Bayer Gobbles Up Monsanto

German pharmaceutical company Bayer has the go-ahead to acquire U.S. seed and agrochemical company Monsanto for $66 billion. The new firm will be called “Bayer” rather than “Monsanto” because Americans associate the former with children’s aspirin and the latter with Agent Orange, DDT, PCBs, glyphosate, GMOs, and other now-unpopular products.

Like many German corporations, Bayer has its own dark history. It was once part of the IG Farben conglomerate, which made Zyklon B gas for Third Reich death camps, and Bayer itself used Jewish slave labor in its wartime factories.

But memory is short, so “Monsanto” is out and “Bayer” is in. As Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing puts it, “Bayer and Monsanto merge into a new company called ‘Bayer’ because Nazis have a better reputation than Big Ag.”

More:

“Monsanto is about to disappear. Everything will stay exactly the same,” Zoë Schlanger, Quartz

“Why ‘Monsanto’ is no more,” Caitlin Dewey, Washington Post

“Monsanto to ditch its infamous name after sale to Bayer, Rupert Neate, The Guardian

“Bayer Can Drop The Name Monsanto, But Can’t Erase The Hate,” Elisabeth Dostert, Suddeutsche Zeitung, via Worldcrunch

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Harvesting Trees

For many Americans right now the Ghost of Christmas Past looks like a big dead tree shedding needles on the living room rug. In the next week that coniferous cadaver will be dragged outside and left at the curb. Even though that tree was purchased on the sidewalk, though, that’s not where it came from.

Who Needs Monsanto?

Patented Monsanto GMO seeds promise resistance to weeds and insects, but end up promoting the success of superweeds and superbugs. Farmers buying the pricy seeds end up using herbicides and insecticides anyway.

But don’t fear. Agricultural engineers have developed alternatives:

“Precision herbicide drones launch strikes on weeds,” New Scientist

“Agricultural drones for weed control,” Chris Anderson, DIY Drones

“Drone, Drone on the Range,” Caleb Garling, Modern Farmer

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Image  (“Monsanto Harvests Patent Law”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length

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Bible-Quoting GOP Hypocrite

Republican Congressman Stephen Fincher (R, TN-8) wants to cut $4 billion from the SNAP food subsidy program for the poor. He says God wants the poor to go hungry too, and backs that up by quoting 2 Thessalonians 3:10:  “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”

This Tennessee congressman from the Gospel-singing family knows all about taking money you haven’t worked for. He’s one of the largest recipients of USDA farm subsidies in Tennessee history, grabbing $3.48 million in taxpayer cash from 1999 to 2012. The average SNAP recipient in Mr. Fincher’s home state gets $132.20 in food aid a month.

EPA Drones Spy on American Farmers! Not.

The Environmental Protection Agency is using killer drone aircraft to spy on innocent farmers in America’s Heartland, according to the Daily Caller, Fox News, and Tea Party congressmen. “Send In The Drones: Obama Spies On America” screamed an Investor’s Business Daily editorial.

Just one thing. It isn’t true.

Cat Poop and World Hunger

World food prices are rising at a frightening rate, resulting in uprisings, hunger and death. U.S. government policy diverts food into the nation’s gas tanks by subsidizing production of corn ethanol, and not enough American farmland is planted in corn to meet demand. Millions go hungry or starve, governments are destabilized, and world food prices continue to rise.

How does American industry respond?  It turns corn into kitty litter.