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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
January 7, 2013
from In These Times:
Guns and Drugs
We can curb gun violence by ending the War on Drugs.
BY Michelle Chen
When a hail of bullets extinguished dozens of lives at an elementary school last month, the ugly consequences of the nation’s gun culture shot into the media spotlight. The debate around gun control in the aftermath of Newtown has yielded confused policy proposals like further militarizing schools, or preemptively tracking mentally ill people.
But a key aspect of the gun-control debate remains hiding in plain sight. There's a major driver of gun violence in the U.S. that is neither the bloodlust of the “criminally insane” nor the weakness of public security forces. Failed gun policy is a manifestation of another, arguably more expansive, irrational policy regime: the War on Drugs. While the most spectacular incidents of mass murder spark public panic, a more relevant, yet typically ignored, source of gun violence lies in the brutality born of the gun industry’s marriage to drug prohibition policies.
For decades, the federal government has sought to eradicate drugs despite the utter futility of the effort and the devastating social, health and economic consequences of its tactics. While Sandy Hook triggered a national convulsion of disgust, the everyday casualties of the drug war have been met with relative silence. With annual gun homicides nationwide hovering around 10,000, a significant portion can be directly or indirectly linked to drug violence, though estimates for the death toll vary widely. (A recent CDC study of gang homicides, for example, notes that over 90 percent involve guns and the portion in different cities that were drug-related ranged from under five to about 25 percent.) Other analyses of national and international data likewise suggest a range of proportions depending on how drug-related killing is defined. Whatever the exact figure, the bottom line is that the drug war's institutionalized violence and oppression, fueled by “tough on crime” law enforcement, inflicts deep, needless social trauma on vulnerable communities. Underpinning that climate of violence are broader societal factors that also tend to be ignored in gun debates, including class and racial polarization.
Such tragedies seem worlds away from Newtown’s massacre–perhaps because we've been sensitized over the years to accept the drug prohibition as a social imperative. In reality, the nation's enormously costly and destructive drug war greases the mechanics of our “culture” of gun violence, as much of the institutionalized violence is bound up with a policy regime that causes systematic harm in the name of public “safety.” ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/14386/guns_and_drugs/
Guns and Drugs: We can curb gun violence by ending the War on Drugs
from In These Times:
Guns and Drugs
We can curb gun violence by ending the War on Drugs.
BY Michelle Chen
When a hail of bullets extinguished dozens of lives at an elementary school last month, the ugly consequences of the nation’s gun culture shot into the media spotlight. The debate around gun control in the aftermath of Newtown has yielded confused policy proposals like further militarizing schools, or preemptively tracking mentally ill people.
But a key aspect of the gun-control debate remains hiding in plain sight. There's a major driver of gun violence in the U.S. that is neither the bloodlust of the “criminally insane” nor the weakness of public security forces. Failed gun policy is a manifestation of another, arguably more expansive, irrational policy regime: the War on Drugs. While the most spectacular incidents of mass murder spark public panic, a more relevant, yet typically ignored, source of gun violence lies in the brutality born of the gun industry’s marriage to drug prohibition policies.
For decades, the federal government has sought to eradicate drugs despite the utter futility of the effort and the devastating social, health and economic consequences of its tactics. While Sandy Hook triggered a national convulsion of disgust, the everyday casualties of the drug war have been met with relative silence. With annual gun homicides nationwide hovering around 10,000, a significant portion can be directly or indirectly linked to drug violence, though estimates for the death toll vary widely. (A recent CDC study of gang homicides, for example, notes that over 90 percent involve guns and the portion in different cities that were drug-related ranged from under five to about 25 percent.) Other analyses of national and international data likewise suggest a range of proportions depending on how drug-related killing is defined. Whatever the exact figure, the bottom line is that the drug war's institutionalized violence and oppression, fueled by “tough on crime” law enforcement, inflicts deep, needless social trauma on vulnerable communities. Underpinning that climate of violence are broader societal factors that also tend to be ignored in gun debates, including class and racial polarization.
Such tragedies seem worlds away from Newtown’s massacre–perhaps because we've been sensitized over the years to accept the drug prohibition as a social imperative. In reality, the nation's enormously costly and destructive drug war greases the mechanics of our “culture” of gun violence, as much of the institutionalized violence is bound up with a policy regime that causes systematic harm in the name of public “safety.” ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/14386/guns_and_drugs/
January 7, 2013
from Civil Eats:
Book Review: “Foodopoly,” by Wenonah Hauter
By Christopher Cook on January 7, 2013
What a frightful spectacle our food has become. Human sustenance has been reduced to a corporate portfolio item – one whose success rides increasingly on sheer size and market control. In the name of profit, everything else gets squeezed: consumer health; smaller-scale farmers and processors; food industry workers and farm laborers; and the soil, air and water that are the lifeblood of our food supply.
Add to this picture a whole phalanx of K Street lobbyists, well-remunerated by groups like the Grocery Manufacturers of America, dedicated to undermining food safety and labeling laws and other consumer protections, diluting pesticide laws and weakening antitrust provisions. Throw into the mix an increasingly corporate-controlled organics and local foods business, and you can begin to understand why farmlands are becoming industrialized wastelands and our waistlines keep widening.
“Foodopoly,” Wenonah Hauter’s fine contribution to the growing literature about our ailing food system, does a particularly good job of detailing both the methods and implications of this corporate takeover of food. From familiar ground such as the obesity epidemic and junk-food advertising, to the lesser-known yet important terrain of corporate supply chains and a largest-takes-all food infrastructure, Hauter provides bountiful evidence to buttress her deep working knowledge of the food system.
Hauter, the executive director of Food & Water Watch, a Washington, D.C., watchdog group, gives us a well-researched and politically smart volume that explains the complex economic relationships between various market players – from grocery powerhouses like Walmsrt and Kroger’s, to food processing empires run by PepsiCo, Nestle and Kraft, to produce behemoths like Southern California’s Dole, which sells 300 products from 90 countries. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2013/01/07/book-review-foodopoly-by-wenonah-hauter/
'Human sustenance has been reduced to a corporate portfolio item'
from Civil Eats:
Book Review: “Foodopoly,” by Wenonah Hauter
By Christopher Cook on January 7, 2013
What a frightful spectacle our food has become. Human sustenance has been reduced to a corporate portfolio item – one whose success rides increasingly on sheer size and market control. In the name of profit, everything else gets squeezed: consumer health; smaller-scale farmers and processors; food industry workers and farm laborers; and the soil, air and water that are the lifeblood of our food supply.
Add to this picture a whole phalanx of K Street lobbyists, well-remunerated by groups like the Grocery Manufacturers of America, dedicated to undermining food safety and labeling laws and other consumer protections, diluting pesticide laws and weakening antitrust provisions. Throw into the mix an increasingly corporate-controlled organics and local foods business, and you can begin to understand why farmlands are becoming industrialized wastelands and our waistlines keep widening.
“Foodopoly,” Wenonah Hauter’s fine contribution to the growing literature about our ailing food system, does a particularly good job of detailing both the methods and implications of this corporate takeover of food. From familiar ground such as the obesity epidemic and junk-food advertising, to the lesser-known yet important terrain of corporate supply chains and a largest-takes-all food infrastructure, Hauter provides bountiful evidence to buttress her deep working knowledge of the food system.
Hauter, the executive director of Food & Water Watch, a Washington, D.C., watchdog group, gives us a well-researched and politically smart volume that explains the complex economic relationships between various market players – from grocery powerhouses like Walmsrt and Kroger’s, to food processing empires run by PepsiCo, Nestle and Kraft, to produce behemoths like Southern California’s Dole, which sells 300 products from 90 countries. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2013/01/07/book-review-foodopoly-by-wenonah-hauter/
January 7, 2013
A long-awaited tax break for transit users that will take some of the sting out of the MTA's upcoming fare hikes was included in the congressional "fiscal cliff" resolution, which was approved this week and signed by President Barack Obama Wednesday.
The Commuter Mass Transit benefit allows public transportation users to pay for the cost of their commutes with as much as $240 of pretax dollars each month through programs like TransitChek or WageWorks.
The current commuter tax break is limited to $125 per month -- the amount that's been in place since the original benefit expired in January 2011 -- while drivers have been able to write off $240 a month for parking fees.
Giving commuters an incentive to drive instead of taking public transportation "was completely backwards," said Steven Hagashide, senior planner for the nonprofit Tri-State Transportation Campaign. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/10847961/us-mass-transit-tax-break-in-obama-signed-fiscal-cliff-bill
US: Mass-Transit Tax Break in Obama-Signed 'Fiscal Cliff' Bill
A long-awaited tax break for transit users that will take some of the sting out of the MTA's upcoming fare hikes was included in the congressional "fiscal cliff" resolution, which was approved this week and signed by President Barack Obama Wednesday.
The Commuter Mass Transit benefit allows public transportation users to pay for the cost of their commutes with as much as $240 of pretax dollars each month through programs like TransitChek or WageWorks.
The current commuter tax break is limited to $125 per month -- the amount that's been in place since the original benefit expired in January 2011 -- while drivers have been able to write off $240 a month for parking fees.
Giving commuters an incentive to drive instead of taking public transportation "was completely backwards," said Steven Hagashide, senior planner for the nonprofit Tri-State Transportation Campaign. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/10847961/us-mass-transit-tax-break-in-obama-signed-fiscal-cliff-bill
January 7, 2013
from truthdig:
State of Fear
Posted on Jan 7, 2013
By Chris Hedges
Shannon McLeish of Florida is a 45-year-old married mother of two young children. She is a homeowner, a taxpayer and a safe driver. She votes in every election. She attends a Unitarian Universalist church on Sundays. She is also, like nearly all who have a relationship with the Occupy movement in the United States, being monitored by the federal government. She knows this because when she read FBI documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) through the Freedom of Information Act, she was startled to see a redaction that could only be referring to her. McLeish’s story is the story of hundreds of thousands of people—perhaps more—whose lives are being invaded by the state. It is the story of a security and surveillance apparatus—overseen by the executive branch under Barack Obama—that has empowered the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to silence the voices and obstruct the activity of citizens who question corporate power.
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the PCJF, said in a written statement about the released files: “This production (of information), which we believe is just the tip of the iceberg, is a window into the nationwide scope of the FBI’s surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on peaceful protesters organizing with the Occupy movement. These documents show that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are treating protests against the corporate and banking structure of America as potential criminal and terrorist activity. These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America.”
The FBI documents are not only a chilling example of how widespread this surveillance and obstruction has become, they are an explicit warning by the security services to all who consider dissent. Anyone who defies corporate power, even if he or she is nonviolent and acting within constitutional rights, is a suspect. These documents are part of the plan to make us fearful, compliant and disempowered. They mark, I suspect, a government attempt to end peaceful mass protests by responding with repression to the grievances of Americans. When the corporate-financed group FreedomWorks bused in goons to disrupt Democratic candidates’ town hall meetings about the federal health care legislation in August 2009, Eric Zuesse of the Business Insider notes, “there was no FBI surveillance of those corporate-organized disruptions of legitimate democratic processes. There also were no subsequent FreedomWorks applications for Freedom of Information Act releases of FBI files regarding such surveillance being used against them—because there was no such FBI campaign against them.”
The combination of intimidation tactics by right-wing fringe groups, which speak in the language of violence and hate, with the state’s massive intrusion into the personal affairs of the citizen is corporate fascism. And we are much farther down that road than many of us care to admit. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/state_of_fear_20130107/
Chris Hedges: State of Fear
from truthdig:
State of Fear
Posted on Jan 7, 2013
By Chris Hedges
Shannon McLeish of Florida is a 45-year-old married mother of two young children. She is a homeowner, a taxpayer and a safe driver. She votes in every election. She attends a Unitarian Universalist church on Sundays. She is also, like nearly all who have a relationship with the Occupy movement in the United States, being monitored by the federal government. She knows this because when she read FBI documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) through the Freedom of Information Act, she was startled to see a redaction that could only be referring to her. McLeish’s story is the story of hundreds of thousands of people—perhaps more—whose lives are being invaded by the state. It is the story of a security and surveillance apparatus—overseen by the executive branch under Barack Obama—that has empowered the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to silence the voices and obstruct the activity of citizens who question corporate power.
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the PCJF, said in a written statement about the released files: “This production (of information), which we believe is just the tip of the iceberg, is a window into the nationwide scope of the FBI’s surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on peaceful protesters organizing with the Occupy movement. These documents show that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are treating protests against the corporate and banking structure of America as potential criminal and terrorist activity. These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America.”
The FBI documents are not only a chilling example of how widespread this surveillance and obstruction has become, they are an explicit warning by the security services to all who consider dissent. Anyone who defies corporate power, even if he or she is nonviolent and acting within constitutional rights, is a suspect. These documents are part of the plan to make us fearful, compliant and disempowered. They mark, I suspect, a government attempt to end peaceful mass protests by responding with repression to the grievances of Americans. When the corporate-financed group FreedomWorks bused in goons to disrupt Democratic candidates’ town hall meetings about the federal health care legislation in August 2009, Eric Zuesse of the Business Insider notes, “there was no FBI surveillance of those corporate-organized disruptions of legitimate democratic processes. There also were no subsequent FreedomWorks applications for Freedom of Information Act releases of FBI files regarding such surveillance being used against them—because there was no such FBI campaign against them.”
The combination of intimidation tactics by right-wing fringe groups, which speak in the language of violence and hate, with the state’s massive intrusion into the personal affairs of the citizen is corporate fascism. And we are much farther down that road than many of us care to admit. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/state_of_fear_20130107/
January 7, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — In Houston, they tried air cannons so loud neighbors called in the SWAT team. In New Mexico, it took a half-dozen men and thousands of explosives. In Austin, technicians go out night after night with heavy-duty lasers. All to battle an 8-ounce, highly adaptive bird that's colonizing the country -- and leaving behind inch-thick layers of droppings as it goes.
The great-tailed grackle, called by some the devil bird, is lovely to look at. Males are jet-black with a violet-blue iridescent sheen to their feathers that made them prized by Aztec kings in their original range in Central America. But while they once were seen only in the most southern tip of Texas, today they're in 23 states, as far north as Montana and as far west as Washington.
That might make them nice for bird watchers. But for residents of areas they colonize, not so much. Grackles tend to congregate in large flocks and like shopping centers and fast-food store parking lots, where there's trash for food and trees or light posts for perching. Their droppings can spread disease, and they can damage citrus crops.
They're also known for their annoying, almost mechanical call that begins at dawn and dusk. Add to that their frequent attacks on other birds, and they're simply not good neighbors. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/04/devil-birds-great-tailed-grackles/1783229/
Avian Satan
SAN FRANCISCO — In Houston, they tried air cannons so loud neighbors called in the SWAT team. In New Mexico, it took a half-dozen men and thousands of explosives. In Austin, technicians go out night after night with heavy-duty lasers. All to battle an 8-ounce, highly adaptive bird that's colonizing the country -- and leaving behind inch-thick layers of droppings as it goes.
The great-tailed grackle, called by some the devil bird, is lovely to look at. Males are jet-black with a violet-blue iridescent sheen to their feathers that made them prized by Aztec kings in their original range in Central America. But while they once were seen only in the most southern tip of Texas, today they're in 23 states, as far north as Montana and as far west as Washington.
That might make them nice for bird watchers. But for residents of areas they colonize, not so much. Grackles tend to congregate in large flocks and like shopping centers and fast-food store parking lots, where there's trash for food and trees or light posts for perching. Their droppings can spread disease, and they can damage citrus crops.
They're also known for their annoying, almost mechanical call that begins at dawn and dusk. Add to that their frequent attacks on other birds, and they're simply not good neighbors. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/04/devil-birds-great-tailed-grackles/1783229/
January 7, 2013
[font size="1"]Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China, is seen during a news broadcast, displayed on a television monitor at a subway station in Beijing, China.[/font]
(Bloomberg) China pledged measures to ease traffic congestion with a goal of public transport accounting for 60 percent of all motor vehicle use in towns and cities.
The government will support the development of environmentally friendly urban transport systems and offer tax breaks and fuel subsidies for mass transit vehicles, according to a statement by the State Council, or cabinet, posted on the central government’s website on Jan. 5. It didn’t specify the current percentage of public transport use.
As many as 300 million of China’s 1.4 billion people will move from the countryside by 2030 to join the 600 million already living in cities, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates. Traffic congestion and worsening pollution is forcing the government to improve public transport to cope with the influx.
“As China’s urbanization accelerates, the development of urban transport faces new challenges,” the State Council said. The government “must prioritize the development of public transit systems to ease traffic congestion, transform urban transport, improve people’s quality of life and improve the provision of public services,” according to the document. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-05/china-to-boost-urban-transport-as-city-congestion-worsens.html
China to Boost Urban Transport as City Congestion Worsens
[font size="1"]Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China, is seen during a news broadcast, displayed on a television monitor at a subway station in Beijing, China.[/font]
(Bloomberg) China pledged measures to ease traffic congestion with a goal of public transport accounting for 60 percent of all motor vehicle use in towns and cities.
The government will support the development of environmentally friendly urban transport systems and offer tax breaks and fuel subsidies for mass transit vehicles, according to a statement by the State Council, or cabinet, posted on the central government’s website on Jan. 5. It didn’t specify the current percentage of public transport use.
As many as 300 million of China’s 1.4 billion people will move from the countryside by 2030 to join the 600 million already living in cities, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates. Traffic congestion and worsening pollution is forcing the government to improve public transport to cope with the influx.
“As China’s urbanization accelerates, the development of urban transport faces new challenges,” the State Council said. The government “must prioritize the development of public transit systems to ease traffic congestion, transform urban transport, improve people’s quality of life and improve the provision of public services,” according to the document. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-05/china-to-boost-urban-transport-as-city-congestion-worsens.html
January 7, 2013
from the Detroit Free Press:
ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan hosts dozens of Great Lakes researchers, advocates and policymakers Wednesday at its Ann Arbor campus for a meeting of the Great Lakes Futures Project.
The consortium of universities and institutions in the U.S. and Canada is developing plans for long-term research projects to protect and restore the Great Lakes.
More than 75 Great Lakes researchers and others are expected to attend this week’s meeting, hosted by the U-M Water Center.
Participants will discuss forces that shaped the Great Lakes region in the past and those that will shape it over the next half-century, including climate change, energy, economics, water quantity, biological and chemical contaminants, invasive species and demographics. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20130106/NEWS06/130106034/University-of-Michigan-Great-Lakes-Futures-Project?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Consortium of universities, institutions to meet at U of Michigan to discuss future of Great Lakes
from the Detroit Free Press:
ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan hosts dozens of Great Lakes researchers, advocates and policymakers Wednesday at its Ann Arbor campus for a meeting of the Great Lakes Futures Project.
The consortium of universities and institutions in the U.S. and Canada is developing plans for long-term research projects to protect and restore the Great Lakes.
More than 75 Great Lakes researchers and others are expected to attend this week’s meeting, hosted by the U-M Water Center.
Participants will discuss forces that shaped the Great Lakes region in the past and those that will shape it over the next half-century, including climate change, energy, economics, water quantity, biological and chemical contaminants, invasive species and demographics. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20130106/NEWS06/130106034/University-of-Michigan-Great-Lakes-Futures-Project?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
January 6, 2013
(Bloomberg) Chinese television makers, including TCL Corp. (000100) and Hisense Electric Co. (600060), are accelerating their push into the U.S., marketing cut-rate sets and advanced technology as they try to grab share from Japanese and Korean competitors.
The companies are looking to make a splash at the biggest U.S. electronics trade show this week in Las Vegas as they try to raise their visibility with American consumers and distributors. TCL, the Huizhou-based manufacturer of TVs and DVD players, is doubling its space at the event to show off TVs using Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software, while Qingdao-based Hisense is increasing its exhibition footprint and introducing its first U.S. print and TV ad campaign.
The push will raise pressure on stalwarts like Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp. that are struggling to turn a profit. It will also offer potential benefits for consumers looking for less- expensive sets, even with advanced features like Web connections and apps. China’s market leaders, such as TCL, offer products that sell for 30 percent less than leading brands.
“It’s our way of showing the North American market that we are a major player in the world and we intend to be a major player in North America,” said JoAnne Foist, the U.S. marketing director for Hisense. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-06/cheaper-tvs-on-horizon-as-chinese-muscle-into-u-s-tech.html
Cheaper TVs on Horizon as Chinese Muscle Into U.S.
(Bloomberg) Chinese television makers, including TCL Corp. (000100) and Hisense Electric Co. (600060), are accelerating their push into the U.S., marketing cut-rate sets and advanced technology as they try to grab share from Japanese and Korean competitors.
The companies are looking to make a splash at the biggest U.S. electronics trade show this week in Las Vegas as they try to raise their visibility with American consumers and distributors. TCL, the Huizhou-based manufacturer of TVs and DVD players, is doubling its space at the event to show off TVs using Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software, while Qingdao-based Hisense is increasing its exhibition footprint and introducing its first U.S. print and TV ad campaign.
The push will raise pressure on stalwarts like Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp. that are struggling to turn a profit. It will also offer potential benefits for consumers looking for less- expensive sets, even with advanced features like Web connections and apps. China’s market leaders, such as TCL, offer products that sell for 30 percent less than leading brands.
“It’s our way of showing the North American market that we are a major player in the world and we intend to be a major player in North America,” said JoAnne Foist, the U.S. marketing director for Hisense. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-06/cheaper-tvs-on-horizon-as-chinese-muscle-into-u-s-tech.html
January 6, 2013
[font size="1"]Fishermen and their families protesting against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Credit K. S. Harikrishnan/IPS[/font]
KUDANKULAM, India, Jan 6 2013 (IPS) - Mahalakshmi, a housewife married to a farmer, is afraid for her family’s future. The fifty-two-year-old woman is also frustrated that Indian authorities have “betrayed” poor villagers.
A huge nuclear power plant under the control of the government-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is the source of her woes.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), situated 24 kilometres from the world famous tourist town of Kanyakumari on the southern tip of the Indian peninsula, is likely to be commissioned this month.
Speaking to IPS, Mahalakshmi and dozens of women in Kudankulam, a village in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, charged that the energy project would ruin their futures, homes and livelihoods. .........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/01/villagers-wail-against-nuclear-power/
India: Villagers Wail Against Nuclear Power
[font size="1"]Fishermen and their families protesting against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Credit K. S. Harikrishnan/IPS[/font]
KUDANKULAM, India, Jan 6 2013 (IPS) - Mahalakshmi, a housewife married to a farmer, is afraid for her family’s future. The fifty-two-year-old woman is also frustrated that Indian authorities have “betrayed” poor villagers.
A huge nuclear power plant under the control of the government-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is the source of her woes.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), situated 24 kilometres from the world famous tourist town of Kanyakumari on the southern tip of the Indian peninsula, is likely to be commissioned this month.
Speaking to IPS, Mahalakshmi and dozens of women in Kudankulam, a village in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, charged that the energy project would ruin their futures, homes and livelihoods. .........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/01/villagers-wail-against-nuclear-power/
January 6, 2013
(Guardian UK) Nobody pretends that sodas are a health food. But until recently, there was little talk about how seriously bad it can be to chug the 57 gallons (217 litres) of soft drinks that the average American consumes each year.
What sparked this discussion was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial ban on the sale of super-sized (larger than 16oz, or half-litre) sodas in movie theaters and fast food restaurants. The ban was approved by the city's board of health in September and will take effect in March 2013. It has generally been applauded by public health activists who blame the sugary drinks for a nationwide spike in obesity and diabetes, especially among teens for whom it is the number one source of calories, according to a study by the National Cancer Institute (pdf).
Many school districts around the country have taken soda cans out of their vending machines, and legislation seeking to restrict federal food stamps from being used to purchase soda and other "junk foods" was introduced during the past year in California, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, Florida and Texas. None of these bills has yet passed.
While the high sugar content of America's favorite beverage has gotten most of the bad press, there are other additives that may be putting consumers at risk. For example, phosphorous (a leading cause of osteoporosis), phosphoric acid (which corrodes teeth and damages kidneys) and sodium (which is implicated in high blood pressure) all show up in super-sized doses in America's soft drinks. Recently, Coke and Pepsi decided to reduce the amount of synthetic caramel color 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) in some of their sodas – rather than label these drinks with cancer warnings in accord with California health guidelines. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/05/flame-retardant-soft-drink
Would you like flame retardant in your soft drink?
(Guardian UK) Nobody pretends that sodas are a health food. But until recently, there was little talk about how seriously bad it can be to chug the 57 gallons (217 litres) of soft drinks that the average American consumes each year.
What sparked this discussion was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial ban on the sale of super-sized (larger than 16oz, or half-litre) sodas in movie theaters and fast food restaurants. The ban was approved by the city's board of health in September and will take effect in March 2013. It has generally been applauded by public health activists who blame the sugary drinks for a nationwide spike in obesity and diabetes, especially among teens for whom it is the number one source of calories, according to a study by the National Cancer Institute (pdf).
Many school districts around the country have taken soda cans out of their vending machines, and legislation seeking to restrict federal food stamps from being used to purchase soda and other "junk foods" was introduced during the past year in California, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, Florida and Texas. None of these bills has yet passed.
While the high sugar content of America's favorite beverage has gotten most of the bad press, there are other additives that may be putting consumers at risk. For example, phosphorous (a leading cause of osteoporosis), phosphoric acid (which corrodes teeth and damages kidneys) and sodium (which is implicated in high blood pressure) all show up in super-sized doses in America's soft drinks. Recently, Coke and Pepsi decided to reduce the amount of synthetic caramel color 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) in some of their sodas – rather than label these drinks with cancer warnings in accord with California health guidelines. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/05/flame-retardant-soft-drink
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