Seed Raids by Monsanto

By Linn Cohen

OpEdNews » Raids on Seeds (LIFE, itself) ... by Monsanto

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Tag(s): Agriculture; Collecting; FDA; Milk; Monsanto; Police; Seeds;
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December 15, 2008 at 00:01:04
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Headlined on 12/15/08:
Raids on Seeds (LIFE, itself) ... by Monsanto
by Linn Cohen-Cole Page 1 of 1 page(s)
www.opednews.com

MONSANTO'S DESTRUCTION OF SEED CLEANERS AND THE IMMENSE THREAT TO HUMAN
ACCESS TO SEEDS

I have been reporting on the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's
raids on Mennonite dairy farmers, on the recent Ohio Department of
Agriculture SWAT team raid on an organic coop, on the USDA's terrible
weapon against all farmers with animals (NAIS - the National Animal
Identification System) - trying to give an idea of the destructive forces
being used intentionally against non-corporate farming.

But unless one sees what is happening to seeds themselves, one misses the
scope of things.

Life itself depends on seeds.

Multinational biotech corporations such as Monsanto have been genetically
engineering them, promoting GE-seeds as producing better yields, helping
the starving of the world, using less pesticides and as a boon to small
farmers.

Independent studies already show crop failures:

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/IBTCF.php

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July06/Bt.cotton.China.ssl.htmland

and a link between GE-crops and organ damage and various
diseases:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=LEN20080222&articleId=8148

and it's clear they are designed to require petroleum-based pesticides and
the use of pesticides has gone up with their use:

http://www.pan-international.org/panint/files/WG2%20Genetic%20Engineering%20and%20Pesticides.pdf

But even if the GE-seeds were wonderful and all that was promised, the
real problem with them are the patents they come with. The biotech
companies are monopolizing seeds themselves, actually privatizing the DNA
of life. They sell the GE-seeds at many times the price of normal seeds.
In India, where Bt-cotton farmers have been committing suicide in huge
numbers because of debt, Monsanto sells Bt-cotton seed at 1000% higher
than normal seeds.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1082559/The-GM-genocide-Thousands-Indian-farmers-committing-suicide-using-genetically-modified-crops.html.

And the seeds come with a contract that must be signed, preventing farmers
from collecting seeds off their own land at the end of the season - an
historic rupture of humankind's free access to natural growth. For it is
important to notice that the biotech multinationals are not just claiming
a patent on their process of altering the seeds but claim to own growth
itself.

As astounding a move as that is on human resources of survival, they are
doing more. They are removing actively and aggressively and thoroughly
removing access to normal "open pollinated" seeds, the ones we have known
since the beginning of time, that farmers have collected and saved and
shared among each other.

In the Midwest, where Monsanto sells GE-corn and GE-soy and now owns most
of it, it also bought up the "normal seed" companies so farmers no longer
have places to go for normal corn or soy. And though GE-corn cross
pollinates over miles and miles with normal corn so maintaining organic
corn is nearly impossible now, if its GE-crop is found on a farmer's land,
Monsanto sues. It's a rare farmer who can stand up them, even if the
farmer has done nothing wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Schmeiser

Having bought up the normal seed companies, having locked farmers in the
Midwest (only an example, it is true worldwide) into patent contracts that
remove their right to collect seeds anymore, having set loose a
biotechnology that contaminates normal seeds of farmers who do not buy
into the patented seeds, having made plain it will sue if even a volunteer
plant comes up, Monsanto is now working to eliminate the last man standing
between humans and corporate privatized seeds - the seed cleaner.

The farmers has had three choices - to buy normal seed (now almost gone),
to buy GE-seeds at huge cost (and going
up):

http://www.opednews.com/articles/During-a-world-food-crisis-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-080723-548.html

or to collect their own seeds and use them the next season. If a farmer
has even 10 acres, collecting and cleaning those seeds is a huge task. If
he has 1000, it would be an impossible task without the seed cleaner
whose equipment can separate out seed in just a few hours and whose costs
are 1/3 that of buying normal seed.

Thus, the move to eliminate seed cleaners.

The seed cleaner is the man who makes sustainable agriculture possible.

So, Monsanto is picking off seed cleaners now across the Midwest, in
Missouri,

http://greenbio.checkbiotech.org/news/2008-07-11/Monsanto_patent_fight_ensnares_Missouri_farm_town/

in Indiana,

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/26/eveningnews/main4048288.shtml

and now in Illinois where they are going after Steve Hixon.

Shortly after someone broke into Mr. Hixon's office and he found his
account book on his truck seat where he would never have left it, evey one
of his remotely located and very scattered customers had three men
(described as goons with "no necks") arrived at each farm, going out onto
it without permission, and serving close to 200 farmers. Mr. Hixon and
state police who were called in, believe a GPS tracking device may have
been put on Mr. Hixon's equipment. All of his customers being sued and
are being intensely pressured to settle, with the men coming back again
and again and with daily calls and letters. It appears they are being a
choice between being sued or settling out of court or testifying against
him that he encouraged them to clean GE-seeds.
Monsanto has made a fortune on those kinds of Mafia extortion settlements
since no one has the money to stand up to them and paying them off some
huge amount even if the farmer has done nothing, saves them from legal
costs they can't possibly manage and then a potentially worse fate as one
little local lawyer goes up against not one but multiple legal teams
working for Monsanto and present in court.

The first words out of the judge's mouth when Moe Parr, a seed cleaner in
Indiana was sued, were "It's a honor to have a fine company like Monsanto
in my courtroom."

In addition to the personal attacks on seed cleaners, Monsanto is getting
laws put into place that themselves are overwhelming and destructive of
seed cleaners and all those who save normal seeds.
http://www.ethicalinvesting.com/monsanto/news/10040.htm
If Monsanto can eliminate seed cleaners, they would have accomplished a
TOTAL monopoly in the Midwest, the bread basket of the world, and they
would control world food, feed and now bio-fuel prices at will. They
would, as well, have broken the fragile dam that seed cleaners and seed
bankers now provide against the insanely-fast and just plain insane
on-coming tide genetic engineering.
And Monsanto is working closely with the FDA in redefining seeds as a
potential health hazard, subject to bioterrorism, and under that rubric to
create rules for importation (controlling access)
Interim final rules on Prior Notice of Importation
rules for registering acceptable facilities (setting up corporate
standards for the storage seeds, threatening small farmers)
Interim final rules on Registration of Food Facilities
rules for talking police control of the seeds (allowing for raids on
farmers)
Final rules on Administrative Detention
and rules for a level of record keeping almost impossible for small
farmers and ordinary people to achieve.
Upcoming final rule on Establishment and Maintenance of Records.

"These new rules will allow FDA to better identify potentially dangerous
foods, as well as respond more quickly to new threats and to handle
foodborne illness outbreaks more efficiently."
Using the Bioterrorism Act and the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN),
the FDA now has a focus on seeds which includes

Prevention (federal and state surveillance sampling programs to monitor
the food supply)
Preparedness (strengthen laboratory capacity and capabilities)
Response (surge capacity to handle terrorist attacks or a national
emergency involving the food supply), and
Recovery (support recalls, seizures, and disposal of contaminated food
or feed to restore confidence in the food supply).
For those of you painfully familiar with what is happening to real milk
dairy farmers and the government use of false "contamination" reports to
raid farms, steal products ad equipment and terrorize and destroy farmers,
it will be important to see how "bioterrorism" has now moved control over
normal food even more tightly into the hands of government/corporate
agencies, giving them national reach, crushing regulations for farmers,
immense policing power over food, and the use of an emergency to be able
to seize and destroy anything they choose.

At the level of seeds, it is important note that Monsanto is promoting
every part of this.

http://www.fda.gov/oc/speeches/2004/asta0629.html

The laboratories that FERN uses represent the FDA, FSIS, the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Department of Defense, Bureau of Customs and Border
Protection, the Agricultural Marketing Service, the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service, and the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards
Agency. Other federal members of the FERN include the Agricultural
Research Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department
of Homeland Security, the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) and the
National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN).
The FDA talks about "a safety net" for human health but it is one defined
by corporation and one that is closing on small farmers' existence.
And even the FDA's basic food safety is being "set" in a way aimed to
destroy seed cleaners and (if you will notice in the short list below)
organic farming itself.
FDA's guidance on good agricultural practices (GAPs) can be found in the
FDA Guide to Minimize Microbial Hazards for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
where the key sources of contamination in seed production include:

Agricultural water sources
Use of manure as fertilizer
Harvesting, transportation, and seed-cleaning equipment
Seed storage facilities

Please note the FDA does not include Monsanto's petroleum-based fertlizers
or pesticides, or GE-labs, as potential sources of contamination.

In addition to buying on seed companies, suing farmers, eliminating seed
cleaners, putting laws against seed cleaning and saving into place,
influencing the FDA and Homeland Security regulations on seeds that set
farmers up to lose theirs in "food safety" or "bioterrorism" raids, a law
in Canada pushed by the FDA, USDA and the WTO (all heavily involved with
Monsanto) would criminalize all natural substances. Thought it initially
seems to be "only" an attack by the pharmaceutical industry on all natural
health substances, it would include seeds and seed banking. And it would
become law in the US - and without any ability to vote against it - if the
North American Union is passed.

http://www.articles.mercola.com/.../archive/2008/06/19/vitamin-c-about-to-be-made-illegal-in-canada.aspx?source=nl

We need to understand that the effort to defend Steve Hixon, a seed
cleaner, is an effort to defend the right of all of us and of our farmers
worldwide to OPEN access to normal seeds. We must protect those who
collect and clean them and we must roll back the massive corporate efforts
to utterly control them - by criminalizing any aspect of owning, growing,
collecting, storing and re-using of them.

Seeds are life and survival itself and our human right to access to them
is being taken over. That is why people are coming together now to help
defend Steve Hixon, a seed cleaner.

For those interested in joining FarmOn, a list aimed at providing funds to
support the legal teams gathering to help Hixon, go to
farmon@googlegroups.com and request to sign on.

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family or
anyone else's children, things as they are now.
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26 comments

B.Soc.Sci (Aus). Helped start an Organic Food Co-op and a Local
Energy Transfer System (goods & services exchange, no cash). Lived
near permaculture's Bill Mollison for a time, saw semi barren land
transformed into gardens and orchards. Worked in a Community Support
Center. Currently in NZ/ Aotearoa.
AuroraB.Soc.Sci (Aus). Helped start an Organic Food Co-op and a
Local Energy Transfer System (goods & services exchange, no cash).
Lived near permaculture's Bill Mollison for a time, saw semi barren
land transformed into gardens and orchards. Worked in a Community
Support Center. Currently in NZ/ Aotearoa.Yes, Life, itself
Heartfelt thanks, Linn, for so much research and for bringing it
together in this clear and direct readable format. Of all the
disturbing news reports for a long time now, this one goes to the
top of my list. I so much hope that many, many people hear and
respond to your call to action.
We need to understand that the effort to defend Steve Hixon, a
seed cleaner, is an effort to defend the right of all of us and of
our farmers worldwide to OPEN access to normal seeds. We must
protect those who collect and clean them and we must roll back the
massive corporate efforts to utterly control them - by
criminalizing any aspect of owning, growing, collecting, storing
and re-using of them.

Seeds are life and survival itself and our human right to access
to them is being taken over. That is why people are coming
together now to help defend Steve Hixon, a seed cleaner.
by Aurora (0 articles, 9 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 394 comments) on
Monday, December 15, 2008 at 1:04:18 AM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are
now.Thanks for your support in this, Aurora.
We have been so involved with the war - Naomi Klein so right about
shock leaving us vulnerable - that we have missed what is going on
right here and the astounding size and depravity of it.
Meanwhile, our farmers are in so much trouble, it is almost
impossible to adequately report. I believe that NAIS will be the
means to take control over all animals as well, creating false
bioterrorism scares as a justification to wipe out animals stocks,
and then replace them with patented (PRIVATIZED) animals. Just like
with seeds, and using the same fallacious safety arguments,
corporations could use NAIS and food scares to eliminate normal
animals and their replacement with patented ones would leave our
farmers doing what they do with seeds now, renting them and owning
nothing, becoming wage laborers on their own land (if the land is
not sacrificed as collateral on the bailout, which the "premises" ID
appears it could be.
click here left MUST loudly and strongly oppose NAIS and in doing
so, build an alliance with our farmers and see them for who they
are, a class of people so discriminated against that they are
disappearing. Down to .5% of the population now from 40% in the
1940s.
The "discrimination" - which includes seeds - is not white against
black, it is a government/corporate ATTACK on all normal
non-corporate farming. And the reality is that the farmers are only
the leading edge of those discriminated against - all human beings
are in this class.
Because our farmers are our cushion and protection from corporate
control of food, they are the first to go.

Thanks for writing.
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 1:47:33 PM

Rolland (Ron) Miller is a free enterprise socialist leaning
financier in his mid 60's currently working as a Realtor at Re/Max
in Powell River, Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, Canada. I moved
here for quality of life in 2004 from Vancouver where I was born and
carried on my financing and consulting business of large Residential
and Commercial Real Estate projects across Canada, USA, and China
since 1974 after excelling in the corporate world as a lender. I
believe balance is the key word.
Rolland MillerRolland (Ron) Miller is a free enterprise socialist
leaning financier in his mid 60's currently working as a Realtor at
Re/Max in Powell River, Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, Canada. I
moved here for quality of life in 2004 from Vancouver where I was
born and carried on my financing and consulting business of large
Residential and Commercial Real Estate projects across Canada, USA,
and China since 1974 after excelling in the corporate world as a
lender. I believe balance is the key word.Raids on Seeds (LIFE,
itself) ... by Monsanto
Excellent article Linn
The people of this planet demand that Monsanto be stopped cold.
Their effort to control seeds, and promote unsafe GM Food is
criminal and against the interests of the people on this planet.
Enough is enough.
I ask everyone to talk to their politicians, and oppose Monsanto's
conspiracy.

by Rolland Miller (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 122
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 12:18:51 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are
now.Thank you so much for your comment, Roland.
Encourage people to join FarmOn which hopes to become a MoveOn like
list capable of funding a coalition of legal teams for strategic and
landmark legal battles against what corporations are doing to us.
Defending Hixon is a first priority because Monsanto must not be
allowed to have an absolute monopoly in the Midwest over grains nor
our farmers be trapped any longer in this nightmare.
FarmOn's list is growing fast and we welcome anyone concerned about
what corporations are doing to us, whether from a farming, food,
health, environmental, civil rights or human rights reason. They
all are involved and we must all be together in this.
FarmOn will not be taking anything away from organizations already
formed but will be support to them when they are part of an already
forming national coalition that is coming together around Hixon.
Also, people can reach any organization they are in and ask them to
provide legal help, and at the least amicus briefs about how they
are impacted by Monsanto's control of seeds, feed, biofuel and
prices, to say nothing of the impact on health and farmers'
existence and our own right to collect and own seeds.
And everyone who reads this is encouraged to learn how to file a pro
se (on your own) amicus brief in the Hixon case (he has not been
served yet) or to find a friend with a legal background who can
help. We are ALL affected and it's past time for us all to express
just exactly how.
Thanks for writing.
Get people to FarmOn so we will have numbers like MoveOn does and
thus resources to provide large sums to fight back while asking
little from anyone.

by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 1:56:45 PM

In 1980, Stephen Fox founded New Millennium Fine Art, a Santa Fe
gallery specializing in Native American and Landscape, and is very
active in New Mexico Legislative consumer protection politics,
trying above to get the FDA to rescind its approval for the
neurotoxic and carcinogenic artificial sweetener, Aspartame.
[http://www.prlog.org/10070694]

In a strictly legislative context, his most important writing has
been for the Hawaii Senate:
http://www.prlog.org/10056715-hawaii-senate ...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Stephen FoxIn 1980, Stephen Fox founded New Millennium Fine Art, a
Santa Fe gallery specializing in Native American and Landscape, and
is very active in New Mexico Legislative consumer protection
politics, trying above to get the FDA to rescind its approval for
the neurotoxic and carcinogenic artificial sweetener, Aspartame.
[http://www.prlog.org/10070694]

In a strictly legislative context, his most important writing has
been for the Hawaii Senate:
http://www.prlog.org/10056715-hawaii-senate ...

to see more of bio, click on member nameOUTSTANDING ARTICLE.!
This author is relentless and indeed effective, but seems that
hundreds of millions of Americans are absolutely ignorant of the
vicious acts of Monsanto, the worst corporation in America, by far,
even rivaling but worse beyond the stupidity and bestiality of
Halliburton and Blackwater.
Will Monsanto try to place its corporate lawyers in key positions in
Obama's administration, like former Monsanto lawyer John Ashcroft
becoming Attorney General, and Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court?
I think not. I hope not. I pray not...
by Stephen Fox (80 articles, 2 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 502 comments)
on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 12:48:32 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are
now.Thank you being here, Stephen.
I think that the bailout, ironically, is helpful, because before we
saw the reality of the extent these guys will go to to steal from
us, it was less possible for anyone to fathom a coordinate attack on
our access to seeds, that is an attack on our access to surviving
away from them. And we know that there is no real surviving within
the corporate system since the food has meant a 90% rise type 2
diabetes in an incredibly short amount of time, click here the FDA
not stopping the insane ads on TV mocking anyone who raises the
subject of high fructose corn syrup, now directly linked to
diabetes,
click here you know very well about aspartame's (once owned by
Rumsfeld and then Monsanto) extreme dangers,
click here melamine in our baby formula with the FDA first covering
it up and setting a standard quickly to allow for it.
http://www.naturalnews.com/024947.html
And then there are all the attacks on natural substances by the FDA,
their latest Orwellian one being a switch from saying that they are
worthless because there have been no studies to show otherwise, to
saying now (this regulation is being pushed at this very moment) if
there is ANY study ever done on a supplement, it can't be
transported across state lines.
And there are the SWAT team attacks on organic coops in Ohio
click here state troopers attacking Mennonite dairy farmers in
Pennsylvania and the criminalization of real milk by the USDA, which
means the criminalization of NON-corporate milk.
click here are closing a large trap on all of us, financially and in
terms of seeds, food, land, water. First, we need to stop Monsanto
around seeds.
We need our young law students realizing they are on the cusp of the
greatest civil rights battles in human history and could do
incredible good here.
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 2:13:24 PM

Eliot Gould , 52, is currently active in New Mexico's political
scene. A native of Chicago,and active in Chicago politics,Gould
studied the Presidency at Center for the Study of the Presidency,
with extensive writings upon Lincoln and Wilson.
Eliot GouldEliot Gould , 52, is currently active in New Mexico's
political scene. A native of Chicago,and active in Chicago
politics,Gould studied the Presidency at Center for the Study of the
Presidency, with extensive writings upon Lincoln and Wilson.Very
good article: I had no idea about the extent of perfidy
by and from Monsanto. They need to be reigned in, quickly, as they
are making a really bad name for the USA internationally, especially
in India, where we can ill afford any more bad press and hostile
consumer reactions!
by Eliot Gould (13 articles, 0 quicklinks, 22 diaries, 149 comments)
on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 12:57:16 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are now.A
pleasure to have you here, Mr. Gould.
And I think most people have no idea. I think the sheer size and
sadistic greed of it makes it hard to take in or believe. But the
bailout's cruelty and greed certainly sets people to see bigger
pictures than they had ever imagined and to begin to see some of
what corporations are doing to us.
Thanks so much for writing. Join FarmOn, we'd be pleased to have
you.
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 2:16:28 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are
now.Hi, Mr. M. You got it right.
I don't usually reply to your comments because they are so
powerfully about where we are heading, I have to regain my balance,
because I believe you.
Thanks for your comments and for the cartoon as well.
Hope you'll join FarmOn.
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 2:19:45 PM

Currently I'm a cartoonist and contributing writer for The New
Orleans Levee. For those wishing to view my work you can see my
latest at: nolevee.com
Mr MCurrently I'm a cartoonist and contributing writer for The New
Orleans Levee. For those wishing to view my work you can see my
latest at: nolevee.comWithout a doubt, sign-on ...
We have very little, scratch that, we have no time left. I've been
saying for years now that time is short, now time has run out. If we
don't act now the very survival of life on this planet is over.
There may be some species of life that will survive, but nothing
with a functioning brain.
We have no idea how these GMOs are going to mutate. We've unlatched
Pandora's Box and even if we stopped right now polluting this world
and started working to make things right we still have a medium
chance of righting this ship.
If anyone wants to survive you'd be wise to stop eating processed
foods now. Eat only locally grown fruits and vegetables, stop
eating meat altogether, as well as fish, unless you know for sure
where it came from. If you have a co-op in your area, join it. If
not, start one. Growing your own garden wouldn't be a bad idea
either. None of this is as hard as you may think, and once you start
on this diet you'll feel the benefits almost immediately. I
recommend a colon and toxic cleansing to start you off. The weight
lose and energy increase are immediate.
Food is their weapon. It's a "soft-kill" weapon and the main one in
their arsenal. And yes, there is a "they" and they do want us dead.
And for those of you that ask why would they do that, I don't have
an answer for you other than they're insane, and insanity doesn't
need a reason. And they have been at war with us for longer than
we've been alive and are damn near the end of their game. We have a
lot to make up for and no time to do it.
During the Great Depression, and if that one was "great", this one
will be called the "colossal", 7 million people starved to death,
and that's when we had 90% of people living off a land that wasn't
tainted with GMOs. Today we have 90% of the people living in urban
areas and most couldn't grow weeds with instructions. CODEX alone,
in their own papers, says that 3 billion will die in the first year
of their world-wide implementation starting in 2010.
The time of living in denial is over. It is that bad. We're on the
edge of the cliff and every moment pretending that things will be
okay just as long as you keep doing what you've always done is
delusional at best.
by Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 33 diaries, 1853 comments) on
Monday, December 15, 2008 at 3:58:19 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are now.I
can only deal with things by doing something.
I find it impossible to understand those doing this other than their
being in some corporate structure, seeking more and more power and
achievement, psychologically totally dissociated from everything
they are doing. Or they are worse than that.
But all I can think is that we need to work together in order to
feel stronger and also to be stronger. We need to stop blaming each
other and wasting time on "enemies" or people in different political
groups or racial or ethnic groups. All that kind of thinking just
makes it easier to get things past us.
Right now I am most concerned that because the food is so bad, they
can use "food safety" (though it's their horrible food) as a means
to destroy good food and real farmers, and if that doesn't work,
they can throw in bioterrorism and destroy seeds, animals, and crops
that way.
So, we on the left have to quit being afraid of food and those on
the right, of terrorism, and we all have to be opposed to large
government controls and plans. The right is right about that part
and we need to make alliances with them.
Are you aware there is a constitutional convention being pushed
state to state and is close to being arranged? Farmers know about
it and fear it will be used to finish connecting us to the WTO and
UN and large international organizations that are creating world
systems (globalization and Codex and the rest).
Always hard to read your comments. How do you cope day to day?
Best,
Linn
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 9:29:34 PM

Lifelong reader, sometime writer with eclectic tastes and
libertarian leanings. Don't hold my semi-notorious Berkeley history
against me, I settled down so completely after 40 that I can barely
recall my loosy-goosy self. But it sure beats going to the same
party every night.
LaudymsLifelong reader, sometime writer with eclectic tastes and
libertarian leanings. Don't hold my semi-notorious Berkeley history
against me, I settled down so completely after 40 that I can barely
recall my loosy-goosy self. But it sure beats going to the same
party every night.If an industry hack
is appointed to head the USDA, we will face increased risks of
starvation.
by Laudyms (0 articles, 890 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 465 comments) on
Monday, December 15, 2008 at 2:13:15 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are now.I
think you're right but it will be more than that.
This is when we must stop genetic engineering and NAIS. It's as
though we are in quicksand and must pull out before we go any
deeper.
Thanks for writing.
Hope you will join FarmOn.
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 2:21:15 PM

Great grandson of "Big John McKune" the Chicago Police Departments
first "Chief of Detectives" late 1800's, grandson of a seasoned
sargeant of the Chicago Police Department (think Sean Connery)in the
1920's and 30's during the Capone Era. Son of the inventor of the
first electronic switch used in Telecommunications, youngest Naval
Commander ever at time of induction(1942).
Graduate Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. 25
years Software Sales,Sales Management career. Early...

to see more of bio, click on member name
kato krauseGreat grandson of "Big John McKune" the Chicago Police
Departments first "Chief of Detectives" late 1800's, grandson of a
seasoned sargeant of the Chicago Police Department (think Sean
Connery)in the 1920's and 30's during the Capone Era. Son of the
inventor of the first electronic switch used in Telecommunications,
youngest Naval Commander ever at time of induction(1942).
Graduate Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. 25
years Software Sales,Sales Management career. Early...

to see more of bio, click on member nameMonopoly 101
Excellent and Valuable Post.
Make sure you destroy all competiton so that you can reach the
"Promised Land". Food is the Final Frontier. No more cars,houses,
TV's or Stereo's can be sold at anyprice, everyone is broke. Food
is the only frontier with a leg to stand on. No matter how bad it
gets, people need food. Monsanto is near a global monopoly on life
itself.
by kato krause (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 189 comments)
on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 5:07:31 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are
now.Agree.
Like the force of your argument.
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 9:31:45 PM

American Expat in Asia
pftAmerican Expat in AsiaGreat Article
Of course, food is only one of the weapons the global corporations
with our governments help and the use of our military as their
security force, they also seek total control of the worlds Water,
Energy and Raw materials (minerals), and oh yeah, Money.
Once the elite and their global corporations control enough of
these, and they are close, well, then we will all be hostages to the
Global Corporate Government . Then the herd may be culled to stop
the use of their Goddess, Mother earth, otherwise known as Gaia from
being used as a giant feed lot.
In todays Industrial world we only need 1 billion people to serve
our elite, and not 6.66 billion. The human bubble must be popped,
so the neo-malthusians believe. Of course, they may do it in a
humane way over time, life expectancy in the US is already declining
and our fertility rates are less than replacement levels (population
growth in the US, Europe is entirely related to immigration from
high population growth areas).
Ever hear of the Spermicidal Seed they developed? How about the
Terminator Seed (crops yield no seeds). And what do you think that
Doomsday Seed Vault in the Arctic is all about? Hmm?
Ever read the book The World Without Us? A Study to find out how
long it will take cities and infrastructure to be destroyed by decay
without any human population. Much of the authors information come
from government/UN agencies or scientists paid with government/UN
grants for the research.

by pft (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 522 comments) on
Monday, December 15, 2008 at 7:55:06 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are now.I
understand what you are saying.
For me, I have to focus on what I can do. A lot of people go down
the road of futility or cynicism but I don't have the right to do
that. I believe that life is incredible and no matter what is going
on, is worth living if people are good to each other and decent to
animals and nature. We are in this together and we can either find
each other and have the joy of that and work on this as best we can
together, or we can be angry at each other and fight miserably or
not fight at all. I prefer for us to be happy in each other and do
all we can to make the world sane and good. We aren't going to win
everything we would hope to but we can't know what we might
accomplish or what is already growing now that is resisting the
insanity. We have numbers on our side. We only need join them and
then count on each other to have strength.
Thanks for writing.
Join FarmOn.
Best,
Linn
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 9:39:30 PM

American Expat in Asia
pftAmerican Expat in AsiaFair enough
There is a risk of losing sight of the forests for the trees. Many
issues are connected and the same people tend to be behind what we
see as madness.
That said, you are on the right side of the battle you choose to
fight. Good luck.
by pft (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 522 comments) on
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 12:16:52 AM

I'm involved in the truth movement, antiwar movement, nonviolence
advocacy, direct democratic action, organic gardening, orchard
culture, and paganism. I did not vote for Bomba or Bumma, the change
we can bereave in. Bush and Cheney were off the charts, but this new
world order under the boot just makes it worse and worse and our
world's people ruined. So the time now is for independent action and
light. I already am shocked at how far the lies, murderous war
crimes, and total enslavement ha...

to see more of bio, click on member name
ioI'm involved in the truth movement, antiwar movement, nonviolence
advocacy, direct democratic action, organic gardening, orchard
culture, and paganism. I did not vote for Bomba or Bumma, the change
we can bereave in. Bush and Cheney were off the charts, but this new
world order under the boot just makes it worse and worse and our
world's people ruined. So the time now is for independent action and
light. I already am shocked at how far the lies, murderous war
crimes, and total enslavement ha...

to see more of bio, click on member nameThe future of food? It's
being terminated by terminators.
Thanks so much Linn for the news on the seed cleaner targeting.
Things are getting downright grim for the future of food, as you
explain by showing the vital function the seed cleaners provide to
sustainability. You are doing a great job keeping us informed on
what is really happening in agriculture. Please keep the articles
coming.
The GMO companies have no more love for the people and their
wishes than Malthus did. If the people don't regain control of
their biologic commons, their inalienable rights and freedom from
tyranny, they will literally be exterminated like vermin within the
next decade or so. Monopoly, collectivisation, and subsidy of
corporate ag has been going on for decades, only now accelerating
with warp speed into a death spiral. I am hoping corporate ag will
collapse due to Peak Oil, aquifer depletion, and financial
speculation before it is too late, leaving the small farms intact,
but my best guess is that it has enough gas to pretty much finish us
off in the next few years on its current trajectory. They must
realize it too, what with the doomsday seed bank the GMO companies
are involved in.
I can't speak for Mr. M about how he copes knowing the system
is completely insane now and catabolizing itself viciously, but Linn
probably realizes that sunlight on what is happening is the only
disinfectant, which she well applies in her articles.
Sorry to always post late on threads. I work on a family
farm in Hawaii during daylight and only get to dialup at night
after the US mainland has gone to bed. We live completely under
the boot here at the mercy of the US military which overthrew the
Sovereign Nation of Hawaii in 1893 at the point of a gun, then
illegally annexed the archipelago as a military base. Governor
Ben Cayetano courted the GMO corporations as a replacement for the
moribund sugar industry. They set up on Kauai where at various
times the schools downwind of the fields have had strange illness
outbreaks. Police brutality on Kauai is notorious. Senator Inouye
also set up the Pacific Missile Range there. When the surfer kids
blocked the arrival of PNAC member John Lehman's Superferry at the
harbor on Kauai, Republican Governor Linda Lingle flew over to
threaten the parents with confiscation of their children. The
University of Hawaii performs paid research for GMOs and sends its
scientists to County Council testimony to speak against any
legislation banning GMOs. If the people win a round in Council,
the corporate newspapers invent spurious and fanciful arguments
against the decision. I'm just sorry we activists have not
stopped them because I see it will devastate the world through all
the testing here on us non persons and their non land---which the
tourist bureaus desperately flog as paradise keeping a lid on the DU
blowing off the ranges and frankenstein plants on the corporate
farms.
The terminator elite secretly tested nerve gas and a backpack
nuclear weapon on my island. We only broke these stories last year.
Basically once the people have been slandered, disenfranchised,
deceived, attacked, inculturated, jailed and handed an unpayable IOU
they are not even considered a threat to the schemes being hatched
against them.
Mr M is shocking yall because he is one of the few warning
that if you don't WTFU very soon it will be too late for fixin.
by io (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 64 comments) on Tuesday,
December 16, 2008 at 2:36:06 AM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are
now.Thank you for your support and oh, my, about Hawaii
The hard part of what I am doing is learning so much more than one
wants to ever know and then finding some way to keep one's balance
so it's possible to keep going and somehow, in all that, be okay day
to day.
I am trying to give large overviews and just realized from a comment
about boiling frogs on Dailykos, that those large overviews raise
the temperature fast enough for the frogs to feel what is going on.

I am upset by what you say about Hawaii. Sad. Not surprised but
disturbed. It's as though for those places we have not yet
considered, we still hold them in us in some untouched way, and
finding out things loses us that belief that had meaning we didn't
even realize.
If FarmOn can grow large enough, it can help to fund legal battles
that need to be happening. Right now, organizations are working
alone and on shoe strings. We need coalitions of them and they need
resources. We have numbers. We need to come together.
Thank you for writing.
You might be pleased to know that this article has gotten over 600
comments on Dailykos and is main headlined there as well and at the
top of their list. Word is getting out. At Dailykos, it set off a
discussion about intellectual property laws and a debate between
pro"science" (pro-genetic engineering) people and those who say that
science must be moral.
Thank you for writing. Look out at the beauty there, however
wounded, and know that it is larger than us and larger than maniacs,
and be comforted by that. We will all do our best to overcome
horrors but as we do so, I believe we will hold together better in
being glad to be alive and in being happy to know each other.
We need to look after ourselves and enjoy each day so we can do the
work that needs to be done. Look after Hawaii for me, would you?
All best wishes,
Linn
by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 12:09:11 PM

In a strictly legislative context, his most important writing has
been for the Hawaii Senate:
http://www.prlog.org/10056715-hawaii-senate ...

to see more of bio, click on member nameAll substantially correct; I
add one major fact:
Monsanto, because of its heavy use of test fields in Hawaii, since
they can be worked year round with no seasonal interruption, has a
massive and diabolical corporate presence in Hawaii, which of course
by definition extends into the Hawaii Legislature, where at least
two full time lobbyists work to convince the Senators and
Representatives that every thing is just peachy keen, and no need
for any resistance in the legislative context.
Fortunately, the people recently prevailed in a major city council
vote to prevent GM Taro and Coffee, I want to say on the Big Island.
Io, correct me if I am wrong....can you go into some detail on this,
please?
Despite this, we are still tryiing to pass a Senate and a House
Resolution asking in a polite way the next FDA Commissioner to
rescind the approval for Aspartame. We are doing this in Hawaii and
in New Mexico, and even though Monsanto has long ago sold its patent
on Aspartame (which it bought from G.D. Searle after Rumsfeld left
as CEO), it will be using its influence to kill the Resolution as it
did last year, when that same Resolution never even got a hearing in
Senator David Ige's Senate Health Committee!
In New Mexico, Altria Corporate Services/Phillip Morris used heavy
duty lobbyists to do the same with a little old bill to create a New
Mexico Nutrition Council to ask questions about carcinogenicity,
neurotoxicity, colorings, and artificial sweeteners. Maybe this
recent news will keep them busy as they will be under siege from
suits again (Bravo, Hallelujah!):
WASHINGTON (Reuters) Tobacco firms can be sued under state law for
deceptive advertising of "light" cigarettes, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled on Monday in a decision that could affect some 40 suits around
the country seeking billions of dollars.

By a 5-4 vote, the high court ruled against Altria Group Inc.'s
Philip Morris USA unit and held the Federal Cigarette Labeling and
Advertising Act does not bar or preempt such state court lawsuits.

The case involved three longtime smokers from Maine who wanted to
proceed with their suit against the largest U.S. cigarette maker.
The justices upheld a U.S. appeals court ruling that allowed the
lawsuit to go forward.

The class-action lawsuit claimed Philip Morris engaged in unfair and
deceptive acts or practices in its representations that certain
brands of its cigarettes are "light" or have "lowered tar and
nicotine."

The lawsuit said cigarettes like Marlboro and Cambridge Lights are
deceptively designed and marketed, and that a smoker of those brands
consumes the same amounts of tar and nicotine as a smoker of regular
cigarettes.

Lawyers for Philip Morris argued Congress in adopting the federal
law in the 1960s wanted one national source of regulation for
advertising of cigarettes and health claims.

But lawyers for the smokers said Congress did not intend to give
cigarette makers immunity for false statements.

Justice John Paul Stevens, joined by Justices Anthony Kennedy, David
Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, said in the court's
majority opinion the lawsuit can proceed.

Stevens said neither the Federal Cigarette Labeling Act nor the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission's action in this area preempted the fraud
claim under state law.

Stevens said the court only ruled on whether the lawsuit can
proceed, not on the merits of the claims. The smokers still must
prove the company's use of "light" and "lowered tar" violated the
state deceptive practices law, he said.

The court's four most conservative members -- Chief Justice John
Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito
-- dissented.

Because liability in this case is premised on the effect of smoking
on health, Thomas wrote in dissent that he would hold that the
state-law claims are expressly preempted by the law.

NO FINDING OF LIABILITY

"While we had hoped for a dismissal based upon federal preemption,
it is important to note that the Supreme Court made no finding of
liability," said Murray Garnick, an Altria senior vice president and
associate general counsel.

"We continue to view these cases as manageable, and the company will
assert many of the strong defenses used successfully in the past to
defend against this very type of case," he said in a statement
issued in Richmond, Virginia.

Vice Fund portfolio manager Charles Norton said the ruling removed
one defense used in cases involving light cigarettes, but does not
signal a shift in tobacco litigation.

"In spite of today's ruling, I expect the future of (light
cigarette) litigation to continue to move in the direction that it
has in recent years, in favor of the industry," he said.

A related case is before a U.S. appeals court.

In October, a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., heard arguments
on whether a lower court erred in finding tobacco companies
conspired to lie about the dangers of smoking.

Companies, including Philip Morris USA, were found to have violated
federal racketeering laws in 2006 by a U.S. District judge, who
ruled the firms could no longer use expressions such as "low tar" or
light" in their cigarette marketing.

Other firms and trade groups appealing the ruling were the R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco unit of Reynolds American Inc, Brown & Williamson,
Lorillard Inc, Vector Group Ltd's Liggett Group, British American
Tobacco Ltd., the Council for Tobacco Research and the Tobacco
Institute.

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission rescinded guidance from
1966 which allowed the firms to put tar and nicotine figures on
cigarette packages as part of their advertisement.

The agency said the numbers were misleading because smokers believed
low tar and nicotine cigarettes were safer even though smokers
cancel out that advantage by inhaling more deeply when they smoke
the cigarettes.

The case is Altria Group Inc v. Good, 07-562.

by Stephen Fox (80 articles, 2 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 502 comments)
on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 12:47:39 PM

In a strictly legislative context, his most important writing has
been for the Hawaii Senate:
http://www.prlog.org/10056715-hawaii-senate ...

to see more of bio, click on member nameSPEAKING OF MONSANTO, HERE
IS SOME BAD NEWS:
I REALLY HOPE I AM PROVEN WRONG....LINN, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY
ABOUT THIS?
_________________
Harkin: Vilsack tapped for agriculture secretary

THOMAS BEAUMONT
tbeaumont@dmreg.com
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is expected to be named President-elect
Barack Obama’s designee to be U.S. Secretary of Agriculture on
Wednesday, Democratic officials said today.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said he expected Vilsack to be named USDA chief
and for his Senate confirmation to go smoothly.

Yepsen: Vilsack pick is a clear thank you to Iowa, though it's not
as clear what the former governor brings to the job
“All the signs point to the fact that this will be happening in the
next few hours and that Barack Obama will indeed recommend Tom
Vilsack to be the next secretary of agriculture,” said Harkin. The
Iowa Democrat is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and
lobbied for Vilsack to be agriculture secretary.

“I think it will be a very smooth hearing and, as chairman, I can
assure you it will be smooth,” Harkin said. He said he expects
hearings to begin in his committee in early January.

Obama is expected to make the announcement at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday
in Chicago, where he is expected to be joined by Vilsack.
Vilsack would be the first Iowa Democrat to serve as a Cabinet
secretary since Henry A. Wallace held the same position during
President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration.

It would also mark the first time the agriculture secretary and
Senate Agriculture Committee chairman were both Iowans, creating a
unique confluence of Iowa authority over agriculture and food
policy.

Vilsack had been mentioned as a consideration for agriculture
secretary until last month, when the former Iowa governor said he
had not been contacted about the job.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a workforce of more than
105,000 and a budget of more than $95 billion. As governor, Vilsack
managed a state workforce of roughly 20,000 and a budget of more
than $5 billion.

The department has far-reaching oversight over policies concerning
farming and agriculture, food production and safety, trade, natural
resources and conservation. It includes the U.S. Forest Service and
the Food Stamp Program.

Vilsack could not immediately be reached to confirm the
announcement.

As governor, Vilsack had been a proponent of renewable energy and
worked to develop industry related to the state’s ethanol and
wind-generated electricity production. Iowa is nation’s leading
producer of ethanol and among the leaders in wind-generated
electricity.

Iowa Department of Economic Development Director Mike Tramontina
said Vilsack, as agriculture secretary, would benefit Iowa in
multiple ways.

Tramontina, a Democrat and Vilsack supporter, said the department is
the primary source of federal dollars to the state. Its impact on
commodities and trade, renewable energy, water quality, and more
immediately, flood control, would be magnified with Vilsack at the
helm, he said.

“We’ll have someone there who understands Iowa’s animal agriculture,
a person who understands Iowa’s topography, its rivers and streams
and its small towns,” Tramontina said. “To have someone like Tom
Vilsack, who understands Iowa the way he does, is going to be a
tremendous benefit to us.”

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, a Republican, had kind
words for Vilsack. “It’s nice to have an Iowan in this job,” Northey
said. “He understands what’s going on in agriculture. He’s a quick
study and I think Iowans will have good access in the USDA.”

The news adds the name of yet another onetime rival of Obama to the
Democratic president-elect’s prospective Cabinet.

Vilsack, 58, briefly sought the 2008 Democratic presidential
nomination but withdrew from the race after roughly three months. He
also campaigned aggressively for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s
campaign until Obama clinched the nomination in June.

Vilsack would join former rivals Joe Biden, who is vice
president-elect, as well as Clinton, and New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson. Clinton has been tapped to be secretary of state and
Richardson, secretary of commerce.

“I think the way Obama is going to govern is by using and leveraging
and resources at his fingertips,” said JoDee Winterhof, a longtime
Iowa and national Democratic campaign organizer who was a top Iowa
aide to Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. “Shown by whom he has
reached out to, there is a true commitment on his part to move this
country forward with the help of their leadership and talents.”

Last week, Harkin complained that he had not been contacted by
Obama’s transition team to discuss the president-elect’s choice for
agriculture secretary. The Senate will vote on the nomination.

Harkin was later contacted by a high-ranking member of the
transition team and said he was satisfied that the team was making
an effort to consult with the Senate.

“I think all of the things that I feel so strongly about, like
conservation, renewable energy, rural development, helping beginning
farmers, all point to Tom Vilsack tracking very well with all of
them,” Harkin said. “And I’ve had a lot of discussions with Barack
Obama about these things and how much he supports them.”

Vilsack is the second Iowan to be named to a senior position in the
Obama White House.

Jackie Norris of Des Moines, a key Iowa campaign aide to Obama, was
named chief of staff to incoming first lady Michelle Obama.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle, a Republican, is the most recent Iowan
to serve in the president’s Cabinet. He has served as director of
the White House Office of Management and Budget since last year.

— Reporter Dan Piller contributed to this article
by Stephen Fox (80 articles, 2 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 502 comments)
on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 8:46:46 PM

I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family
or anyone else's children, things as they are now.
Linn Cohen-ColeI'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can
leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are
now.It's clear we can't spend energy seeking help from Obama
He just sold out.
We have to do the work ourselves. To me, it looks like nothing has
changed and it would be a wast to expend time and energy trying to
get through the corruption to get something done.
To me, it is better to bring people together and get enough
resources to do what is needed without depending on government.
I am very disturbed at Obama for this choice and uncomfortable at
the misleading way it was carried out - with Vilsack dropping out
and everyone believing they had been heard and working even harder
to promote Pollan or other sane choices - and then Vilsack pops up
again.

by Linn Cohen-Cole (24 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 79
comments) on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 11:24:38 PM

Among other things, I run the Real Liberal Christian Church and The
Christian Commons Project™. It's designed to carry out the mandate
to the Church given by Jesus Christ in the Gospel According to Saint
John the Evangelist, Chapter 21, Verses 14 through 17, to feed the
people. Come visit the website to see and to join in helping to
bring forth.
Tom UsherAmong other things, I run the Real Liberal Christian Church
and The Christian Commons Project™. It's designed to carry out the
mandate to the Church given by Jesus Christ in the Gospel According
to Saint John the Evangelist, Chapter 21, Verses 14 through 17, to
feed the people. Come visit the website to see and to join in
helping to bring forth.Breaching Contracts with Monsanto
Breaching Contracts with Monsanto

Hi,

I am following your series of articles. With this story, the main
problem I see concerns those who buy seed from Monsanto, signing
Monsanto's contract, and then attempt to hide saving the seed to use
it. It is awful that Monsanto is such a tempter, but farmers need to
stop buying Monsanto seed.

If it is so much more expensive and there are so many negatives
associated with it, why are the farmers buying it? Perhaps you could
address that in a future article.

Buying seed under contract with Monsanto and then breaching the
contract by cleaning is serving Monsanto's cause. It is playing
right into their hands making it easier to go after people who don't
buy Monsanto seed but who do save their own seed.

It is critical for people in your movement to differentiate between
these two groups and to disassociate yourselves from those who
willfully breach their contracts.

Immediately place all your public support behind those who do not
buy Monsanto seed but who are attacked by Monsanto. Those are the
people who will gain the most support from the non-farming
community.

If you wait until Monsanto does a huge counter campaign pointing out
those who breach their contracts, if you allow Monsanto to get their
first, it will damage your movement. You will appear as though you
may be siding with cheaters (even though Monsanto will still look
bad). Beat Monsanto to it. Preempt them.

Then, when they do a major PR campaign against the movement, the
movement will be pre-positioned to say that it has already beaten
Monsanto to that issue and does not support breaching contracts but
is focused squarely on Monsanto's bullying (with corrupt
government's assistance) people who have never entered into any such
contracts and who aren't purchasing Monsanto seed but who are
suffering financial and other pain and suffering as a direct result
of Monsanto having contaminated their natural and organic fields.

Don't let them put you on the defensive.

Blessings,

by Tom Usher (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 38 comments) on
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 11:32:43 PM

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