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No More 'Miracles From Molecules': Monsanto's Name Is Being Retired (reuters.com)

Flexagon writes: Germany's Bayer announced today that in its link-up with Monsanto, it's retiring the "Monsanto" name, and with it the name of the company that originally sponsored Disneyland's "Adventure Thru Inner Space" attraction. The $63 billion takeover will wrap up on Thursday. "Bayer will remain the company name. Monsanto will no longer be a company name. The acquired products will retain their brand names and become part of the Bayer portfolio," it said.

The decision to retire the name is a smart business move. "These days Monsanto is shorthand for, as NPR's Dan Charles has put it, 'lots of things that some people love to hate': Genetically modified crops, which Monsanto invented," reports NPR. "Seed patents, which Monsanto has fought to defend. Herbicides such as Monsanto's Roundup, which protesters have sharply criticized for its possible health risks. Big agriculture in general, of which Monsanto was the reviled figurehead."

236 comments

  1. Toxic brand by jawtheshark · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's a toxic brand: I'm surprised it took that long. I mean, Bayer isn't called "IG Farben" for good reason. Bayer associates with "aspirin", which is good, right!?!

    --
    Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    1. Re:Toxic brand by stephanruby · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yes, but now Bayer will be the name that attracts all the hate for Monsanto's portfolio of products.

      Not that I disagree with that move, it's actually more honest, but still...

    2. Re:Toxic brand by jawtheshark · · Score: 1

      Most likely, yes... I also think this will happen. It depends a bit on how positive/strong the Bayer brand actually is.

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    3. Re:Toxic brand by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Funny

      I mean, Bayer isn't called "IG Farben" for good reason. Bayer associates with "aspirin", which is good, right!?!

      "Give a man aspirin . . . and he'll be free of headaches for a day."

      "Give a man Zyklon B, and he'll be free of headaches for the rest of his life."

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    4. Re:Toxic brand by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Name changes used to work, but these days they tend to backfire. Journalists will still call them Monsanto (now rebranded Bayer due to bad publicity).

      All changing your name like that does is publicly admit that your reputation is impossible to salvage and you are trying to be sneaky. It's not like in the old days where such things could get by unnoticed.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Toxic indeed - but then Bayer is a natural fit. As far as I remember, they are associated not just with the invention of aspirin, but also heroin and several chemical wafare agents, like tabun.

    6. Re: Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bayer is also the company that brought us poison gas for the Nazi death camps. Yes, a very toxic brand indeed!

    7. Re: Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I disagree. Cambridge Analytics has âoedissolvedâoe; how many know its new name? CA will be remembered for what it did -- but it will be in the past tense, without consideration that it is still out there doing the same thing, under a different name. This happens a lot. Remember the crazy stuff Blackwater did? Itâ(TM)s a relief to have it gone, right? But itâ(TM)s not... Etc, etc.

    8. Re: Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bayer was just as evil as Monsatan. This merger will double the evil.

    9. Re:Toxic brand by Sique · · Score: 5, Informative

      The reason being that the IG Farben was a trust, of which Bayer only was a part of. In fact, IG Farben consisted of eight different companies, Bayer, BASF, AGFA, Casella, Brüning, Griesheim-Elektron, Kalle, and ter Meer. After World War II, the IG Farben was disolved back into the eight former companies (Griesheim-Elektron becoming a part of Hoechst). So while Bayer was an important part of IG Farben, it wasn't IG Farben itself, and the former IG Farben is not Bayer.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    10. Re:Toxic brand by xonen · · Score: 2

      It's a toxic brand

      People aren't stupid, and will realize Roundup is now produced by Bayer. Bayer will just be the new 'synonym' for Monsanto.

      Having said that all, i don't believe genetic modification or roundup is bad per-se. It's how it's been used that's possibly bad - with corn producing its own poisons, and roundup being available at consumer level and it's commercial use poorly regulated. People forget that Monsanto's products are also essential for feeding 8 billion people. However, it's also good that environmental-aware organizations keep a critical look at technological progress.

      So, if any, Bayer has to be aware of some possible backlash that comes with assimilating Monsanto and destroying it's name in a bad attempt to cover up. If you'd ask me, it've been way wiser to keep the Monsanto name.

      --
      A glitch a day keeps the bugs away.
    11. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I mean, Bayer isn't called "IG Farben" for good reason. Bayer associates with "aspirin", which is good, right!?!

      "Give a man aspirin . . . and he'll be free of headaches for a day."

      "Give a man Zyklon B, and he'll be free of headaches for the rest of his life."

      Give a a man Plutonium 210 and you will be free of one more headache.
      -- Vladimir Putin

    12. Re:Toxic brand by damien_kane · · Score: 2

      Give a a man Plutonium 210 and you will be free of one more headache.

        -- Vladimir Putin

      Give a man Plutonium 210 and scientists around the world will wonder how you got around the current laws of physics to make it
      Perhaps you're thinking of Polonium?

    13. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bayer is the ass burning company! They marketed heroin was a safer and just addicted alternate to morphine!

    14. Re:Toxic brand by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      It's a toxic brand: I'm surprised it took that long. I mean, Bayer isn't called "IG Farben" for good reason. Bayer associates with "aspirin", which is good, right!?!

      I guess it's better than to be associated with Heroin, which would not be good.

      N.B. Trademarks can have interesting stories...

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    15. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Look at how many people are calling Google "alphabet". You'd have to be a complete idiot or an astroturfer to call Google anything but Google. It's the corporate equivalent of fleeing a country and changing your name, except you stay right where you are.

    16. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People forget that Monsanto's products are also essential for feeding 8 billion people.

      Ah, so Monsanto is responsible for the worlds overpopulation? And by corollary, AGW.
      Yeah, I can live with that.

    17. Re:Toxic brand by jawtheshark · · Score: 1

      I read the wikipedia article before posting. It was close enough to me, in order to make a point.

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    18. Re:Toxic brand by jawtheshark · · Score: 1

      Good point.

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    19. Re:Toxic brand by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      The Monsanto name was toxified by its intellectual property shenanigans. How does Bayer's record compare?

    20. Re: Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But dougle negative is positive, right?

    21. Re:Toxic brand by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      What's the point of feeding 8 billion people if you're poisoning them at the same time?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    22. Re:Toxic brand by Sique · · Score: 1

      If it was BASF we are talking about, you would have a point, as de iure the IG Farben AG was BASF. All shares of the seven other companies were given to BASF which returned BASF shares to the former shareholders, and then renamed itself into IG Farben AG.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    23. Re:Toxic brand by Erik+Hensema · · Score: 1

      If feeding them keeps them alive for longer, despite being poisoned, then that's exactly the point.

      What amount of poisoning are you talking about by the way? What increase in life expectancy can we expect by banning Bayer products?

      --

      This is your sig. There are thousands more, but this one is yours.

    24. Re:Toxic brand by azcoyote · · Score: 1

      True, and yet Bayer is the company that rose to success at least in part through its children's heroin cough syrup. Apparently that didn't hurt the brand?

      --
      Incipiamus, fratres, servire Domino Deo, quia hucusque vix vel parum in nullo profecimus.
    25. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bayer associates with "aspirin", which is good, right!?!

      Have you tried this "heroin" stuff? It's from Bayer, the people who brought us Aspirin, so you know it's safe to use.

    26. Re: Toxic brand by c6gunner · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People aren't stupid

      If that were true they wouldn't have demonized Monsanto in the first place ...

    27. Re:Toxic brand by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      The patent for Roundup expired 18 years ago and since then all major chemical companies have produced their own version. Bayer e.g had this since many years: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bayer...

    28. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would you rather starve to death or slowly die from "poison" over the course of decades?

      This is a really dumb line of thinking. But then again, when it comes to anti-GMO stupidity abounds.

    29. Re:Toxic brand by oh-dark-thirty · · Score: 1

      My anecdote: Tried the knockoff WallyMart brand, it worked poorly if at all. Not sure why as the percentage of glyphosate was the same according to the bottles. The real deal killed everything within days. I was trying to avoid giving big bad Monsanto any of my money, but I needed to kill the weeds so they got me in the end.

    30. Re:Toxic brand by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Since it's WallMart they probably multiplied the percentage by 100 to get a better value :)

    31. Re: Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With enough paperwork and lawful-bribes, the name change might "fool" the kangaroo courts.

    32. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you know that there is a species of mushroom, that if you eat it, it will feed you for the rest of your life?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroying_angel

    33. Re:Toxic brand by Khyber · · Score: 1

      The reason the wal-mart knockoff didn't work despite having the same concentration of glyphosate is that it likely didn't have the same surfactants which make the glyphosate effective in the first place.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    34. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget Bayer Heroin for Children.

    35. Re:Toxic brand by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Name changes used to work, but these days they tend to backfire. Journalists will still call them Monsanto (now rebranded Bayer due to bad publicity).

      All changing your name like that does is publicly admit that your reputation is impossible to salvage and you are trying to be sneaky. It's not like in the old days where such things could get by unnoticed.

      Actually, journalists have to use the current name, so it's actually more like "Bayer (formerly Monsanto) has just announced new lawsuits against farmers".

      This kind of pollutes the parent name a bit more, come to think of it.

    36. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All changing your name like that does is publicly admit that your reputation is impossible to salvage and you are trying to be sneaky. It's not like in the old days where such things could get by unnoticed.

      They get noticed by some, and even these forget. Changing names seems ridiculous to people "in the know", but my impression is that, in the end it is a very good (evil) strategy to fool the majority of the population.

    37. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I read the wikipedia article before posting. It was close enough to me, in order to make a point.

      You having read the wikipedia article in advance makes it even stranger that you misrepresent the situation. It clearly states that it was a consortium that was dissolved into the original parts.

    38. Re:Toxic brand by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

      It's tough to have a positive brand image when your fortune exists due to muscling out farmers and starving Argentina for the lulz.

    39. Re:Toxic brand by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      It's a toxic brand

      To leftist lunatics. To us normal people, it's a company that makes agricultural products.

    40. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are you babbling about? Did you know that Bayer (in its days as Farben) experimented on and killed people? I don't mean accidentially. Did you know they used slave labor during WW2? If you did (which, due to your silly contention that the public attention span is more than a day or two, I doubt), then you are exceptional. The thing that keeps Monsanto's name in the news is the ignorance of the masses, and the knee-jerk hatred by fascist ultra-Progressives. Monstanto's products have measurably improved world hunger. But of course, if they've made money alleviating suffering, preventing starvation and death then they must be evil. Especially if their products aren't Absolutely Purely Good, Anything which has both positive attributes and negative attributes is to be judged only on its negative attributes, right?

    41. Re: Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plenty of companies make money without committing the atrocities Monsanto has.
      1. Plant patented GMO corn upwind of small farmers.
      2. GMO pollen contaminates small farmersâ(TM) crop.
      3. Monsanto investigators find GMO crop on small farms that was not paid for.
      4. Monsanto sues small farmers for theft.
      5. Profit!

    42. Re: Toxic brand by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      Sure it pollutes the name of Bayer. Which is still less polluted than Monsanto. 50 years from now, who can say - but by then they will have a new brand with a fresh reservoir of good will to burn.

      What, you expected something reasonable? From marketing?

    43. Re:Toxic brand by Tool+Man · · Score: 1

      Most likely, yes... I also think this will happen. It depends a bit on how positive/strong the Bayer brand actually is.

      Maybe they can just decide on a name, one last time. Call it "Final Solution" or something uncontroversial like that.

    44. Re:Toxic brand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      seeing the history of bayer ( https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/popular-pharmaceutical-company-bayer-bought-concentration-camp-victims-wwii.html ) this comes to no surprise ( except for the fact that monsanto and bayer are both horrible enterprises.. ), it's just another pr stunt...

  2. Oy Vey by Cornwallis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "These days Monsanto is shorthand for, as NPR's Dan Charles has put it, 'lots of things that some people love to hate':"

    MUCH better they are now called by the name of the company known for gassing Jews.

    1. Re: Oy Vey by dcw3 · · Score: 2

      Look into the lies of the Holocost for your self.

      Don't know why I'm responding to an AC, but anyway...

      As the decedent of a German (non-Jewish) immigrant, who had family on both sides of the war, and who met veterans of that war, and who's been to Dachau, and lived in German for many years, let me just say... BULLSHIT. Look into it yourself you lying piece of dung.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    2. Re: Oy Vey by Krakadoom · · Score: 1

      How much did the holocost cost, I wonder.

    3. Re: Oy Vey by Bengie · · Score: 1

      I don't think you fully appreciate how deep the conspiracy goes. World War 2 never happened. Even my grandpa was in on this obvious lie. He claims to have been a PoW, but I know better. I can find all kinds of proof on the Internet that the Internet doesn't even exist! Wait. What are we arguing about again?

    4. Re: Oy Vey by houghi · · Score: 2

      Looking at all the Nazi-gold, I would say it paid for itself.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    5. Re: Oy Vey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are literally, legally not allowed to hear from one side, and you're surprised to find out that the only side you've ever heard isn't strongly contested in the mainstream? Yeah, no shit. That's how it works. How gullible are you?

    6. Re: Oy Vey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sorry, you'll have to prove you exist and your comment was actually posted before I'll respond to it

    7. Re: Oy Vey by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      Well how many of the veterans actually involved would still be alive? Many were tried and executed, and a lot more were killed in action during the war itself.
      Also given that involvement in such activity is likely to result in your execution, how many do you think would actually admit to it?

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    8. Re: Oy Vey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is deeper than that, you possessor of pedestrian intellect. This is what actually happened:

      1939 - An alliance of England and Mexico attacked Germany. This event is artfully spun into a tale of Germany invading Poland, but it is, in fact, a farce. Defenceless, Germany asks Greece for support. The Greek supply many weapons of mass destruction, mainly used indiscriminately against the Gypsies. In fact, the entire Final Solution was based around the extermination of Gypsies, not Jews. Learn to research the facts, you insufferable fools.
      1941 - The Gypsies team up with the USA and Japan, forming the so-called Gypsy Front. Germany now faces two fronts: England-Mexico in the west and the Gypsy Front in the east. At first all things go well, but on 22 June 1941, the Soviets join the Gypsy Front which forces Germany to strike a deal with the, now renamed, Universal Gypsy Alliance.
      1943 - Things were quiet for a couple of years except that the US of A begins developing a massive and unprecedented campaign of mass indoctrination, leading the coming generations to accept the blatantly false chain of events presented to us in the mainstream media.
      1945 - The USA broke off the Universal Gypsy Alliance and attacked Assz Harbor in east Serbia. This is later construed to be an attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor. You see how such a misunderstanding is easy to construe. The timeline has been perverted too as you will now see.
      1954 - The war between the Universal Gypsy Alliance and Germany comes to an end with a decisive victory for the Gypsies and the decision is made to blame the Germans for everything. Jurin Kzalvich, leader of the Universal Gypsy Alliance, is successful in pushing the notion that the Jews are somehow involved in all of this.
      1955 - During the Edict of Miloin or, more aptly, the Reverent of the Roses - a name you will not find in mainstream literature, you incapable lower forms of life - the decision is made to come up with the story of what we now know as WW2.
      1956 - The mass propaganda machine is powered up and is still running steadily, as you inferior turd-sucking insects prove all too well.

      I hope I have now elucidated the true story. Perhaps this little ray of light will lighten up your muffled, dark and meaningless existence, you worms.

    9. Re: Oy Vey by butchersong · · Score: 0

      Look, I'm not on the revisionist side of this argument but you've not provided anything to contradict his claim and only posted to toss a few pejoratives at him. I'm sure you're a perfectly nice guy and only point this out because I'm assuming you can do better.

    10. Re: Oy Vey by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      For the life of me, I can't figure out the root motivation for holocaust denialism.

      They can't handle the idea that human beings are capable of being barbaric?

      Is it a hatred of Jews so seething that they can't accept that genocide is anything other than a good thing?

    11. Re: Oy Vey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very well researched, bravo. I'd rate informative if I weren't AC.

    12. Re: Oy Vey by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      You would think that instead of denying the holocaust, they would be celebrating it?

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    13. Re: Oy Vey by terrycarlino · · Score: 1

      Well since my uncle was with one of the units that liberated the camps, yes. I've met someone who was there. He had pictures (probably taken unofficially). It was horrible. He showed them to me when I enlisted in the service, because , he said, I needed to know there were some things worth fighting for.

    14. Re: Oy Vey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You would think that instead of denying the holocaust, they would be celebrating it?

      YOU would think that, because your ideology is based on identity and mine on facts. I don't come from the position of choosing a side then finding the data to support that. I adapt my views to the data. Because you don't practice this, you can't easily see how others do. You just assume that I am somehow racist (with no factual basis) and back-fill the facts you need to construct that reality around that. I am motivated by facts. Simple as that. But, not just any facts that the TV tries to jam down my throat (if those are the facts you believe in, I'll bet their sponsors love you).

      People always like to say "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" but there is so much inconsistent evidence with the mainstream narrative. To call it "holocaust denial" is to not grasp at all how critical thinking works. Simply put, over 50 million people died in WWII. Why did the jews get special treatment? Because of the 6 Million genocide? Not even the biggest genocide in the last 80 years. Regardless, there weren't even 6 million jews for the Germans to round up and kill. And there are MANY eyewitnesses who disagree with the mainstream narrative. They cannot even be heard because their act of telling their story is illegal. And this is enforced fiercely. Let's look at who we are not allowed to criticize (legally, except in the USA). Oh shit, it's the Zionist jews again. (This is who rules over you.) Finally, let's look at who benefited. Holy shit, what a coincidence! It's the Zionist Jews again. They now have been given Jerusalem (somehow this was all done because of the fucking Holocaust, which makes no sense, but it doesn't have to because most people who care aren't even allowed to honestly ask how this makes sense by law) where they can commit a genocide of their own while the West simply looks away (actually we pay for it. I often hear people say we "only give Israel 1% of their GDP in aid". That is an incredibly large number.)

  3. What's Bayer's ethics like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's Bayer's ethics like? Will we see any change in "evil" Monsanto?

    1. Re:What's Bayer's ethics like? by Chatterton · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, no ethic problem here. If you get sick with 'monsanto' products, they will provide you with some aspirin :)

    2. Re:What's Bayer's ethics like? by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Is there a company, or organization or even a person that you can really point to and say this is truly a force for good?

      We live in a world with trade-offs. We can't get what we want exactly how we want it. And what we need is different for every person, and changes all the time.

      Having worked with many of these Evil corporations, and working with some of the organizations that people seem to call good. There isn't a super villain attitude of some guy trying to make lives difficult for people. But people who are trying to improve their own lives and their family as a priority as millions of years of evolution have conditioned us to do.

      So the demand was for food, that is free of pests, and will not be less toxic. Monsanto did that.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:What's Bayer's ethics like? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1, Interesting

      What's Bayer's ethics like? Will we see any change in "evil" Monsanto?

      Unfortunately the ethics of liberals has not changed. Monsanto's evil will just be globally replaced with "Bayer" on all those websites. The Hollywood stars that the left consults on science policy will start boycotting aspirin.

    4. Re:What's Bayer's ethics like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " The Hollywood stars that the left consults on science policy will start boycotting aspirin."

      ...what happened to you? Stroke? Gunshot to the head?

    5. Re:What's Bayer's ethics like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's Bayer's ethics like? Will we see any change in "evil" Monsanto?

      nope, evil acquiring more evil.

      https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/may/23/aids.suzannegoldenberg

    6. Re: What's Bayer's ethics like? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Education.

    7. Re:What's Bayer's ethics like? by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      Check wikipedia

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    8. Re:What's Bayer's ethics like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the demand was for food, that is free of pests, and will not be less toxic. Monsanto did that.

      They made our food more toxic?

    9. Re:What's Bayer's ethics like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or heroin.

  4. Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Monsanto name is gone, however their genetically modified crops that only grow with their products remains.

    i.e. nothing has changed.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    1. Re: Sooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      .... still no real news about Professor Stefan Halper.

    2. Re:Sooooo by Zorpheus · · Score: 1

      I doubt they will go for the same lawsuits. Let's see.
      Also I don't get why their crops should only grow with their products? Roundup is just Glyhosate, which you can buy from many manufacturers since the patent ran out.

    3. Re:Sooooo by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

      Monsanto name is gone, however their genetically modified crops that only grow with their products remains.

      Their patents on both glyphosate (Roundup) and RR crops expired long ago.

    4. Re:Sooooo by Miser · · Score: 1

      By any other name it just sounds like badge engineering.

      See? We're no longer Monsanto.... (goes on to do the same evil stuff Monsanto did, just under another name ...)

    5. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Monsanto name is gone, however their genetically modified crops that only grow with their products remains.

      Their patents on both glyphosate (Roundup) and RR crops expired long ago.

      So does that mean no one uses it any more or has it been re-branded like Posilac when they sold it to Eli Lilly? Like anything they did that got bad press. I wonder what other goodies are in their $63 Billion portfolio? Such lovely chaps to invent a seed like that and then sue the farmers whose fields it infects. Monsanto, loved by all, how we will miss them.

      They deserve a meme, I suggest:The Brand is gone butt the assholes remain.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    6. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Kind of like look at the silly monkey,,LOOK AT THE SILLY MONKEY!

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    7. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 5, Informative

      Every major chemical company produces glyhosate products, here is one from Bayer: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bayer...

      And no, Monsanto never sued farmers whose fields where infected. All lawsuits have been with people who "intentionally replanted patented seeds": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    8. Re:Sooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The crops don't only grow with their products. You can plant their seeds and not use their products. But why would you want to?

    9. Re: Sooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Shills be shillin'

    10. Re: Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 2

      Yes that is right, every one that does not agree with you is a shill.

    11. Re:Sooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course they only sue farmers who "intentionally replanted patented seeds", otherwise they wouldn't have a legal basis for the suit. Naturally, that contention may be true or it may be false and Monsanto *might* just have the edge in hiring a large team of legal experts to grind the defense into the dirt.

      But clearly, they will only sue if there is "intentional replanting of patented seeds".

      Sheeesh.

    12. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      So point to a single lawsuit where this was not the case. The truth is that the farmers are actually demanding that their suppliers sue misusers since otherwise the farmers would not have a level playing field.

    13. Re:Sooooo by drew_kime · · Score: 1

      Naturally, that contention may be true or it may be false and Monsanto *might* just have the edge in hiring a large team of legal experts to grind the defense into the dirt.

      So point to a single lawsuit where this was not the case. The truth is that the farmers are actually demanding that their suppliers sue misusers since otherwise the farmers would not have a level playing field.

      Kind of hard to prove a negative, but according to that Wikipedia article:

      Since the mid1990s, Monsanto indicates that it has filed suit against 145 individual U.S. farmers for patent infringement and/or breach of contract in connection with its genetically engineered seed but has proceeded through trial against only eleven farmers, all of which it won.

      Can you explain why they drop over 92% of their cases? Especially considering the farmers are "demanding that their suppliers sue"?

      --
      Nope, no sig
    14. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      My limited understanding of the American legal system is that most civil lawsuits are settled out of court so I assume here that that is what happened to the 92%. On their own web site ( https://monsanto.com/company/m... ) Monsanto writes:

      There have been farmers who were contacted and provided information that resulted in Monsanto closing the case. The vast majority of farmers who are presented with facts showing infringement admit the violation and pay a settlement.

      Which seams to support my assumption. Also according to their commitment to farmers ( https://monsanto.com/company/c... ) we find item #10:

      It has never been, nor will it be Monsanto policy to exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of our patented seed or traits are present in farmer's fields as a result of inadvertent means.

      Just words of course but it would be quite hard for them to sue for such a case without having this text thrown in their face by the defendants lawyers.

      Also they make no money from these lawsuits: https://monsanto.com/company/m...

      Whether the farmer settles right away, or the case settles during or through trial, the proceeds are donated to youth leadership initiatives including scholarship programs.

    15. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      The problem I have with your argument is that all of your sources are from monsanto.

      A 2 second web search provided tens of articles, here is six:

      monsanto-sues-farmers-seed-patents
      monsanto-sued-farmers-16-years-gmos-never-lost
      monsanto-patents-sue-farmers
      the-enemy-of-family-farmers
      monsanto-wins-lawsuit
      seeding-fear-the-story-of-a-farmer-who-took-on-monsanto
      All of which tell a different story.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    16. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Have you actually read these articles? I just did and no they do not refute what I wrote at all. Most of them are simply articles covering exactly what I wrote, while some are getting their info from "Big Organic" lobby organizations such as "Center for Food Safety" and "Save our Seeds".

      The last article about poor Michael White which was the inspiration for the "Seeding Fear" "documentary" conveniently forgets to mention that Michael White admitted to the court that:

      He admitted he knowingly planted, produced, saved, cleaned and sold Roundup Ready® soybeans (which contain a patented trait) without authorization. In addition, in the settlement, Mr. White acknowledged that he knew the soybeans were protected by patent rights and, that by cleaning other farmers’ seeds, he was enabling them to infringe on our patent rights as well.

      The article from Natural Society are really conspiracrazy. Further examination of the entire site points to it being mostly a pseudoscience woo site. I mean look at the "food as medicine" section without cringing.

    17. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      And btw this one which is one of your links: https://www.huffingtonpost.com... is about the US appeals court agreeing with my parent post that Monsanto writing on their own web site that they "It has never been, nor will it be Monsanto policy to exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of our patented seed or traits are present in farmer's fields as a result of inadvertent means" would be held against them in a court of law if they really attempted to do so and thus the court threw out that preemptive case.

      Please do read the article, it could give you some insight into exactly how crazy these anti GMO people actually are. I mean a preemptive court order?

    18. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Have you actually read these articles?

      I'm only interested in the patent protection action they took as the things you wrote from their web site is counter to those goals. We promise not to defend our patents is what it boils down to which does not make a lot of sense.

      Michael White admitted to the court that

      He also contacted Monsanto to tell them exactly what he was doing before he did it, according to the wiki you posted earlier.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    19. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      I did read that article. It defies rationality that so many farmers have a problem with Monsanto if they weren't doing things to agitate the community. I'm not saying your wrong about hippies, however farmers aren't, they run a business. Collectively they see a threat because people don't take class actions and organize to do so for no reason, it is a difficult, time consuming and expensive undertaking with a lot of risk.

      Second I think you miss the point about patent protection, Monsanto are obliged to do it as a function of the board's responsibility to shareholders.

      Third:

      Monsanto officials specifically refused to sign a covenant stating it would not sue the growers, but the court said the website statement was sufficient and would be binding.

      What this means is that Monsanto reserved the right to protect its patents and that the website premise for this is taken "as truth" i.e. they are taken at their word that they won't bring such an action. However now that Bayer owns the portfolio they won't be held to this and no appeal is necessary, effectively increasing the value of the patents.

      As I said your sources are all from Monsanto's web site which is effectively irrelevant compared to protecting their investment in their patent portfolio. Business is obliged to look for sources of revenue, to think otherwise is naive. Companies can tell you all sorts of things about their policy and values however at the end of the day the board has a legal obligation to return a profit to shareholders because the bottom line is the bottom line which trumps all other concerns.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    20. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      They never wrote that "we promise not to defend our patents", they only wrote that they will only defend them if farmers are deliberately violating them. The whole issue there is that the anti-GMO movement are spreading FUD among farmers that Monsanto some day in the future _might_ file lawsuits on farmers whose fields where inadvertently contaminated by Monsanto seeds. This is why they preemptively sued Monsanto which both the court and the appeals court threw out.

      Which wiki? I don't remember having linked to any wiki (which does not mean that it didn't happen, I just have no recollection of it).

    21. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      But they are not just farmers, they are farmers that make a living selling non-GMO crops together with anti-GMO/Big-Organic lobby groups.

      Second I think you miss the point about patent protection, Monsanto are obliged to do it as a function of the board's responsibility to shareholders.

      A board have no such responsibility to shareholders. But even if that where the case there must also exist a legal way for a company to be able to sue a farmer when the farmers crops have been "infected" by said company, now I'm no lawyer (and no very little about US law) but I have a hard time believing that such a case would fly very long, not to mention how quickly Monsanto/Bayer would loose customers if they started to behave like this.

    22. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      And btw, even if we play with the idea that this is somehow true then that is a problem with the patent system and not with GMO:s or Monsanto. Every seed company that produces seeds with new abilities regardless of it's via GMO or via cross breeding is patenting their seeds since that is how the US patent system works. It's just that the anti-GMO lobby focused on Monsanto in order to have a common enemy.

    23. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      But they are not just farmers, they are farmers that make a living selling non-GMO crops together with anti-GMO/Big-Organic lobby groups.

      First of all I think we need to examine your verbage here: non-GMO crops are crops, they are the product of the genetic source code of this planet. The seed inventory of our planet is a valuable commodity because it is the source of food on our planet, I'm sure we're both intelligent enough to recognise that.
      and: anti-GMO/Big-Organic lobby groups You mean farmers that are using seeds that are not genetically modified. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against GMO's as long as it is in the right context. This might include to improve the existing natural product, like introducing Vitamin A in rice to help nations who have problems with eyesight in large segments of their population. Or to improve wheats resistance to drought.

      I also get it that Monsanto would invent a weed killer to help those farmers. I'm just not sold on the idea of creating a proprietary genetic seed property without fully thinking out the ramifications of introducing Glyphosates into the environment. Glyphosate does look like a good technology to control weeds however in the past Human behavior around these products has been fraught with errors of judgment causing very nasty environmental consequences because we didn't examine long term consequences.

      Specifically, I think a concern that the Big-Organic lobby groups is they use different farming methods and whilst they maybe protecting their interests, so is Monsanto. The only difference is they way they are executing it as a part of their business strategy. I get it that you are pointing to some potential political position however I think you would need to look to their motivation and decide where your interests lie.

      I get it if your interests align with Monsanto and how they are trying to help farmers prepared to license the use of their product. However you cannot deny the sheer size of that market and that significant intellectual effort was put into constructing a product that would allow Monsanto to secure access to it.

      So the only way to really determine a reasonable position on this matter is to apply some logic and reason. First glyphosateresistant weeds mean that what ever round about of genetic modification has occurred to produce the resistance that will have to continue. In the meantime the Glyphosate compounds are likely going to require modification again. At best it is a medium term strategy for food supply.

      So basically I think it is a technology of only limited utility and that genetically modifiying crops to be more resistant to weeds an pests is a better way than making them weaker. However even that is not relevant in this way because many of the grain products are in surplus and end up being dumped. So you have to ask why we actually need the extra production.

      That only leaves you with business strategy and securing control of the market and in that respect Bayer got a real bargain.

      A board have no such responsibility to shareholders.

      I beg to differ friend. All boards have a legal responsibility to deliver a profit to their shareholders. The reason you have a patent is to protect your interests in your investment and market it and secure access to the profits from that endeavor. You were saying somewhere before that you weren't an expert on law so you are possibly unaware of this obligation under company law.

      But even if that where the case there must also exist a legal way for a company to be able to sue a farmer when the farmers crops have been "infected" by said company,

      That put the onus and work effort onto the farmer for something they did not willingly want or do. I can see your point and I would suggest that a reasonable compromise would be if a certain percentage of their crop was a Monsanto licensed product, say %10, th

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    24. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      And btw, even if we play with the idea that this is somehow true then that is a problem with the patent system and not with GMO:s or Monsanto.

      There is nothing wrong with protecting your intellectual property, so the patent system may have issues with trolls however that is not what we are talking about. The issue is the way Monsanto is using their patent portfolio.

      Every seed company that produces seeds with new abilities regardless of it's via GMO or via cross breeding is patenting their seeds since that is how the US patent system works.

      Well, that's how business works, you don't have to patent what you've invested in however that would be dumb.

      It's just that the anti-GMO lobby focused on Monsanto in order to have a common enemy.

      So basically what you are saying is that they sued Monsanto because they object to the idea of a compound based GMO paired product used as a business strategy. It's an interesting perspective. If the business practice is monopolistic then that would create government intervention because the practice is anti-capitalistic. Wow, you just punched 10-20 billion dollar hole into that product portfolio. Nice work, I'm sure someone is going to figure the same thing out sooner or later. I doubt that Bayer would welcome that.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    25. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      They never wrote that "we promise not to defend our patents", they only wrote that they will only defend them if farmers are deliberately violating them.

      All of which is irrelevant now. The Monsanto brand is crap.

      The whole issue there is that the anti-GMO movement are spreading FUD among farmers that Monsanto some day in the future _might_ file lawsuits on farmers whose fields where inadvertently contaminated by Monsanto seeds.

      And Monsanto would be in their rights to do so, so they are actually pointing out reality? Why is that FUD? because it's true? that doesn't make a lot of sense to me? Will Bayer take that strategy? maybe, can they? yes.

      This is why they preemptively sued Monsanto which both the court and the appeals court threw out.

      So what you're pointing out here is that they used tactics to counter Monsanto's tactics. What's the big deal? It's ok for Monsanto to protect their interests, but not for these farmers to protect theirs? That's not how this all works.

      Which wiki? I don't remember having linked to any wiki (which does not mean that it didn't happen, I just have no recollection of it).

      Wikipedia.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    26. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      So Monsanto sues nobody over accidental contamination but somehow suing for accidental contamination is now Monsanto:s tactics? Should you now sue your neighbour preemptively for not making a hole in your wall because you have a right to be protected from people making holes in your wall and we should just accept that you have a specific phobia about people making holes in your walls?

    27. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      No non-GMO crops is not just crops in this context. We are talking about a subset of the farmers and some lobby groups that have decided that GMO:s are bad, evil and will kill us all. So they are not just growing crops just like how people who for whatever medicinal reason are allergic to vaccines are not anti-vaxxers.

      And no, boards does not have a profit responsibility to shareholders. I don't know where this myth comes from but it keeps creeping up here in Slashdot from time to time. The only think that you as a shareholder can do in regards to the company is to vote in the share holders meetings where your vote is determined on how much stock you own, it's the things that are voted on here that the board are supposed to implement, nothing else. Many companies doesn't even pay a dividend (and a dividend is the way for a company to distribute it's profits to it's shareholders) and good luck trying to sue a board or company for not paying dividends, you would be thrown out of court with a laughter.

    28. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      No what they did was this:

      1. Create FUD about Monsanto. More specifically tell farmers that Monsanto would sue them if their crops where ever contaminated with Monsanto patented GMO:s.
      2. Preemptively sue Monsanto so that a court would forbid them from doing #1.

      However both the court and the appeals court threw that case out on the basis that since Monsanto have pledged on their own Web site to not do that then if they ever would try to do this then that would be held against them as and they would automatically loose. I.e there is no need for a court to tell Monsanto that they cannot sue farmers for accidental contamination when they have themselves already made a pledge that they will not do so.

      And still you keep on arguing that they somehow could do this when two separate courts disagree with you? And no Bayer cannot simply ignore that pledge either, when you buy a company you also buy their legal responsibilities and pledges, would Bayer sue for accidental contamination then the defendant could just point to the Monsanto pledge and the fact that Bayer bought Monsanto and Bayer would loose.

      For one example you can look at ABB and Combustion Engineering (CE), CE was a US company that prior to 1990 produces asbestos. In 1990 it was bought by the Swiss company ABB and in the 2000:s sever class action lawsuits where filed against ABB for the asbestos that CE had produced prior to the purchase. Now this is of course a different kind of case but it shows that when a company buys another company it also buys that company:s legal obligations.

    29. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Now this is of course a different kind of case but it shows that when a company buys another company it also buys that company:s legal obligations.

      You are arguing "Improper Altruism", Bayers legal obligation is to protect their patent portfolio. Effectively Bayer has bought the intellectual property of Monsanto and nothing else. I understand what you are getting at however it is based in a assumption of idealism and to support your argument can you show me case law that supports your point?

      Can link to some case law that shows a company has to up hold another companies promises?

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    30. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      And no, boards does not have a profit responsibility to shareholders. I don't know where this myth comes from

      It comes from US case law Dodge vs. Ford and whilst there has been some calls to stop teaching it, it was cited in 1983 in Dirks v. SEC and as recently in a whole set of cases in 2016, so it is very real.

      What you are arguing is referred to as "Improper Altruism", which are the findings of the court that reflect what you are advocating.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    31. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      You talk about deliberate violations and now you talk about accidental contamination. I've offered a test to detect deliberate violations and screen accidental contamination where you can set the thresholds as I don't care about either parties.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    32. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      I've been referring to both the whole time. Monsanto have made a pledge to not sue for accidental contamination and only sue for deliberate violations. The anti-GMO lobbies however have always claimed that Monsanto someday will sue everybody for accidental contamination and did file court case against Monsanto prohibiting them from suing for accidental contamination (this is the case that you linked to several times on your article searches) a case that was thrown out by first the court and then the appeals court since the Monsanto pledge is valid as evidence if Monsanto ever would try that route.

    33. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Well I'm no lawyer and I know next to nothing about the US legal system so you will have to search for the answer to this from some one else. However Bayer have not just bought the intellectual property of Monsanto, they have bought the company via a company merger. So my assumption could be wrong but time will tell, in any case I would not bet my money on Bayer suddenly suing people for accidental contamination (I don't think that such a thing is even possible to begin with).

    34. Re:Sooooo by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Ok, just goes to show just how little I actually know about the US and exactly how large the differences are between the US and Europe. Here in Sweden there exist no such obligations for the board at all and everything works like I posted (I sit on the board on some companies here) so I did the stupid thing and assumed that the same applied also to the US, especially since not every company pay dividends even though they make a profit.

    35. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      a case that was thrown out by first the court and then the appeals court since the Monsanto pledge is valid as evidence if Monsanto ever would try that route.

      As I said this is taken "As Truth" by the court and is irrelevant now that Bayer has bought the intellectual property assets.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    36. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Well I'm no lawyer and I know next to nothing about the US legal system so you will have to search for the answer to this from some one else.

      No. I have presented the established legal basis with evidence in case law for you to evolve your position because it is clear your assumption is flawed and time has already shown us how corporate entities behave in this circumstance.

      Per Bayer, I'm optimistic that they aren't as litigious as Monsanto so we can agree that only time will tell.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    37. Re:Sooooo by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      I don't think you are stupid. You thought the best of people which isn't a bad thing. In business it is not unusual to take advantage of peoples good nature and they have simply done that to you. That's not a reflection on you, it's a reflection on them.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  5. A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    The decision to retire the name is a smart business move. "These days Monsanto is shorthand for, as NPR's Dan Charles has put it, 'lots of things that some people love to hate': Genetically modified crops, which Monsanto invented," reports NPR. "Seed patents, which Monsanto has fought to defend. Herbicides such as Monsanto's Roundup, which protesters have sharply criticized for its possible health risks. Big agriculture in general, of which Monsanto was the reviled figurehead."

    And here I for one thought the smarter business move would be to retire those products and practices which are harmful to people and the environment...

    1. Re:A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by halivar · · Score: 4, Funny

      These products are why rampant starvation is a thing of the past. Your statement is a REAL example of white privilege.

    2. Re:A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's more profitable to try hiding them than retiring them.

    3. Re:A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Entrope · · Score: 3, Funny

      Forget it, Jake, it's Chi--er, an AC troll.

    4. Re: A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rampant starvation is a thing of the past???

      Travel. Get into a car and travel. It doesn't have to be far. Like, 3 miles ought to do it.

    5. Re: A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by halivar · · Score: 1

      Or I can look at year-over-year global GHI trends and--oh, look--they're all going down. Besides, three miles from my house are slums with the poorest Americans and rampant obesity.

    6. Re:A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sorry, but Monsanto drove a monoculture in agriculture which is bad as this leads to starvation when that monoculture is attacked by a blight, fungus, etc. Just look at the Cavendish banana as an example. Now, extend that to corn, wheat, or rice and you have starvation. Also Monsanto suing farmers when Monsanto product blew onto their property is just so wrong...

    7. Re: A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by triffid_98 · · Score: 0, Troll

      Wow...um. It kind of still is. It's actually getting worse. You can stick all the Band-Aids ("Bayer" GM weed retardent crops, pesticides, petrochemical based fertilizers, water subsidies, donations to countries where it doesn't rain and they have no food, etc) on it you like, we are both growing our global population and losing ariable land on a daily basis.

      While I would be the first to agree with the late Sam Kinneson, ultimately this is a numbers problem. If instead of sending starving people in the worst parts of Africa food for like 80+ years now, maybe send them some luggage and U-Haul trucks so they can MOVE TO WHERE THE FOOD IS. That has finally happened thanks to Germany and the Syrian conflict. Unfortunately that isn't working out so great for the countries hosting these folks since there are things like...a finite number of jobs, not everyone being cool with Sharia law and stoning women to death, etc.

      I'm sure it will all work out in the end, just like the last time team Germany tried to "help". One way or another we will live on, just hopefully sans lukemia from the upcoming holocaust.

    8. Re: A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Entrope · · Score: 1

      Syria isn't in Africa, and Germany didn't send U-Hauls to anyone. Arable land has been going up. Population has grown faster than arable land, but not nearly as fast as they productivity if that arable land. You need a better source for your talking points.

    9. Re:A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      These products are why rampant starvation is a thing of the past. Your statement is a REAL example of white privilege.

      It's been a combination of factors, including fertilisers, better management (especially of irrigation), pest control, weed control, new crop varieties, changes in markets in Western nations, and a reduction of conflict in regions affected by famine (e.g. Biafra, South-East Asia), and the removal of regimes that sometimes mismanaged resources (e.g. famines in the old USSR).

    10. Re: A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by triffid_98 · · Score: 1

      So...you do get that a very large percentage of these "Syrian refugees" aren't actually from the country of Syria right?

    11. Re: A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Entrope · · Score: 1

      They could be from the moon for all I care. It's easily apparent they aren't from the parts of Africa with the worst famine.

    12. Re: A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by triffid_98 · · Score: 1

      Here, have another cookie. Please tell me MORE

    13. Re:A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      > These products are why rampant starvation is a thing of the past. Your statement is a REAL example of white privilege.

      Quit swimming in the kool-aid. "Rampant starvation" ended well before the rise of Monsanto, their herbicide, or their franken-plants.

      Their products mainly fuel the Western junk food industry. They don't "feed the world". They make your Coke and Twinkies cheaper.

      The vast majority of nutrient dense foods are not GMO.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    14. Re:A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are seriously deluded if you think "rampant starvation is a think of the past."

    15. Re:A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So it's impossible for something to be useful *and* harmful? Do you think that it's impossible to address starvation in a way that doesn't use glyphosates and other harmful chemicals and practices?

    16. Re: A rose^H^H^H^H turd by any other name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean fat poor people?

  6. now i can stop buying bayer products by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    like dissing 2 megaslothian genociders with one decision..

  7. A new motto by Required+Snark · · Score: 2
    Bayer: "Greed From Genetics".

    Bayer is now the biotechnology migraine headache of the 21st century.

    --
    Why is Snark Required?
    1. Re:A new motto by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That one's good: may I steal it? Say... CC-BY?

    2. Re:A new motto by SharpFang · · Score: 2

      Now that's a good business sense! They are CREATING a market for their flagship product!

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    3. Re:A new motto by NettiWelho · · Score: 1

      A new motto, Bayer: "Greed From Genetics".

      I thought it was

      Bayer: "ask about our Heroin for Kids!".

  8. ... but the evil remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe they'll deliver free asprin to roundup customers to fight the headaches?

    What else have they to show on the positive side?

  9. Disney will kidnap potatoes and... by stroxor · · Score: 0

    Disnex can attacl Mars and declare Martian Buddys republic. How can you say no?

  10. Okay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lets hate Bayer now :-)

  11. Just change the company name of these products??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So we're all still going to have genetically modified crops, seed patents and dangerous herbicides, but it's going to belong to the aspirin people now so everything is better, yes? That's all it takes?

  12. Godwin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Zyklon B was Bayer.

    1. Re:Godwin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Zyklon was invented (discovered) by Fritz Haber, a Jewish German scientist.
      He was one of the main driving forces behind the use of poison gas in WW1.
      A certain irony that his invention would be modified by Bayer to be odourless
      as Zyklon B and thus more usable as a key component in the Holocaust.

      Bayer were also instrumental in introducing Heroin as a 'superior' pain killer
      (though they did not invent it).

      Fritz Haber also invented the Haber process, still used to manufacture Ammonia,
      one of the most important chemical processes for production of fertilizer. Also
      explosives. The World is a confusing place....

    2. Re:Godwin by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      Zyklon was invented (discovered) by Fritz Haber, a Jewish German scientist. He was one of the main driving forces behind the use of poison gas in WW1. A certain irony that his invention would be modified by Bayer to be odourless as Zyklon B and thus more usable as a key component in the Holocaust.

      Bayer were also instrumental in introducing Heroin as a 'superior' pain killer (though they did not invent it).

      Fritz Haber also invented the Haber process, still used to manufacture Ammonia, one of the most important chemical processes for production of fertilizer. Also explosives. The World is a confusing place....

      The Fritz Haber story is an interesting one. A Nobel laureate for developing the Haber - Bosch process, he pioneered the use of poison gas in WWI and was decorated for his service and made a Captain by the Kaiser. His institute developed Zyklon-A as a fumigant. With the rise of the Nazis, Haber, despite his conversion to Christianity and military service, was stripped of his positions and eventually left Germany.

      NB: The History series on Einstein had Faber's wife shoot herself in the house, she actually shot herself in the garden.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
  13. A rose by any other name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    *shrugs* As easy as they can transfer financial ownership, I can transfer my blame to the new owner. I can hold Bayer responsible for all the actions of Monsanto now, easy peasy. If Bayer did not intend such, then why did they make such a foolish purchase?

  14. Boycott by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yay! One more evil corporation to add to the boycott list!

  15. Heiydrich? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Heidrich, is that you?

    1. Re:Heiydrich? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because a resurgent Nazi Germany would be a haven for free speech and inquiry...

  16. Same shit - different packaging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think EU and US citizens should lobby their representatives to pass a law forcing Bayer to print on all of these acquired products: "Formerly known as Monsanto xyz". It's only fair that legacy is not forgotten since most people have a problem remembering things from the past.

    1. Re:Same shit - different packaging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cute! A "Right to Enforce Remembrance"!!!!!!!

  17. Monsanto gave bio-engineering a bad name by DollyTheSheep · · Score: 1

    Monsanto more or less single-handedly gave bio-engineering (in the widest sense, including genetic engineering / modification, molecular biology, agro sience) a bad name (they and the possibility to patent genes, I think). As a former bio-chemistry undergrad I'm far from a techno-phobe, I know where genetic engineering is used, what it can do (producing human insuline for example). But I know, the way Monsanto does / did genetic engineering, it brings farmer into their dependency. It's a total vendor lock-in.

    As a German, I'm greatly dissappointed, Bayer bought into this totally evil brand (no, no quotes to make that adjective softer). Removing the old name will not help, the portfolio (and the methods) remain the same.

    1. Re:Monsanto gave bio-engineering a bad name by msauve · · Score: 1

      You do know that Bayer used slave labor and did medical experimentation on concentration camp prisoners in WWII, don't you? Perhaps you'd like to share with us the special adjective harder than "evil" you've reserved for Bayer.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:Monsanto gave bio-engineering a bad name by bahwi · · Score: 2

      But farmers always had the option to not buy their products the next year.... they chose to because of the increase in profits / revenue and reduction of labor. It's lock-in for a growing season. If you didn't buy their products next year they had the right to come in and see if you were still using it (without purchasing it) but 99.99% of the people didn't and no issues occurred.

    3. Re:Monsanto gave bio-engineering a bad name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh? I missed it. When did Monsanto give up on its evil ways?
      Justice does come with a sell-by date. It might be "a generation", but after nobody of the old guard works at the company anymore, you do have to find new evils to make your point.

    4. Re:Monsanto gave bio-engineering a bad name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least they tested it out on prisoners before giving it to the rest of the public. I still think they should label these things so people can make their own choice. Remember when Obama promised that would be one of the first things he was going to do?

    5. Re:Monsanto gave bio-engineering a bad name by F.Ultra · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Exactly, and people seam to miss that Monsanto is just one of many companies producing GMO seeds. Here is an interesting podcast from the League of Nerds where they (together with Monsanto) visited a BT cotton farmer and found out that he grew cotton from multiple vendors in order to see which one grew best on his land: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    6. Re:Monsanto gave bio-engineering a bad name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ill informed criticism is ... ill informed! GMOs are safe. Move on, nothing to see here.

  18. What The Fuuuuuu??? by johnsie · · Score: 1

    How can you patent a seed????

    1. Re:What The Fuuuuuu??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Post-milennials. How cute. You still have all the experiences ahead of you.

    2. Re:What The Fuuuuuu??? by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 4, Funny

      How can you patent a seed????

      Submit a patent application with the necessary paperwork.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    3. Re:What The Fuuuuuu??? by NettiWelho · · Score: 1

      How can you patent a seed????

      Submit a patent application with the necessary paperwork.

      Is it patentable legally if you just copy and paste sequences you found in natural plants?

    4. Re:What The Fuuuuuu??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How can you patent a seed????

      Forget about seeds. Monsanto patented a pig.

    5. Re:What The Fuuuuuu??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Often it isn't the sequences that are patented, but the method of creation of that genetic sequence, by the use of appropriate tools for manipulating DNA.

    6. Re:What The Fuuuuuu??? by Misagon · · Score: 1

      With "paperwork", you mean of course legal tender paperwork.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    7. Re:What The Fuuuuuu??? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      It is patentable legally if the patent office says yes. Whether a court enforces it is a different question, but there's nothing illegal about patenting pretty much anything.

    8. Re:What The Fuuuuuu??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How can you patent a seed????

      Submit a patent application with the necessary paperwork.

      Is it patentable legally if you just copy and paste sequences you found in natural plants?

      Do you actually think that's how it works or what at all happens when they talk about patenting a seed? Seriously, what happened to basic common sense and rational thinking?

  19. Cambridge Analytica is now Emerdata by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's right: now do us a service by reminding everyone everywhere: Emerdata is the new Cambridge Analytica.

    It's easy to memorize Emerdata, like the French merde. Shitty data or something.

    1. Re:Cambridge Analytica is now Emerdata by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      I would go with eMerde-data as the mnemonic. Shitty digital data.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  20. Smart business moves, require Stupidity. by geekmux · · Score: 1

    "The decision to retire the name is a smart business move."

    The decision is a smart business move only because you have enough idiots out there who fall for the sleight-of-name trick.

    A company being forced to change it's name tends to say a lot about all of the immoral, unethical shit that piled up high and deep to justify such a change. In the end, little will change other than the name. All the shit that people were pissed off at Monsanto will continue for one reason; because it's profitable.

    And the ignorant masses will fall for it, as they celebrate their "win." The evil Monsanto was defeated today.

    1. Re:Smart business moves, require Stupidity. by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 2

      For all the (justifiable) hate on the company, I still feel a little sad for Edgar M Queeny’s legacy to disappear.

  21. Re:... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What is hilarious is that the same people that constantly shout, "Science!" with respect to their causes that they find are supported by science, completely ignore the conspicuous lack of science to support their claims about GMO, Round Up, etc.

  22. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Yes I agree! How peoole can make any claims that GMOs are safe with respect to the wider ecosystem, with virtually no test data is ridiculous and anti-science BS

  23. Bayer American branch == Monsanto by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    just remember that in any discussion on the topic. They are both the same.

  24. And on the tour bus... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    (tour guide) "Now then children if you look to the left you'll see the brand new Happy Smiley fun land complex".

    (child) "Didn't that place used to be called Auschwitz ?"

    (tour guide) "Ooh look over there. Happy squirrels !!!"

  25. Wtf are you talking about? They are not changing by raymorris · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > All changing your name like that does is publicly admit that your reputation is impossible to salvage and you are trying to be sneaky.

    What the heck are you talking about? Why in the world would the larger company, Bayer, change ITS name to the name of the smaller company it is acquiring? Of course Bayer is keeping their name.

    What could be sneaky be if $bigcompany bought $smallcompany and then changed its name to $smallcompany. Keeping their name is what companies normally do when they make acquisitions.

  26. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  27. They are still IG Farben by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and they still put poison in everything they sell

  28. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  29. Target change by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    Yesterday, Monsanto was the source of hatred. Tomorrow, it will be Bayer. It's already getting there, in fact.

  30. HIV infected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bayer was the one that profited from selling freaking HIV infected medicines, AFTER they knew they dumped cheap on the '3rd world'.

  31. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by c6gunner · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes I agree! How peoole can make any claims that non-GMOs are safe with respect to the wider ecosystem, with virtually no test data is ridiculous and anti-science BS

  32. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Aside from the stupid rhetorical reversal trick (employed exclusively by those without an argument), are you saying that a product subject to EPA regulations underwent NO testing what-so-ever?

    How fucking stupid are you people?

    The EPA considers glyphosate to have low toxicity when used at the recommended doses. “Risk estimates for glyphosate were well below the level of concern,” said EPA spokesman Dale Kemery. The EPA classifies glyphosate as a Group E chemical, which means there is strong evidence that it does not cause cancer in humans.

    From fucking OBAMA'S EPA.

    Do you think for one fucking second that they wouldn't ban this if they thought they had a case?

    Holy Fucking Shit you people are God Damned Luddites.

  33. Re:Wtf are you talking about? They are not changin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean like when Avago bought Broadcom but kept Broadcoms name?

  34. Re:Wtf are you talking about? They are not changin by omnichad · · Score: 2

    Why in the world would the larger company, Bayer, change ITS name to the name of the smaller company it is acquiring?

    See: AT&T

    But seriously, huge companies do not usually use the parent company's name. How many products in the grocery aisle have you seen marked as Mondelez International? You see plenty of Kraft, Nabisco, Cadbury, etc.

  35. Re:Wtf are you talking about? They are not changin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its not like big companies ever keep the names of smaller companies intact under their corporate umbrella.

  36. Shed your snake skin. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're still a snake.

  37. Re:... but the Asshattery remains. by jedidiah · · Score: 1

    Sure. A poison is just harmless. This is the kind of nonsense that makes you "science groupies" look no better than members of the American Family Association or the Taliban.

    We have plenty of examples of things we once thought were harmless that didn't turn out to be so harmless later. We also have good examples of "science" driven by political and corporate agenda.

    Anyone that's ever taken a stats course should be well aware of that great line attributed to Clemens & Disraeli.

    Your blind faith is unwarranted and unbecoming anyone that understands science as a methodology rather than a body of unassailable doctrine.

    It's ignorant of history too.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  38. And Bayer :) Brands by raymorris · · Score: 1

    You also see Bayer in the supermarket, it's a brand.
    As you said, Mondelez International isn't a big grocery brand (it's a new company) Nabisco and Kraft are major consumer brands. Of course if you're choosing between a major brand name and new name nobody has heard of, you keep using the successful brand.

    1. Re:And Bayer :) Brands by omnichad · · Score: 1

      OK, sure - one of many, many examples. Pepsi owns Quaker oats, Dole, Frito Lay. None of those are named Pepsi despite it being a much bigger brand. In fact, none of them even list Pepsi on the packaging.

      Incidentally, Gatorade is owned by Quaker Oats Comany - not directly by Pepsi.

  39. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by jedidiah · · Score: 0

    People like to currently whine that Trump is corrupt for inviting members of industry to serve in government. This is another great example of liberal "selective outrage". This kind of crap has been going on for decades and Monsanto has been been riding that particular revolving door quite a bit.

    If you think that Obama was any less corrupt than the rest then you need to listen to less superficial news outlets. I suggest NPR.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  40. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Holy shit you are a fucking naive twit.

    "Obama's EPA" was/is stacked with former Monsanto executives. And trumpy is mixing in former Big oil executives now and gutting regulations. Environmental "Protection" agency my ass.

  41. Re:... but the Asshattery remains. by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

    Name a single thing that science once though was harmless that didn't turn out to be so and that also have been put through such an extensive number of studies and experiments as GMOs have. GMOs have been a thing for 35 years now, strange that all that harm have not emerged yet.

  42. Still gotta hate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No matter the name if you are the biggest name in a field you will be torn down by the extreme left for being evil. They always single out the largest name in any field. Look at Greenpeace at Apple even though its the most green of any computer manufacturer they always go after them not Dell Hp etc.. Everyone hates on McDonalds not Subway, Burger King etc.. Walmart but not Kroger and countless other examples. The point is left extremists hate success and find anyway they can to spread hate on what were small mom and pop shops that excelled. Not saying some of them are not bad but why not look at the good in the world instead of the constant negativity.

  43. Just like Ally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a move to "kill" the brand that everyone hates. Instead, it will just become Bayer that people hate. Maybe they'll then kill themselves too?

  44. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by ichimunki · · Score: 1

    And you do know that sometimes the people at government agencies make mistakes? Or are subject to pressures, either social, financial, or otherwise?

    And how much of this work done at "Obama's EPA" is really just grandfathered in work from some previous administration? How are we to trust the work of the Trump EPA, when the President himself says things like "Global warming is a Chinese hoax" (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/265895292191248385)?

    Once the Trump administration is finally in the dustbin of history, how many mistakes will have been made that will be the status quo in the next, presumably Democratic, administration?

    --
    I do not have a signature
  45. Oracle by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    In related news, Oracle is changing its name to "Cuddly Bunny".

  46. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obama's officials too so many lawful-bribes it's not even funny.

  47. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How does it feel to shill for the profit interests of the oligarchy at the expense if the health of the whole fucking planet? Is your grandma proud?

  48. Mistakes by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 2

    CO2, Tetraethyl lead and lead in general, CFCs, Thalidomide, and perhaps cigarettes. It's a short list, and doesn't actually refute overall point, but yes, there have been a few fairly serious scientific errors in the past.

    --
    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    1. Re:Mistakes by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Note that everything on your list is from a time before we had regulations in the western world for how drugs and chemicals would be introduced. Basically everything that was released up till the 1970:ties was without the regulated clinical trails that we have today. That CO2 and CFC:s affect the climate can hardly be seen as a scientific error since that very topic wasn't even a question back when they where introduced. And lead have been known to be poisonous since long before modern science was even invented.

      GMO:s on the other hand have been put under scrutiny since day one, each new introduced crop needs to be studied before it's allowed to be used, the very mechanism of how they work in the crop is well known which is something that we do not with the organic cross breeding that have produced every other food that we eat today.

    2. Re: Mistakes by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      CO2, Tetraethyl lead and lead in general, CFCs, Thalidomide, and perhaps cigarettes.

      I would love to see you provide the doubtless voluminous reams of studies which were used to determine that those things are harmless.

      Thalidomide is perhaps the only legitimate example in your list, and that particular drug was never approved for use in America because the FDA required more rigorous studies than other nations did.

    3. Re: Mistakes by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

      The CO2 theory of climate change was disproved by Angstrom in 1901, and not revived for fifty years. Callendar 1949 gives an overview of what it calls the theory's "chequered history". CFCs were used for decades before their effects in the upper atmosphere became known, and even Lovelock's initial discovery vindicated them. For lead you should refer to the Wikipedia articles on the subject of TEL, Robert Kehoe, and Clair Patterson. Probably Thomas Midgely's promotional efforts are relevant to both of those stories. Sugar, lead, and tobacco are all good examples of industries which swindled the government and the American public for decades based on bogus studies; the tobacco companies are particularly infamous for this. I'm not sure why your idea of science is so fragile that it can't be wrong occasionally.

      --
      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    4. Re: Mistakes by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Um, not know about climate change don't snt make CO2 harmless, and not knowing about the ozone layer doesn't make CFCs harmless. Both can be quite harmful to humans.

    5. Re: Mistakes by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

      That's wonderful, but not the point of contention. There was valid science suggesting that these things were harmless. In the case of AGW there were several reasons to believe that CO2-induced climate change was impossible, which stood unchallenged for decades. Clearly that situation has changed, and again, this has nothing to do with the original claim that GMOs are safe, or whether lead, sugar, tobacco, or CO2 are actually harmful. However, while there are at best a handful of cases where the scientific process went awry, and while the majority of those involved private industry poisoning the well, there idea that science has never misidentified a harmful substance is not tenable.

      As it happens, the "chequered history" of AGW is extremely useful as a way to shut up anti-AGW conspiracy theorists. It's kinda hard to sustain a story of scientific conspiracy that starts with the theory being disproved.

      --
      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    6. Re:Mistakes by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

      You're defending a specious point presumably because you skipped the part where I didn't disagree with your conclusion. You are quite wrong about the lesser claim, and quite correct about GMO safety.

      You can argue whether the government's position on tobacco and lead represented scientific consensus, but the CO2 story is unequivocal. Arrhenius published his theory of CO2-induced climate change in 1896, and Angstrom refuted it convincingly five years later. Over the subsequent five decades the foundations for the refutation were overturned, but you can find textbooks as late as 1950 which explicitly assign a minimal climatic role to atmospheric CO2.

      Science got CO2 flat-out wrong. The lead, sugar, and tobacco industries all spread malicious and harmful science via the government, and poisoned Americans for decades. There are good reasons to believe that this is not true of GMOs, but science is far from infallible.

      --
      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    7. Re: Mistakes by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      That's wonderful, but not the point of contention. There was valid science suggesting that these things were harmless.

      Again, no, no there wasn't. Let's stick with CO2 just to keep things simple. You can make the argument that most scientists believed it couldn't cause climate change. You can claim that they had papers which supported that position. You might be right about those specific claims. But that would not, and could not, have been evidence that CO2 was harmless. It would merely have been evidence that CO2 wasn't harmful in that specific way. It was still known that a person emersed in a high concentration of CO2 would die, ergo CO2 was still known to be harmful.

      In a more broad sense, though, science can pretty much never demonstrate that ANYTHING is harmless. Saying to a scientist "prove to me that this is harmless" is functionally equivalent to saying "prove to me there's no god". It can't be done. That's not how science works.

      This is a key distinction which the "precautionary principle" dweebs always fail to grasp. We know that everything around us - from the food we eat to the water we drink to the oxygen we breathe - can be harmful in the right circumstances ... but even if there are some things for which we have been unable to demonstrate any harm under any of the circumstances we've been able to test, that still doesn't mean we can make the claim that they're completely harmless. All we can say is that they seem highly unlikely to be harmful under all of the conditions which we've tested.

      This is not just some pedantic hair-spliting; it's a key philosophical distinction. If you don't understand why it's important you're probably not doing good science.

    8. Re:Mistakes by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Yes Science is not infallible and you might be correct on the CO2 thing. Don't start to bring in sugar here though because that is just something that the LCHF crowd invented (now sugar is not good either, but it's not pure poison either and the insulin hypothesis from the LCHF camp does not hold water).

    9. Re: Mistakes by 0111+1110 · · Score: 1

      CO2 is harmful apparently even at 600ppm in terms of clear thinking. CFCs are delicious though. I am drinking a cocktail of 1 part chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC22) to 3 parts cranberry juice with a splash of seltzer and it is yummy. No adverse affects afaict aside from brain death.

      --
      Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
    10. Re:Mistakes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well CO2 doesn't have to cause greenhouse warming to be harmful. It has proven to be harmful to humans even at 600ppm and it won't take long before we are there whether or not humans are the cause of the rising CO2 levels. I keep a CO2 meter in my bedroom to monitor when indoor levels get above 500ppm.

      So whatever measures the greenies take to reduce CO2 emissions are pretty much a win regardless. Unless you are poor and can't afford the more expensive renewable or nuclear electricity that results from such policies. Then it kinda sucks. But greenies are usually pretty well off. So no worries about that.

    11. Re: Mistakes by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

      So if science can't determine whether something is harmless in an absolute sense, maybe it doesn't try to make sense to insist on that being the relevant qualification. Maybe there's a more reasonable definition of 'harmless'. That would probably save us some pedantic sophistry.

      --
      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
  49. Holocaust Denial by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

    If you're not on the revisionist side of the argument, why don't you pipe down? Holocaust denial does not deserve some sort of rigorous disproof. Being shouted down in public is their least deserts; they're lucky that such speech isn't criminal.

    --
    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    1. Re:Holocaust Denial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Being shouted down in public is how I was tipped off that we've all been fooled. If your views had factual merit, debate would be no problem for you.

    2. Re:Holocaust Denial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keep this up, and people will celebrate your death.

  50. Sounds Familiar by Rhacman · · Score: 1

    Kinda like how Blackwater changed to Xe Services and currently is named Academi. Enough name changes and you can hit the reset button on a poor reputation.

    --
    Account -> Discussions -> Disable Sigs
  51. Gassing Jews? You mean IBM, Ford, and others? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean IBM, Ford, and others? Those lovely American companies that managed the logistics and provided hardware to nazis so they could gas jews?

    Whenever I think of IBM and Ford, the first thing that comes to my mind is they facilitated the gassing of jews, so I never give them any money.

    Ford had a portrait of Hitler on his wall. He's such a good American that Ford.

  52. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Further testing showed there were indeed signs of it causing cancer.

    And THAT'S when people started complaining.

  53. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sugar

  54. So, no more buying Bayer then by Misagon · · Score: 1

    So, I will start boycotting pharmaceuticals from Bayer then ...

    Besides those brand containing "Bayer" in the name, they also own Adverio, AgraQuest, Agreva, AgrEvo, AlcaFleu, Athenix, Berlifarma, Berlimed, Berlipharm, Berlis, BGI, Biagro, Biogenetic Technologies, BlueRock Therapeutics, Casebia Therapeutics, Centrofarma, Chemdyes Pakistan, Chemion, Collaterial Therapeutics, Conceptus SAS, Cooksonia Opco, Cooper Land Company of New Jersey, Coppertone, CorporaciÃn Bonima, Covestro, CropScience NewCo, Currenta, Delinting and Seed Treating Company, (Kunmig) Dihon Pharmaceuticals, Dr Scholl, Farmaco, Flagship Ventures, GP Grenzach, Hild Samen, Hornbeck Seed Company, Imaxeon, Intendis, Intraserv, Jenapharm, KVP Pharma, Medipharm, Medrad, Menadier Heilmittel, MiraLAX, Myanmar Aventis CropScience, Nanjing Baijingyu Pharmaceutical Co, NippoNex, NOR-AM Agro, Numhems, Pallas Versicherung, Pandias, Productos QuÃmicos Naturales, Shering /Schering-Plough, Steigerwald Arzneimittelwerk, STWB, TecArena+, Tectrion, TravelBoard.

    Gah. That was a longer list than I thought it would be. (From Bayer's web page)

    --
    "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    1. Re:So, no more buying Bayer then by Misagon · · Score: 1

      The parent listed subsidiary companies.

      As to products to no longer buy, Bayer makes it easy. Thanks Bayer!
      * Products from A to Z
      * Consumer health brands
      * Bayer Brands on Wikipedia.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
  55. But who... by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 1

    ...should all our lunar gopher complaints be addressed to now?

  56. Only Morans Fear GMOs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because feeding people is baaaaad!

    Morans.

  57. Re: Easily. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every union, even the ones Amerikuks love to whine about because without them your Freedumbs would be worth $2.50/hr. What is your shitty not living wage standard in the USA again?? kek

  58. Re: KILL YOURSELF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do it.

    Your life is worth nothing anyways.
    You will never matter.

  59. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by barakn · · Score: 1

    Good strawman argument. OP points out that GMO are not fully tested with respect to how they'll affect the ecosystem, and you respond with a rant specifically about toxicity in humans.

    --
    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  60. Also: Agent Orange by kiminator · · Score: 1

    Granted, Agent Orange was a long time ago, and Monsanto wasn't the only company producing the herbicide, but it was still a very, very nasty product that had severe consequences for the people of Vietnam and many US soldiers who fought there.

  61. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

    Sure. A poison is just harmless. This is the kind of nonsense that makes you "science groupies" look no better than members of the American Family

    Actually yes, poison is harmless in most cases. No matter how much you may think that the food that you eat is "natural", "organic", "pure", "homeopathic", "in tune with Gaia", or whatever your fetish may or may not be, you're still going to end up with poison somewhere in the mix. I'm not setting it, it's just a fact.

    The key thing that you're overlooking is that it's the dose that makes the poison, not the substance itself. Take meadow saffron for example; extremely deadly plant, eating a leaf will most likely cause an excruciatingly painful death, but eating a tiny fraction of the leaf relieves gout. And then there's always water; dinking too much of it at once will lead to an unpleasant death by hyponatremia.

    Glyphosate is similar. Trace amounts on food won't do anything to you, neither long term nor short term. The main issue with glyphosate is that it is a skin irritant, but in concentrations a few hundred orders of magnitude above what your thinking. EPA bribe conspiracy theories notwithstanding, given there is so much hate towards it, I think some well funded hippie group would have found something in the 28 years that roundup has been a thing. That is, of course, if they can manage to pull it off without scientific fraud, because they're having a hard time doing it any other way for their other pet cause.

    http://www.slate.com/articles/...

    Unfortunately, the fraudulent "truth" is the only one they're willing to accept, it seems.

  62. Or their biggest mistake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not only for Bayer's terrible PR problems, or their Nazi past, or their ethically dubious endeavors, there is not enough Aspirin to make people forget their stunts and Monsanto's together.

  63. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fun fact- my father did landscaping his entire life. He was around pesticides nearly every day. He got lung cancer and lymphoma that metasticized through his bones. He died. As did 2 of his coworkers, from the same condition.

  64. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

    And here I though that LCHF and Atkins where since long dead. Shouldn't all you hipsters be Paleo by now? And if you didn't get it, no science have never said that sugar is healthy (nor is it bad unless you overeat).

  65. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Aspartame. The FDA board originally denied Searleâ(TM)s application because in addition to the 1,200 studies that showed aspartame was safe, there were 900 studies with results that suggested it wasnâ(TM)t - studies that Searle carefully buried. George W pleased his masters by adding an additional seat to the FDA board and filling that seat with a shill who promptly voted to approve Nutrasweet. The general counsel for Searle at the time? John Ashcroft.

  66. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

    Good luck with that one. Aspartame have been the focus for numerous studies for decades and have time and time again been shown to be safe for human consumption. What ever George W might have been involved in is not something that I know or care about, I'm not American and George W did nothing to put Aspartame past the FDA equivalent in my country.

  67. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go ahead post links to scientific studies showing harm....we're waiting.

  68. Re: ... but the Asshattery remains. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fun fact Dad did not work in landscaping and died of cancer too...

    Anecdotal evidence isn't evidence at all.

    Sorry to hear about your Dad...but grow up and accept that "shift happens".

  69. What's in a name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All Monsanto products are now brought to you from the company that brought you heroin, Bayer.

  70. FUCK BAYER! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can eat shit and die, just like Monsanto. Changing your name does not change who you are.

  71. Re:Wtf are you talking about? They are not changin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean like SBC purchasing AT&T?