Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

Few days ago, we went to the post office to visit our postmaster (who will be retiring in a year) and post some letters to friends. And because we were quite hungry, we decided to have lunch in he canteen.

I always dread eating out because good affordable food (nutritious and real food - that is real vegetables, meat, fruit drinks, etc., rather than processed foods or meals pumped with artificial flavors and seasoning) is becoming harder and harder to find.

It wasn’t easy getting anything to drink either, since I’ve been trying to avoid bottled water and the customary filtered tap water or water fountains are no longer available. Maybe next time, we should bring our own water …

So we ended up eating artificially spiced food and drinking something called “Fit and Right.” The drinks were Del Monte company products and supposedly has L-Carnitine that help the body burn fats. Oops! I thought, that would be the last thing I need.

I decided to keep the plastic bottles to check the chemical ingredients out on the Internet. We passed by my mom’s house and there was Alwin with a new trick up his sleeve.

Alwin now has this new “recycled shop” where he sells products made from junk. He showed me a price list of products in the shop and said that if I bring my own junk I can get 5 pesos discount.

Since I was carrying two plastic bottles, I easily qualified to being Alwin’s first victim. And Trevor the second: I asked Trevor if he could give Alwin 30 pesos for the two plastic bottles that Alwin will transform into tanks.

It will take at least 2-3 days for the tanks to be finished, Alwin said, but that evening, he rang up and said the tanks are now ready.

So we picked up the tanks and here they are.

Not bad, I thought. One of them even had front wheel suspension.

Anyway, I will check out the Del Monte’s “Fit and Right” ingredients shortly. The product recommends drinking three times a day, and that together with good food and exercise, one is bound to become “fit and right.”

I guess if one really had good food and adequate exercise then a bit of chemicals from junk like “Fit and Right” shouldn’t do too much damage, whilst keeping the huge multinational company fit and wealthy!

http://www.korakora.org/node/38
Dear Joel Tenenbaum,

My name is Fatima Lasay, artist from the Philippines.

Reading about the transformation of your life under this trial brought about by the American legal system and the American recording industry, I am reminded of the history of the transformation of life in the Philippines brought about by American expansion in the late 19th century.

It seems far fetched, but your account makes me think that Expansionist Corporate America is now fiercely colonizing its own people.

For example, imperial America engaged in a massive re-education (i.e. indoctrination) campaign in the Philippines upon occupation. The present copyright regime has a strong indoctrination agenda in Asia, and I’m sure in your country as well.

Another example, is when US Senator Albert Beveride was strongly advocating the use of the rod in bending our people to the will of Expansionism. This resulted in the massacre of close to a million Filipinos and the deployment of 126,000 US troops. Copyright enforcement and its attendant processes of intimidation, searches and seizure, and other threats is getting closer and closer to grave violence. In many other countries, lives have already been ruined or lost while escaping police enforcement of copyright. If many of the 40,000 people in the US being sued have no other choice but to settle to escape such violence, then it seems true what China says about America, that it is a “money democracy.” Where commercial lobbying is so powerful in US Congress, then laws are enacted on the basis of profit, and not social justice. This is evident in the numerous injustices faced by the American people - racism, poverty and an incapacitated health care system.

Here (http://korakora.org/sites/default/files/citizen-or-subject.jpg) is an interesting illustration by Horace Taylor printed in an American publication called “The Verdict.” I assume this was published during the Philippine-American War at the end of the 19th century. It is called “Citizen or Subject.” It shows the Statue of Liberty who has walked down into the sea from her pedestal. She holds in her right hand an image of a Filipino inside a folded American flag. The sign behind her says, “65,000 dying troops in the Philippines is a business investment.” The illustration’s caption reads. “Citizen or Subject - Which? Do I represent the idea of popular government to 10 million of these, or am I simply a trademark for goods of American trust manufacture?”

Perhaps now you can put the American people inside that folded flag, and Lady Liberty can ask the same question.

Ironically, your country’s Rep. Wexler said at the CISAC World Copyright Summit this year: “The creativity and innovation that have transformed the United States and enhanced our standard of living should stand as MODELS for nations still in transition to healthy and resilient modern economies. Everyone here knows that intellectual property is the backbone of global economic competitiveness.”

As they say, what goes around comes around?

Although you may perhaps be fighting a legal battle on the basis of copyright law, I think that the fight is a greater fight for change. As an artist, I know that copyright makes no sense in truly creative work, and I believe that copyright law has to go away - like the laws of slavery and imperial expansion.

I truly wish you and your legal team the best. I also hope that the 39,999 others, and Courtney Loves and Trent Reznors in your country stand up with you and against “benevolent assimilation.”

In solidarity,
Fatima Lasay
Quezon City, Philippines
http://www.korakora.org/

For the folks out there who are still patronizing Coca-Cola products, apart from health reasons, below are more reasons why you should stop.

Pass on.

CBS, “Bottled H2O Backlash,” July 8, 2009
Millions of Americans prefer bottled water over tap. But, as Kelly Wallace reports, a new congressional report indicates there is little evidence as to what is actually inside those bottles.
See Video

Notebook: Bottled Water, July 8, 2009
Katie Couric questions how much Americans know about the bottled water they drink. Researchers say tap water is often as good as the water that costs two dollars.
Watch video

Courier Leader [Michigan], “Brockovich representative declares action has started against Coca-Cola,” By Deborah Klinger, July 6, 2009
Read Article
” Paw Paw residents experiencing well water contamination are moving forward with a lawsuit against Coca-Cola North America. Robert Bowcock, chief investigator for environmental crusader Erin Brockovich, held his second town hall meeting in Paw Paw Monday night. Bowcock, stepping in for Brockovich, whose scheduled appearance was canceled due to illness, announced that the Brockovich group now represents people from the area. He said that with the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C., of New York, they would be filing suit against Coca-Cola for groundwater contamination. The contamination is allegedly caused from the spraying of juice waste on fields located behind the Paw Paw facility. Juice waste sprayed on fields in large quantities can strip metals from the soil and make them soluble in groundwater.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “A look at Coke around globe: ‘Devil’ takes readers on worldwide journey.Author chronicles how PR powerhouse ignores victims of its practices.” By Gina Webb, June 28, 2009
Read Article
“Do things always go better with Coke? Not necessarily. Colombia, El Salvador, Turkey and India are some of the places where British comedian and political activist Mark Thomas traveled ‘to find the reality behind the PR image of the world’s most famous brand, Coca-Cola’ —- a harsh reality that formed the basis for his book ‘Belching Out the Devil…’

“What Thomas discovers is shocking: According to workers and human rights organizations, Sinaltrainal, after more than a decade of union-busting attacks and intimidation by paramilitaries allegedly hired by the Coca-Cola plants, is struggling to survive.”

Newsweek, “We Read It So You Don’t Have To: ‘Belching Out The Devil’, ” June 6, 2009
Read article
“…he writes, the iconic white-and-red ribbon is a slick PR blindfold for child labor, union crackdowns and even violence, all to protect cash flow and the supply chain…The company, Thomas contends, looked the other way as some bottlers in Colombia and elsewhere intimidated and attacked union organizers, who ‘walk with a gravestone’ on their backs. Pressured to audit Colombian plants in 2005, Coke helpfully noted a substandard number of fire extinguishers at one, but didn’t address the charges.”
Buy Book from Amazon or Powells

The Coca-Cola Co. Pays Big Bucks for Another Award

Advertising Age, “Ad Council to Honor Coca-Cola Chief: Muhtar Kent to Receive 56th Annual Public Service Award”
“The Ad Council has selected Muhtar Kent, chairman-CEO of Coca-Cola Co., to receive its 56th annual Public Service Award. The award will be presented at the Ad Council’s annual dinner Nov. 18 in New York.”
Read Article

Each time Coca-Cola receives an award, a bit of research shows that a Coke executive is on the board of the company giving the award or Coke is a large contributor to the company. In the case of the Ad council, Coke is listed as a member of the company’s President’s Circle, contributors of more than $150,000.
Check list of contributors

Associated Press, “Venezuela: Coca-Cola Zero has harmful sweetener,” By Fabiola Sanchez, June 12, 2009
Read article
“Venezuela’s Health Ministry said Friday it banned sales of Coca-Cola Zero because the company failed to declare that the no-calorie soft drink uses an artificial sweetener allegedly harmful to health. Health officials said tests show the cola contains sodium cyclamate. Coca-Cola Co. disputes that, saying the product sold in Venezuela uses different artificial sweeteners, Acesulfame-K and Aspartame. (see below re: aspartame)”

Financial Times, “Venezuela bans Coke Zero, citing ‘harmful’ ingredients,” By Benedict Mander in Caracas, June 11, 2009
Read Article
“Health minister Jesus Mantilla said the zero-calorie drink ’should be withdrawn from circulation to preserve the health of Venezuelans,’ while the government investigated its ingredients which it said could be ‘harmful’.”

Coke has used sodium cyclamate in its drinks in some parts of the world. While not allowed to use it in the U.S., the company was using the artificial sweetener in Mexico until about a year ago. However, replacing cyclamates with aspartame is not a solution (see the piece by Betty Martini below).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “ZERO TO ZERO IN MEXICO: Same name, new sweetener: After protest, Coke publicly dumps cyclamates,” By Jeremy Schwartz, March 13, 2008
Read Article
“Coca-Cola has reformulated the Mexican version of Coke Zero, removing a controversial artificial sweetener that is banned in the U.S. and caused an outcry from consumer advocates in Mexico.

“The company said the change will give the diet drink a taste closer to that of Coca-Cola Classic and had nothing to do with concerns over sodium cyclamate [the usual Coke Co. denial], a sweetener banned in the U.S. 39 years ago by the Food and Drug Administration after lab findings suggested it posed a cancer risk.”

“Coke’s Aspartame Campaign to Bring You Pain – Gets Award,” By Dr. Betty Martini
Read Article
“…That word is aspartame, and [Coke’s] only recourse is denial, denial, denial, though every ad and commercial builds higher the scaffold upon which Coke shall surely hang. Reality is in that twisted Diet Coke can. It’s poison. It’s killing the unborn, raining tumors and seizures on the population, destroying children, incapacitating workers, mimicking MS, erasing memory and blinding. Inexorably Diet Coke visits a plague of 92 symptoms listed by our FDA on a secret report they’ll never show that names diet soda as the top cause of aspartame disease. And yes, Death was one of the 92.

“Diet Coke is poison! And it’s addictive; some victims drink several liters a day and keep it on their nightstands. If Coke changes the formula to remove aspartame the world will heal and the surge of hatred and vengeance by the disabled and bereaved shall certainly destroy Coca Cola.

“The poison in Diet Coke is aspartame. As a member of the National Soft Drink Association, Coke opposed FDA approval of aspartame for beverages. Their objections, running to several pages published in the Congressional record of 5/7/85, said aspartame is uniquely and inherently unstable and breaks down in the can. It decomposes into formaldehyde, methyl alcohol, formic acid, diketopiperazine and other toxins. In a test on 7 monkeys 5 had grand mal seizures and one died, a casualty rate of 86%.

“Coke knew; and knowing, broke their good faith contract with customers, a breach shown by their English plot to program vending machines to kite the price with the temperature. Dissatisfied with selling flavored sugar water plus phosphoric acid, they switched to pushing an addictive formula called “Diet”. Addiction multiplies consumption, so Diet Coke soared off the sales charts, spreading obesity. We’re fatter because aspartame suppresses serotonin and makes us crave carbohydrates.”

The New York Times, “[New York] State Agencies to Phase Out Use of Bottled Water,” By Sewell Chan, May 5, 2009
Read Article
“Citing both financial and environmental reasons, Gov. David A. Paterson signed an executive order on Tuesday directing state agencies to phase out the purchase and use of bottled water at government workplaces.

“The order will gradually terminate the use of state money for the purchase of single-serve water bottles and larger, cooler-sized water bottles. Each executive agency will have to provide alternative water sources, like ordinary tap water fountains and dispensers.”
NYS Gov David Patterson’s Executive Order

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, “UMass students boycott Coca-Cola: Call for end to ‘exclusive pouring rights’ contract,” By Hannah McGoldrick, May 3, 2009
Read Article
“Today, the ‘Campaign to Stop Killer Coke’ at the University of Massachusetts will be holding a boycott against all Coca-Cola products.

“The campaign at UMass is a nascent organization beginning to gain ground among students. Boone Shear, a member of the organization and an anthropology doctoral candidate at UMass, said ‘the boycott is meant as a symbolic beginning and as an informational, consciousness-raising exercise.’ ”

Momentum, “UCATS Reaffirms Coke Ban–NYU Lifts It,” By Rob Lesko, Spring 2009
Union of Clerical, Administrative & Technical Staff at NYU, Local 3882, NYSUT, AFT, AFL-CIO
Read Article
“After reviewing the ILO report, the UCATS executive council has come to the same conclusion as the advocates of the Coke ban—it does not address the murders of union activists at Coke’s bottling plants in Colombia. On March 11th, the UCATS Executive Council voted to re-affirm our 2005 resolution to boycott Coca-Cola products for our member events and we call upon our members to avoiding purchasing Coke products until further notice.”

Colleagues,

The group called “Nine Inch Nails” is coming to the Philippines for a concert. The Philippine news website Inquirer.net emailed the group’s lead Trent Reznor a few questions, published on the Inquirer website. What Reznor thinks of record label CEOs is an eye-opener for the public that is heavily being bombarded via “intellectual property rights” (and anti-”piracy”) campaigns that copyright benefits the artists. In reality, copyright is power by a handful of big media giants over the distribution of creative work done by artists. Copyright is power by a few media conglomerates over the artists and over the people.

Thanks to Danny E for the alert on the news article, pertinent section quoted below.

For more on the economics, politics and ideology of copyright, see http://www.copysouth.org/

Cheers!

Fatima

Q. You’ve been very vocal about the state of the record industry and how labels have been greedy about the whole business. How do you think it can be improved, if at all?

Trent Reznor: It’s a kind of Mafia-type run business .. They have systematically taken advantage of artists over the years from The Beatles onwards. You [the artists] do all the work, they loan you money to make records, then you pay them back and they own everything. To see that system collapse is an exciting thing. There isn’t a clear answer on what the right thing to do is right now, and as a musician you’re up against a pretty difficult scenario: most kids feel it’s OK to steal music, and do freely … The good news is that people are excited and interested in music …

As an artist it’s your job to capitalize on that. It means generally swallowing a bitter pill and saying, ‘Hey, people don’t want to buy music, so let me give it to you. I’ll find another way to make money but I want you on my side and hearing my music. So let’s get rid of this walled garden of having to pay to hear it, here it is, give it to your friends. Hey, try to come to our show if you can, or you can buy this T-shirt of ours if you like, and that will help us out. Or, here’s a nice version of our album that we put in a cool package for a premium price and we’re only selling a couple thousands of them.’

There are ways that you can monetize your business, but the traditional way of going to a record store and having to pay for it, those days are over. In the States, there aren’t any record stores left. The only place … is like a Best Buy where you go to buy a washing machine and there’s a tiny rack of DVDs and CDs. I think we’re in between business models right now …

I’m trying everything I can to contribute to when that next model does come up, whatever it might be, whether it’s subscriptions or whatever, where the artist is more fairly represented and has a say and is compensated, and you’re not paying for jets for record label CEOs … They’re in their last moments of death and I’m happy to see them go ’cause they’re all thieves and liars.

From this news report

PS. It’s interesting that Trent Reznor uses the term “stealing” when referring to sharing music (legally “copyright infringement”), but he does not make a moral judgment on “stealing music.” In many other places, the cultural context for sharing (and thus “stealing” and “copying”) can vary, and often sharing (as well as “stealing” and “copying”) are not seen as criminal; (the moral requirement for something to be called  “stealing” is quite high, and it is often ridiculous to steal a copy). This is especially true in places where the concept of private property either does not exist or is not important.

Hi Social networkers and ex-newspaper readers everywhere,

If the Guardian article “With friends like these …” is correct then Facebook (and perhaps other such organisations) should face very intense scrutiny from MI6 (etc.) and not be used by them (or others) even for “personal” use. See MI6 chief’s Facebook details cut

Indeed, if one wishes to seriously investigate the complexity of the problems we are now confronted with by the internet, then I can recommend an article (unfortunately in Dutch) “Nieuws for niks” (news for nothing) by Francisco van Jole in “de Volksrant” dated 27th June 2009.

The article starts off discussing the “Brinkman report” (by the Dutch ex-culture minister who promoted culture because it was “the oil that kept the export industry running”). His current report is now looking for solutions to the global demise of the (printed) news industry. The Brinkman report apparently wishes to introduce an “internet surcharge” (a bit like the BBC funding perhaps) to subsidise the (Dutch?) “print” media. According to the article, it seems that the internet model (both generally and specifically for “news”) doesn’t
really work commercially and yet the news media are being forced directly into that model, like it or not.

Basically, the few successful Internet companies parasite on the traditional news media (something that is still taboo under internet supporters). So the question (according to van Jole) is: Why can’t the internet model support a (hard) news system?

Apparently, Rupert Murdoch is (also) promoting the end of “free” internet use -which is perhaps slightly strange because 10-15 years ago he was promoting the idea that “paid” media were finished and that advertising would make everything free. Now it seems that his prediction has actually proven to be correct -however, the relevant “business model” seems entirely wrong. The reason apparently lies in the metastructure -because (nearly) all the (press) advertising has been sucked up by “free” advertising sites -which make their money through paid “banner” ads.

Indeed, at one point the journalist claims that Google’s strategy is more “colonisation” than business model (and Holland is an “advanced” country -so how much worse must it be in the less powerful “developing” countries?).

So the domain of the problem then shifts (once again). Because the essential banner ads only bring in money for very large scale (meta) sites (such as Facebook, Google, etc…). At this point, van Jole talks about the monopolisation of the internet/IT industry: One company for searching, one company for software, etc….. Apparently, even the Dutch market leader for “free” advertising (marktplaats.nl) is actually owned by US giant eBay. However, this (US) monopolisation process is clearly not limited to the internet -because almost every main street (or shopping mall) in almost every town (in almost every country -on almost every continent) is beginning to look like every other one.

Van Jole, then describes Google (in the words of Murdoch -which is perhaps itself rather ironic) as a “Digital Vampire” -because Google sucks out all the content from the traditional news media while refusing to contribute financially to the industry it relies upon. In the meantime, it (supposedly) has a 20 million turnover based on advertising. None of this is apparently ever given to those who actually produce the content that Google commercially exploits (according to van Jole).

Then we run into the flaw in the article (probably based on the above mentioned “professional blind spot”) because van Jole’s conclusion is that Google should become a giant “collecting society” for the printed media that it parasites on.

This might sound quite convincing, if the same author hadn’t just earlier written about the failure of the music and film industry (which indeed imposes and defends copyright issues so jealously worldwide) and yet is still facing decline. Apparently, the “paid” sector of the “commodified” (electronic?, digital?, broadband?) economy isn’t doing too well iether -despite the apparent early success of iTunes. (See Fatima’s post on “Nine Inch Nails”).

So, all in all, there really does seem to be something truely rotten in the metaphorical internet state of Denmark! Perhaps the Emperor really does have no cloths at all! For more insight in problems arising out of Copyright issues (the “paid” economy) in the developing world, caused by the problems of the developed world, do check out CopySouth copysouth.org . Indeed, one may suspect that the apparent need of the (US) industry to impose stringent copyright rules worldwide is actually having a disasterous effect on the industry itself (to say nothing about human culture) both in terms of financial income and creative ability.

The Internet is for all the Sharks!
Trevor Batten
July 18, 2009

I just realized that the flock of birds, the swallows, presents a beautiful picture of modern fascism. And the birds are all free:

Our Organization has the most legitimate hold on the concept of Freedom. You see, our critics and opponents need to regulate and guide the movement of their forces. We don’t need to do that. The multitude of people who know our Brand adhere to it in complete Freedom, so our staunchest supporters are those who value the most Freedom. They will never give up easily, and they will stomp down the dissidents among them, those who threaten their comfort - without our command, they will work long and hard - in total Freedom, because they fervently believe that our interests are their own.

In a number of occasions I have seen how the linking of “globalism” with “fascism” (and “imperialism”) clarify the complexity of problems that the world faces today. Perhaps it is useful to dissect this link.

How should I know if I am in the company of wolves in sheep’s clothing? Or perhaps sheep who believe they are wolves?

“Our commercial development, following the course of our territorial expansion, logically and inevitably, has expanded the vigor of our growth function internally, between the two oceans rather than externally upon either; but this inter-oceanic process having completed the subjugation of the obstacles to it, the energies of national growth became freed to operate upon new fields of activity… The extremities of the hardships to be endured, or the terrors or dangers to be confronted, do not enter into the national question of expansion at all [but rather] the outflow of national energy obeyed the laws implanted in the national organization as blindly and instinctively as do the swallows the laws of their migration.” (The Freedom, on The Philippines and Trade, in justifying US imperial expansion in the Philippines, 1898)

In my mind’s eye is the sunset reflected on the sea in Baclayon earlier this day. I have kept record of past sunsets, many of them. But not this season. The sea in the sunset rain must be quite a sight.