Category Archives: Profiteering

Protest Movement Threatens TTIP Transatlantic Trade Deal – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Greenpeace published classified documents from the closed-door negotiations. Even if the papers only convey the current state of negotiations and do not document the end results, they still confirm the worst suspicions of critics of TTIP.The 248 pages show that bargaining is taking place behind the scenes, even in areas which the EU and the German government have constantly maintained were sacrosanct. These include standards on the environment and consumer protection; the precautionary principle, a stricter EU policy that sets high hurdles for potentially dangerous products; the legislative self-determination of the countries involved, etc. Even the pledge made on the European side that there would be no arbitration courts has turned out to be wishful thinking. So far, the Americans have insisted on the old style of arbitration court.The result is that Merkel’s grandly staged meeting with US President Barack Obama in Hanover eight days earlier had been nothing more than a show — one aimed at hiding the fact that the two sides are anything but united in their positions.The leaks have resulted in a failed attempt to bypass 800 million European citizens as they negotiate the world’s largest bilateral free trade agreement. From the very beginning, the government underestimated the level of resistance these incursions on virtually all aspects of life would unleash among the people.What began as a diffuse discomfort over opaque backroom dealings grew into a true public initiative, especially in Germany. It was fueled by an international alliance of non-government organizations that has acted in a more professional and networked way than anything that has come before.TTIP Protests a Part of Everyday LifeThree years after the beginning of negotiations, events protesting free trade agreements have become part of everyday life in Germany. In cities and towns, thousands of events are being held to express opposition to deals like TTIP, CETA, as the recently negotiated agreement with Canada is called, and TISA, an international deal covering trade in services.Here’s a sample of what this looks like in just a few places. In the city of Mainz, 150 orchestra musicians play the protest song “We’re not Merchandise,” a reworked version of Ludwig von Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” In Darmstadt south of Frankfurt, 230 people in a packed hall grill candidates in the local election on the issue of free trade. Meanwhile, in Cologne, where there are traditional “dance into May” celebrations marking the arrival of May 1, a “Dance against TTIP” was even held.In Bergisch Gladbach, a town located near Cologne, the city council approved a resolution opposing TTIP and CETA. A total of 310 cities, municipalities, counties, districts and regions have registered themselves with the Munich Environmental Institute as TTIP-free zones.

Source: Protest Movement Threatens TTIP Transatlantic Trade Deal – SPIEGEL ONLINE

About The Stereotype Busting High Median Incomes Of Trump Voters | Race Files

We need to get real about who really constitutes the current and projected base for right wing extremism. They aren’t mainly poor folk. Real poor folks are our current and immediate projected base of support and we need to start acting like it. Instead, they are those with relative privilege, living in the anxiety of losing that privilege in a society that punishes the poor. White privilege is eroding. We need to acknowledge this reality.  If we don’t, we will become the victims of nostalgia, trading rose colored pictures of a romanticized past for a sustainable, fair, and secure economic future.

Source: About The Stereotype Busting High Median Incomes Of Trump Voters | Race Files

The Icarus Syndrome Strikes Again! Avian Flu Diary: Cell Host & Microbe: Wolbachia Blocks Zika Virus In Brazilian Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes

  1. Infecting many mosquitoes with Wolbachia will result in Wolbachia resistant mosquitoes.
  2. Pretending that mosquitoes are an enemy or pest that can/should be destroyed ignores why mosquito populations explode (human interventions) and what the role of the mosquito is in nature.
  3. Someone will profit greatly and will not pay for any unintended consequences.

“The idea has been to release Aedes mosquitoes with Wolbachia in the field over a period of a few months, so they mate with Aedes mosquitoes without Wolbachia living in the place and, over time, replace the mosquito population,” says senior author Luciano Moreira of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. He is also actively involved in the Eliminate Dengue Program, a non-profit that is testing the approach in 40 locations around the world.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Cell Host & Microbe: Wolbachia Blocks Zika Virus In Brazilian Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes

Listeria linked to frozen vegetables sickens 8 in 3 states | CIDRAP

Epidemiologic and lab evidence suggests the likely source of the outbreak is frozen vegetables produced by CRF Frozen Foods, based in Pasco, Wash., and sold under different brands, the CDC said. Two patients reported buying and eating the same Organic Nature brand of frozen vegetables in the month before they got sick, and routine product sampling by the Ohio Department of Agriculture found Listeria in frozen organic sweet corn and green peas under the Meijer grocery store chain’s True Goodness brand, also produced by CRF Frozen Foods. Whole-genome sequencing showed that the Listeria strain in the frozen corn was closely related to seven Listeria isolates from sick patients, and Listeria from the frozen peas was closely related to an isolate from one of the people. Recall includes 358 products, 42 brands CRF recalled 11 of its frozen vegetable products on Apr 23, then expanded it on May 2 to include all of its organic and traditional frozen vegetable and fruit products processed in its Pasco facility since May 1, 2014. The recalled products, packaged in plastic bags, are distributed nationally and in four Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

Source: Listeria linked to frozen vegetables sickens 8 in 3 states | CIDRAP

OrganizeFor

BE PART OF THE ONLINE MOVEMENT!OrganizeFor is a petition platform and training resource that helps people like you challenge the injustices affecting Black lives in your community.OrganizeFor someone you love who is a victim of police brutality.OrganizeFor the conservation of your community and end illegal dumping.OrganizeFor equitable employment practices by a local corporation!OrganizeFor a cause that matters to YOU!

Source: OrganizeFor

Egyptian Aak 2016 – Week 17 April 25-May 1 — Nervana

Photo of anti-Sisi protests in Egypt – via Tahrir Institute Top Headlines Protests against President Fattah el-Sisi broken up with tear gas. Monday Egypt puts on trial 237 activists for protests against Sis. Saturday Egypt’s Nour Al-Sherbini becomes youngest ever-female squash world champion. Saturday Egypt’s police arrest two journalists wanted “for incitement.” Sunday […]

via Egyptian Aak 2016 – Week 17 April 25-May 1 — Nervana

Brazil: Democracy at Risk

“There is no judicial basis for this process of impeachment,” Rousseff said. “I am not accused of crimes of corruption, diversion of public funds, nor do I have accounts abroad or any accusations of money laundering.” She said even some members of the opposition are beginning to support her, not necessarily because they agree with her policies, but rather because they see the impeachment push as a threat to Brazil’s democracy.

Source: News from The Associated Press

China’s Collapse. Any Day Now? | DQ-en Not Really

I have described how recent events in China’s economic trajectory have set off alarm bells for many observers. I have also described how these same incidents, set against a slightly more textured background, are actually nuanced in their implications.China is not imminently in meltdown.None of this is to say China’s economy will continue growing at double digit rates forever. Nor does it argue China’s policy-makers have consistently done the right things. But neither are those policy-makers obviously guilty of incompetence or excessive interventionism.Steep challenges lie ahead. China’s pile of debt is a tricky mix of privatized, local governmental, and national obligations, and there remains considerable uncertainty how this debt hangover will work out. China’s industrial restructuring, its anti-corruption campaign, its transition past the Lewis Turning Point and out of the middle-income trap, and its environmental and demographic challenges all remain daunting. These challenges are substantive and long term, and China’s policy-makers will have to deal with them in a properly measured and considered way.2015.11.03-Marry-Me-for-Chinese-Citizenship-Beyond-ChinatownPerhaps one day China too will be a beacon that attracts humanity to it, the same way the US has done so successfully the last two centuries. That day, however, is clearly not yet here.But China’s exchange rate and stock market gyrations? They have likely already attracted far too much attention relative to substance.

Source: China’s Collapse. Any Day Now | DQ-en

Dilma Rousseff Targeted in Brazil by Lawmakers Facing Graft Cases of Their Own – The New York Times

In the impeachment case, she is not facing charges of graft. Instead, she is accused of using money from giant public banks to cover budget gaps, damaging Brazil’s economic credibility. Ms. Rousseff, then, is something of a rarity among Brazil’s major political figures: She has not been accused of stealing for herself. Eduardo Cunha, the powerful speaker of the lower house who is leading the impeachment effort, is going on trial at the country’s highest court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal, on charges that he pocketed as much as $40 million in bribes. Mr. Cunha, an evangelical Christian radio commentator and economist who regularly issues Twitter messages quoting from the Bible, is accused of laundering the gains through an evangelical megachurch. Vice President Michel Temer, who is expected to take over if Ms. Rousseff is forced to step aside, has been accused of involvement in an illegal ethanol-purchasing scheme. Renan Calheiros, the Senate leader, who is also on the presidential succession chain, is under investigation over claims that he received bribes in the giant scandal surrounding the national oil company, Petrobras. He has also been accused of tax evasion and of allowing a lobbyist to pay child support for a daughter from an extramarital affair. Altogether, 60 percent of the 594 members of Brazil’s Congress face serious charges like bribery, electoral fraud, illegal deforestation, kidnapping and homicide, according to Transparency Brazil, a corruption-monitoring group.

Source: Dilma Rousseff Targeted in Brazil by Lawmakers Facing Graft Cases of Their Own – The New York Times

Rousseff decries ′conspiracy′ to replace her | News | DW.COM | 12.04.2016

“The mask of the conspirators has fallen,” Rousseff said. “One of them is the not-so invisible hand that’s leading this impeachment process, through perversion of power and unimaginable abuses,” she added. “The other is rubbing his hands together and is rehearsing the farce of a would-be inauguration speech.” Brazil is facing a deep political crisis, with opposition parties accusing Rousseff of illegally manipulating government accounts. In addition, many allies of the embattled president are suspected of links with the massive Petrobras corruption scandal. Rousseff and her supporters insist that the accusations are bogus.

Source: Rousseff decries ′conspiracy′ to replace her | News | DW.COM | 12.04.2016