A Message from the Big-6 Pesticide Companies to Green Activists: THANK YOU!!!

Posted by riskmonger on March 21, 2018

The Risk-Monger is breaking with tradition and publishing an article he did not write. But he fully supports the content and hopes people give this some thought (and a smile).

The following is a fictional letter from M-Corporation (a fictional American pesticides-biotech company). It was sent to all members of the SPD (Social Democratic Party), B90/Grüne (Green Party), Die Linken (Left Party) and the relevant NGOs. Although it is fictional, it reflects the thoughts that must be going through the minds of “Big-6” managers. The longer version in German was sent to all members of the German Parliament on 21 February 2018. The anti-science developments in Germany may be extreme, but it is not unique. This “letter” with its bitter irony may therefore be of interest for people outside this country who believe that political decisions should be based on science rather than populism. 

Dear Politicians, NGOs and those campaigning against Green Biotech,

M-Corporation is one of the six large companies (also called BIG-6) that control 75% of the global market of agrochemicals and 60% of the seeds market. The managers of M-Corporation would like to express our gratitude for your excellent work and hope for further fruitful cooperation. In recent years, M-corporation has been spending 4.5 million dollars a day for research and development. But money alone does not make innovation..........To Read More....

My Take - One thing society should understand.  Large corporations aren't generally liberal or conservative, and may bounce back and forth in their support of positions that will represent one side or the other.  What we need to understand is these companies are at best leaky vessels as allies.  Their view on allies are substantially different than most of our views.  They view all allies as "Allies of Convenience", and we need to recognize that and act accordingly.  They will also abandon any ally if it will impact their quarterly return.  In the political world that's called treason. 

Ten Practices Linking Environmentalism with Fascism

Posted by riskmonger on December 2, 2017

Recent news that the German Green Party is willing to work with the extreme right “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) in order to secure a vote to ban glyphosate has shocked many political actors seeking a cordon sanitaire around the German fascist party. The Risk-Monger though is not surprised. He has often used words like “undemocratic”, “Machiavellian” and “fascist” to describe the self-righteous environmental activist campaign strategies.

The Greens are a party of inherent contradictions. They talk of democracy and the voice of the common person yet the consequences of their food and energy policies favour the elite and the privileged (at the expense of the poor).

Greens will lead transparency campaigns and moves to expose corporate lobbying, and yet they themselves, as transparocrites, often do not disclose from whom and how they use their (public) funds. They seek development and increased aid for emerging economies and yet they legislate to harm African agricultural and technological development. Environmentalists are quick to be righteous but unlike industry and government, do not adhere to ethical codes of conduct and even condone lying and breaking the law.......Green activists are essentially fascists who tolerate minorities! .......To Read More.....

The Possibilist Principle: How Brussels Became a Hazard-based Activist Playground

Posted by riskmonger on October 3, 2017

There is a scene in the film Dumb and Dumber where Jim Carrey’s character, Lloyd, confronts the girl of his dreams wanting to know straight out what his chances were with her. When she replied that it was not good, maybe one in a million, he was absolutely elated. He had a chance.

This film was a precursor to the numerical illiteracy we face today in the Age of Stupid. One where people can at the same time accept a possible event that is highly unlikely while rejecting likely events due to the lack of absolute certainty. In other words, we have lost the capacity to measure, discern and distinguish probability from possibility (or what I would call having lost the capacity for reasonableness).

 

Some examples:............To Read More....

When Activists Pretend to be Journalists: Stéphane Horel and her Monsanto Rage

Posted by riskmonger on June 1, 2017

I used to teach courses for journalism students (during the time when that was a field of study and a viable profession). I concentrated my lessons on integrity, objectivity and proper research. Journalists had to ask fair questions, be open to all ideas and report information to allow readers to make up their own minds. They should not be driven by an agenda or a personal need to communicate an activist message. 

Stéphane Horel (Source:Huffpost)

If Stéphane Horel were a journalism student of mine, she would fail.

A month ago, I got a list of questions from Stéphane for an article she was preparing on Monsanto. Her questions were leading and McCarthyesque (Are you or have you ever been a Monsanto Shill?).

As Stéphane’s obsession with attacking the chemical industry is legendary, she has rejected my offers of contacts with neutral scientists and has no problem with twisting facts to suit her agenda or those paying her to write activist campaign material disguised as journalism, I decided to answer her questions on the condition that I could publish my response after the publication of her article.........To Read More.....

Disrupting the Disruptors: Restructuring in the Activist World

Posted by riskmonger on January 13, 2017 February 4, 2017
     
This is Part Two of a trilogy on the state of NGO activism. Part One looked at how public funding is not being properly scrutinised with many large NGOs redistributing taxpayer monies in a non-transparent, unaccountable manner. Part Three will examine why nobody seems to care about such bad behaviour.

 See the French translation.

The voice of civil society on environmental issues has evolved recently:

• The only news covered by the mainstream media during the COP-22 Climate Summit in Marrakesh was whether Donald Trump would reverse the climate “solutions”.
• The activists leading the anti-GMO, anti-agri-tech food fight are unpredictable gurus and lone wolves like Vandana Shiva and Ronnie Cummins.
• The anti-pesticide “Save the Bees” campaigns are now being led by social media upstarts: SumOfUs and Avaaz.
• In front of a classroom of about 95 university students, I asked who could name the head of Greenpeace. About ten thought Kumi still was, the rest had no idea.

In today’s debates on climate change, food safety or chemicals, we have to ask one simple question:.....To Read More....