I made a couple of updates today. There is some neat stuff that I got off of the Greenpeace site so scroll down and check it out!! I was looking at the genetically modified foods page and it turns out that Werthers is free of genetically modified foods, I believe this gives me a exscuse to go out and buy CANDY!! On the other hand it says that Nestle, Kellogs and several other HUGE name brands are all likely to have Genetically modified ingredients :(

Peace Park Plus Proposal hinges on BC government position
Special BC Wildcanada.net Action Alert -- 008
Friday October 11, 2002

BC Minister of Sustainable Resource Development Stan Hagen is throwing cold
water on a good news announcement made last week by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
to expand Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park into BC's Flathead Valley,
saying that the BC Liberals are not currently considering the park expansion as
part of a forthcoming announcement on the land use planning process for the
region. Conservation groups working on the campaign to expand the Peace Park,
and create a Wildlife Management area to connect the Peace Park to Banff
National Park to the north still hope that the expansion will proceed, but
action is needed now to ensure that the BC government doesn't scuttle the wishes
of many local residents, and a groundswell of international support for the
protection of watersheds, grizzly bears, bull trout and wolverine in the region.
Visit http://www.peaceparkplus.net to take action by sending a free faxed letter
to Premier Gordon Campbell, Minister Hagen and your MLA.

Background

On October 2, 2002 Prime Minister Jean Chrétien won praise from the
international conservation community and from citizens on both sides of the
Canada-US border when he announced that, as part of his government's renewed
commitment to Canada's national parks, he would work to expand Waterton Lakes
National Park into the Flathead Valley of BC. For more than 100 years, the
Flathead Valley has been a gaping hole in the international effort to protect
the Crown of the Continent that straddles Montana, Alberta and BC.

Shortly after, commenting in the Fernie Free Press, the Hon. Stan Hagen,
Minister of Sustainable Resource Development for BC said: 'we are very close to
making an announcement on that plan (the BC land use planning process) which
doesn't include making an announcement of expansion of the park into the
Flathead.'

BC must be onside with the park expansion proposal for it to proceed.

Take Action

As a resident of BC, you hold the trump card in the effort to protect the
Flathead Valley and complete the protection of this beautiful and important
landscape. Visit http://www.peaceparkplus.net and use Wildcanada.net's fast,
free on-line Action Centre to send a letter to Premier Campbell and Minister
Hagen. Wildcanada.net's software will automatically tailor your letter to your
MLA.

You can help Wildcanada.net protect the Flathead Valley and other important BC
landscapes by making a donation on-line at http://www.wildcanada.net.

Shoppers Guide:

Check out the Grenpeace comprehensive new Guide on ‘How to Avoid GE Food’ available in funky, searchable online version. This indispensable guide will help you identify the genetically engineered ingredients in every day consumer products sold in Canada. Pocket-sized print versions of the guide are available for a suggested donation of two dollars.

Action Point: Stop E$$O week of action

The Stop E$$O week of action is fast approaching, check out
http://www.stopesso.ca often for updates, creative action ideas and to sign up to get involved for October 26th.

Report: New Report Exposes Danger of GE Crops

The first study to look at the economic impact of genetically engineered (GE) crops reveals that GE crops have been an economic disaster for Canada and the United States, where over 75 per cent of the world's GE crops are grown. The report, released by the Soil Association, estimates that Canada has lost $300 million in export sales to Europe since the introduction of GE canola.

Opinion: Read a Greenpeace opinion piece on the conflict between US and Iraq

Sound: Alice Leney narrates the launch of a Star Wars test firing

Ever wonder what happens at a Star Wars missile test? Listen to Alice Leney narrate the launch of a Star Wars test firing from Kwajalein missile range in the Pacific.

Diary: Greenpeace activists report from the Brazilian rainforest community action

From a wooden, shallow-hulled river boat strung with colourful hammocks, activists describe days and nights travelling through the Amazon.

Resource: New: Greenpeace student research guide

New: Greenpeace student research guide. Doing a project on environmental issues? Check out our great new guide to student research in Canada.

Are you wondering what more you can do to help the planet? You take your bike to work, eat organic, but want to do more. At long last we have looked into one of humanity’s favourite pastimes and uncovered the ways that passion can help save the planet.

Internationally rare Columbia Wetlands threatened by powerboats
Wildcanada.net Action Alert -- 083
Friday October 18, 2002

Synopsis

The Columbia Wetlands, found at the headwaters of the Columbia River system, are
180 kilometers of natural wetlands at the base of the western slopes of the
Canadian Rockies in southeastern British Columbia. In a world where wetlands
disappear daily, the Columbia River Wetlands are an increasingly rare and
priceless international treasure. Now, unrestricted motorized vessels threaten
wildlife habitat and migrating and resident birds. The Columbia Wetlands have
become almost all that is left intact of the Pacific flyway, the age-old route
traversed by countless migrating birds. Here, after many thousands of miles of
flight, they can rest and replenish and survive. The Columbia Wetlands must be
protected as a home for wildlife and as quiet and peaceful sanctuary for people
as well. Take action by writing the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans at
the address found below!

Background

Daily pressure for motorized recreation and land development increase, with both
immediate and far-reaching impacts on wildlife and their habitat. The noise and
intrusion associated with jet skis and power boats lead to erosion, habitat
destruction, and nest abandonment, leaving young birds and animals vulnerable to
predators.

In the coming months, the government of Canada will decide on a boating
restriction intended to protect the wildlife values of the Columbia Wetlands.
Some users of motorized vessels want the government to open these sensitive
aquatic ecosystems to jet boats and jet skis. The East Kootenay Environmental
Society (EKES) is resolved that our application for an under 10 horsepower
boating restriction must be successful to protect the Wetlands' rare plant,
animal and bird life. The present unsurpassed role of the Columbia Wetlands as a
refuge for wildlife must not be sacrificed to unrestricted use by motorized
vessels.

Take Action

Please write: The Honourable Robert Thibault, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans,
Canada Centennial Towers, Suite 1570, 200 Kent Street, Ottawa Ontario K1A 0E6
FAX: 613-990-7292 email: min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

The East Kootenay Environmental Society (EKES) has taken the lead in the work to
maintain the wildlife and natural values of the Columbia Wetlands. Please copy
your letter to ellenzim@rockies.net

For more information: www.ekes.org or contact EKES spokesperson, Ellen
Zimmerman, Phone/FAX: 250-348-2225 e-mail ellenzim@rockies.net

Support Wildcanada.net's efforts to assist in the protection of wetlands and
other important wildlands by making an on-line donation at
http://www.wildcanada.net.

WASHINGTON POST - W.W.J.D. at the F.D.A.?

We may soon find out, if W. David Hager becomes chairman of the powerful Food
and Drug Administration panel on women's health policy. His rŽsumŽ seems more
impressive for theology than gynaecology.

"Jesus stood up for women at a time when women were second-class citizens," Dr.
Hager says. "I often say, if you are liberated, a woman's libber, you can thank
Jesus for that."

A professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Kentucky, he has
a considerable body of work about Jesus' role in healing women, and last summer
he helped the Christian Medical Association with a "citizens' petition" calling
on the F.D.A. to reverse its approval of RU-486, the "abortion pill," claiming
it puts women at risk. (RU-486 or RU-4Jesus?)

Karen Tumulty reports in Time that the F.D.A. senior associate commissioner,
Linda Arey Skladany, a former drug-industry lobbyist with Bush family ties, has
rejected doctors proposed by F.D.A. staffers and is pushing Dr. Hager.

The policy panel, which helped get RU-486 approved, will lead the study on the
hot issue of hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women. As Time notes:
"Some conservatives are trying to use doubts about such therapy to discredit the
use of birth control pills, which contain similar compounds."

Dr. Hager wrote "As Jesus Cared for Women," blending biblical accounts of Christ
healing women with case studies from his own practice. "Jesus still longs to
bring wholeness to women today," the jacket says. He writes about a young
patient named Sparkle who gets a job at a strip joint in Kentucky and becomes
promiscuous and gets several sexually transmitted diseases. Sparkle reminds him
of "a woman Jesus met who was generally known in her town as a sinner, but whom
Jesus saw through eyes of love."

With his wife, Linda, he wrote "Stress and the Woman's Body," which puts "an
emphasis on the restorative power of Jesus Christ in one's life" and recommends
Scripture readings to treat headaches (Matthew 13:44-46); eating disorders
(Corinthians II, 10:2-5) and premenstrual syndrome (Romans 5:1-11, "Tribulation
worketh patience.")

To exorcise affairs, the Hagers suggest a spiritual exercise: "Picture Jesus
coming into the room. He walks over to you and folds you gently into his arms.
He tousles your hair and kisses you gently on the cheek. . . . Let this love
begin to heal you from the inside out."

Dr. Hager is also an editor of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian
Appraisal of Sexuality, Reproductive Technologies, and the Family." One of the
pieces, "Using the Birth Control Pill is Ethically Unacceptable," says
scientific data show that the pill causes abortions. Dr. Hager said he disagreed
with that piece. He says he prefers not to prescribe contraceptives to single
women, but will if they insist and reject his advice to abstain.

He says he does not do abortions, will not prescribe RU-486 and will not insert
IUD's. "I am pro-life," he says. "I believe sex outside of marriage is a sin.
But I am not against medication. The fact that I'm a person of faith does not
deter me from also being a person of science." But unlike C. Everett Koop, who
did not let his evangelical beliefs influence his work as surgeon general, Dr.
Hager has written that it is "dangerous" to compartmentalize life into
"categories of Christian truth and secular truth."

Once again, the Bush administration seems to be sowing scepticism about science
for the sake of politics. It has smothered the promise of stem cell research to
extend and improve life with the right wing's reverence for "life."

A Washington Post article last month reported that the Bush crowd was
restructuring scientific advisory committees on patients' rights and public
health, "eliminating some committees that were coming to conclusions at odds
with the president's views and in other cases replacing members with handpicked
choices."

Dr. David Kessler, the former F.D.A. commissioner who is now dean of the Yale
University School of Medicine, warns: "If the criteria to be on an advisory
committee are based on a political litmus test, that will set this country
back."

Are we so worried about medieval villains abroad that we no longer worry about
medievalism at home?

..Washington Post


Philip F. Hall, MD BScMed FRCSC
Director, Fetal Assessment, Provincial Obstetric Outreach and
Maternal-Fetal Medicine Programs
Vice President, Medical Staff
St.Boniface General Hospital, 409 Tache Avenue D2044
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R2H 2A6
ph 204-237-2547 FAX 204-233-1751
(Past Chair, Obs & Gyn Specialty Committee,
Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada)
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba

URGENT ACTION NEEDED --

FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee

Bush Selection Favours Prayer for PMS and Opposes Contraception Use by Unmarried
Women

President Bush has announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to head up
the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory
Committee. Hager is a practicing Obstetrician-gynaecologist, and sources told
Time magazine that in his private practice he will not prescribe contraceptives
to unmarried women. He is also the author of a book which suggests that women
who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the Bible
and praying.

The Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee is responsible for offering
expert scientific and medical advice to the FDA on matters relating to drugs
used in the practice of obstetrics, gynaecology, and related specialties. The
committee's responsibilities include all contraceptive drugs and drugs used in
performing medical abortion as well as drugs used for infertility treatments,
hormone replacement therapy and labour and delivery.

Hager's track record of using religious beliefs to guide his medical
decision-making makes him a dangerous and inappropriate candidate to serve as
chair of this committee. Women rely on the FDA to ensure their access to safe
and effective drugs for reproductive health care including products that have
been proven to help safely prevent pregnancy. For some women - such as those
with certain types of diabetes and those undergoing treatment for cancer -
pregnancy can be a life-threatening condition. Religion should not be a barrier
to access to safe and effective drugs that are necessary for preserving and
promoting women's health and protecting women's lives. There is no place at the
FDA for someone who, based on religious beliefs, would deny unmarried women
access to technologies which are a part of mainstream medical care and to which
all women have a legal right.

To appoint a person who advocates religion as a treatment for medical conditions
to such an influential position at the agency responsible for regulation of
medical drugs is to deprive the FDA and the women who rely on it of the
scientific and medical expertise they deserve.

The National Women's Health Network urges you to email President Bush at
president@whitehouse.gov or call the White House at 202-456-1111 to say that you
oppose the appointment of Dr. Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs
Advisory Committee and ask the president to select a committee chair with a
track record of making medical decisions based on science instead of religion.

If you send an email please send a copy to the National Women's Health
Network office at jwashington@womenshealthnetwork.org.
--
Cynthia A. Pearson
National Women's Health Network
http://www.womenshealthnetwork.org