April 21, 2015

A Fact-Resistant ‘Group Think’ on Syria

from Consortium News:


A Fact-Resistant ‘Group Think’ on Syria
April 20, 2015

Exclusive: CBS News’ anchor Scott Pelley is known for his clueless journalism which never goes beyond Official Washington’s “group think” – and he was at it again in a dangerously provocative “60 Minutes” segment on the sarin gas attack near Damascus, Syria, in 2013, reports Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry


On Sunday evening, CBS’s “60 Minutes” presented what was pitched as a thorough examination of the infamous sarin gas attack outside Damascus, Syria, on Aug. 21, 2013, with anchor Scott Pelley asserting that “none of what we found will be omitted here.” But the segment – while filled with emotional scenes of dead and dying Syrians – made little effort to determine who was responsible.

Pelley’s team stuck to the conventional wisdom from the rush-to-judgment “white paper” that the White House issued on Aug. 30, 2013, just nine days after the incident, blaming the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad. But Pelley ignored contrary evidence that has emerged in the 20 months since the attack, including what I’ve been told are dissenting views among U.S. intelligence analysts.

The segment also played games with the chronology of the United Nations inspectors who had been invited to Damascus by Assad to investigate what he claimed were earlier chemical attacks carried out by Syrian rebels, a force dominated by Islamic extremists, including Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front and the even more brutal Islamic State.

Though Pelley starts the segment by interviewing a Syrian who claimed he witnessed a sarin attack in Moadamiya, a suburb south of Damascus, Pelley leaves out the fact that Moadimiya was the first area examined by the UN inspectors and that their field tests found no evidence of sarin. Nor does Pelley note that UN laboratories also found no sarin or other chemical agents on the one missile that the inspectors recovered from Moadamiya. ..................(more)

https://consortiumnews.com/2015/04/20/a-fact-resistant-group-think-on-syria/

April 21, 2015

NYC Subway Ridership Grows to Highest Point in 65 Years

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City subway ridership has reached its highest level in more than 65 years.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says more than 1.7 billion people rode the subway last year. That's a 2.6 percent increase from 2013.

Figures released Monday show that 5.6 million people rode the system on weekdays and 6 million took it on an average weekend.

The MTA says at its busiest, it carried more than 6 million customers on 29 weekdays in the last four months of 2014. That's a level it hasn't seen since the post-World War II era. ...............(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/11927187/nyc-subway-ridership-grows-to-highest-point-in-65-years

April 21, 2015

Japan: Maglev Train Breaks Own Speed Record

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese maglev that is the fastest passenger train in the world has broken its own speed record.

Operator JR Central said the train reached 603 kilometers per hour (375 miles per hour) in a test run on Tuesday, surpassing its previous record of 361 mph (581 kph) set in 2003. The train traveled for just over a mile (1.8 kilometers) at a speed exceeding 600 kph (373 mph).

Japan's high-speed rail services are among the most advanced in the world, with hundreds of trains running each day with minimal delays. However, unlike regular shinkansen or "bullet trains" that run on steel rails, magnetic levitation trains hover above rails, suspended by powerful magnets.

The Maglev Test Line, near Mount Fuji about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Tokyo, is developing technology for use on a future 410-kilometer (250-mile) link that will reduce travel time between Tokyo and Osaka to just over an hour. The current minimum by bullet train is nearly three hours. ....................(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/11927199/japans-maglev-train-breaks-own-speed-record-at-603-kph

April 21, 2015

TYT: Indiana Still Discriminates But Does America Care Anymore?

Published on Apr 16, 2015

The fall out from the Religious Freedom in Indiana is still unfolding, yet where is the coverage? The news cycle has moved on and so has the public's attention. LGBT individuals have continued to be discriminated against, yet the outrage has subsided, because no one is paying attention anymore. The promised fixes to the initial bill are not gaining traction, as conservative politicians stall. Governor Mike Pence celebrates as the watchful eye of the national media focuses on Hillary Clinton and the other presidential candidates announcing.

April 21, 2015

Unions, activists look to derail Trans-Pacific Partnership fast-track

Trade unions, populist activists and many Democratic lawmakers are rallying against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. They say the secretive treaty is harmful to US workers, the economy and environmental policies.

Social justice activists from more than 30 states marched in downtown Washington, DC, on Monday, chanting “This is what hypocrisy looks like!” and carrying signs such as “Dump TPP: Don’t trade away our future.” They called on Congress to vote against giving President Barack Obama the authority to 'fast-track' the treaty.

Proponents claim the TPP, the largest trade deal since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), would open up Asian markets to US exports.



Critics allege that much of the trade pact was written by and for corporate lobbyists, who would reap any benefits while leaving the workers and taxpayers to shoulder all the expenses. Only five of TPP’s 29 chapters are about trade, while others focus on patent protection, financial deregulation, internet privacy restrictions and litigation. ...................(more)

http://rt.com/usa/251437-tpp-opposition-unions-activists/

April 21, 2015

The Trans Pacific Partnership: A Fast Track to Lost Jobs and Lower Wages

(The Progressive) The Obama White House and GOP congressional leaders are teaming up to “fast track” the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress. Obama is partnering with Republicans to pull another NAFTA on workers even as the Democratic base and progressives vigorously oppose fast track authority for the latest “free trade” deal.

AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka says politicians and corporate bosses want you to think global trade, Trans Pacific Partnership, and fast-track authority are just too complicated for working people to understand. Turns out it’s pretty damned simple.

“I understand it,” Trumka says, “ Let me tell ya. Here’s what it means. It means lost jobs and lower wages. That’s it. Lost jobs and lower wages.”

Public Citizens Global Trade Watch agrees. They say in “one fell swoop” the TPP could:

◦ offshore American jobs and increase income inequality;

◦ jack up the cost of medicines;

◦ sneak in threats to Internet freedom, and empower corporations to attack our environmental and health safeguards;

◦ expose the U.S. to unsafe food and products;

◦ roll back Wall Street reforms;

◦ ban Buy American policies needed to create green jobs.

“The progressive movement could not be more united, more focused, more committed to holding our leaders accountable for the actions they take in Washington than we are right now in the fight against Fast Track authority for the TPP,” said Neil Sroka, communications director for Democracy for America, a million-member national progressive political organization. “The fact is, you can be a progressive committed to fighting for working families or you can be for this massive job-killing trade deal written by hundreds of corporate representatives, but you can’t be both. And, if you stand with the wrong side in this fight, the progressive base of the Democratic Party stands ready to hold you accountable at the ballot box.” ...............(more)

- See more at: http://www.progressive.org/news/2015/04/188098/trans-pacific-partnership-fast-track-lost-jobs-and-lower-wages#sthash.yOrhAiDi.dpuf

April 21, 2015

Corporate Power, Grassroots Resistance, and the Battle Over the Food System

from Dollars & Sense:


Seeds of Change
Corporate Power, Grassroots Resistance, and the Battle Over the Food System

BY ELIZABETH FRASER AND ANURADHA MITTAL | MARCH/APRIL 2015

Over a decade ago, Dollars & Sense published the article “Genetic Engineering and the Privatization of Seeds,” by Anuradha Mittal and Peter Rossett, on genetic modification and its impact on the world food system (March/April 2001). In it, the authors asked, “will biotechnology feed the world?” while providing an overview of the landscape of corporate control, widening inequality, private property claims, and growing farmers’ resistance around the world. This article acts as a follow-up, highlighting some of the key developments in recent years.

For most of history, farmers have had control over their seeds: saving, sharing, and replanting them with freedom. Developments in the course of the 20th century, however, have greatly eroded this autonomy. Legal changes, ranging from the Plant Variety Protection Act (1970) in the United States to the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), have systematically eroded farmers’ rights to save seeds for future use. By the end of 2012, Monsanto had sued 410 farmers and 56 small farm businesses in the United States for patent infringement, winning over $23 million in settlements. Here, we describe some of the key developments further intensifying corporate control over the food system. It is not, however, all bleak news. Civil society groups are using everything from grassroots protest to open-source licensing to ensure that the enclosure and privatization of seeds comes to an end.

Corporations Have Consolidated Their Control of Seeds and Agrochemicals

In 2011, just four transnational agri-businesses—Monsanto, Dupont Pioneer, Syngenta, and Vilmorin (Groupe Limagrain)—controlled 58% of the commercial seed market. Four—Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, BASF, and Dow AgroSciences—controlled 62% of agrochemicals worldwide. The top six companies controlled 75% of all private plant breeding research, 60% of commercial seed sales, and 76% of the global agrochemical market. This consolidation of power has been aided by a large string of mergers and acquisitions, leading the Canada-based Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group) to conclude that “there just aren’t many seed companies left to buy.”

The World Bank, too, has played a role in this increased consolidation. In 2014, a report from the Oakland Institute provided details on the World Bank’s efforts to open African markets to private seed companies. (Full disclosure: The authors of this article both work at the Oakland Institute.) The report, titled “The World Bank’s Bad Business with Seed and Fertilizer in African Agriculture,” paints a stark picture of the possible consequences of these actions: removing farmers’ rights to save seeds and implementing intellectual property claims over seeds does not improve food security, but rather undermines farmers’ autonomy and further increases profits for the existing seed oligopoly.

Supposed Benefits of Genetically Modified (GM) Seeds Have Not Materialized

Two arguments often put forward in favor of GM seeds are the need to feed the world’s burgeoning population and the potential for these new seeds to reduce overall pesticide use. Neither of these claims promulgated by industry have proved true. Globally, we are currently producing more than enough food to adequately feed our population. However, that food isn’t being distributed fairly, and malnutrition remains staggering—805 million people worldwide. As the Canadian Biodiversity Action Network reminds us in its report “Will GM Crops Feed the World?” hunger is not usually a result of low food production, but rather a result of poverty. This points to a greater need to address issues of inequality, distribution, and access. ...................(more)

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2015/0315frasermittal.html

April 21, 2015

Corporate Power, Grassroots Resistance, and the Battle Over the Food System

from Dollars & Sense:


Seeds of Change
Corporate Power, Grassroots Resistance, and the Battle Over the Food System

BY ELIZABETH FRASER AND ANURADHA MITTAL | MARCH/APRIL 2015

Over a decade ago, Dollars & Sense published the article “Genetic Engineering and the Privatization of Seeds,” by Anuradha Mittal and Peter Rossett, on genetic modification and its impact on the world food system (March/April 2001). In it, the authors asked, “will biotechnology feed the world?” while providing an overview of the landscape of corporate control, widening inequality, private property claims, and growing farmers’ resistance around the world. This article acts as a follow-up, highlighting some of the key developments in recent years.

For most of history, farmers have had control over their seeds: saving, sharing, and replanting them with freedom. Developments in the course of the 20th century, however, have greatly eroded this autonomy. Legal changes, ranging from the Plant Variety Protection Act (1970) in the United States to the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), have systematically eroded farmers’ rights to save seeds for future use. By the end of 2012, Monsanto had sued 410 farmers and 56 small farm businesses in the United States for patent infringement, winning over $23 million in settlements. Here, we describe some of the key developments further intensifying corporate control over the food system. It is not, however, all bleak news. Civil society groups are using everything from grassroots protest to open-source licensing to ensure that the enclosure and privatization of seeds comes to an end.

Corporations Have Consolidated Their Control of Seeds and Agrochemicals

In 2011, just four transnational agri-businesses—Monsanto, Dupont Pioneer, Syngenta, and Vilmorin (Groupe Limagrain)—controlled 58% of the commercial seed market. Four—Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, BASF, and Dow AgroSciences—controlled 62% of agrochemicals worldwide. The top six companies controlled 75% of all private plant breeding research, 60% of commercial seed sales, and 76% of the global agrochemical market. This consolidation of power has been aided by a large string of mergers and acquisitions, leading the Canada-based Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group) to conclude that “there just aren’t many seed companies left to buy.”

The World Bank, too, has played a role in this increased consolidation. In 2014, a report from the Oakland Institute provided details on the World Bank’s efforts to open African markets to private seed companies. (Full disclosure: The authors of this article both work at the Oakland Institute.) The report, titled “The World Bank’s Bad Business with Seed and Fertilizer in African Agriculture,” paints a stark picture of the possible consequences of these actions: removing farmers’ rights to save seeds and implementing intellectual property claims over seeds does not improve food security, but rather undermines farmers’ autonomy and further increases profits for the existing seed oligopoly.

Supposed Benefits of Genetically Modified (GM) Seeds Have Not Materialized

Two arguments often put forward in favor of GM seeds are the need to feed the world’s burgeoning population and the potential for these new seeds to reduce overall pesticide use. Neither of these claims promulgated by industry have proved true. Globally, we are currently producing more than enough food to adequately feed our population. However, that food isn’t being distributed fairly, and malnutrition remains staggering—805 million people worldwide. As the Canadian Biodiversity Action Network reminds us in its report “Will GM Crops Feed the World?” hunger is not usually a result of low food production, but rather a result of poverty. This points to a greater need to address issues of inequality, distribution, and access. ...................(more)

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2015/0315frasermittal.html

April 21, 2015

TYT: Indiana Still Discriminates But Does America Care Anymore?

Published on Apr 16, 2015

The fall out from the Religious Freedom in Indiana is still unfolding, yet where is the coverage? The news cycle has moved on and so has the public's attention. LGBT individuals have continued to be discriminated against, yet the outrage has subsided, because no one is paying attention anymore. The promised fixes to the initial bill are not gaining traction, as conservative politicians stall. Governor Mike Pence celebrates as the watchful eye of the national media focuses on Hillary Clinton and the other presidential candidates announcing.

April 21, 2015

U.S. and Mexican Workers Call for Boycott of Driscoll’s Berries

(In These Times) Driscoll’s may be the U.S.’s most recognizable brand name on strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and blackberry cartons. Its conventional and organic berries can be found year-round everywhere from Sam’s Club to Whole Foods. To keep its berries stocked far and wide, the company uses a vast supplier network stretching from Canada to Argentina.

But some of those suppliers are coming under fire for allegedly abusing workers, in the U.S. and Mexico. One Driscoll’s grower has spent weeks embroiled in a major farmworker protest, while a nearly two-year boycott against another grower recently intensified. Workers in both disputes have called for a boycott against the company.

Poverty wages in Baja

While Driscoll’s is a family-owned company, it’s no mom-and-pop operation. According to its website, over 40,000 people are involved in its berry production worldwide. The company has a code of conduct for its suppliers, called the “Promise for Workforce Welfare,” which includes obeying minimum legal requirements and avoiding egregious labor violations like human trafficking and conditions “posing immediate risk to life or limb.” Driscoll’s says it is committed to hiring suppliers that “show a sincere commitment” to such principles.

But Bonifacio Martinez questions whether those requirements are enough. Martinez picked strawberries and blackberries destined for Driscoll’s boxes for 10 years. Now he’s a leader in the farmworker movement that erupted last month in the fields of San Quintin, in the Mexican state of Baja California. Thousands of farm laborers picking multiple crops stopped work for nearly two weeks, demanding higher wages and legally required benefits, among other protections. ...............(more)

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/17865/alleging_labor_abuses_u.s._and_mexican_workers_call_for_boycott_of_driscoll