The other "other" side

[Anne Kilmer]

As in fact Dr. Shuey had confused his facts, a reference was indeed
called for. He said so, himself. 
Asking for references is not, in itself, a hostile act. 
My concern when it comes to johnson grass and other pest plants would be
not so much the Bt modifications, as the "Roundup ready" plants. 
I imagine Paul is right when he suggests that leps have slight impact on
such pest plants. No, I got no references. 
 Roundup is a comparatively benign weed killer, used by many
conservationist types. If artificially produced resistance gets into the
gene pool of the grasses and leguminous weeds, farmers will have to fall
back upon other, still-effective weed killers, some of which may be
harder on the soil organisms, birds etc. 
But that's an opinion, and I look to the scientists among us to produce
the facts, work with the manufacturers, feed the world and preserve
biodiversity. 
So far, at least among those on this list, I am not disappointed. 
John's posting about the Bt Sorghum is an example of the integrity I
admire and count on. And, like him, I'm still worried about the stuff. 
For references, see: The Sorcerer's Apprentice, No Blade of Grass, The
Mill that Ground Salt ... (also known as Why the Sea is Salt) , the
Siege of Troy and the Tower of Babel, et al. Good old Al. 

I am just going out, and may be some time. Heading back from Ireland to
Florida, where  it will be too hot.
There will be no hurricanes this year, however, for I have bought fitted
storm shutters to prevent them. Ours is a high and lonely destiny. 
Cheers
Anne Kilmer
Mayo, Ireland

soon to revert to <viceroy at gate.net>
"James J. Kruse" wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Dr. Walsh nicely addressed the use of references as a scientific reality,
> but what sort of worries me is:
> 
> On Thu, 3 Aug 2000, David Smith wrote:
> 
> > When Mr. Shuey makes a statement about farmers being worried about anything
> > (drought, birds, etc.) he does not need a reference, he is the reference.
> 
> Wow! I guess that's true in court, but for the most part this is a
> scientific forum. Dr. Shuey is a respected scientist in more than one
> circle, and I am obviously not the only one to think so. However,
> _everyone_ needs some scientific justification sometimes, except maybe God
> and subspecies.
> 
> Regards,
> Jim Kruse
> University of California at Berkeley
> Dept. of Environ Sci, Policy and Mgmt.
> Div. of Insect Biology
> 201 Wellman Hall
> Berkeley, California, 94720-3112
> Voice: (510) 642-7410    Fax: (510) 642-7428
> http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/sperlinglab/kruse.html