Germany, Corn, Catangui, Monsanto... Mercenaries?

This is my black helicopter post for the week. Consider it just a reminder for the file cabinet rather than an official brief for the court.

Some Twitter-wandering informs me that Germany banned MON 810, Monsanto's genetically modified Bt corn, in April, 2009. As I understand it, this is the same corn that Dr. Mike Catangui's research connects with pest replacement, specifically the recent spread of western bean cutworm and corn leaf aphids. Dr. Catangui was fired this year by SDSU, which is run by a Monsanto executive board member, for using his research as the basis for his advice to farmers.

The German ban has caught heck from various boards and researchers. Germany's own Central Commission for Biological Safety said the Germany's MON 810 ban is not scientifically grounded. Three French researchers published a pretty hefty meta-study in 2009 coming to the same conclusion. But I see no mention of Catangui's research in either of those critiques.

Would Monsanto squelch research that demonstrates negative impacts from its products? Would they go so far as to persuade a university to violate academic freedom to do so?

Well, remember: we're talking about Monsanto, a corporation that hires Blackwater/Xe to spy on activists who oppose its GM products. Monsanto enlisted operatives from the mercenary company to infiltrate activist groups for the purpose of "protecting the Monsanto name."

I'll keep looking for puzzle pieces....

Blackwater Takes Tax Dollars, Produces No Results

The New York Times reports we paid Blackwater to help rub out al-Qaeda honchos:

The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.

Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects [Mark Mazzetti, "CIA Sought Blackwater's Help in Plan to Kill Jihadists," New York Times, 2009.08.19].

Gee, I guess the private sector doesn't outperform government.

NYTimes also notes that Blackwater has changed its name to XE Services. Nothing like fixing your problems by changing your name.