Shen writes: "The company managed to survive the many lawsuits from poisoned communities and distance itself from its toxic past - largely thanks to the help of Mitt Romney."
Mitt Romney looks at an ear of corn in Iowa. (photo: AP)
Romney Helped Monsanto Poison Massachusetts
06 October 12
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new lawsuit over harmful levels of the coolant polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) in Massachusetts school buildings is forcing biotech firm Monsanto Company to revisit its unsavory past. Before Monsanto became the agricultural giant it is today, the company's major product used to be PCBs, which it routinely dumped in rivers and open pits while deliberately attempting to hide the damage. The company managed to survive the many lawsuits from poisoned communities and distance itself from its toxic past - largely thanks to the help of Mitt Romney.
But now the town of Lexington is trying to hold the company accountable for the PCBs used in school construction between 1950 and 1976, when PCBs were banned by Congress. The lawsuit, which seeks to represent all Massachusetts schools, claims Monsanto should have warned manufacturers of the health and environmental dangers posed by exposure to PCBs. The chemical has been definitively linked to cancer and serious neurological and hormonal disorders.
Monsanto's corporate affairs director fired back that the company is not responsible for the outdated building: "It is our understanding that the school in question was built over 50 years ago, was poorly maintained, and was scheduled for demolition years ago since it had outlived its useful life."
Many of the schools in Massachusetts have also "outlived" themselves, partly due to the same man who helped Monsanto outlive its disastrous PCB scandal. As governor, Romney slashed state funds for local aid in 2003 and 2004, forcing towns to cut corners and enact freezes on education spending. As almost half of all municipal revenue goes toward education, Romney's austerity budgets dealt a serious blow to local schools.
Later, Romney took credit for then Treasurer Tim Cahill's plan to refinance school building assistance, which was meant to clear the more than 400 pending school construction projects in the state. Soon after the refinancing plan was passed, however, Romney froze state contributions to local school construction projects, leaving cities and towns to scramble for funds and suspend some of their backlogged projects.
Lexington's lawsuit states that more than half of the state's 1,900 schools were built between 1950 and the 1970s, making them likely to contain harmfully elevated levels of PCBs.
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How about the Sanity Party? Fact is, the Dems and Rethugs are certifiably INSANE.
He frequently makes a lot of sense; but common sense is missing in Washington.
The New York High Rise Safety Initiative, which, if passed by the voters in November, will lead to an official inquiry into the collapse of World Trade Center 7, a crucial first step in establishing that the World Trade Centers were brought down by controlled demolition explosives. From that point, it will become incumbent on law enforcement to determine who planted the explosives and begin steps in prosecution.
The New York High Rise Safety Initiative has just been certified by the authorities as having the required number of qualified signatures to appear on the ballot, but is now facing a legal challenge as to its validity. For more information see
http://highrisesafetynyc.org/
Fighting terrorists! What a joke. WE are the terrorists! "We" in this case is not the people of this nation. WE is the wealthy few who have purchased our government and killed our democracy. That 'we' is getting richer and richer and now threatening all life on earth by not getting off fossil fuels. All these wars are for oil. Get off the oil!
Unfortunately, like Dennis Kucinich, she has a snowball's chance in hell of winning.
Mr. Kucinich has a history of being outspoken, even fearless in this regard.
But the solution to stop aggression and wars? We must change the "modern" geopolitical system which world federalists describe as a war system.
Mr. Kucinich must acknowledge that the existing geopolitical system, which includes the United Nations, has failed us. Wars and world crimes erupt with relentless regularity.
The Earth Federation Movement's Earth Constitution provides a new geopolitical system, one which returns power and authority to "we, the people".
The Earth Constitution provides for a democratically elected World Parliament. Its design includes a world judiciary system with the authority to prosecute those who commit world crimes.
The heart of the new geopolitics is the Earth Constitution. It draws our attention to the fact that we cannot succeed with the goals for America outlined by Mr. Kucinich without also establishing a new global system.