Dow Chemical and Monsanto

[marysimon15]

The following is from a Monsanto website--one of Monsanto's official sites:

"There have been a number of lawsuits. Monsanto and the six other chemical manufacturers reached agreement with U.S. veterans in a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in 1984 that involved millions of U.S. veterans and their families. There was not a finding of fault. It was settled by the parties rather than undertake a lengthy and complicated trial. The $180 million in funds that were part of the agreement were distributed according to a plan developed in part by U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein.

"There have been other lawsuits since that time. In March of 2009, a key legal question was settled in the United States when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand unanimous lower court rulings disallowing recovery from lawsuits on the Agent Orange issue. The Supreme Court agreed that the companies were not responsible for the implications of military use of Agent Orange in Vietnam, because the manufacturers were government contractors, carrying out the instructions of government.

"We believe that the adverse consequences alleged to have arisen out of the Vietnam War, including the use of Agent Orange, should be resolved by the governments that were involved."

But what about the ethical and moral issues? Why can't Monsanto do the right thing? Why can't Monsanto say, Yes, legally we are off the hook, but morally, we can do more. Here is a billion dollars to help out.

How can they claim to support US soldiers? 180 million dollars? And how can they claim any concern like they do for any of the victims--the innocent children, the babies in agony? This site is an insult--Monsantoi is an insult--an insult in every single way.

You can see their site through the link below:

http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/agent-orange-background-monsanto-involvement.aspx

[m.lapin]

Mary, Thank you for this link. Below are the companies involved according to their own site:

The manufacturing companies included Diamond Shamrock Corporation, Dow Chemical Company, Hercules, Inc., T-H Agricultural & Nutrition Company, Thompson Chemicals Corporation, Uniroyal Inc. and Monsanto Company, which at the time was a chemical manufacturer. Monsanto manufactured Agent Orange from 1965 to 1969

Then they claim research is still going on. Is Monsanto helping to pay for this? Is Dow Chemical?

I think not.

Legally they are not involved--in America at least--but in the world court--yes, they should be sued again and again and again.

Morally they are not off the hook at all.

Has anyone read Bob Boldt's poem in www.projectagentorange.com/wordpress? It should be our anthem. I have pasted a segment below:

I picture them (Monsanto and Dow Chemical) in some sweet Beulah Land,
 their eyes anticipating
 Saint Peter’s long-promised Pearl Gates.
 But as the mist clears, a sea of twisted bodies
 and decomposing double-headed corpses
 appears beneath the weakening clouds.
 This is their vile produce
 over which they must slither on their climb to Paradise.
 Just as the Gates are within reach,
 a stern saint slams them shut in their faces.
 Their futile attempt at redemption repeated,
 promptly at six forty-five AM,
 everyday for eternity.

[kjtouhy]

What I want to know is why the occupy movement isn't talking about this?

The Monsanto link is an insult to everyone of us: http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/agent-orange-background-monsanto-involvement.aspx

Did you know Agent Orange is still in use?

Monsanto and Dow Chemical are just two selfish corporations who care little for what they have done.

Read how they lied at http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/agentorange032102.cfm

Here is one example:

Dr. James Clary, a scientist at the Chemical Weapons Branch, Eglin Air Force Base, who designed the
herbicide spray tank and wrote a 1979 report on Operation Ranch Hand (the name of the spraying program), told Senator Daschle in 1988,

"When we (military scientists) initiated the herbicide program in the 1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin contamination in the herbicide. We were even aware that the 'military' formulation had a higher dioxin concentration than the 'civilian' version due to the lower cost and speed of manufacture. However, because the material was to be used on the 'enemy,' none of us were overly concerned. We never considered a scenario in which our own personnel would become contaminated with the herbicide."

This should be our anthem, too.

[debwood.94]

The link for the full Bob Boldt poem can be found here:

http://projectagentorange.com/wordpress/?cat=59

[debwood.94]

The Indian Olympic Association may boycott the London Olympics in
protest at Dow Chemical's involvement as a sponsor after a group of
India's current and former Olympians organised a petition calling for
athletes not to travel to London.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/nov/25/indian-athletes-threaten-london-olympics-boycott

[debwood.94]

Why doesn't Viet Nam and Cambodia and other Asian countries hit by Agent Orange join in this protest?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/nov/25/indian-athletes-threaten-london-olympics-boycott

The way to make a corporation responsible is to boycott and protest and rub its name in the dirt.

[m.lapin]

Debwood.94--Excellent suggestion.

And I'm goint to keep the link alive:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/nov/25/indian-athletes-threaten-london-olympics-boycott

[debwood.94]

New and very interesting links:

Go to www.projectagentorange.com/wordpress and click on Sharron Kirk's found poetry.

These are some of the links she used:

http://thewe.cc/weplanet/asia/vietnam/agent_orange_victims_of-US_herbicide_spraying_vietnam.htm

http://www.vn-agentorange.org/RL34761_200905.pdf

http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/agent-orange-background-monsanto-involvement.aspx

[m.lapin]

Debwood--Thank you for your contribution.

I'm going to keep this link alive:

http://www.vn-agentorange.org/RL34761_200905.pdf

Everyone, please read it and note how Monanto, Dow Chemical and the US government are doing nothing about it.
 
Thanks.

[m.lapin]

Important link:

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/11587/

Please read.

[gloriastevens]

Please go to this link: http://projectagentorange.com/wordpress/?p=318&preview=true

And this one: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&cp=17&gs_id=1g&xhr=t&q=baby+agent+orange&rlz=1R2SKPT_enUS438&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=540&wrapid=tljp1323449129703026&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=HEDiTpH9Eq6FsgK9k5j-BQ

[m.lapin]

I thought some of the lines in the poem, "the leopard purrs and crawls through my window," by Ross Vassilev (http://projectagentorange.com/wordpress/?p=326) was worth discussing in this forum. A few of the powerful lines are listed below:

"and the people of Vietnam are still
suffering from the effects of Agent Orange
(good going Dow Chemical!)
and Agent Blue and Agent Green
and whatever other monstrous crap
the American war machine
invented back then"

"tears for the sufferings of the past
are as numerous as the
20 million dead Indians buried
in mass graves under the soil
of this nation"

And how about these last three lines that bring everything together?

"by the Gods
don’t let this be
another American century."

Monsanto and Dow and many others claimed they were just following orders. That appears to be our history--we follow orders from corporations and leave only horror and terror in our path.

[m.lapin]

Some new links I thought would be valuable.

http://naturalsociety.com/monsanto-declared-worst-company-of-2011/

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/poland-joins-ranks-of-grassroots-anti-monsanto-activism/

They're also on the homepage--

www.projectagentorange.com

[mhbrownstein]

M. Lapin,

Thanks for putting up the new links.

Here's the main one:

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/poland-joins-ranks-of-grassroots-anti-monsanto-activism/

[debwood.94]

This is from Radio Australia--

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/stories/201112/s3392203.htm

Asia Pacific Home | Asia Pacific Business

US embarks on Agent Orange clean-up in Vietnam

December 15, 2011 22:33:57

It is 50 years since US forces first used the chemical defoliant known as Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Designed to destroy forest cover being used by the conmmunist forces, the dioxin has also left a long and poisonous legacy, causing birth defects in children born long after the war ended.

But it took until June this year for the United States to begin a project to clean up some of Vietnam's worst contaminated sites.