Apparently, it is now illegal to sue Monsanto.

[footfootfoot]

[Flint]

Of all the things going on in the world--drone attacks, etc. this Monsanto shit is the devil.

We all need to have a non-contaminated seed vault, just to deal with the impending Sauron-type evil overlord shit that is happening here.

[Lamplighter]

Where goes wheat, corn is soon to follow.
Maybe this will develop into a revision of the laws protecting Monsanto,
Here is today's big headline in the Oregonian...

OregonLive.com
Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian
May 29, 201

Genetically engineered wheat found in Oregon field, federal investigation underway

Illegal genetically-engineered wheat has been discovered
growing in an Eastern Oregon field, which may cause severe marketing
and export problems for one of the state's biggest crops.

State agriculture department Director Katy Coba said 85 to 90 percent
of the Pacific Northwest's soft white wheat crop is exported to Japan, South Korea,
Taiwan and other nations, where it's used to make noodles and crackers.
Oregon's wheat crop is valued at $300 million to $500 million annually, depending on yield and price.
"Clearly there's a concern about market reaction," Coba said.
"Japan and Korea jump out. They do not want genetically-engineered food,
they do not want genetically-engineered wheat.

They could shut off the market to us."<snip>

It has been picked up by the NY Times...

NY Times
ANDREW POLLACK
May 29, 2013
Modified Wheat Is Discovered in Oregon

Unapproved genetically engineered wheat has been found growing on a farm in Oregon
federal officials said Wednesday, a development that could disrupt American exports of the grain.

The Agriculture Department said the wheat was of the type developed by Monsanto
to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup, also known as glyphosate.
Such wheat was field-tested in 16 states, including Oregon, from 1998 through 2005,
but Monsanto dropped the project before the wheat was ever approved for commercial planting.

The department said it was not known yet whether any of the
wheat got into the food supply or into grain shipments.
Even if it did, officials said, it would pose no threat to health.
The Food and Drug Administration reviewed the wheat and found no safety problems with it in 2004.

Still, the mere presence of the genetically modified plant could cause some countries
to turn away exports of American wheat, especially if any traces
of the unapproved grain were found in shipments.
About $8.1 billion in American wheat was exported in 2012,
representing nearly half the total $17.9 billion crop, according to U.S. Wheat Associates,
which promotes American wheat abroad.
About 90 percent of Oregon’s wheat crop is exported.
<snip>

[glatt]

Good job on the paper for spreading the news far and wide so the Asians would be sure to find out about it. They just might cost Oregon half a billion dollars.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Bullshit, the Asians would have found out anyway, it's the Americans who would have been caught with their pants down when the shit hits the fan. Christ, if there's one thing you should have learned in the last 40 years is no good comes from trying to cover up.

[glatt]

Oh, did I say that out loud? I've been channeling too much Louis CK.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by glatt

Oh, did I say that out loud? I've been channeling too much Louis CK.

[footfootfoot]

From the Oregonian article:

The Center for Food Safety, based in Washington, D.C., said the U.S. Department of Agriculture (i.e. the fox) has "once again failed to protect the food supply from GE crop contamination." (the henhouse)

The current Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack had this to say back in '02 about GMO crops:

TITLE: VILSACK, GROSS WEIGH IN ON BIOTECH DECISION
SOURCE: Associated Press, by Mike Glover
edited and sent by Agnet, Canada
DATE: Oct 24, 2002

------------------ archive: http://www.gene.ch/genet.html ------------------


VILSACK, GROSS WEIGH IN ON BIOTECH DECISION

DES MOINES, Iowa - Gov. Tom Vilsack was cited as writing in a letter to the
Biotechnology Industry Organization that a decision by a biotechnical
industry group not to grow genetically engineered corn for pharmaceutical
purposes in states such as Iowa is "a dangerous precedent," adding that "I
feel this decision by for a pharma-crop ban is a knee-jerk reaction that is
not fully warranted by the scientific evidence." BIO was cited as saying
this week that its members had agreed not to grow pharmaceutical crops in
states where it could contaminate neighboring crops intended for human
consumption. That includes Iowa, and Vilsack reacted quickly, dashing off a
letter asking the group for a clarification of its policy. Vilsack was
quoted as saying, "I support food safety and security, but this decision
appears to be overreaching. It seems more like an effort to exclude the
nation's most productive farmers, small businesses and university
researchers from this emerging industry." Vilsack has said the state could
have a bright future in developing genetically engineered crops for the
pharmaceutical industry.

From Wikipedia:

Reaction to Vilsack's nomination from agricultural groups was largely positive and included endorsements from the Corn Refiners Association, the National Grain and Feed Association, the National Farmers Union, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Environmental Defense Fund.[19] Opposition to the nomination came from the Organic Consumers Association, which outlined in a November 2008 report several reasons why it believed Vilsack would be a poor choice for the position, particularly as energy and environmental reforms were a key point of the Obama campaign.[20]
Among those reasons the report cites: Vilsack has repeatedly demonstrated a preference for large industrial farms and genetically modified crops;[21] as Iowa state governor, he originated the seed pre-emption bill in 2005, effectively blocking local communities from regulating where genetically engineered crops would be grown; additionally, Vilsack was the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership, and was named Governor of the Year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, an industry lobbying group.[22]

I'm sure the rest of the department of agriculture reads like a Who's who? of the bio-tech industry.

[orthodoc]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

I'm sure the rest of the department of agriculture reads like a Who's who? of the bio-tech industry.

Exactly. Industry execs should be automatically disqualified from governmental appointments/employment/committees. They do NOT represent us.

[Griff]

Japan cancels U.S. wheat order on GMO fear:

[ZenGum]

[rushes out to invest in Australian wheat farms]

Thanks for the tip, guys.

[Lamplighter]

Here is a somewhat lighter-hearted background story,
published today in MarketWatch...

May 29, 2013, 9:31 a.m. EDT
Monsanto sows seeds of protest
Commentary: Is this corporation saving the world, or ruining it?

DENVER (MarketWatch)
Saturday 5/26/13
— Monsanto Co. may have just planted as much ill-will and suspicion
as it has at any point in its controversial corporate history dating back to 1901.
<snip>

If you look up what protesters are saying, Monsanto is all about its “Frankencorn.”
As one protester’s sign put it:
“Still wondering how the zombie outbreak started? One word: Monsanto.”
<snip>

Protester: “If you’re so proud of your products, why don’t you label them?”

Monsanto: “People will ... prosper, through healthier diets, greater educational opportunities,
and brighter futures fueled by more robust local economies.”
<snip>

You can go with how one protester put it:
“If Monsanto needs a bill to protect them from legal action,
then they must know what they are doing is illegal!”

Or you can go with Monsanto:
“Integrity is the foundation for all that we do.
Integrity includes honesty, decency, consistency, and courage.”
<snip>

[Lamplighter]

NY Times
AMY HARMON
August 24, 2013

Golden Rice: Lifesaver?

ONE bright morning this month, 400 protesters smashed down the high fences surrounding a field
in the Bicol region of the Philippines and uprooted the genetically modified rice plants growing inside.

Had the plants survived long enough to flower, they would have
betrayed a distinctly yellow tint in the otherwise white part of the grain.
That is because the rice is endowed with a gene from corn and another from a bacterium,
making it the only variety in existence to produce beta carotene, the source of vitamin A.
Its developers call it “Golden Rice.”
<snip>
They are driving the desire among some Americans for mandatory “G.M.O.” labels on food
with ingredients made from crops whose DNA has been altered in a laboratory.
And they have motivated similar attacks on trials of other genetically modified crops in recent years:
grapes designed to fight off a deadly virus in France,
wheat designed to have a lower glycemic index in Australia,
sugar beets in Oregon designed to tolerate a herbicide, to name a few.

And a looming decision by the Philippine government about whether to allow Golden Rice to be grown beyond
its four remaining field trials has added a new dimension to the debate over the technology’s merits.
Not owned by any company, Golden Rice is being developed by a nonprofit group
called the International Rice Research Institute with the aim of providing a new source of vitamin A
to people both in the Philippines, where most households get most of their calories from rice,
and eventually in many other places in a world where rice is eaten every day by half the population.

Lack of the vital nutrient causes blindness in a quarter-million to a half-million children each year.
It affects millions of people in Asia and Africa and so weakens the immune system that
some two million die each year of diseases they would otherwise survive.
<snip>
If Golden Rice is a Trojan horse, it now has some company.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is supporting the final testing of Golden Ricem
is also underwriting the development of crops tailored for sub-Saharan Africa,
like cassava that can resist the viruses that routinely wipe out a third of the harvest,
bananas that contain higher levels of iron and corn that uses nitrogen more efficiently.
Other groups are developing a pest-resistant black-eyed pea and a “Golden Banana”
that would also deliver vitamin A.

Beyond the fear of corporate control of agriculture, perhaps the most cited objection to G.M.O.’s is
that they may hold risks that may not be understood. The decision to grow or eat them relies,
like many other decisions, on a cost-benefit analysis.

[Lamplighter]

Washington State has an Initiative #522 on the next ballot to require
food products containing genetically modified products to be labeled.

What is strange are the TV ads being run in opposition to this labeling...
This one is a woman on a "family farm" that is "a certified non-Genetically Modified farm"



...but notice the small family farm sponsors at the end of the ad...
Monsanto
Dupont Pioneer
Dow Agrisciences LLC
Bayer CropScience

[Griff]

William Leggett would not be a fan of these special privileges, it may be time to listen when the lefties talk about revoking corporate charters.

Governments have no right to interfere with the pursuits of individuals, as guarantied by those general laws, by offering encouragements and granting privileges to any particular class of industry, or any select bodies of men, inasmuch as all classes of industry and all men are equally important to the general welfare, and equally entitled to protection.