Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1157
August 10, 2017
Kellogg’s: Junk Food Pioneers
Cereals: The Foods that Make Billions
BBC (2013)
The Kellogg’s corporation – in discovering how to transform cheap nutrient-poor food into billions in profits – deserve all the credit for launching the processed food revolution.
Dr John Havery Kellogg, a teetotal, vegetarian and Seventh Day Adventist, was the original inventor of a dry tasteless corn cereal he fed patients in his Battle Creek Michigan sanatorium. He opposed his entrepreneur brother’s plan to add sugar to the cornflakes, so W.K. launched Kellogg’s Corporation on his own in 1908. His decision to advertise his product in the Ladies Home Journal instantly transformed Kellogg’s into a global brand.
What W.K. Kellogg did, in essence, was to strip all the nutrition and fiber out of 75 cents worth of corn and sell it for $12. However what he was really selling the public was a lifestyle – by convincing them they didn’t have time to prepare and eat a cooked breakfast.
The advent of TV advertising after World War II would guarantee that empty calorie prepared breakfast cereal would replace bacon and eggs in the vast majority of US and British homes.
In 1968, a congressional committee chaired by for senator and presidential candidate George McGovern would draw international attention to the adverse effects of feeding children high sugar nutrition-poor breakfasts. The resulting corporate backlash from the hippy subculture would lead to the emergence of “granola,” “muesli,” and other cold “health food” breakfasts. Kellogg’s and its competitors would respond by reducing the sugar content of their breakfast food and spraying them with vitamins and minerals.
In 2006, Britain passed a law banning ads for convenience foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat during children’s programming. Kellogg’s responded by introducing breakfast cereals that were higher in fiber and and whole grains.
August 9, 2017
Americans Are Dying Younger, Saving Corporations Billions
*
*
Lower US life expectancy predicted to save corporations billions in pension obligations.
(Glorious Big Business makes bigger profits when you die at a younger age. Can you say “Logan’s Run”?)
from Bloomberg
Steady improvements in American life expectancy have stalled, and more Americans are dying at younger ages. But for companies straining under the burden of their pension obligations, the distressing trend could have a grim upside: If people don’t end up living as long as they were projected to just a few years ago, their employers ultimately won’t have to pay them as much in pension and other lifelong retirement benefits.
In 2015, the American death rate—the age-adjusted share of Americans dying—rose slightly for the first time since 1999. And over the last two years, at least 12 large companies, from Verizon to General Motors, have said recent slips in mortality improvement have led them to reduce their estimates for how much they could owe retirees by upward of a combined $9.7 billion, according to a Bloomberg analysis…
View original post 44 more words
Uber driver: “You’re better off working at McDonald’s”
*
*
The problem isn’t just uncertainty about what drivers can earn. Some also end up in deeper financial trouble by leasing cars from Uber’s Xchange program. One driver, Joan, got caught in this trap after she hit a pothole and damaged her car’s suspension system. She spent nearly all the money she had to get the car fixed. Then, when efforts to repair the vehicle failed, she spent more to lease a car from Uber.
by KATIE WELLS, KAFUI ATTOH AND DECLAN CULLEN
People’s World | August 08, 2017
In this July 15, 2015 file photo, Uber driver Karim Amrani sits in his car parked near the San Francisco International Airport . | Jeff Chiu / AP
To be an Uber driver is to work when you want. Or so Uber likes to say in recruitment materials, advertisements, and sponsored research papers: “Be your own boss.” “Earn money on your schedule.” “With Uber, you’re in charge.” The language of freedom, flexibility, and autonomy abounds, and can seem like a win for workers.
View original post 1,206 more words
U.S. health care: profits over people
*
*
Medicare for All would be funded by the savings obtained from replacing today’s inefficient, profit-oriented, multiple insurance payers with a single streamlined, nonprofit, public payer, and by modest new taxes based on ability to pay. Premiums would disappear; 95 percent of all households would save money. Patients would no longer face financial barriers to care such as co-pays and deductibles, and would regain free choice of doctor and hospital. Doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.
by Martin Hart-Landsberg
Reports from the Economic Front | July 31, 2017
The US health care system produces healthy profits while leaving growing numbers of people without access to affordable, quality health care.
The US is one of the only advanced capitalist countries without a system of universal health coverage. Tens of millions are uninsured, and many millions more pay for insurance that is either too limited in its coverage or too expensive to use. What we need, and could implement if political realities change, is a “Medicare for all,” single-payer system of national health insurance.
As the organization Physicians for a National Health Program explains:
View original post 1,032 more words
August 8, 2017
Fukushima Officials: Humans Should Never Eat Fish Again
*
*
Fukushima scientists have warned the public that the days of eating fish from the Pacific ocean are well and truly over.
Fukushima scientists have warned the public that the days of eating fish from the Pacific ocean are well and truly over.
According to the founder of Nuclear Crimes, Andrew Kishner, the continual leaking of nuclear waste into the ocean is being covered-up by officials and is getting worse each day.
Kishner claims that TEPCO, the company in charge of monitoring the plant, has data that shows radiation pouring into the Pacific Ocean non-stop for the past six years.
According to scientist who have examined the radiation levels of fish in the ocean, the days of “eating fish from the Pacific ocean are over”.
The contaminated water is believed to contain traces of radioactive iodine, cesium, and strontium-89 and 90.
Despite efforts from the Japanese government to bring the problem under control, the fish have been saturated by the continuous radiation being pumped into the ocean. The contamination has also resulting…
View original post 32 more words
Olympic games in Fukushima: Is it safe?
*
*
According to this article, athletes and spectators will need to wear protective suits and masks to avoid radioactive substances from adhering to the skin and/or entering the body.
Fukushima city is going to host Olympic baseball and softball games in 2020.
What is the level of radio-contamination there? This is the question on everybody’s mind, spectators and players from all over the world. Is it really safe?
Baseball and softball games will take place in Azuma Sports Park in Fukushima city.
Fukushima prefecture provides the information below on the radiation measurements of the Park.
Measurements of the airborne radiation dose in the baseball stadium: No 13-16
Those of the softball stadium: No 4
The lines above and below indicate the value of the radiation dose at 1cm and 5cm above the ground.
We notice that, as usual, Fukushima prefecture gives only measurements in terms of radiation dose. Based on this information, one might think that it would be relatively safe to play there or to attend the games. However, monitoring only the radiation dose is not enough for…
View original post 673 more words
Escape from the Cult of Materialism
Escape from the Cult of Materialism
Fair Wind Films (2016)
Film Review
This strange little documentary develops the premise that materialism (the pressure to buy stuff we don’t want or need) is actually a cult.
It argues that like a cult
Our culture is hijacked by sophisticated rituals and symbols that bear little resemblance to our genuine needs.
The materialistic belief system imposed on us destroys our relationship with the environment and each other.
This system pressures us to ignore contradictory views and any activism against it is punished.
Leaders encourage us to focus on external threats (ie Muslims, immigrants, etc) to keep us from recognizing contradictions in the current system.
Our materialistic belief system operates purely for the leaders’ benefit.
The filmmakers go on to trace the history of forced materialism and the brief rebellion against it (the hippy movement) in the 1960s.
The solution they offer – forcing ourselves to focus on Plato’s concept of idealism – strikes me as a bit too abstract for a mainstream audience. However they offer some good examples of millenials rejecting materialism in favor of strong interpersonal relationships and community.
August 7, 2017
Oklahoma to Build World’s Second Largest Wind Farm
*
*
It’s all about leveraging economies of scale with three widely available technologies — wind, solar, and low cost storage
If we’re going to effectively deal with climate change while maintaining economic prosperity, then it’s absolutely essential to rapidly transition fossil fuel based energy to non-carbon emitting energy. And some of the best options for doing so presently involve leveraging economies of scale with three widely available technologies — wind, solar, and low cost storage and […]
Majority of Venezuelans Think Constituent Assembly Will Protect Rights: Poll
*
*
According to a poll by Hinterlaces, 54 percent of Venezuelans have full confidence that the National Constituent Assembly will successfully uphold the Constitution and safeguard their rights.
teleSUR | August 07, 2017
Members of the National Constituent Assembly pose for a group picture during its first session. | Photo: Reuters
According to a poll by Hinterlaces, 54 percent of Venezuelans have full confidence that the National Constituent Assembly will successfully uphold the Constitution and safeguard their rights.
Respondents agreed that the ANC would protect social achievements, such as social missions achieved during the Bolivarian Revolution.
The research was revealed on the Jose Vicente Hoy program Sunday and was composed of 1,580 interviews which were gathered between July 4 to 20.
View original post 102 more words
Should Toronto push to decriminalize all drugs? The city’s medical health officer ready to consider it
*
*
Toronto’s new Medical Officer of Health is calling for a public discussion on the merits of decriminalizing all drugs in the wake of the ongoing overdose epidemic.
By Betsy PowellCity Hall Bureau
Fri., Aug. 4, 2017
The city is convening a committee of health and drug policy experts to explore “a different approach that puts the health of the community first,” Dr. Eileen De Villa said.
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, says the current approach to drugs in Toronto is not working and a new approach is needed. (Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star) | Order this photo
Toronto’s new Medical Officer of Health is calling for a public discussion on the merits of decriminalizing all drugs in the wake of the ongoing overdose epidemic.
“It’s clear that our current approach to drugs in this city and this country doesn’t seem to be having…
View original post 195 more words
The Most Revolutionary Act
- Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's profile
- 11 followers
