Archive - June 2024

Earth Day at Livermore is Like Brotherhood Week at Auschwitz

I went to Livermore looking for some lessons in reality, and came away alarmed. Hoping to find the advocate's defense of radiation, I found discussions of Communication, of Good Works, of Hazards, and of Fate — probable themes for a medieval morality play, but hardly what one expects from an ultra-modern scientific...

More Than Better Pay: If the Swedes Can Do It…

It wasn’t paradise, but the work environment in the Anebyhus Company’s sawmill was much better than in mills in North America. And it was just one of many impressive work sites visited by eight IWA members and staff and two government officials during a two-week study tour of the wood products industry in Sweden.

Experiment in Development: Update from Grenada

In Grenada, we have members in the present government who were members of the opposition in the past government. These people were elected even during Gairy’s reign when he massively rigged elections. So, these people represent a vast number of the people in our country. Another thing that people might not be aware of...

Technology and Productivity

The introduction of NC processes in metal machining has affected the class struggle. It alters the skills required of production workers, but it is not clear that the skills required are lesser or greater than those needed for conventional machining processes. The major purpose of NC technology is to increase...

Farmers Topple Towers: Powerline Assaults the Prairie

In West Central Minnesota, local farmers have been opposing an electrical transmission line for over four years. The resistance dates back to the very first information meeting staged by the utilities. The public relations person for the utility company said at the meeting, "You should be proud to have the biggest...

Plant Patenting: Sowing the Seeds of Destruction

With the breeding and marketing of new “improved” varieties, traditional varieties are being replaced. Farmers and gardeners stop growing them. Field after field is planted with one variety. Where thousands of varieties of wheat once grew, only a few can now be seen. When these traditional plant varieties are lost...

Recombinant DNA: Biotechnology Becomes Big Business

With recombinant DNA technology in the hands of industry – aided by academic scientists – we can expect continued exposure to biological risks, and continued benefits to private interests at public expense. As David Suzuki, a geneticist, wrote three years ago, "What could be more explosive than the application in...