William Clinton and Monsanto - a Team for Mutual Profit

William Clinton and Monsanto - a Team for Mutual Profit

By Siv O'Neall

Created Apr 19 2008 - 10:47am

- from Axis of Logic [1]

How did we come to this state of the world where we don't know what we eat

or drink, where there is nothing but secrecy as far as what the U.S. Food

and Drug Administration is plotting with the gigantic Monsanto corporation?

Secrecy for the purpose of making Monsanto immune to legal suits, secrecy to

make people unaware of what risks they are running when they drink rBGH

milk, which is not labeled as coming from cows injected with the dangerous

Bovine Growth Hormone. Yes, you read this right. U.S. dairy products are not

even labeled as originating from rBGH milk. Incredible? Shocking? You bet.

There is no more any freedom to choose what we eat, what kind of seeds

farmers sow, or even what cultures we are going to grow in our own fields.

There is no more freedom. Individual freedom has been replaced by control.

Giant corporations like Monsanto decide how we live and die. They put our

health in danger and since the governments have sold out to them, are

working hand in hand with them, there are no legal means of putting an end

to this unethical and life-threatening control by Big Brother. Big Brother

runs the world, Big Brother is going to drive the world into ever increasing

poverty and starvation - under the pretense of solving the problems of

world-wide hunger.

If Big Brother decides that you should grow corn to produce ethanol, so be

it, but where goes the culture you used to grow to produce food and not

fuel?

How did this whole sordid business start?

It was a clever plan by biotech companies to increase food production under

the pretext of saving the world from hunger. In reality, it was intended to

make biotech companies filthy rich, to own the world. Today it's the giant

Monsanto corporation that controls 90% of all the genetically engineered

products world wide. Genetically Modified (GM) products are planted, sold

and eaten all over the world, without, lots of the time, the public being

aware of what they are consuming.

"The United States Government has been financing research on a genetic

engineering technology [2]which, when commercialized, will give its owners

the power to control the food seed of entire nations or regions. The

Government has been working quietly on this technology since 1983. Now, the

little-known company that has been working in this genetic research with the

Government's US Department of Agriculture-- Delta & Pine Land-- is about to

become part of the world's largest supplier of patented genetically-modified

seeds (GMO), Monsanto Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri." (William Engdahl)

"Bill [Clinton]'s FDA gave Monsanto permission to market rBGH [3][dairy

products] in 1993 (a GE bovine growth hormone), the first genetically

engineered product let loose on us (or did tomatoes with fish DNA get there

first?)." (Linn Cohen-Cole)

The Rose Law Firm, the corporate law firm of which Hillary Clinton was a

partner from 1977 is home to Industrial Agriculture and genetic engineering.

[1]

Why is the public not informed?

In the U.S. dairy farmers for over a decade were not allowed to label their

products as non rBGH, free from synthetic growth hormones. How come Monsanto

can get away with their secrecy policy, with criminal acts such as banning

the correct labeling of dairy products? Instead of being sued themselves for

lack of transparency, Monsanto sued the farmers who labeled their milk non

rBGH. Does that sound pretty much like the upside-down world to you? Yes,

probably it does, because it is.

The truth behind this shocking state of things is the fact that Monsanto and

the Food and Drug Administration have been working very close together ever

since the Clinton era. Michael Taylor, formerly legal advisor to the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration (Deputy Commissioner for Policy at FDA

(1991-94), had also previously worked as a lawyer for Monsanto. "One of

Taylor's duties was to represent Monsanto's efforts to get its bovine growth

hormone approved by the FDA." (Political Friendster) [2]

"[Michael Taylor was the] Attorney for Monsanto who rewrote the

"regulations" for Genetically Modified foods. His brilliant addition is the

"substantial equivalence" measure which says if the nutrition measures are

the same . [as its conventional counterpart...]" (Political Friendster).

Since they were now declared to be "substantially equivalent", there was no

more any need for proof as to their harmlessness for human consumption.[3]

The Clinton administration even attempted to alter the organic food

standards to include genetically engineered foods, irradiated foods, and

sewage sludge as fertilizer for organic crops.

Quote from ZMag (Cashing in on the organic market [4]- by Signe Waller)

"Among the most egregious USDA proposals are ones that would allow

genetically engineered and irradiated foods to carry the organic label.

Other alarming features concern guidelines on the use of raw manure and

toxic sludge. The proposed federal regulations would allow meat, eggs,

dairy, and other animal products to be labeled "organic" even if the animals

were kept in intensive confinement."

Comment from Linn Cohen-Cole (via Proliberty.com [5]):

"Had the FDA not refused to comply, rBGH-containing milk and irradiated

food could have been labeled "organic" and drug, chemical, vaccine and

antibiotic-containing animal waste from factory farms, a pollution nightmare

for Tyson [Foods - poultry corporation] and others, could have been sold as

"organic" fertilizer."

Monsanto's attack on no-BGH labels - March 12, 2008

"Monsanto, the maker of recombinant bovine growth hormone [6](scientific

name, recombinant bovine somatotropin or rBST; trade name, Posilac), is

embarked on a national state-by-state campaign to get legislatures to rule

that food products cannot be labeled that they are rBGH-free or rBST-free.

In his weekend column, The Feed [7], Andrew Martin details how Monsanto has

organized its very own "grass-roots" group, Afact, to campaign on the

company's behalf. As Martin puts it, "consumer demand for more natural

products.has certainly interfered with Monsanto's business plan for

Posilac." As I discuss in my book, Safe Food, Monsanto's aggressive stance

(in this and so many other issues that concern its products) has elicited

much suspicion of its motives and of genetically modified foods in general.

In 1994, Monsanto worked hard to convince the FDA that GM foods did not have

to be labeled as such. Now, this company has only itself to blame for

consumer resistance to its products." (Marion Nestle)

From Food Democracy [8]:

"In 2006, the FDA announced that cloned meat and dairy products are safe

for human consumption, and [the food may be marketed] without any label

identifying how it was made."

It's the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of

Agriculture (USDA) that are the lunch ladies who won't share the recipe.

Fortunately, the recipe isn't too difficult to find:

One part cloned meat: Last month, the California legislature passed the

first law mandating labels that disclose cloned meat or dairy products. The

bill is now marinating on Governor Schwarzenegger's desk. As for the rest of

us, we may be stuck eating Dolly. In 2006, the FDA announced that cloned

meat and dairy products are safe for human consumption, and may market the

food without any label identifying how it was made.

One part genetically modified (GM) food: Just because your box of

cornflakes is void of a GM notice doesn't mean it's not a frankenfood. The

FDA refuses to label food that has been genetically modified, so consumers

have no clue when they're ingesting something that's been altered. What's

more, the FDA may not even know which food contains GM ingredients; the

agency only requires companies developing GM food to voluntarily submit to

an evaluation process. (my emphasis)

FDA scientists went to Congress to report that the results of the studies on

rBGH milk had been altered to fit in with Monsanto's claims. They were

fired.

BGH Manufacturer [9]Acting Like a BullyBovine Growth Hormone (BGH)

manufacturer Monsanto, continues to use fear and intimidation tactics to

push its product on the U.S. market. The biotech company has been rallying

"pro-market" forces within the federal government and using them to trash

existing laws that would benefit those fighting the industrial use of BGH.

BGH is a bio-engineered additive injected into dairy cows in order to

stimulate their milk production. One year after the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) gave Monsanto permission to market BGH, its use

continues despite nationwide reports of the hormone causing illness and

death in cows injected with it. Most befuddling, the FDA is allowing

Monsanto to go on producing BGH and wield influence over federal regulations

regardless of a very angry, very vocal nationwide consumer base that has

repeatedly come out against the use of such chemicals.

The latest victory for the biotech company occurred when US agriculture

officials warned all dairy companies labeling their products "BGH Free" that

they could have their products confiscated from store shelves. FDA officials

maintain such labels give these companies "an unfair market advantage."

Threats such as this have caused many dairies, and dependent companies such

as Ben & Jerry's of Vermont, to remove the "safe" labels from their

products.

Interesting side note: USFDA Deputy Commissioner, Michael Taylor, a

proponent of BGH, was formerly counsel to Monsanto and other biotech firms.

(Humane Farming Association)

Quotes from Linn Cohen-Cole (via Proliberty.com [10]):

"Grains: Forty-nine percent of U.S. corn acreage was planted in Bt corn in

2007. A French study proved Monsanto's Bt corn (Genetically Engineered)

causes kidney and liver toxicity. Soft drinks and candy have highly

concentrated Bt corn, in the form of high-fructose Bt corn syrup. The U.S.

food system depends most on two crops, soy (90 percent GMO, 90 percent of

traits owned by Monsanto) and corn, the largest crop (60 percent GMO, nearly

100 percent Monsanto traits). "Essentially our entire food supply is

genetically modified, to the benefit of one company."

Further quotes from Proliberty [11]:

"Cohen-Cole explained that she saw a News Hour piece on Maharastra, India,

about farmers committing suicide because Monsanto had used Bollywood

[india's

equivalent to "Hollywood"] actors to "sell" illiterate farmers on the idea

they could get rich from the big yields that come with planting Monsanto's

Bt (genetically engineered, or "GE") cotton seeds. "The expensive seeds

needed expensive fertilizer and pesticides (Monsanto, again) and irrigation.

There is no irrigation there. Crops failed. Farmers had larger debts than

they'd ever experienced," Cohen-Cole explained.

"The farmers could not collect seeds from their own fields to try again

the following season because Monsanto "patents" its DNA-altered seeds and

the company has a $10 million budget to prosecute patent-violating farmers.

According to Cohen-Cole, "Since the late 1990s (about when industrial

agriculture took hold in India), 166,000 Indian farmers have committed

suicide and 8 million have left the land." "

See also 'The Suicide Economy Of Corporate Globalisation' By Vandana Shiva

[12]

The Indian peasantry, the largest body of surviving small farmers in the

world, today faces a crisis of extinction.

Two thirds of India makes its living from the land. The earth is the most

generous employer in this country of a billion, that has farmed this land

for more than 5000 years.

However, as farming is delinked from the earth, the soil, the

biodiversity, and the climate, and linked to global corporations and global

markets, and the generosity of the earth is replaced by the greed of

corporations, the viability of small farmers and small farms is destroyed.

Farmers suicides are the most tragic and dramatic symptom of the crisis of

survival faced by Indian peasants.

Cows treated with the Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH)

The bovine growth hormone is designed to boost growth rates and increase

body mass and the quantity of milk they produce. More meat, more milk, more

money for Monsanto. However, problems surfaced with rBGH milk and also grave

problems concerning the animals treated with the growth hormone.

In the documentary I refer to in my recent essay 'The World According to

Monsanto - A documentary that Americans won't ever see'[4] Marie-Monique

Robin shows us the unnaturally and painfully enlarged udders of cows treated

with rBGH.

During the Clinton administration Monsanto employees were appointed to run

the FDA. They of course approved their own product, the first genetically

engineered product ever approved.This was in spite of the fact that severe

health problems in the cows had been found, resulting from the growth

hormone injections. Cows were getting sick and some were dying. There was

also found to be pus in the rBGH milk. Other countries were banning U.S.

dairy products and in 1996 there was a press conference of scientists who

indicated a possible link to breast and colon cancer in humans and rBGH

dairy products.

Excerpt from the press conference of scientists - National Press Club

Washington D.C., January 23, 1996

"rBGH poses an even greater risk to human health than ever considered,"

warned Samuel Epstein M.D., Professor of Environmental Medicine at the

University of Illinois School of Public Health and Chairman of the Cancer

Prevention Coalition, author of the new report. "The FDA and Monsanto have a

lot to answer for. Given the cancer risks, and other health concerns, why is

rBGH milk still on the market?"" [5]

The Story Behind the Rush To Bring rBGH to Market

"Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone: Alarming Tests, Unfounded Approval

revisits Rural Vermont's 1991 report on animal health in the

Monsanto/University of Vermont (UVM) test herd, and traces what has been

learned as a result of the initial report. Our 1991 report exposed many

animal health problems, including an alarming number of dead and severely

deformed calves." [6]

The continued role of the biotech industry in today's politics

"Mark Penn, CEO of Burson-Masteller [one of the largest PR companies in

the world, also representing Blackwater, Exxon Mobil, Dow ...] has been

Hillary Clinton's long-term advisor, and until very recently, her campaign

strategist. The Clinton campaign paid Burson-Masteller over $10 million for

their services. The people replacing Penn (who is not necessarily gone) are

also associated with the biotech industry. (Linn Cohen-Cole)

"Instead of information, we have laws banning labeling, farmers sued for

being "misleading" in saying honestly that they do not use rBGH (or BST),

farmers making raw milk (just plain ole milk) facing jail, and then we have

the incredible reality that a citizens' petition to the FDA in 2007 reported

that 30 scientific journals showed an up to 7 times increased risk of breast

cancer from rBGH milk (also increased risk of colon, lung and prostate

cancer)." (Linn Cohen-Cole)

Instead of science, we have public relations

More from Linn Cohen-Cole:

"rBGH is a genetically engineered product and genetic engineering itself

is sorely untested. And the tests - those that are independent of the

biotech industry itself - coming back are beyond worrisome. A French study

of Monsanto's genetically engineered corn last year showed it caused kidney

and liver toxicity. That is the main crop in the US. Scientists are now

saying it may cause diabetes.

"But banning labeling of rBGh is not just keeping a label off something.

Because the thing being kept unlabeled is genetically engineering itself,

which is potentially dangerous. By not labeling it, millions of people are

being exposed to a vast human experiment without being able to escape being

part of it. The Nuremburg Code said that to have human experiments, one must

have "informed consent." We have neither information nor consent. And where

people have found their own information, there is actual resistance of which

Monsanto is aware. So, this is an enforced experiment which we are all

trapped in. This isn't just some restraint of trade issue or even, much more

seriously, a freedom of speech issue. These are crimes against humanity."

Pennsylvania Bans [13]rBGH-Free Labels on Dairy Products - December 13, 2007

(Dr Emily A Kane)

"Apparently, Governor Rendell has decided to step back [14]and reconsider

the state's new ban on the voluntary labeling of BGH free milk. The

implementation of the regulations (originally scheduled for January 1) has

been delayed at least a month for the Governor's review."

In fact, what happened in Pennsylvania was just Governor Rendell temporarily

taking off the table the legal problem of labeling or no labeling, very

likely to void the politically charged issue of any significance, at least

before the primaries in that state. We yet have to see if the ban will be

reinstated after the election, or even after the primaries.

There are today numerous states that allow the labeling of GMO products, but

the fight is continuing on the part of the public who demand transparency

and on the part of Monsanto who insists on secrecy and on a continuation of

the "substantial equivalence" policy to free them of all responsibility of

labeling their genetically engineered products.

Conclusion

Genetically modified seeds and products are threatening the world's

ecosystems, the health of the entire population of the planet and the lives

and livelihoods of thousands and thousands of small farmers, not just in

India but in the U.S. and all over the world.

It is generally not known to the American public how their food is

controlled by Monsanto, the biotech company that produces 90% of the world's

genetically modified seeds. Monsanto is responsible for the production and

sale of not just genetically engineered foods, but lethal products such as

Agent Orange, PCBs (a dioxin-like compound, highly toxic and cancerous)[7] ,

pesticides and herbicides, such as the world's most sold and most dangerous

agricultural herbicide, Round-Up.

The general secrecy in matters of GMOs has been made possible through the

close links between Monsanto and the governments, which began with Bill

Clinton's policy of appointing Monsanto employees to run the FDA. Of course

they declared their own products legal and harmless through multiple twisted

policies. The United States Department of Agriculture has also turned a deaf

ear on public demands for information and labeling of products.

Once again, people don't matter, only the big corporations and their profits

matter. The Corporatocracy that runs the planet is doing their very best to

destroy the land that our forefathers cultivated with sweat and age-old

organic methods. But the outcome was a healthy life for their families and

the great pleasure in seeing their land produce healthy food.

--

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Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107

"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their

spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their

government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are

suffering deeply in spirit,

and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public

debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have

patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning

back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at

stake."

-Thomas Jefferson