Film: Scientists Under Attack

Film evenings begin with potluck refreshments & social hour at 6:30 pm,
followed by the film at 7:30 pm, followed by a discussion after the film.

SCIENTISTS UNDER ATTACK
by Bertram Verhaag

This hard-hitting documentary shows how the genetic engineering (GE) industry has blocked the evolution of scientific knowledge. The heavy hand of the biotechnology industry steers a fraudulent “science” towards its own interests while eliminating the actual, legitimate science that exposes GE for the fraud that it is. We have already been guinea pigs of the GE mafia for a long time. What is termed “genetic research” is only related to the higher sciences in rare cases and instead is normally associated with hard-core business and enormous prospects of profits — but only if critics keep silent. If the GE industry were interested in scientific truth, it would push for studies to be repeated with the alleged “flaws” corrected. But this never happens. Instead, GE companies use their patent-based ownership of genetically modified (GM) crops to deny scientists access to research materials — the GM crop and the non-GM parent line control. So original research by independent scientists showing problems with GM crops is buried under a deluge of smears — and follow up studies are not done. This film highlights the corporate takeover of science and academia.

The message of the film — who is really in charge — is underlined by public interest attorney and activist, Andrew Kimbrell, who is interviewed fishing for trout in a river. He points out that trout eat caddis-flies, which can be killed by Bt maize toxin leaching into rivers. He says the GM industry follows a linear economic model based on a drive towards more and more production, regardless of the cost to nature and ourselves. He says this model of progress is a delusion: “Everything is made from the earth — these clothes, this camera, this fly rod. There is only one economy — the one that we see around us right now. The other economy, of capital and technology and the stock market, is all made up in our heads. Industry hasn’t grasped that we need to evolve into a stable economy enmeshed in ecology. We are going to have to follow the laws of nature and not the artificial laws of any technology. The salmon come back to where they were born to spawn and die, and then the young come out. It’s not linear, it’s a life-giving circle.”

This film is brought to us by California Right to Know – campaigning for the passage of Proposition 37 (labeling GM foods sold in California) in our November ballots, to be voted on November 6. After this evening’s feature film, Scientists Under Attack, they will show a bonus documentary: Monster Salmon.

Wheelchair accessible around the corner at 411 28th Street

$5 donations are accepted