The IMF and World Bank: Partnership of explotation

The IMF and the WORLD BANK

The Thistle

Volume 13, no. 2, Sept 2000

This article is a bit dated, but the crisis in third world environments has only gotten much, much worst.  Those nations who were or are unable to service loans to the World Bank are selling off their natural resources to the multi-nationals who control the funding in both cases. 

Today, September 26, (2000) thousands of activists are protesting in Prague, in the Czech Republic, against the policies and institutional structures of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. These protests are the latest action in a growing movement that is highly critical of the neoliberal economic policies being imposed on people all over the world, including those in western countries. As Robert McChesney concisely describes it, neoliberalism “refers to the policies and processes whereby a relative handful of private interests are permitted to control as much as possible of social life in order to maximize their personal profit.” The major beneficiaries of neoliberalism are large trans-national corporations and wealthy investors. The implementation of neoliberal policies came into full force during the eighties under Thatcher and Reagan. Today, the principles of neoliberalism are widely held with near-religious fervor by most major political parties in the US and Britain and are gaining acceptance by those holding power elsewhere.

Sugars effects on your liver

How Sugar Damages Your Liver

You won't believe the damage this sweetner poses to your detoxifying organ.

By Anne Alexander December 18, 2015

The supermarket is an awesome place to school your kids on healthy eating. But it can get heated if you happen to be in the cookie aisle. Recently, my son and I were rolling our cart past those sugary squares and disks and double-stuffed whatevers when he informed me that his friend gets seven cookies in his lunch every day. (My kids get two, max. After dishes and homework.)

I saw my opening. "Well, let me tell you about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease," I said. Too soon for a 12-year-old? Heck no! I'll tell you what I told him: Overdo the cookies or other sugary foods, and your liver takes the fructose hit. 

Located on the right side of your abdomen, tucked behind your lower ribs, your liver has a critical job: to turn toxins—both those formed naturally in the body and those that are man-made, such as from medications, street drugs, and alcohol—into harmless substances. 

The liver uses about 20 percent of the calories you consume to fuel itself and its work, which includes converting proteins and sugars from food into energy for your body, aided by insulin.

Hidding Sugar in your food supply

56 Different Names for Sugar

The efforts food manufacturers go to in order to hide added sugar from you is downright disturbing. Sugar is America's socially accepted addiction.

By Robin Hilmantel for WomensHealth.com October 19, 2015

It can seem like nutrition experts are constantly disagreeing with each other—or coming out with new information that contradicts what they've said previously. But last week, several top names in the food industry came together at the James Beard Foundation Food Conference to make one thing clear: They all agree we should be eating a whole lot less sugar.

Of course, that's easier said than done: Nutrition labels don't list what the recommended daily intake of sugar is. (In case you're wondering, it's no more than five percent of your diet, or about six teaspoons of the sweet stuff per day, per the World Health Organization). What's more, food manufacturers add sugar to lots of foods that don't even taste all that sweet. "You could make dog poop taste good with enough sugar, and the food industry does," says Robert Lustig, M.D., professor of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology at the University of California – San Francisco.
As part of his presentation, Lustig showed a slide with 56 different words on it that all amount to the same thing: added sugar. Here's an infographic based on Lustig's slide:

Palm Oil-The newest cost to western convenience-Part 3

Don't Let Your Shampoo and French Fries Destroy Tropical Forests

Empowered By

The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.

Palm Oil deforestation

About the Petition

Global fast-food and packaged-goods companies use palm oil to make everything from french fries to cosmetics to shampoo. But palm oil is a major driver of deforestation and global warming. As tropical forests are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations, carbon is released into the atmosphere, driving global warming and shrinking habitats for endangered species, including orangutans. Tropical deforestation accounts for about 10 percent of the world's global-warming emissions.

But producing deforestation-free palm oil is entirely possible. In the last year, many companies pledged not to buy from palm oil suppliers linked to the loss of tropical forests. The rest of corporate America should also make a firm commitment to use only deforestation-free palm oil.

Tell the largest global companies that for the sake of our air, tropical forests, and endangered species, they must commit to deforestation-free palm oil.

For more information on palm oil, corporations, and climate change, read Union of Concerned Scientists’ blog post on the issue, “Out With Duh-nuts, In With DO-nuts: Two Major Fast Food Brands Tackle Deforestation,” and our report, Fries, Face Wash, Forests: Scoring America's Top Brands on Their Palm Oil Commitments.

To: CEOs of America’s Largest Fast-Food and Packaged-Goods Corporations

Your company uses palm oil in many of its products—it’s an ingredient that has been linked to widespread tropical deforestation and climate change. As tropical forests are cleared and often burned to make way for palm oil plantations, carbon is released into the atmosphere, driving global warming and shrinking habitats for endangered species.

Your company continues to lag behind many global brands that have already committed to not buy from palm oil suppliers linked to the loss of tropical forests and carbon-rich peat swamps.
There's absolutely no excuse to use palm oil that could be driving climate change and tropical deforestation.

I urge you to bring your company in line with other major global corporations by creating and implementing a policy to use only deforestation-free palm oil in your consumer products.

Sincerely,
[Your name here] 

Hydraulic Fracture Drilling-Part 15

Texas Fracking Zone Emits 90% More Methane Than EPA Estimated

The Barnett Shale's emissions have been vastly underestimated, sweeping Environmental Defense Fund-backed study finds.
By Lisa Song, InsideClimate News
Dec 7, 2015

A sprawling, aggressive effort to measure the climate footprint of natural gas production has yielded striking results: methane emissions from the Barnett Shale in North Texas are at least 90 percent higher than government estimates.

That conclusion comes from a peer-reviewed study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper is the most sweeping study to emerge from the Environmental Defense Fund's $18-million project to quantify methane leaks from the natural gas industry. It was written by 20 co-authors from 13 institutions, including universities, government labs, EDF and private research firms.

Overall, the two-year study found that methane emissions from the Barnett Shale are nearly twice as much as estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Inventory, and 5.5 times the number from a separate global database.

Slave Labor in our food supply

Shrimp peeled by slaves tied to major US food outlets

If the truth is known, there are dire consequences to most products we find as "Cheap" in the US.  The cost of our lifestyle is enormous to the rest of the world.  How much longer will we be allowed to stick our proverbial head in the sand?  If justice is foundational to the throne of grace, how much longer are we going to get away with our ignorance? Its not ok....

© AP Photo/Dita Alangkara In this Monday, Nov. 9, 2015 photo, children and teenagers sit together to be registered by officials during a raid on a shrimp shed in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. Abuse is common in Samut Sakhon.

SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand — Poor migrant workers and children are being sold to factories in Thailand and forced to peel shrimp that ends up in global supply chains, including those of Wal-Mart and Red Lobster, the world's largest retailer and the world's largest seafood restaurant chain, an Associated Press investigation found.

At the Gig Peeling Factory, nearly 100 Burmese laborers were trapped, most working for almost nothing. They spent 16 hours a day with their aching hands in ice water, ripping the guts, heads, tails and shells off shrimp. One girl was so tiny she had to stand on a stool to reach the peeling table. Some workers had been there for months, even years. Always, someone was watching.

"They didn't let us rest," said Eae Hpaw, 16, her arms a patchwork of scars from shrimp-related infections and allergies. "We stopped working around 7 in the evening. We would take a shower and sleep. Then we would start again around 3 in the morning."

More than 2,000 trapped fishermen have been freed this year as a result of an ongoing Associated Press investigative series into slavery in the Thai seafood industry. The reports also have led to a dozen arrests, millions of dollars' worth of seizures and proposals for new federal laws.

65 Million have left the institutional Christian Church. What are they looking for?

Where Are People Leaving the Church Going?

    

Charisma News

11/29/2015 Felicity Dale

Sociologist Josh Packard says that 65 million people have left the church. These are former leaders who love God. Where are they going? (Charisma archives)

John White has been a friend for many years. We first met in 2001 when he came to our home to hear Wolfgang Simson speak, near the beginning of the simple/organic/house church movement in this country. John now runs a community for followers of Jesus around the world who explore rhythms of life that result in vibrant churches meeting outside the walls of the building (Lk10.com). John is not normally an emotional guy, but he broke down in tears at "The Future of the Church Summit." In this blogpost from the Lk10 site, he explains why:

They want you sick, over weight, and unaware

What Does the Bitter Battle Between Big Sugar and Big Corn Mean for Consumers?

A multibillion-dollar lawsuit between the two major sweetener industries has finally been settled.

The companies that sweeten our foods fight bitterly, if the years-long legal spat between big corn and big sugar is anything to judge by. Ever since the corn refiners tried to rebrand high-fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar” in 2010, the two industries have been warring over names, marketing, public health, and medical research. Now, thanks to a settlement announced late last week, the multibillion-dollar legal battle has come to an abrupt end before a jury can rule on the false-advertising claims made by the sugar industry.

Yuan receives Reserve Currency Status

Everything just changed for China's currency

Business Insider

By Linette Lopez 

The International Monetary Fund has officially designated the Chinese yuan a global reserve currency.

That means that it joins an elite group of currencies — the dollar, the yen, the euro, and the pound — in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket.

This doesn't mean that money managers around the world will suddenly shift their holdings to the yuan. But this new designation does send an important message about its importance to the rest of the world.

Hydraulic Fracture Drilling- Part 14

Livestock falling ill in fracking regions

By Investigations

Thursday Nov 29, 2012 1:08 PM

In the midst of the domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil- and gas-drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying. While scientists have yet to isolate cause and effect, many suspect chemicals used in drilling and hydrofracking (or “fracking”) operations are poisoning animals through the air, water or soil.

Earlier this year, Michelle Bamberger, an Ithaca, N.Y., veterinarian, and Robert Oswald, a professor of molecular medicine at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, published the first and only peer-reviewed report to suggest a link between fracking and illness in food animals.