The Angry Hippie's Soapbox Express

Corporate Win: Supreme Court Says Monsanto Has 'Control Over Product of Life'

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:09:47 -0400

Corporate Win: Supreme Court Says Monsanto Has 'Control Over Product of Life':

by Jacob Chamberlain for commondreams.org

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in favor of biotech giant Monsanto, ordering Indiana farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman, 75, to pay Monsanto more than $84,000 for patent infringement for using second generation Monsanto seeds purchased second hand—a ruling which will have broad implications for the ownership of ‘life’ and farmers’ rights in the future.

In the case, Bowman had purchased soybean seeds from a grain elevator—where seeds are cheaper than freshly engineered Monsanto GE (genetically engineered) seeds and typically used for animal feed rather than for crops. The sources of the seeds Bowman purchased were mixed and were not labeled. However, some were “Roundup Ready” patented Monsanto seeds.

The Supreme Court Justices, who gave Monsanto a warm reception from the start, ruled that Bowman had broken the law because he planted seeds which naturally yielded from the original patented seed products—Monsanto’s policies prohibit farmers from saving or reusing seeds from Monsanto born crops.

Farmers who use Monsanto’s seeds are forced to buy the high priced new seeds every year.

Ahead of the expected ruling, Debbie Barker, Program Director for Save Our Seeds (SOS), and George Kimbrell, staff attorney for Center for Food Safety (CFS), asked in an op-ed earlier this year, “Should anyone, or any corporation, control a product of life?”:

Bowman vs. Monsanto Co. will be decided based on the court’s interpretation of a complex web of seed and plant patent law, but the case also reflects something much more basic: Should anyone, or any corporation, control a product of life?

[Monsanto’s] logic is troubling to many who point out that it is the nature of seeds and all living things, whether patented or not, to replicate. Monsanto’s claim that it has rights over a self-replicating natural product should raise concern. Seeds, unlike computer chips, for example, are essential to life. If people are denied a computer chip, they don’t go hungry. If people are denied seeds, the potential consequences are much more threatening.

Bowman had argued that he was respecting his contract with Monsanto, purchasing directly from them each year, but couldn’t afford Monsanto’s high prices for his riskier late season crops. Bowman’s defense argued that Monsanto’s patent was “exhausted” through the process of natural seed reproduction and no longer applied to Bowman’s second generation seeds.

“If they don’t want me to go to the elevator and buy that grain,” Bowman had stated, “then Congress should pass a law saying you can’t do it.”

The Center for Food Safety released a report in February which shows three corporations control more than half of the global commercial seed market.

As a result, from 1995-2011 the average cost to plant 1 acre of soybeans rose 325%.

As AP reports, more than 90 percent of American soybean farms use Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” seeds, which first came on the market in 1996.

Vandana Shiva, an expert on seed patents and their effects on farmers around the world, wrote recently:

Monsanto’s concentrated control over the seed sector in India as well as across the world is very worrying. This is what connects farmers’ suicides in India to Monsanto vs Percy Schmeiser in Canada, to Monsanto vs Bowman in the US, and to farmers in Brazil suing Monsanto for $2.2 billion for unfair collection of royalty.

Through patents on seed, Monsanto has become the “Life Lord” of our planet, collecting rents for life’s renewal from farmers, the original breeders.

[See other Lone Pamphleteer posts about Monsanto and watch a trailer for the documentary David vs. Monsanto.]

Perhaps when their toxic shit-stain of a product line and bullying, business ending patent chasing finally kills us all and renders every farmer not buying their crap homeless and unemployed, the politicians will stop giving them handjobs and handouts…..but I’m not holding my breath.

“You Can’t Be a Princess” | Journalists from ABC’s “What Would...

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:44:21 -0400

“You Can’t Be a Princess” | Journalists from ABC’s “What Would You Do?” planted hidden cameras in a Halloween store and filmed shoppers’ reactions to a boy who wanted a princess costume and a girl who wanted a Spiderman costume.

sometimes people make it really hard to want to go out and interact with the public…

Cornel West: Obama 'Is a War Criminal' | Common Dreams

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:11:31 -0400

Cornel West: Obama 'Is a War Criminal' | Common Dreams:

socialismartnature:

In an interview with the Guardian published on Sunday, renowned professor and prolific critic of the “military-industrial-complex” and rampant “plutocracy” in the U.S. and around the world, Dr. Cornel West explained his views on the state of America today and his fall from grace, by design, with President Barack Obama: “He’s just too tied to Wall Street. And at this point he is a war criminal.”

“They say I’m un-American,” West told interviewer Hugh Muir, referring to Obama’s team.

But from someone who actively campaigned for the man, only to be quickly and vastly disappointed, West sees in Obama the epitome of Washington corruption:

“He talked about Martin Luther King over and over again as he ran,” West said of their campaign stops together, adding later, “You can’t just invoke Martin Luther King like that and not follow through on his priorities in some way.”

“King died fighting not just against poverty but against carpet-bombing in Vietnam; the war crimes under Nixon and Kissinger.”

West goes on:

You can’t meet every Tuesday with a killer list and continually have drones drop bombs. You can do that once or twice and say: ‘I shouldn’t have done that, I’ve got to stop.’ But when you do it month in, month out, year in, year out – that’s a pattern of behavior.” […]

I think there is a chance of a snowball in hell that he will ever be tried, but I think he should be tried and I said the same about George Bush. These are war crimes. We suffer in this age from an indifference toward criminality and a callousness to catastrophe when it comes to poor and working people.” […]

“I knew he would have rightwing opposition, but he hasn’t tried,” West said of Obama’s unwillingness to curb Wall Street’s hold on Washington. “When he came in, he brought in Wall Street-friendly people – Tim Geithner, Larry Summers – and made it clear he had no intention of bailing out homeowners, supporting trade unions.”

And later:

And he hasn’t said a mumbling word about the institutions that have destroyed two generations of young black and brown youth, the new Jim Crow, the prison industrial complex. It’s not about race. It is about commitment to justice. He should be able to say that in the last few years, with the shift from 300,000 inmates to 2.5 million today, there have been unjust polices and I intend to do all I can. Maybe he couldn’t do that much. But at least tell the truth. I would rather have a white president fundamentally dedicated to eradicating poverty and enhancing the plight of working people than a black president tied to Wall Street and drones.”

AP responds to intrusive seizure of journalists’ phone records by Obama administration | Associated Press

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:09:37 -0400

AP responds to intrusive seizure of journalists’ phone records by Obama administration | Associated Press:

socialismartnature:

Maybe Hosni Mubarak’s secret police fled Egpyt and have taken refuge in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Freedom of the press, my ass!

===

The U.S. Department of Justice notified The Associated Press on Friday, May 10, that it had secretly obtained telephone records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP journalists and offices, including cell and home phone lines.

AP is asking the DOJ for an immediate explanation of the extraordinary action and for the records to be returned to AP and all copies destroyed.

AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt protested the massive intrusion into AP’s newsgathering activities in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, May 13.

In the letter Pruitt states:

“There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP’s newsgathering operations, and disclose information about AP’s activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know.”

“We regard this action by the Department of Justice as a serious interference with AP’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news.”

Angie rockin the #hoopjam in #ManitouSprings Memorial...

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:24:16 -0400

Angie rockin the #hoopjam in #ManitouSprings Memorial Park.
#hooping
(from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

All work & no play, gives Rob a bum wrist! Stupid...

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:05:56 -0400

All work & no play, gives Rob a bum wrist! Stupid computers… (from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

[REBLOG]Petition: Disney to try and trademark "Dia De Los Muertos" - ACT NOW TO TELL DISNEY NO!

Tue, 07 May 2013 19:20:14 -0400

[REBLOG]Petition: Disney to try and trademark "Dia De Los Muertos" - ACT NOW TO TELL DISNEY NO!:

Disney recently filed 33 applications to trademark Day of the Dead. It is shameful that Disney would attempt to trademark and grow profit from a cultural holiday. Disney must be stopped! I just signed this petition calling on Walt Disney Co. CEO and Chairman Bob Iger to withdraw the applications. Can you add your name, too?

So spoiled by Maya at #Uchenna. Don’t think I’ll be...

Sat, 04 May 2013 00:29:17 -0400

So spoiled by Maya at #Uchenna. Don’t think I’ll be able to eat for a week. No a day. A weekday. ;)
#foodies #ethiopian #cuisine
(from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

Locked and loaded for round three at #Uchenna recording a...

Fri, 03 May 2013 19:57:48 -0400

Locked and loaded for round three at #Uchenna recording a promotional video for the lovely Maya!
#videography
(from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

Conversations with Killers

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:10:35 -0400

Conversations with Killers:

A Whatsabudget Films feature film project. Think Cohen brothers Coffee & Cigarettes…

Give indie film in COS & Manitou Springs a boost!! Help us make Conversations with Killers!

Overview of the awesome in #ManitouSprings#streetart(from...

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:38:12 -0400

Overview of the awesome in #ManitouSprings
#streetart
(from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

Sad to think all this street art is now covered in snow....

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:35:04 -0400

Sad to think all this street art is now covered in snow. #ManitouSprings
#StreetArt
(from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

Cashing Out (2012)

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:41:41 -0400

Cashing Out (2012):

The festival cut of our very first Whatsabudget Films short, Cashing Out is now available for rent/purchase on #IndieReign. Support Independent media and our first feature film via our collection of shorts (all of which began with this very personal piece).

indiereignfilms: FILM TO CHECK OUT TODAY: Beware the Masked...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:17:56 -0400

indiereignfilms:

FILM TO CHECK OUT TODAY: Beware the Masked One

Who is the “Masked One”? What does he want? Is 13 an unlucky number for Carol? Are there 13 years of unfinished business waiting to be finalized? This taut, suspenseful short film has just the right amount of creepiness! Rent/buy it at www.indiereign.com/v/b6a61 or watch the trailer!

Enjoying this nice day before the weather turns to crap...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:34:47 -0400

Enjoying this nice day before the weather turns to crap tomorrow! (from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

A view of Pike’s Peak from the Gog/Magog trail. This was...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:18:48 -0400

A view of Pike’s Peak from the Gog/Magog trail. This was the first time it came into view.
#Hiking #ManitouSprings #Unfiltered
(from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

Looking down over #ManitouSprings from the Gog/Magog...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:13:00 -0400

Looking down over #ManitouSprings from the Gog/Magog trail.
#Unfiltered #nature #Hiking
(from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

Passed the remnants of a past parade today. No Doctor or...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:11:39 -0400

Passed the remnants of a past parade today. No Doctor or companion were spotted.
#tardis #doctorwho
(from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

A dude and his dog out for a walk on #CandidAlleyCamera (from...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:50:03 -0400

A dude and his dog out for a walk on #CandidAlleyCamera (from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)

More pics from our walk through #ManitouSprings today. (from...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:08:24 -0400

More pics from our walk through #ManitouSprings today. (from @RobEBowen on Streamzoo)