declaration of war' against Third World farmers," explains Julie > Delahanty of RAFI. An estimated three-quarters of the world's farmers > routinely save seed from their harvest to re-plant the following > season. > > "The stigma of 'suicide seeds' is a noose around the company's neck," > adds RAFI's Hope Shand, "Delta & Pine Land can cut its losses now, > simply by abandoning Terminator seed technology." > > Takeover Target? With the economy in a free fall, Delta & Pine Land > becomes an attractive takeover target, once again, for a handful of > Gene Giants looking to acquire major market share in the seed business. > The company controls approximately three-quarters of the U.S. cotton > seed market, and has extensive foreign operations. Delta & Pine Land > proved that it was willing to be acquired back in 1998, when Monsanto > announced that it would buy Delta & Pine Land for a > stunning $1.8 billion. The deal collapsed, partly because of > overwhelming public opposition to Terminator technology and > Monsanto's burgeoning debt load. > > Who could afford to acquire D&PL? Monsanto (now owned by Pharmacia), > DuPont, Dow, Syngenta, Bayer, and BASF are all possible suitors. Bayer > is in the midst of negotiating a deal to acquire Aventis's seed and > agrochemical division. Monsanto already has a joint venture with D&PL. > BASF is looking to extend its position in ag biotech. > > Take Action on Terminator: Civil society organizations (CSOs) around > the world will take the anti-Terminator campaign to the World Food > Summit Five Years Later, 5-9 November 2001. > > Citizens should contact their Ministers of Agriculture now. Urge your > government to endorse a formal ban on Terminator technology at the > World Food Summit in November. There is no doubt that D&PL seeks to > deploy Terminator seeds in the South. Murray Robinson, the company's > new president, told a U.S. seed trade journal in 1998 that D&PL's seed > sterilizing technology could be used on over 405 million hectares > worldwide (an area the size of South Asia), and that it could > generate revenues for his company in excess of $1 billion per annum. > Robinson said that the newly patented technique will provide seed > companies with a "safe avenue" for introducing their new proprietary > technologies into giant, untapped seed markets such as China, India, and > Pakistan. > > Concerned citizens, farmers, and civil society organizations can also > send a message directly to Delta & Pine Land's new president, and > current CEO, Murray Robinson. Let D&PL know that Terminator is > anti-farmer, dangerous for the environment, and disastrous for world > food security. Terminator technology is also bad for business! > > F. Murray Robinson, President and CEO > Delta & Pine Land Inc. > One Cotton Row > Scott, Mississippi 38772 > USA > Tel: 662 742-4000 > Fax: 662 742-3795 > Email should be sent via: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > For a complete list of Delta & Pine Land's subsidiaries and joint > ventures, see the PDF version of this news release on RAFI's web > site: http://www.rafi.org > > Endnotes: > 1. Robinson was interviewed by Bill Freiberg, "Is Delta and Pine > Land's Terminator Gene a Billion Dollar Discovery?" Seeds and Crop > Digest, May/June, 1998. > > For more information, contact: > > Hope Shand, RAFI: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Julie Delahanty, RAFI: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > RAFI is an international civil society organization based in Canada. > We are dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of > biodiversity and to the socially responsible development of > technologies useful to rural societies. > > > > To add or remove your name from the RAFI listserver, please go to > www.rafi.org and then "Sign Up" where you will be given the choice of > adding or removing your name. >
