AR-News: Terrorists with tofu breath

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> > Terrorists with tofu breath
Posted: November 19, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc. They are bomb-throwing Birkenstock brats. 
Wolves in hemp clothing. Enemies of scientific progress. Inveterate haters of 
humanity. They are environmental extremists and animal-rights zealots. They are 
running loose. And they are endangering us all. The national press, which has 
put a happy green face on the environmental movement for three decades, has 
largely ignored a recent rising tide of violence being waged by eco-nuts across 
the country – and around the world. In August, someone planted explosives at 
biotechnology giant Chiron Corp. in Emeryville, Calif. Less than a month later, 
cosmetics manufacturer Shaklee Corp. in Pleasanton was hit. Both targets have 
ties to Huntingdon Life Sciences, a research lab that conducts animal tests 
for pharmaceutical, agrochemical and biotechnology products. Huntingdon has for 
years been the victim of a sustained campaign of intimidation, harassment and 
violence by anti-science thugs. No one was hurt in the northern California 
attacks, but the bomb blasts struck terror in researchers at both companies who 
have dedicated their careers to improving their fellow citizens' quality of 
life. The chief suspect in the bombings is Daniel Andreas San Diego. The feds, 
who have issued an all-points bulletin listing him as armed and dangerous, say 
he has gone underground – most likely with the help of a loose-knit network of 
radical animal-rights activists. The San Francisco Chronicle described San 
Diego as a "clean-cut, soft-spoken 25-year-old Sonoma County man, who was trying 
to invent a vegan marshmallow." "Vegan marshmallows." What an apt metaphor for 
domestic terrorists who take cover under the guise of "mainstream" 
environmental activism with its mushy and harmless facade. PETA, the pet charity of 
famous vegans such as Alicia Silverstone and Paul McCartney, may seem as pale and 
innocuous as a marshmallow. But it doesn't just dole out money for celebrity 
anti-meat ads. The group has provided financial support for the Earth 
Liberation Front, which along with its sister organization, the Animal Liberation 
Front, is responsible for committing more than 600 criminal acts between 1996 and 
2002, according to the FBI. In Washington, mainstream green lobbyists are 
silent about anti-biotech mayhem that has resulted in the destruction of 
experimental crops in the Pacific Northwest, Louisiana, France and India. What's at 
stake? While aspiring terrorists with tofu breath build nail bombs and play with 
matches, the best and brightest scientists around the world are forging 
miraculous breakthroughs that will benefit all mankind – and especially the poor in 
underdeveloped nations that the leftists and Luddites claim to care about so 
much. Science journalist Michael Fumento comprehensively documents such stunning 
developments in his eye-opening new book, "Bioevolution: How Biotechnology Is 
Changing Our World." It's an invaluable antidote to the irrational hysteria 
of eco-terrorists. Fumento reports on how agricultural biotech researchers are 
refining methods of pumping up protein levels in corn, boosting vitamin levels 
in a wide variety of crops, making crops resistant to the cold, and finding 
ways to accelerate the growth of cotton, potatoes and tomatoes. They've 
developed a process called "gene silencing" to fight bacterial diseases that can 
devastate fruit and nut harvests and have even come up with a potato plant that 
glows green when it's thirsty. The same technology that is producing miracle 
crops is producing miracle medicines to improve human health and longevity. 
Biotech is also being used to tackle toxic waste, reduce lead contamination and 
clean up sewage systems. But in the minds of the technophobes, the only 
politically correct way to cure disease is to wear red-string bracelets, eat 
organically grown ginger and pray to Gaia. The only environmentally acceptable way to 
improve the earth is to compost banana peels and recycle soy milk cartons. And 
the only morally tolerable way to use modern technology – e.g., the Internet – 
is to use it to preach violence and destroy the progress of others. With each 
new scientific breakthrough, the anti-biotech militants have grown more 
desperate and reckless. "Ultimately," Fumento writes, "only two things can defeat 
such negativism. One is education; the other is the products themselves." There 
is a third force: the voices of biotech's myriad beneficiaries, from the 
cancer patients whose lives have been saved by Gleevec to the Third World 
consumers of golden rice. It's time to verbally roast the vegan marshmallows and let 
biotech move forward without fear.



Michelle Malkin's column is syndicated by Creators Syndicate and appears in 
about 100 newspapers nationwide. Her book, "<A HREF="http://www.shopnetdaily.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=959">Invasion: How America Still 
Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores</A>," is a 
national best seller and now available at ShopNetDaily. 
 
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