Excerpted from the Clarion Ledger out of Jackson, Mississippi, a guest column by Selby Parker Sr. of Clinton, Mississippi from May 1, 2018 (This guy nails it!)
Here is the whole article: click here
Mississippians [and all Americans] who feel they have a right to know what they eat need to keep an eye on the pending merger between two colossal corporations, Monsanto Co. and Bayer AG. If Bayer, a German corporation, is permitted to merge with Monsanto, a U.S. seed giant, Mississippians could lose security over farming, agricultural and processed food products and its distribution worldwide.The $66 billion dollar merger would, in effect, allow Bayer to control the development of seed and pesticides necessary to fuel the planet's food supply.
Monsanto went to court in 2013 to deny Mississippi planters from saving seeds from one harvest and planting them the following season because it violated Monsanto's patented use of the company's seeds. With that in mind, people may wonder what recourse planters would have with a foreign corporation in control of Monsanto's assets.
There are hundreds of pending federal lawsuits against Monsanto that allege the main ingredient in the popular weed killer "Roundup" may cause cancer, including non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, in people who frequently used the weed killer. The first trial is scheduled for June 1 in the U.S. District Court of Northern California. Reportedly, there are even more additional cases against Monsanto pending in state courts. The issue of public health should be one of the foremost political considerations in the coming congressional elections in Mississippi.
(I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that I lost my loving, dutiful wife of over 53 years, Ruby Fay Parker, to non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma on March 7.)
Further, as a former counseling psychologist and chief of vocational rehabilitation and counseling with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Jackson for more than 33 years, I am cognizant of the effects of Monsanto's Agent Orange from both the Korean and Vietnam eras. According to years of medical and scientific research, Agent Orange was a leading cause of birth defects in children of veterans who served in those wars. The VA presumes that children who have spina bifida and whose family members served in the Korean or Vietnam wars are entitled to family benefits. Interestingly enough, the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs provides treatment to children of Vietnam veterans with spina bifida, cleft palate, acute myeloid, leukemia and adrenal gland cancer.
It is time for members of Congress to educate themselves on these Monsanto issues and tell us where they stand on the merger. The deal already has the approval of the European Union, a political and economic union of 28 member states that are primarily located in Europe.
Monsanto's products have been described by some health critics that know the company's history as seeds of evil.
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