Bayer (that's right the aspirin people) Is the Owner of Monsanto (RoundUp)

This is an older article, but it began my journey into researching how Government and large corporations are essentially linked in this modern era. Many higher ups in large corps become members of Congress or Senate, and after their term is over or they retire, sometimes they return to the camp of corporations by becoming lobbyists, or even major players in the corporations. We should keep an eye out for this. see below: Bayer is New Owner of Monsanto (Written February 5, 2019) By Lauren Cavanaugh For “Gazified” website content Every time we go to the grocery store and put an item in our basket, we are voting. When we choose one brand over another, we are approving of a company and their policies. So when I recently discovered that the drug company Bayer purchased the chemical company Monsanto, my antenna went up. As of last week, I was unaware that the drug company with the trusted name for aspirin was the new owner of the company that developed genetically modified soybean seed, and the herbicide “RoundUp”. This acquisition began in September of 2016 and was approved by the US Department of Justice on January 30, 2019. All of this seems to have occurred with little fanfare, and perhaps that was done by design. Monsanto has a problematic reputation. In the 2009 film Food, Inc., documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner analyzed how large food companies produced and marketed their products. One such company was Monsanto. Monsanto had beginnings as a chemical company founded by chemist John Francis Queeny in 1901, who named the company after his wife’s maiden name. The company made products such as vanillin, and well, aspirin. Monsanto soon moved to industrial chemicals, and in the 1940’s began producing DDT, a powerful insecticide. DDT was so toxic that it was banned by the US government in 1972. Monsanto also produced PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls which was used as a coolant for electrical equipment and transformers. PCBs were also banned by U.S. Congress in 1979. Monsanto produced Agent Orange in the 1960s-1970s. Agent Orange is an herbicide that was used as chemical warfare in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was banned from use in the U.S. in 1971. With three of their major products banned in the U.S., Monsanto focused their attention on a newly discovered herbicide, glyphosate. Discovered by Henri Martin, then developed by Monsanto chemist John E. Franz, glyphosate was registered for use in the United States in 1974, under Monsanto's trademarked name "Roundup". Glyphosate is currently considered safe for use by the EPA. In December 2017 the Environmental Protection Agency released a public comment on glyphosate stating that it is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. Yet, in August of 2018, a California court ruled in favor of groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson (not the movie star) who brought a lawsuit against Monsanto/Bayer for negligent failure to warn of the dangers of using their herbicide. The court’s ruling awarded Mr. Johnson $289 million (The Guardian, Levin, 2018). Johnson's lawyers stated that the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma their client developed during his 2 years of using Monsanto’s weed killer had been caused by exposure to the herbicide. Johnson suffers from large skin lesions over most of his body, which is a symptom of the cancer. Johnson’s cancer is considered terminal. (The Monsanto Papers, ABC Australia, Oct. 2018) What does Bayer say about their newly acquired herbicide products? They are proud to roll out their new line of products through their department called “Cropscience” (Bayer.com). Bayer has decided to remove the Monsanto name and repackage the herbicide and other pesticide products using only the name Bayer. Scott Partridge, the Senior V.P. of Bayer U.S. states that their products are safe. He points to individual studies along with the EPA's findings for his statement. (The Monsanto Papers) I ask myself, am I comfortable with Bayer's decision to erase the Monsanto name while continuing to sell their products? I'm not so sure. Glyphosate has not definitively been proven to cause cancer. However, consumers may want to think twice before purchasing Bayer's products. In 2015, prior to the merger, Monsanto made a profit of around $4.7 billion. Is Bayer putting profit over consumer welfare? Well, it's food for thought. Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/10/monsanto-trial-cancer-dewayne-johnson-ruling https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-releases-draft-risk-assessments-glyphosate http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/glyphogen.html#whatis https://www.scientificamerican.com/section/reuters/bayer-to-buy-monsanto-creating-a-massive-seeds-and-pesticides-company/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT https://monsanto.com/company/time-to-grow/ https://www.businessinsider.com/monsanto-beyer-merge-drop-monsanto-name-2018-6 https://www.cropscience.bayer.us/products/herbicides?xtatc=INT-1051-[Link] www.foe.org "DOJ Releases formal Approval of Toxic Mega-Merger between Bayer and Monsanto" FOOD, INC., Documentary. Kenner, Robert. June 12, 2009 The Monsanto Papers, ABC News (Australia), Documentary. October, 2018 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roundup-weed-killer-jury-agrees-monsanto-chemical-contributed-to-california-mans-cancer/