Guess what corp. bought Blackwater ("Xe")? [RETRACTED]

THIS IS MY RETRACTION, COMPLETE WITH COMMENTS.  THE ORIGINAL POST, ALSO WITH COMMENTS, FOLLOWS.

RETRACTION: Monsanto DID NOT buy Blackwater/Xe. They merely rented it.

My last post was, as it turns out, overhasty and underthorough; a Mr. Jeremy Bloom of the Great American Northwest has described the situation exactly (at least from my experience) so I thought I would thank him and spread his post by way of retraction. Thank you, Mr. Bloom. (My apologies, Mr. Scahill).

Too Much of a Bad Thing: Monsanto Did NOT Buy Blackwater

Posted by Jeremy Bloom on October 16, 2010 in Red, Green, and Blue.

How do internet lies get spread? By well-meaning people who pass things on without checking.

Monsanto is one of the worst companies in the world, so it should come as no surprise that they hired an arm of Xe (the mercenary company formerly known as Blackwater) to dig up dirton anti-GMO activists.

Fortunately, and contrary to a number of reports circulation on the internet, the world’s biggest purveyor of genetically modified seeds that has been doing its best to destroytraditional farming from Iowa to Iraq did NOT decide it needed to purchase its own mercenary army.

Here’s what happened.

Jeremy Scahill wrote a comprehensive take-down on Xe/Blackwater, based on internal emails, in The Nation.
The Nation article says:

“One of the most incendiary details in the documents is that Blackwater, through [subisidiary] Total Intelligence, sought to become the “intel arm” of Monsanto, offering to provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups organizing against the multinational biotech firm.”

That means Xe was hired by Monsanto. Not that they were bought by them. But somewhere along the line, Silvia Ribeiro, a Spanish-speaking researcher on environmental issues, read that article and misunderstood what the author meant by “become an ‘intel arm’ and took it literally. She published a Spanish-language article in La Jornada, it got translated into English by (of all things!) Pravda online, conspiracy websites picked up on it, andwell-meaning people proceeded to post the news all over the Internet (usually without indicating the source).

Did Monsanto buy Xe or its subsidiary? No.

“…According to internal Total Intelligence communications, biotech giant Monsanto… hired the firm in 2008–09.”

“Hired by” is not the same as “was bought by”.

“…Black added that Total Intelligence ‘would develop into acting as intel arm of Monsanto.”

‘Black also noted that Monsanto was concerned about animal rights activists and that they discussed how Blackwater ‘could have our person(s) actually join [activist] group(s) legally.’ Black wrote that initial payments to Total Intelligence would be paid out of Monsanto’s ‘generous protection budget’ but would eventually become a line item in the company’s annual budget. He estimated the potential payments to Total Intelligence at between $100,000 and $500,000. According to documents, Monsanto paid Total Intelligence $127,000 in 2008 and $105,000 in 2009.”

Xe is a mutli-million dollar organization. They were paid a couple of hundred thousands dollars to do some intel work (probably nasty and illegal stuff).

This is ALL OVER the Internet right now, all based on one piece of confused reporting.

My apologies to my Gentle Readers. Monsanto did not want to purchase Xe; they just wanted to rent it... for a year or two...

.

Looking for a chateau
Twenty-one rooms but one will do
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I don't want to buy it
I just want to rent it for an hour or two

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Walking down the street today
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But I didn't have one good word to say

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Y'know the pay was pathetic
It's a shame those boys couldn't be more copacetic

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Already know what I need to know
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"West L.A. Fadeaway"
Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia
Copyright Ice Nine Publishing

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What could possibly be less comforting?

Ah yes, add ties to someone like Pixar: for what will be superb, um, coverage, uh, of the upcoming First Contact....

After all, the Powers That Be have only wanted PEACE -- they have been trying to establish a lasting peace all this time -- it was the public who was clamouring for war. They invited the Aliens to help them, perhaps: UFOs have compromised our nukes, admits a connive of retired Army brass. You heard me: National Press Club, no less, and reported on by CNN. Really. Check the link: -- and scan a few of these google search results:

About 291,000 results (0.23 seconds)

Search Results

1. FoxNews.com - U.N. Denies Appointing 'First Contact' for Visiting ...

   Sep 27, 2010 ... Is the United Nations set to appoint an obscure Malaysian astrophysicist to act as Earth's first contact for any aliens that may come ...
   www.foxnews.com/scitech/.../appoints-contact-visiting-space-aliens/ - Cached

2. UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors' - Telegraph

   Sep 26, 2010 ... A space ambassador could be appointed by the United Nationsaliens trying to communicate with Earth ...
   www.telegraph.co.uk/.../space/.../UN-to-appoint-space-ambassador-to-greet-alien-visitors.html - Add to iGoogle

3. Michelle Malkin » Galactic Appeasement: UN to Appoint First ...

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4. News for un space aliens

   Sofia Echo

   UN Space expert denies being alien ambassador‎ - 22 hours ago A Malaysian astrophysicist, Mazlan Othman, has denied British media reports that she is the United Nations (UN) ambassador for space aliens. ... ABC Online - 15 related articles

Scared yet?

I am -- but not by that so much as the Deepdoodoo Horizon Disaster still unfolding on the Gulf Coast, by which, recently, this blog has been struck temporarily dumb. Because it is a huge, very very bad situation. Check out the headlines on Florida Oil Spill Law... and

From Coastal Heritage Society of Louisiana:

From Project Gulf Impact:

Shelley Brown, for Fox 8 New Orleans:

“People Question Whether the Coast Is Really Clear”
Six months after the BP oil disaster, some question whether the coast is really clear.
In Gulf Shores, AL the annual Gulf Coast Shrimp Fest drew the largest opening day turnout in years. It was a boost for businesses that have struggled to get through a challenging summer because of the BP oil spill.
Real estate agent Missy Zak said, ‘it’s great just to see the traffic, to see the smiling faces, to see the people in the shops and down at the beach and people coming in here we have not see since last year.”
While parts of the Gulf Coast fight off the spill’s ripple effects, some areas are still in clean-up mode. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, as recent as Friday, reported oil. “It still blows my mind that they’ve got all these people out there on the payroll not finding any oil, but the local fishermen, that they keep trying to downsize, keep finding oil,” said Nungesser.
“The oil is 10 feet, 12 feet into the grasslands,” said Vicki Perrin with the Coastal Heritage Society of LA.
“We don’t know where we’re going.. don’t know what we’re doing.. don’t know where we’re going to end up. What do we do in Plaquemines Parish?,” asked Kindra Arnesen, who is married to a fisherman.
The non-profit group, Project Gulf Impact, put on a Fishermen’s Forum Sunday at Loyola University where people heard first-hand accounts of how the oil spill has impacted fishing communities and still is today. Arnesen spoke about all the people she knows who almost immediately faced foreclosures. She said, “that was months ago. Now here we are knocking on the six month anniversary and this is still happening. I don’t understand this.”
On top of the economic impacts, coastal residents fear that the health effects are uncertain. “On June 16th I walked out of my front door and hit the ground. The smell was so strong I could not breathe. It literally took my breathe away. I didn’t think I would ever smell anything like that ever.. and we smell it every now and again,” said Perrin. It’s because of those strong odors that Perrin said she began testing rainwater.
“Aluminum, magnesium, chloride, copper, nickel.. these are things you shouldn’t find in your rainwater,” said Perrin.
People here question whether the coast really is clear and want to send a message to those outside of coastal communities so that the aftermath of the oil disaster doesn’t become an out of sight, out of mind situation.
In Plaquemines Parish, oil is impacting Bay Jimmy, Pass Chaland and Southwest Pass, near the mouth of the river.

Help if you can. If you are traveling from SF to New Orleans, leave a comment or drop me a line: resources lack only transportation for their donation to be successful. If you can help with housing or moving expenses for someone who wants to get away from the ubiquitous, poisonous oil, please get in touch with Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctors. We are all we have.

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