top
California
California
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Say Good-Bye to Biotech!

by a
Say Good-Bye (good-riddance!) to Biotech Shindig!
An alternative conference to the Biotechnology Industry Organization 2008 international convention.
Right here in sun-bathed San Diego, Thursday, June 19 from 1-6 PM.
At Children's Park (Surrounded by 1st Ave, Front St, Island Ave and Harbor Dr) Downtown.
640_sustainablefuture.jpg
The Biotechnology Industry already has a huge presence in San Diego, but come June 17-20 they plan on taking over. Their international annual convention is being held at the downtown Convention Center on Harbor Dr. They will be discussing the usual BIO subjects: how to commodify the world's food production, genetically modify crops to disrupt sustainability, profit from human and non-human animal illnesses and torture, create weapons and the wars to sell their products, spin their unethical choices and buy public officials to fulfill their agenda. Sound like a good time? Well if you have $2300 I encourage you to attend and learn just how they plan to shape our world! But......

If you don't have that twenty-three hundred laying around to waste on watching scientists and capitalists patting themselves on the back speaking of ways to profit from the destruction of nature visit the free autonomous counter convention in the downtown Children's Park, across the street from the Convention Center, on Thursday, June 19th. Make your way to the trolley orange line and get off at the Convention Center stop (we don't need those pollutin' cars, besides theres no free parking downtown Thursdays anyhow!) From one p.m. to six p.m. you can enjoy the SD weather outside with the community while enjoying free hot meals provided by Food Not Bombs, take some food to your family from the distribution point, pick up/drop off free goods or donate/take advantage of the free services during the Really (really!) Free Market, learn about and embrace a sustainable future at one of the multiple workshops taking place throughout the day and take information about the groups in San Diego that are working to make that future possible. A more informed schedule with workshop listings, speakers, bands and more will be available soon! If you would like to get involved or learn more, visit: http://cityheightsfreeskool.org/ to find upcoming meetings and outreach events.
§BioJustice Events
by a
640_freemktflyhigh.jpg
During the week of the BIO conference the BioJustice Campaign will include multiple film screenings around San Diego.

Monday, June 16- "King of Corn"
Will include the film screening and a panel discussion. Location is to be announced soon.

Tuesday, June 17- "Future of Food"
This film screening will be at Chicana Perk (129 25th St.) at 6:30PM

Wednesday, June 18- "San Diego Biotech 2001"
Documentary screening about the events during the BioJustice 2001 campaign in San Diego followed by a discussion about the 2008 BioTech Conference.
§Flyer
by a
fnbbio.jpg
§poster
by a
640_biotechweek.jpg
§biotech tuesday, june 17
by z
640_reclaim-the-streets-sd.jpg
"Looking around this room filled with an incredible reserve of brainpower, scientific power and excellent intentions, I've got to ask how can we get this right? Because I can't help but thinking about the cost of failing to get it right."

-Michael J. Fox in his keynote address "Driving the Development and Availability of Novel Therapies" at the 2007 BIO International Convention in Boston.

And yet throughout all the devastation to our natural environment, the crops that we eat, and our own bodies, the rest of the world outside the biotechnology industry must think about the detrimental costs of failing to resist and allowing them to continue trying to "get it right". Because in reality, forfeiting our health, food, and lives to war profiteering and the development of pacifying drugs seems to pose greater costs beyond those of scientific capitalism. Let this be our opportunity to disrupt and counter their convention to let it be known that biotechnology is not welcome in San Diego. The BIO Convention is not welcome anywhere!

What is BIO? What is the BIO Convention?

BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) is the world's largest biotechnology organization providing a forum for over 1,150 scientists and federal agencies to create and introduce different ways of commodifying our lives. Their goal is to forward their research and development of healthcare inequity, chemical induced agriculture, the depletion of natural resources. BIO and it's affiliates consist of many Fortune 100 multinationals and other corporations throughout the world.

From June 17th - 20th, BIO will converge in San Diego, CA for their annual meetings and banquets open to more than 20,000 members. These meetings act as a stage for discussions and demonstrations among the industry but closed to the public that consumes their products and feels the backlash of their bureaucracy. BIO is continuing to emerge while the rest of the world is forced to sink or swim for dear life.

Reasons to Resist

Just like other capitalist bureaucratic gatherings such as the ones of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Democratic and Republican Conventions (DNC/RNC), BIO is unable to go anywhere without the confrontation of mass protests and demonstrations. On June 17th - 20th, San Diego will become a foreground for community and resistance building outside the confines of business as usual.

Genetically Modified Organisms and Family Farms: Since their first significant commercial plantings in 1996, double digit growth in each subsequent year has led to more than 252 million acres of crops infested with dangerous chemicals and other contaminates causing defects and lowered nutrition in human and animal bodies. The Biotech Industry claims to help developing countries but are actually just patenting their seeds and taking advantage of indigenous knowledge and centuries of native tradition. The safety of genetic engineering is sloppy, imprecise, and extremely unpredictable. The claim to safety and justification is a marketing slogan and has no scientific basis.

War Profiteering: Institutes of biotechnology and nanotechnology, the science of manipulating chemistry and biology at the molecular and atomic levels, are developing new weapons and war machines to continue the costly and unending wars waged by the United States throughout Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Companies such as Monsato and DuPont will be present at this years BIO Convention, showcasing biochemical weapons to federal agencies and other paramilitary forces. Just like the food that BIO engineers, the threat of our health and genetic makeup is at stake.

Corporate Globalization: Delegates of the WTO, FTAA, NAFTA, and other advocates of globalization are constantly manipulating and devising strategies to protect capital and profit rearing from biotechnology companies. Countries with certain resources and practices are being exploited by governments and multinationals with the ability to exploit them through militarized intimidation. The greedy interests of government and corporations will be well represented at the BIO Convention with hopes to further their capitalist agenda.

How to Resist!

Join community members and activists alike for a week of resistance to the growing biotechnology industry and the BIO Convention. Throughout the week we will seek to reclaim the commons and demonstrate the alternatives to biotechnology and capitalist greed. Our goal is to disrupt the convention through a variety of means and drive the exhibitors and attendees out of our city. Outside of the this detrimental industry we can create and highlight our own brainpower and intentions. If we can act when opportunity is given, then we can take back our lives and write our own histories. The cost of failing is unfathomable.
Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
Open minds
Sun, May 25, 2008 12:16AM
biotech appreciation
Mon, May 19, 2008 10:00AM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$155.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network