Corporatism

Federal Judge: Kauai’s GMO Law Is Invalid

August 27, 2014 Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, www.AP.org Educate! Corporatism, GMO, Law

A Kauai County law requiring companies to disclose their use of pesticides and genetically modified crops is invalid, a federal judge ruled Monday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren ruled in favor of four seed companies seeking to stop Kauai's new law from going into effect in October. Syngenta Seeds, DuPont Pioneer, Agrigenetics Inc., doing business as Dow AgroSciences, and BASF Plant Sciences sued for a permanent injunction, arguing the ordinance unfairly targets their industry. Kurren's ruling agrees that the ordinance is pre-empted by state law. The judge's ruling stops the county from enforcing the ordinance. "I'm disappointed but that's the judge's option," said Paul Achitoff, an Earthjustice attorney who helped defend the law on behalf of intervening community groups. "I think the consequences for the people of Kauai, in particular, and throughout the state are very unfortunate." He said he'll discuss options to appeal with his clients. Margery Bronster, an attorney representing two of the companies, said the judge's ruling makes it clear that counties don't have the authority to regulate agriculture as called for in the ordinance.

Climate Crisis Connects Us, Climate Justice Requires Unity

August 26, 2014 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Climate Change, Corporatism, TPP, United Nations

What do rigged corporate trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Treaty, an international climate agreement to be signed in 2015, have in common? They are both tools being pushed by the power elite to rip away our hopes for democracy and to commodify all things to monetize them for profit. It is this drive by multinational corporations to patent and control even living beings such as plants and animals and to privatize even elements that are essential to life such as water which connects all human beings on the planet. We are in a global battle of the people versus the plutocrats and this battle has a ticking timer called the climate crisis. The global financial elites meet regularly to plan their strategy and tactics. If they can’t push their agenda through the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization, they move to secret massive trade agreements.

Corporations Spy On Nonprofits With Impunity

August 25, 2014 Ralph Nader, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Corporatism, Nonprofits, Surveillance

Here's a dirty little secret you won't see in the daily papers: Corporations conduct espionage against U.S. nonprofit organizations without fear of being brought to justice. Yes, that means using a great array of spycraft and snoopery, including planned electronic surveillance, wiretapping, information warfare, infiltration, dumpster diving and so much more. The evidence abounds. For example, six years ago, based on extensive documentary evidence, James Ridgeway reported in Mother Jones on a major corporate espionage scheme by Dow Chemical focused on Greenpeace and other environmental and food activists. Greenpeace was running a potent campaign against Dow's use of chlorine to manufacture paper and plastics. Dow grew worried and eventually desperate. Ridgeway's article and subsequent revelations produced jaw-dropping information about how Dow's private investigators, from the firm Beckett Brown International (BBI), hired: • An off-duty DC police officer who gained access to Greenpeace trash dumpsters at least 55 times;

Join ‘For Earth, Against Empire’ Campaign

August 22, 2014 Alliance For Global Justice, www.afgj.org Resist! Climate Change, Corporatism, Empire, UN

Earth is dying. Earth is not just coming down with a cold. Earth is not just suffering a nightmare from which we all can and will suddenly wake up. Our planet is dying. Nothing short of drastic and fundamental change can save her. 2015—Our last chance? The Alliance for Global Justice believes that it is the US Empire and transnational global capitalism that has brought our Mother Earth to the brink of ecological collapse. Sure, there have been other stressors in human history, but nothing in our past compares with the wholesale threats that have emerged as a result of this most powerful and destructive of empires. Resource wars are fought to open up land, minerals, oil and water to private access and development with little if any concern for ecosystems or the communities that live in them. The one-two punch of global capitalism and the war machine that protects and advances it are killing us all. While we support all meaningful reforms and broad demands for climate justice, we believe that no solution will be durable that does not include a worldwide effort to dismantle Empire. We also believe that we are running out of time by the seconds. It’s not just wild eyed radicals and religious fundamentalists that are saying “the end is coming soon”. Some of the most sobering pronouncements and predictions are coming from quite mainstream voices.

Tar Sands, Trade Rules And Gutting Human Rights For Corporate Profit

August 22, 2014 Patrick Tsai, www.iatp.org Educate! Canada, Corporatism, Free Trade Agreements, Tar Sands

A new report released today from IATP takes an in-depth look at how tar sands have developed from an unconventional, inefficient energy source to the spotlight of the corporate agenda as conventional oil supplies dwindle. Tar Sands: How Trade Rules Surrender Sovereignty and Extend Corporate Rights follows the development of energy policy from NAFTA up to current free trade negotiations to illustrate that while energy sources evolve, one trend remains constant: The protection of corporate profits at the expense of human rights, sovereignty and the environment. With new free trade agreements in negotiation, the time for action is here: The public needs a seat at the negotiating table. The Washington Post’s disclosure last month of yet another leaked EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiating document on Energy and Raw Materials (ERM) brings to light the overwhelming emphasis placed on dismantling the United States’ ability to govern its own energy resources. Pressure to repeal the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), due to new-found U.S. energy reserves through hydraulic fracturing, stands as most controversial to environmentalist and anti-globalist. Instituted in 1975 in response to the 1973 OPEC oil crisis, the EPCA ensures domestic supply of oil by preventing U.S.-produced crude oil from being exported to foreign countries.

October: Protest The ‘Wall Street Of Food’

August 17, 2014 Frank Cordaro, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Corporatism, Food and Agriculture

"The World Food Prize is for us in Iowa, what Wall Street is for the Occupy movement in NYC. The very same corporate/financial elites that run Wall Street are the same corporate/financial elites that own the World Food Prize and control the world food supply. " Frank Cordaro -June 2012 We want to invite you to come to Des Moines and join us and many others in a two day Occupation of the World Food Prize. Spend a few minutes on this web page and you will understand why this prize needs to be occupied!) Using our experience form the 2012 Occupy the IA Caucus campaign, for the third year in a row we hope to direct the public discourse about our Global World Food System through the use of direct action & nonviolent civil disobedience.

Weapons Industry Backed Militarization Of Police By Congress

August 16, 2014 Donny Shaw, www.maplight.org Educate! ACLU, Corporatism, Militarization, Police

Local law enforcement around the country has become more heavily armed through partnerships with the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. One of the key programs, the 1033 Program, allows the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) under the Department of Defense to transfer military equipment to civilian police. In June, the House of Representatives voted on an amendment from Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) that sought to partially defund the 1033 Program. The amendment failed on a bipartisan vote of 62-355. Representatives voting to continue funding the 1033 Program have received, on average, 73 percent more money from the defense industry than representatives voting to defund it. Fifty-nine representatives received more than $100,000 from the defense industry from January 1, 2011 - December 31, 2013. Of those only four supported defunding the 1033 Program. As the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) noted in a recent report, "it appears that the DLA can simply purchase property from an equipment or weapons manufacturer and transfer it to a local law enforcement agency free of charge." The ACLU states that 36 percent of the equipment transferred under the program is brand new (pg. 26).

Truths And Falsehoods About Ralph Nader’s New Book

August 14, 2014 Bruce E. Levine, www.truth-out.org Strategize! Corporatism, Politics, Ralph Nader

Have progressives made a mistake of lumping all conservatives together and fueling their political energies into hating them? Or are there what Ralph Nader calls "anti-corporatist conservatives," who loathe undeclared, endless wars as much as progressives? And should progressives seek alliances with these anti-corporatist conservatives to oppose unnecessary wars, corporate welfare, NSA violations of our privacy, and many other issues where there is what Nader calls "convergence?" Earlier this year, AlterNet published a C.J. Werleman review of Ralph Nader's new book Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State (Nation Books, 2014), that paints Nader as having lost either his mind or soul and become a dull-witted lackey for the Koch brothers. Yet, Nader's book is endorsed by Robert Reich, Cornell West, and other critical-thinkers on the left (along with conservatives opposing corporate cronyism). Whom should we trust? Before Werleman begins his condemnation of Unstoppable, he assures us, "I like Ralph Nader. I like his politics and I like the causes he has championed," and he lists some of Nader's accomplishments, including auto and highway safety laws, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Fracked: The Self-Implosion Of An Industry On The Ropes

August 14, 2014 Adam Briggle, www.truth-out.org Organize! Corporatism, Fracking, Texas

Fracking is the only industrial activity in the city of Denton, Texas that is allowed in residential areas (sometimes less than 200 feet from homes). Not even bakeries are allowed there. Fracking is also the only industry allowed to emit non-disclosed chemicals into the environment. That's why I am helping to lead Frack Free Denton, a citizens' initiative that takes the oh-so-radical step of prohibiting the most toxic, under-regulated and secretive industry from operating the closest to places where children live and play. Normally, this would be the stuff of sane and rational, even boring, adjustments to the city code. But because we are talking about the natural gas industry, lots of rich and powerful folks are tarring us as extremists. One driller said that Denton residents were on a terrorist watch list. The head of the Texas Railroad Commission, a man who is funded by the very industry he supposedly oversees, insinuated that Russia is behind Denton's proposed ban. Frackers regularly buy full-page ads in the local paper accusing us of being unpatriotic fools. They've also carpet bombed social media with ads suggesting we'd run out of lacrosse sticks if we didn't allow fracking in our neighborhoods.

Bad Honeywell: Call To Boycott And Divest

August 13, 2014 David Swanson, www.davidswanson.org Resist! Corporatism, Drones, Wars and Militarism

Honeywell International Inc., through its manufacturing of the engine and certain navigational, guidance and targeting equipment for the MQ-9 Reaper drone, is deeply complicit in, and profits from, United States drone surveillance and drone attacks that have resulted in the deaths of a total of more than 4,000 children, women and men in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somali and the Philippines. These killings are war crimes because they violate provisions of international law that require commitment to due process, the protection of life and rights to privacy, freedom of assembly and freedom of association, among other obligations. They also violate the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. War Crimes Act in a variety of ways, including violating prohibitions again assassination. They also violate the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), to which the United States is a signatory.

Protest Outside Ralph Lauren Shareholders Meeting

August 8, 2014 Brian Finnegan, www.broadcastunionnews.blogspot.com Resist! Corporatism, Labor, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Protesters gathered today in front of the St. Regis Hotel in New York City to call on Ralph Lauren to sign onto theAccord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh to improve workplace safety for garment workers. The protest preceded Ralph Lauren’s annual shareholders meeting where the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund (its investments) had a proposal on the ballot related to human rights reporting. At today’s shareholder meeting, Nazma Akter, president of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation, representing 70,000 workers, spoke to the protesters and called on Ralph Lauren join with more than 180 brands that have agreed to participate in the Accord. The Accord is a binding and enforceable agreement that represents a new model in supply chain accountability and risk management. Other programs to audit and monitor for workers' safety follow the same model that has failed the hundreds of workers who have died in preventable garment factory fires and building collapses over the past 20 years.

First Nations Will Block Nuclear Dump

August 7, 2014 Thomas Walkom, www.thestar.com Educate! Corporatism, Environment, First Nations, Nuclear Waste

Ontario’s plan to bury nuclear waste beside Lake Huron is running into heavy weather. Ontario Power Generation, the Crown corporation behind the proposed dump site for low and intermediate level radioactive waste has publicly acknowledged that its long-term safety plans are based, in part, on new technologies that have not yet been invented. As the Star’s John Spears reported this week, that explanation hasn’t endeared itself to the small but politically important aboriginal communities near the proposed Kincardine dump site. In a brief to the federal review panel that will eventually rule on the plan, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation reminds OPG of its assurance that no nuclear waste dump will be built without aboriginal consent. Will that consent be given? The First Nation doesn’t say. But in its brief, it does express profound unease with what it calls OPG’s vague and open-ended scheme. Plans for this so-called deep geological repository at Kincardine have been in the works since 2005. Initially, the proposed dump was supposed to house waste such as the rubber gloves used by nuclear workers — items with relatively low levels of radioactivity.

Corporate Victory Will ‘Screw’ Local Farmers As Amendment Passes In Missouri

August 7, 2014 Deirdre Fulton, www.commondreams.org Educate! ALEC, Animal Rights, Corporatism, Food and Agriculture, Law, Missouri

Agribusiness giants scored a victory in Missouri on Tuesday when voters narrowly approved a corporate-backed state constitutional amendment that critics say will threaten animal rights, remove checks and balances around food safety, and make it more difficult to regulate industrial farming practices. The ballot question, which was supported by big-ag players like Monsanto and Cargill, asked: "Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to ensure that the right of Missouri citizens to engage in agricultural and ranching practices shall not be infringed?" With all precincts reporting, the measure passed 498,751 to 496,223 — a margin of just 2,528 votes, or less than one percentage point. This makes Missouri the second state in the nation, after North Dakota, to adopt such a provision. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been promoting similar legislation in state capitols for almost two decades. While supporters of the so-called "Right to Farm" amendment described it as "a way for us to push back a little bit" against environmental groups and animal welfare organizations, opponents said it would open the door for foreign-owned factory farming in Missouri and "strip most local governments of their ability to stop foreign companies from polluting and contaminating our land."

Emanuel Funds Corporations; Cuts Schools & Pensions

August 6, 2014 David Sirota, www.ibtimes.com Educate! Budget, Chicago, Corporatism, Education

Months after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said budget constraints forced him to push for pension cuts and mass school closures, an analysis of government documents reveals the city has $1.71 billion in special accounts often used to finance corporate subsidies. While the Emanuel administration has rejected open records requests for details of the subsidies, evidence suggests at least some of them have flowed to companies connected to Emanuel’s campaign donors. The analysis conducted by the TIF Illumination Project evaluated the city’s 151 tax increment financing, or TIF, districts, which divert a share of property taxes out of accounts obligated to schools and into special accounts under the mayor’s control. The report shows $412 million was diverted last year alone into the TIF accounts and out of traditional property tax funding streams, many of which are dedicated to the city's schools. In 21 of those districts, the report says 90 percent or more of all property taxes were diverted into the TIF accounts. Citing Chicago subsidies offered to S&C Electric Co., LaSalle Street Capital, United Airlines and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, an earlier study from the taxpayer watchdog group Good Jobs First found in the last 25 years, $5.5 billion of taxpayer money has gone into TIF accounts, and “much of the city’s TIF revenue was spent on subsidizing corporations, nonprofits and developers.”

For Palestinians, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

August 4, 2014 Dennis Trainor Jr, www.PopularResistance.org Resistance Report Barack Obama, Corporatism, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Democracy, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Wars and Militarism

In this clip from the full-length Acronym TV program, Gaza Solidarity Grows as Israel Continues Massacre (http://bit.ly/1ALhy5l) Kash Nikazmrad, an organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine, discusses the current siege on Gaza with host Dennis Trainor, Jr. Nikazmrad echoed the statement issued by Palestinian civil society organizations (http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-orgs-justice-delayed-justice-denied/992) on 3 October 2009, which reads in part: “Justice delayed is justice denied. All victims have a legitimate right to an effective judicial remedy, and the equal protection of the law. These rights are universal: they are not subject to political considerations. In the nine months since Operation Cast Lead, no effective judicial investigations have been conducted into the conflict. Impunity prevails. In such situations, international law demands recourse to international judicial mechanisms. Victims’ rights must be upheld. Those responsible must be held to account.

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