Open Thread - Friday, June 12, 2015

Some food for thought.

Monsanto

Monsanto is one of the "Big 6" Biotech Corporations, along with BASF, Bayer, Dow Chemical Company, Dupont, and Syngenta (so called because they dominate the agricultural input market -- that is, they own the world’s seed, pesticide and biotechnology industries).[1][2]

In the fiscal year ending in August of 2010, the company reported sales of approximately 10.5 billion dollars and had 27,600 employees. [3]

Monsanto is perhaps the most controversial of the Big 6 and is considered the mother of agricultural biotechnology. The company produces biotechnology, genomics and herbicides for corn, cotton, oil seeds, and vegetables. It produces genetically altered seeds to tolerate it's flagship product, Roundup. Monsanto also produces Asgrow, DEKALB, Deltapine, and Seminis seeds. Other products have included Agent Orange, the now ubiquitous PCBs, DDT, Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) and Aspartame.

Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear

Monsanto already dominates America’s food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation’s tactics–ruthless legal battles against small farmers–is its decades-long history of toxic contamination.

Eight Ways Monsanto Fails at Sustainable Agriculture

Monsanto Company is the dominant player in commercial genetically engineered (GE) crops, the biggest seed company in the world, and—to hear them tell it—a leader and innovator in sustainable agriculture.

Monsanto aggressively touts its technology as vital to achieving laudable goals such as ensuring adequate food production, responding to the challenge of global warming, and reducing agriculture's negative impacts on the environment.

The reality is not so flattering. In fact, Monsanto has held back the development of sustainable agriculture, and continues to do so, in several ways:

The Battle for Biodiversity: Monsanto and Farmers Clash

Does genetic modification lead to more and better crops? Or will it destroy the foundations of our food systems?

From Mexico to India: Monsanto is killing more than just biodiversity

In late April, world renowned Indian ‘seed activist’ Vandana Shiva travelled to the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca to join a gathering of Mexican farmers, indigenous leaders and environmentalists, fighting to protect Mexico’s native corn crops against the imposition of genetically modified alternatives.

Shrine dedicated to corn at the event in Oaxaca, Mexico

The group gathered for the ‘Pre-audiencia Nacional: Contaminación Transgénica del Maíz Nativo‘ in the shadows of the Sierra Juárez mountain range, in response to the Mexican government’s proposal to allow the seeding of twelve million hectares of genetically modified corn. The proposal followed an initial pilot project in which Monsanto was allowed to plant GMO corn in test sites in 2009. While many local communities remain adamantly opposed to the move, extensive lobbying by Monsanto, with support from the world’s richest man, Mexican Carlos Slim, and considerable efforts by the Gates Foundation, have raised real fears that local concerns may be ignored.

The Four Steps Required to Keep Monsanto OUT of Your Garden

Seed catalogs for the upcoming growing season are arriving in mailboxes across the Northern Hemisphere with home gardeners everywhere starting to plan which seeds they will sow in their spring gardens. A positive trend in recent years is the growing number of gardening enthusiasts choosing to plant gardens using organic and/or heirloom seeds.

What most of these home gardeners don’t realize is that corporate behemoth and GMO titan Monsanto has been gobbling up the seed market faster than a caterpillar can munch a tomato plant! With one fell swoop in 2005, Monsanto grabbed approximately 40% of the US vegetable seed market with its acquisition of Seminis.

This means that a home gardener could unknowingly be supporting the development and proliferation of genetically modified crops if the seeds used are from Seminis. In addition, Monsanto now apparently owns the trademark for many of the names of the heirloom seed varieties themselves!

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mimi's picture

I wished that would be spread out over to the gos too. Monsanto has Hawaii's Islands in its claws. Activists who protest against them are considered dangerous terrorists. Police and political representatives are in their pockets. I am telling you that they are capable of destroying everything, slow motion and with seeds nobody knows about what they are doing exactly in the food consuming population.

Thanks Tim.

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NCTim's picture

drought and disease tolerant seed stock. Food is losing it's flavor.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Great post. I see where Congress has passed a law that meat can no longer be labeled with country of origin. If that's not a good enough reason to become a vegetarian, I don't know what is.

I can't believe this is going to make US ranchers happy. Apparently everyone in the US can now go to hell.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

NCTim's picture

There will be failures. In tandem with global warming there is potential for massive starvation. I will effect 99% of the population.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

hecate's picture

a function of "free trade." The WTO has four times now decreed that US country-of-origin labeling is Forbidden. So the House caved.

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mimi's picture

"Insanity": Critics React to the Troop Increase in Iraq

How about the scene at TC 1:53 ?
Oh well ...

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Shahryar's picture

The House voted that whatz-it down. You know, the thing to aid the workers who are going to lose their jobs due to the TPP. Wow! They're courageous! Stood up to the President! Alright!!! We WON!!!!!!

oh....they'll reconsider it next Tuesday.

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NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Unabashed Liberal's picture

I have often seen this meme tossed about, and I must say it puzzles me--since the only fighting that I've seen those two do was on their own behalf because of scandals, or near-scandals.

Wink

But here you go.

Effective?

Mollie


"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." --Helen Keller
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Unabashed Liberal's picture

stories make me furious, especially since we've witnessed a similar miscarriage of justice (occurred in a town where we once lived).

It made CBS "60 Minutes" while we were in Alaska. A local black man who was at a church outing-- with literally scores of witnesses--was convicted of the shooting/killing of the young (white) teenaged store clerk at a dry cleaning store.

He served five years on Death Row before his death sentence was overturned due to false/perjurious testimony, and the surpression of prosecutorial evidence.

Mollie


"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." --Helen Keller
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

mimi's picture

Who Killed Public Housing in New Orleans? - After Hurricane Katrina, big developers, government bureaucrats and anti-housing ideologues pushed to destroy “Bricks.”

There are great brick buildings in Baltimore. Many of them left to rot or to be demolished. Why? Who profits of that?

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NCTim's picture

Watch season one of the HBO series Treme. The housing crisis is one of the themes of season one.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

mimi's picture

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mimi's picture

thinking out of the box like that (heh, my niece worked in their robotic dept as a post graduate fellow before she died and I am biased therefore just out of fun and feeling guilty).

Look at that, have your light and eat it too...
Living Things’ Edible Blue-Green Algae Lights Illuminate & Heat Building Simultaneously
Screen-Shot-2015-06-11-at-1.20.53-PM.png

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

anyone know if it is a good idea to allow this?

Thanks.

Mollie


"A real hero is that person who does good random deeds without expecting anything in return, only to have the satisfaction that he did something for us, for our planet."--Author Unknown
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

did you see that Mollie? Here?

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

WordPress--my own WP blog admin settings refer to this, and I always say "no," because when I Googled, I was still not certain "what" trackbacks and pingbacks meant.

So, just thought I throw out the question to you tech gurus.

Wink

Don't think I've been asked that here, or at least I don't recall being asked.

Thanks.

Mollie


"A real hero is that person who does good random deeds without expecting anything in return, only to have the satisfaction that he did something for us, for our planet."--Author Unknown
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

joe shikspack's picture

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

negative info about WordPress and pingbacks.

Saw this:

In March 2014, Akamai published a report about a widely seen exploit involving Pingback that targets vulnerable WordPress sites.[1] This exploit led to massive abuse of legitimate blogs and websites and turned them into unwilling participants in a DDoS attack.[2] Details about this vulnerability have been publicized since 2012.[3]

Guess I'll stay away from it (for now). Thanks!

Mollie


"A real hero is that person who does good random deeds without expecting anything in return, only to have the satisfaction that he did something for us, for our planet."--Author Unknown
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

just leave them be. Looks like pingbacks are for crossposting comments from one wordpress blog to another with both having pingbacks enabled. Trackbacks let older blogs know that you've linked to them. In my opinion they're not that useful, and easily exploited.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

Mollie

Visit Us At Caucus99Percent.Com

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

mimi's picture

They need to get a little help, I think.

If you have something to spare, please donate. My favorite sites to go to for video news is Democracy Now and The Real News network. There is rarely an EB that doesn't present one or more of their interviews. It's the real stuff without the fluff. Just what I like.
Please, push the donate button.

Thanks.

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mimi's picture

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