Gyroscopic Investing

I know they're evil, but it's true. In this case I do feel bad for Monsanto!

Latest news:
Charges Dismissed Against Chinese Woman in Seed-Theft Case
Mo Yun dropped from case involving alleged plan to steal corn seeds developed by Monsanto, DuPont and LG Seeds

Mo Yun, 42, was dropped from the trade-secrets case after the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa granted her lawyers’ motion that excerpts of electronic-message conversations should not be included as evidence, eliminating a significant part of prosecutors’ case against Ms. Mo,

http://www.wsj.com/articles/charges-dis ... 1438201995

Earlier article (October 6, 2014) by David Martin
Watch: Unraveling the great Chinese corn seed spy ring

Thanks to our blockbuster hybrids, American farmers produce on average almost twice as many corn bushels per acre as their Chinese counterparts. That leaves Chinese seed companies with just three options: years and years of gradual catch-up, licensing American seeds or stealing them.
...
According to court documents, Mo and other Chinese nationals were crisscrossing Iowa and other farm belt states attempting to steal parent or inbred corn seeds bred painstakingly over years of trial and error by agriculture giants Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer and LG Seeds, and worth millions of dollars.

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/show ... yring.html

wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetical ... _Espionage

Simonjester wrote: Monsanto would love to operate in china if they could get payed for it.. no need to sneak the dark act (anti gmo labeling law) through corrupted (payed for ) congressmen, if you say GMO is bad or people should know whats in there food over in china they could just make you vanish like a political dissident... sounds like Monsanto's dream country..

I wouldn't give you a plugged nickel for all the GMO seeds in the world. I think the Chinese will regret this.

Ehh, cry me a bloody river.

MachineGhost wrote: Ehh, cry me a bloody river.

It's good to have you back, MG.
( I mean it. )

dualstow wrote:

MachineGhost wrote: Ehh, cry me a bloody river.

It's good to have you back, MG.
( I mean it. )

It does seem I have a few fans around here... 

MachineGhost wrote:

dualstow wrote:

MachineGhost wrote: Ehh, cry me a bloody river.

It's good to have you back, MG.
( I mean it. )

It does seem I have a few fans around here... 

Yes, you do.    I propose we establish a "Permanent MG Perspective" (PMGP) sticky.

... M

All of this is predicated on the premise that a gene should be patentable, is it not?  Otherwise there is no issue with farmers getting sued?

How in the hell did genes become patentable in the first place?  This smells fishy to me.

moda0306 wrote: How in the hell did genes become patentable in the first place? 

I could be wrong, but I think the gene combinations that are patentable are those that were mixed by a company in the first place.
To patent a gene would be like to patent a B-flat instead of an original song.
But, I did not look it up and I could very well be wrong. I probably am wrong.
Even if I am right, what they're doing to American farmers is disgraceful. I'm only on their side in this particular case.

dualstow,

Correction... what they are doing to AMERICANS is disgraceful.  The farmers absorb some of the cost.  People forced to eat that garbage absorb the rest.

Sorry, after watching farmers ruin MN lakes I have to make sure I work up only so much sympathy for them.  I'm probably being a dick about it, as I'm speaking with only a modest amount of knowledge on the topic.  I have a ton of respect for farmers who try their best to do things in as ethical and ecologically sustainable way as reasonably possible.  I know a guy who I buy beef from who is as solid as they come.  But the average farmer shilling corn and soy beans like they're real food and installing drain tile anywhere big enough for a duck to land gets on my nerves.

moda0306 wrote: How in the hell did genes become patentable in the first place?  This smells fishy to me.

The patent office allowed it, then the Supreme Court overturned it.

Moda,

Farmer ruining MN lakes?

Installing drain tiles?

I know some people in MN.  Please elaborate.

Thanks.

bedraggled wrote: Moda,

Farmer ruining MN lakes?

Installing drain tiles?

I know some people in MN.  Please elaborate.

Thanks.

Keep in mind I'm fully aware I could be wrong on this. But here's the argument.

Farmers are using tons of chemicals, and then in hopes of maximizing crop yields, drain every last ounce of excess water from the valleys in their fields. This results in polluted lakes. Not horribly polluted, mind you. But well beyond the trade off point IMO.