I wish more people were this rational.SensibleCrout said:Wow, the pro GEC comments keep coming in. Please tell me that you all come from the US, then I could accept that you are uneducated people who actually boast about their own ignorance and do not even want to know whether they are brainwashed by billion-dollar marketing campaigns.
Actually Bob uses the exact same rhetorical pattern: "xy is like cute kitties and who is against cute kitties? Are you a kittie hater?". (xy being GEC and kitties being accepted traditional crops.)
Saying "glad Bob pointed that out, I think likewise" is the same as saying "I have a preconception and feel good if a layman biologist has the same" Is Bob an expert? No. Did he read anything from an expert on GE? Obviously not even that because he very clearly has no clue what he is talking about. Selective breeding has nothing to do with altering genes directly and it has a copletely different set of risks of which bob chooses to keep quiet about.
You are so very much in conflict with reality that I suggest you do a little research about GE. Check your sources and read something that is not directly or indirectly payed by the GE industry and educate yourself instead of affirming each other with your false preconceptions.
Liar. He was calling two things that are very different the same thing. You're actually dissembling at this point: either you didn't read the posts above you which explained the difference, literally dozens of times now, in which case you're not acting in good faith here and therefore lying, or you know the difference and are simply attempting to obfuscate with a direct lie. Either way, it's pointless.Father Time said:He was simplifying what genetic engineering was by calling it manually changing genes.keserak said:Wrong. Go back and watch the video again.Father Time said:He did not, go back and watch the video again.keserak said:In comparison to crossbreeding, Bob calls using genetic engineering, "simplifying." By his bullshit logic, invasive surgery is the same thing as taking an herbal supplement.
Bullshit. You cut off my post and ignored the context. You're fearmongering by both trying to literally rewrite my words by pretending a fragment of an argument is a whole argument -- and then using that broken piece of verbiage to accuse me of being part of some sort of insane conspiracy. You'll note I quoted your whole statement while you found it necessary to use only some of my words in order to make your lie stick. But going back to your more recent whopper:Father Time said:I did, it's still fear mongering when you expect us to think they're up to no good just because they're modifying the genes. And stop pretending you're a psychic, you don't know how much I've read.keserak said:Bullshit. You have no idea what you're talking about. You didn't even read the whole post -- nor have you read anything on this forum about the implications of Monsanto's engineering or its actual uses in patent law. Read the post.Father Time said:And now you are just fear mongering. How does modifying the seeds make them bad? You don't say you just expect us to think it's bad because you put that they were modified. Oooh scary.keserak said:b) Genetically modify seeds with material outside the seeds' species to resist the weed killing toxin.
c) Modify the seeds further for other uses.
. . . aaaaaand another lie -- if you did read the posts you'd note that our concern was actual crime and malfeasance -- not the mere fact they're "modifying the genes," a phrase that, based on your insistence in perpetuating mistruths noted above, you either don't understand or are willfully obfuscating. Still, either way, dozens of us have given legitimate complaints about Monsanto on this site, and hundreds of millions more worldwide, and you're playing a game of let's pretend where "dey moddifyin' tha' jeans!" is all you hear.Father Time said:did, it's still fear mongering when you expect us to think they're up to no good just because they're modifying the genes. And stop pretending you're a psychic, you don't know how much I've read.
I didn't use super-powers, I used deductive reasoning. Stop throwing out unsubstantiated accusations. It doesn't take a "psychic" to realize you deliberately cut out portions of a text that refute your position.Father Time said:And stop pretending you're a psychic, you don't know how much I've read.
Um, you made the claim here, so you back it up. Bob put forward a proposition not backed up by evidence, we pointed out he was wrong, you defended him by lying about our position, and then you demanded evidence for . . . I have no idea why. You're the one making a claim, so back it up. I'm not doing your "work" for you, which seems to consist of made-up stuff.Father Time said:It doesn't matter, you make a claim you back it up. I refuse to do your work for you. Although do tell me which of my arguments need referencing.keserak said:Um -- neither do you. I wasn't writing a term paper, and everything I described comes up on the first couple hits of Google.Father Time said:I should also point out that you have no sources.
By definition, if something is not manifestly untrue, it does not have to be proven manifestly untrue.Father Time said:Then prove it.keserak said:Nor was anything I said manifestly untrue on its face
Straight-up lie. Read the original post I made, fearmonger. Dozens of people have described the harms at this point.Father Time said:You expected us to question what Monsanto was doing by telling us they were modifying seeds. That sounds scary but tells us absolutely nothing about what the seeds will do or why we should be concerned. That is fear mongering.keserak said:You and Bob seriously don't know what "fearmongering" means, do you?
keserak said:Bob is absolutely full of shit.
He is speaking with the air of authority on something he knows less than nothing about. That is, he has so much misinformation that he would actually be better off being completely ignorant.
Let's review the errors.
Selective breeding is NOT the same thing as genetic engineering. Genetic engineering involves using viruses (or other small carriers, such as needles) to modify a species using genetic material from a completely different species. In other words, two species that could NEVER breed in the wild can have materials combined. Viruses can move genetic material around in the wild "naturally," but, in multicellular organisms, this is an incredibly rare event that has only been theorized to have occured. In other words, this is NOT a natural event. In fact, you take genetic traits from plants and fungi and add them to animals. The organisms don't even have to be in the same kingdom.
Bob implied that this was only turning on and off existing traits.
In this, Bob is a liar.*
In comparison to crossbreeding, Bob calls using genetic engineering, "simplifying." By his bullshit logic, invasive surgery is the same thing as taking an herbal supplement.
And oh, let's not hear the "it all exists in nature" canard from some of the posters. Cyanide is naturally occuring -- I invite you to try some. The fact of the matter is, a protein that is excellent in corn won't necessarily be healthy in a trout. Biological systems are exceptionally complex -- they are likely the most complex thing known to man -- and extensive testing would be needed to be certain the chimeric animal is healthy and safe to eat -- testing that Monsanto and the like are dedicated to avoiding.
By the way, the relevant term here is chimera, NOT a hybrid Bob -- and if you don't know what a chimera is, you shouldn't even be in this discussion. Seriously, this is like discussing the Middle East without knowing what Jew, Arab, oil, and the U.S. mean.
But back to that earlier point, it is not the mere existence of a biological agent that makes it "natural," but its relationship with the organism. I can assure you that an octopus contains plenty of chemicals that, if placed in the human bloodstream, would sicken it, and vice-versa. Saying that something is "natural" because it's found in nature is like claiming it's okay to stab you in the head with an icicle. Water is natural, after all, and you're full of it already, right?
It gets worse. The problem with genetic engineering -- which Bob doesn't even understand -- is that it is being used without proper controls and with complete disregard to environmental laws and human saftey. Monsanto, the biggest and most well-known perpetrator, made its fortune by doing the following:
a) Invent a highly toxic weed killer.
b) Genetically modify seeds with material outside the seeds' species to resist the weed killing toxin.
c) Modify the seeds further for other uses.
d) Fail to test the food on animals -- or test the food badly, obscuring animal harm such as increased rate of cancer. (Yep, they'll lie about their own results.)
e) Sell the seed to farmers where the plants will interbreed with wild species, contaminating them.
And the real doozy:
f) If some of Monsanto's seeds get onto your property and you've refused to buy their seed, they will claim your ENTIRE FARM as their own and take the plants you developed via decades of actual cross-breeding, patent the plants, and steal your livelhood.
I'm not kidding. They did this to farmers in Canada and are pulling the same crap in India.
Oh, by the way: if you're in the third world, they'll refuse to let you save your seeds -- you know, what farmers have done for over 20 thousand years. That way you have to buy from them ever year. And they jack the price up. Not that you needed to buy their seed before they started polluting your crops with their seeds.
Needless to say, contamination of some of the oldest crops of mankind could lead to some pretty serious devastation. Monsanto and similar companies are using the entire planet as a laboratory and have no experimental controls. (And again, if you don't know what a scientific control is, you have no business saying anything about genetic engineering. Just to be sure, I'm not saying you shouldn't talk about this: you should. You should look up your terms first, however -- and not spew a bunch of poisonous lies on a popular media site while ridiculing hundreds of millions of people fighting to preserve their lives and jobs.)
It is not genetic engineering to improve crops. It's genetic engineering to exploit the trademark system, a legal system that the framers of the Constitution never expected to be employed as we do today. It is supposed to be illegal to patent living things; Monsanto's bribes changed that.
And, oh, Bob -- that carrot? The one you thought you were so clever about? Yeah, we know it was genetically engineered due to activists telling us. It wasn't mentioned in the supermarket. In fact, Monsanto and its allies work hard to obscure all genetic engineering information and hope to make its disclosure illegal. This is despite the fact that some of their additions can trigger allergic reactions in humans.
So, if you're allergic to peanuts, imagine it being illegal to label something as containing peanut products. That's you're future.
Seriously, Bob, that carrot gag did nothing to ridicule your target and simply made you look like an ass.
Hell, even his non-science discussion is a doughy pantload. Frankenstein's lack of scientific credentials in the novel was basically irrelevant since accredidation didn't mean much in the 19th century -- but, zounds, it was a big deal in the 20th, hence the change to the movie.
You'd think he'd know that, being a movie critic.
*The vehemence of this reply is due to the fact that Bob was contemptuous of people who have a valid, important concern with the state of the FDA. In short, Bob was belittling people who are working their asses off to save lives and livelihoods in the face of ridiculously irresponsible and, frankly, antiscientific mismanagement. And he did so using out-and-out lies, some of which parallel the lies used by the industries breaking the laws and bribing congress as we speak. I call him a liar because of his confidence; he made blanket, untrue declarations with the intent to persuade.
A full response would be unwarranted and against what I'm trying to do, so here's just a few problems I had with what you said (and it's more how you said it than anything else.keserak said:snipped for reasons of length
And ignored the bullets before and after that gave it context. Thus, you ignored the context.Father Time said:I did not. It was part of a list of bullet points, and I posted the entire bullet.keserak said:Bullshit. You cut off my post and ignored the context.
I pointed out you were creating a conspiracy. Now you appear to be acting deliberately dense. Read the quote again.Father Time said:I accused you of using fear mongering which isn't even close to a conspiracy.
Each bullet was "something separate": it was a separate fact that built a whole argument. Do you not understand how arguments work? Seriously, how inane can you be? How deliberately childish? You are creating, out of whole cloth, a grammatical rule for bullet points that has no precedent and doesn't even make sense in the context in which you invoke it -- and all to avoid an argument you're pretending not to get.Father Time said:Do you not understand how bullet points work? Each one is supposed to be something separate, so when you have 'they're modifying genes' as a single bullet point then it means that's a separate complaint.
You just claimed that there is a conspiracy to illegitimately demonize GMO. That is the point of Bob's post, the post you're defending, remember? You have provided no proof of this -- or anything else, and then you peevishly demand that someone else display proof of your lack of proof, hoping to confuse the issue by demanding proof of a negative. You are engaging in base sophistry. Your side began this argument; now you're whining because you don't want to back up your insane position.Father Time said:I'm asking you to back up claims that you made, you should be able to do so. What claims have I made that require outside source? Name one.
Zing! Oh, I am got! But way there guy -- that "lack of a clue" you're talking about -- is that anything like the lack of evidence you have to back up your bullshit position? If so, that kinda brings you down to a position of petty, asinine sniping in order to disguise your lack of a point.Father Time said:Nor has a lack of a clue stopped you.keserak said:But hey, lack of logic hasn't stopped you so far.
And back to straight-up lying. The point isn't that groups are trying to get GMOs banned -- the point is that those groups blocking importation of GMOs have legitimate reasons to do so. You're deliberately ignoring my posts on the subject so that you can obfuscate Bob's thesis that there is illegitimacy. You're promulgating a conspiracy theory that any and all groups that want to block GMOs have no legitimate concerns.Father Time said:My point was that there are people who are trying to get all GM foods banned, I've posted links to the groups that want to do that and places where they've succeeded and you said they don't exist.
No, you are lying. You did not name them. You are selectively editing out parts of the contention you don't care for: namely that those concerned with GMOs enough to block their importation into their country have significant and legitimate scientific, economic, and civil rights (e.g., farmer's rights and consumer rights) issues. You're pretending I said "no one opposes genetically modified foods under any circumstances." Again, ironically, you're not paying any attention. You're stating things that aren't true to obfuscate weakness in your argument.Father Time said:I fucking named them you dolt. Are you not paying attention?
No, it was mockery of the inanity in your post. A portion of it was completely nonsensical. That's not a slur: I mean it made no sense whatsoever. It communicated nothing.Drake_Dercon said:Snipped wacky stuff: This merely shows a lack of willingness to understand.
The result was not nonsensical. You made a series of completely wrong points, where each wrong point demanded refutation. It is amazing that you call carefully pointing out your errors a "tactic." In fact, this method is usually called Fisking [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisking], and is held up as being a way to show one is not obfuscating the point of the quoted individual. So, in essence, you're complaining that a method dedicated to not undermining your point undermined your point -- a position that, unfortunately, obscures the fact that your initial arguments were horrible. To wit: you use a collateral attack on the method used to point out your arguments' errors, but you do not subsequently defend your arguments.Drake_Dercon said:You cut apart one paragraph as though it was three separate arguments (making it completely nonsensical). If you plan on slandering someone else's argument, please don't rely on such tactics.
My God man, are you really still not getting this? Did you even read the post? No. It must be concluded that you didn't. You were annoyed by the format of the post and ignored the content. If you had read it, you would have realized:Drake_Dercon said:I was way off on the banana: Humans share 50% of our DNA with a banana.
Bob's animation and posts asserted, without evidence or even logical coherence, the notion that GMOs are inherently good, then proposed that there existed a group of individuals who, due to stupidity and/or an excess of misplaced emotion and without any legitimate basis, were using tremendous power in the U.S. government to undermine the cause of GMOs. His communication served to encourage fear of this nonexistant group -- or, more likely, to generate fear against very real groups that have legitimate and profoundly important problems with GMOs. Note that in the latter case such groups provide a valuable public service, as has been described voluminously upthread. This was fearmongering. You defended Bob's position, helping him fearmonger, thus, you fearmongered in turn.Drake_Dercon said:7. The definition of fear-mongering: If I've ever done this, please let me know where and how. I will endeavor to correct the issue as quickly as possible.
You mean like deliberately ignoring entire posts so you can make a point that's already been refuted? That's pretty much being a dick. Could you take your own advise, or at least dispense with the hypocrisy?Drake_Dercon said:Please stop being a dick.
No, it's not the point. To wit: I don't care about the other stuff you said. I care about the specific issue of Bob's video. I am trying to counter Bob's disinformation. Full stop. I don't seek to expand the issue beyond that, and pretending that all of the above posts and Bob "miss the point" so you can get up on your soapbox about the issue is arrogant in the extreme. E.g., you're being a dick. If you want to discuss GMOs and Monsanto without regard to Bob's communications, make a new thread. I'm not indulging in an off-topic conversation, especially given the incredibly poor grasp of the science involved you displayed upthread -- then conveniently ignored.Drake_Dercon said:I'll also note that Bob's video, while not factually incorrect, sidestepped this issue entirely. And that's the point.
Um, no, it helped me deal with the inanity of your posts. Go back up and read what you said. It was insultingly bad. If you were deliberately trolling, you'd derserve a prize. Please don't post something that makes absolutely no sense in English then blame someone else for failing to have puzzled out your secret twin language. . . and then refuse to even address your own incompetent phrasing and misinformation! That would be being a dick.Drake_Dercon said:I really don't want any "wtf is this i dont even...". That doesn't help either of us.
Be more childish here. Seriously. Give it a shot. Try to act more like a four year old here. "I know you are but what am I?" would actually be a step up from this.Drake_Dercon said:No response means you concede.