ANDREW Voss has called rugby league games in more countries than any other commentator in history. The Pizza Connection Trial stands as the longest criminal jury trial in the federal courts in U.S. The trial began on September 30, 1985 and ended with. By George Anastasia For BigTrial.net He's beaten the feds in court more often than they've beaten him. Still he's spent close to half his adult life either in jail or. Monsanto’s Cruel, and Dangerous, Monopolization on American Farming. Gary Rinehart clearly remembers the summer day in 2. Rinehart was behind the counter of the Square Deal, his “old- time country store,” as he calls it, on the fading town square of Eagleville, Missouri, a tiny farm community 1. Kansas City. The Square Deal is a fixture in Eagleville, a place where farmers and townspeople can go for lightbulbs, greeting cards, hunting gear, ice cream, aspirin, and dozens of other small items without having to drive to a big- box store in Bethany, the county seat, 1. Interstate 3. 5. Everyone knows Rinehart, who was born and raised in the area and runs one of Eagleville’s few surviving businesses. The stranger came up to the counter and asked for him by name.“Well, that’s me,” said Rinehart. By James Ridgway de Szigethy, Feature Articles 274 Blackmail In America: A Dark History The recent revelation that New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey may have been the.As Rinehart would recall, the man began verbally attacking him, saying he had proof that Rinehart had planted Monsanto’s genetically modified (G. M.) soybeans in violation of the company’s patent. Better come clean and settle with Monsanto, Rinehart says the man told him—or face the consequences. Rinehart was incredulous, listening to the words as puzzled customers and employees looked on. Like many others in rural America, Rinehart knew of Monsanto’s fierce reputation for enforcing its patents and suing anyone who allegedly violated them. But Rinehart wasn’t a farmer. He wasn’t a seed dealer. He hadn’t planted any seeds or sold any seeds. He owned a small—a really small—country store in a town of 3. He was angry that somebody could just barge into the store and embarrass him in front of everyone. Rinehart says he told the intruder, “You got the wrong guy.”When the stranger persisted, Rinehart showed him the door. On the way out the man kept making threats. Rinehart says he can’t remember the exact words, but they were to the effect of: “Monsanto is big. You can’t win. We will get you. Fair Use Notice: Note on delayed publication of full reports as soon as they come out; Watch out for disinformation! Responsibilities of a reporter. You will pay.”Scenes like this are playing out in many parts of rural America these days as Monsanto goes after farmers, farmers’ co- ops, seed dealers—anyone it suspects may have infringed its patents of genetically modified seeds. As interviews and reams of court documents reveal, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They fan out into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co- ops; infiltrate community meetings; and gather information from informants about farming activities. Farmers say that some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records. Farmers call them the “seed police” and use words such as “Gestapo” and “Mafia” to describe their tactics. When asked about these practices, Monsanto declined to comment specifically, other than to say that the company is simply protecting its patents. At least with Microsoft the buyer of a program can use it over and over again. But farmers who buy Monsanto’s seeds can’t even do that. The Control of Nature. For centuries—millennia—farmers have saved seeds from season to season: they planted in the spring, harvested in the fall, then reclaimed and cleaned the seeds over the winter for re- planting the next spring. Monsanto has turned this ancient practice on its head. Monsanto developed G. M. Monsanto then patented the seeds. For nearly all of its history the United States Patent and Trademark Office had refused to grant patents on seeds, viewing them as life- forms with too many variables to be patented. But in 1. 98. 0 the U. S. Supreme Court, in a five- to- four decision, turned seeds into widgets, laying the groundwork for a handful of corporations to begin taking control of the world’s food supply. In its decision, the court extended patent law to cover “a live human- made microorganism.” In this case, the organism wasn’t even a seed. Rather, it was a Pseudomonas bacterium developed by a General Electric scientist to clean up oil spills. But the precedent was set, and Monsanto took advantage of it. Since the 1. 98. 0s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has won 6. U. S. Department of Agriculture data. Farmers who buy Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seed produced after each harvest for re- planting, or to sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must buy new seed every year. Those increased sales, coupled with ballooning sales of its Roundup weed killer, have been a bonanza for Monsanto. This radical departure from age- old practice has created turmoil in farm country. Some farmers don’t fully understand that they aren’t supposed to save Monsanto’s seeds for next year’s planting. Others do, but ignore the stipulation rather than throw away a perfectly usable product. Still others say that they don’t use Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds, but seeds have been blown into their fields by wind or deposited by birds. It’s certainly easy for G. M. The seeds look identical; only a laboratory analysis can show the difference. Even if a farmer doesn’t buy G. M. What they may not know is that the company now profoundly influences—and one day may virtually control—what we put on our tables. For most of its history Monsanto was a chemical giant, producing some of the most toxic substances ever created, residues from which have left us with some of the most polluted sites on earth. Yet in a little more than a decade, the company has sought to shed its polluted past and morph into something much different and more far- reaching—an “agricultural company” dedicated to making the world “a better place for future generations.” Still, more than one Web log claims to see similarities between Monsanto and the fictional company “U- North” in the movie Michael Clayton, an agribusiness giant accused in a multibillion- dollar lawsuit of selling an herbicide that causes cancer. Monsanto brought false accusations against Gary Rinehart—shown here at his rural Missouri store. There has been no apology. Photographs by Kurt Markus. Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds have transformed the company and are radically altering global agriculture. So far, the company has produced G. M. Many more products have been developed or are in the pipeline, including seeds for sugar beets and alfalfa. The company is also seeking to extend its reach into milk production by marketing an artificial growth hormone for cows that increases their output, and it is taking aggressive steps to put those who don’t want to use growth hormone at a commercial disadvantage. Even as the company is pushing its G. M. In 2. 00. 5, Monsanto paid $1. Seminis, which controlled 4. U. S. Two weeks later it announced the acquisition of the country’s third- largest cottonseed company, Emergent Genetics, for $3. It’s estimated that Monsanto seeds now account for 9. U. S. Monsanto’s acquisitions have fueled explosive growth, transforming the St. Louis–based corporation into the largest seed company in the world. In Iraq, the groundwork has been laid to protect the patents of Monsanto and other G. M.- seed companies. Paul Bremer’s last acts as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority was an order stipulating that “farmers shall be prohibited from re- using seeds of protected varieties.” Monsanto has said that it has no interest in doing business in Iraq, but should the company change its mind, the American- style law is in place. To be sure, more and more agricultural corporations and individual farmers are using Monsanto’s G. M. As recently as 1. U. S. In 2. 00. 7, the total was 1. Worldwide, the figure was 2. Many farmers believe that G. M. Another reason for their attraction is convenience. By using Roundup Ready soybean seeds, a farmer can spend less time tending to his fields. With Monsanto seeds, a farmer plants his crop, then treats it later with Roundup to kill weeds. That takes the place of labor- intensive weed control and plowing. Monsanto portrays its move into G. M. But out in the American countryside, Monsanto’s no- holds- barred tactics have made it feared and loathed. Like it or not, farmers say, they have fewer and fewer choices in buying seeds. And controlling the seeds is not some abstraction. Whoever provides the world’s seeds controls the world’s food supply. Under Surveillance. After Monsanto’s investigator confronted Gary Rinehart, Monsanto filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Rinehart “knowingly, intentionally, and willfully” planted seeds “in violation of Monsanto’s patent rights.” The company’s complaint made it sound as if Monsanto had Rinehart dead to rights: During the 2. Investigator Jeffery Moore, through surveillance of Mr. Rinehart’s farm facility and farming operations, observed Defendant planting brown bag soybean seed. Moore observed the Defendant take the brown bag soybeans to a field, which was subsequently loaded into a grain drill and planted. Moore located two empty bags in the ditch in the public road right- of- way beside one of the fields planted by Rinehart, which contained some soybeans. Moore collected a small amount of soybeans left in the bags which Defendant had tossed into the public right- of way. These samples tested positive for Monsanto’s Roundup Ready technology. Faced with a federal lawsuit, Rinehart had to hire a lawyer. Monsanto eventually realized that “Investigator Jeffery Moore” had targeted the wrong man, and dropped the suit. Rinehart later learned that the company had been secretly investigating farmers in his area. Rinehart never heard from Monsanto again: no letter of apology, no public concession that the company had made a terrible mistake, no offer to pay his attorney’s fees. I felt like I was in another country.”Gary Rinehart is actually one of Monsanto’s luckier targets. Ever since commercial introduction of its G. M. In a 2. 00. 7 report, the Center for Food Safety, in Washington, D. C., documented 1.
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