social revolution – Page 55

Major Food Companies Sued Over Addictive Ultra-Processed Foods Targeting Children

by Palm Oil Detectives on 14th Jan 25 via thefreeonline at https://wp.me/pIJl9-FzY Telegram https://t.me/thefreeonline

. The suit alleges that these practices have led to serious childhood health issues, such as Type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

A landmark lawsuit filed in Philadelphia names major food companies:

Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Post Holdings, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé, Kellogg’s, Mars, and ConAgra and accuses them of designing and marketing ultra-processed foods (UPFs) with addictive qualities, particularly targeting children.

The case and its repercussions echo sinister marketing tactics employed by Big Tobacco in decades past. In a similar way it is alleged, global food giants manipulate consumers with misleading health claims and aggressive marketing. A large body of research shows that cutting UPFs could save millions of lives, while palm oil’s role in deforestation and biodiversity loss compounds the crisis. It’s time to reject harmful foods and demand accountability. Choose wholefoods, protect wildlife, and fight for a healthier planet. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife every time you shop.

In a groundbreaking legal action, some of the world’s largest food and beverage corporations are facing allegations of deliberately engineering ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to be addictive, with a specific focus on marketing these products to children. The lawsuit, filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, names companies including Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Post Holdings, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé, Kellogg’s, Mars, and ConAgra.

The 148-page complaint drawing unsettling parallels with insidious strategies employed by the tobacco industry, asserts that these companies have employed strategies reminiscent of those used by tobacco giants, utilising research on addiction to create hyper-palatable food products that are difficult to resist. This approach is alleged to have contributed to a rise in serious health conditions among children, notably Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease—ailments that were once rare in this age group.

The plaintiff, represented by the law firm Morgan & Morgan, contends that the defendants have prioritised profit over public health, leading to a public health crisis characterised by increased rates of chronic diseases linked to diet. The lawsuit seeks to hold these corporations accountable for their role in promoting and distributing products that may pose significant health risks to consumers, particularly vulnerable populations like children.

This case underscores the growing scrutiny of ultra-processed foods and their impact on health, especially among younger demographics. It raises critical questions about corporate responsibility, marketing ethics, and the need for greater transparency in the food industry.

The compliant alleges that these tactics originate from a time when tobacco giants acquired and operated major food brands, using the same addiction research once employed to hook smokers on cigarettes. This same research was subsequently applied to make ultra-processed foods tasty and irresistible to children.

CEO want us to work weekends without overtime and tells his colleagues—who earn 535 times less than him!

The breathtaking combination of patriarchal condescension and capitalist exploitation would make the zamindars of feudal India blush. BUT DONT WE ASK THE SAME FROM OUR COOKS AND CLEANERS!?!?

from Theprint.in/by Karanjeet Kaur via thefreeonline at https://wp.me/pIJl9-FzW Telegram https://t.me/thefreeonline

We are back to that time of the year when a man who earns Rs 51 crore tells the rest of us that we need to work harder.

At least once a quarter, India’s business leaders poke their heads out of their luxurious offices, and scold us into believing that a 40-hour work week represents the very pinnacle of laziness.

This time, it was the turn of the chairman of L&T, SN Subrahmanyan, to tell his colleagues—who earn 535 times less than him—that they need to work 90-hour weeks.

On an internal call that was later made public, Subrahmanyan also wondered aloud what people do with their time at home.

“How long can you stare at your wife or husband?” he asked, because apparently, the purpose of human existence is to generate quarterly profits for shareholders.

The breathtaking combination of patriarchal condescension and capitalist exploitation would make the zamindars of feudal India blush.

Naturally, corporate India’s workforce – already stretched thin between endless Teams meetings and “Do you have time to jump on a quick call” messages – responded with the derision these comments deserved.

The internet turned Subrahmanyan’s words into memes faster than you can say “toxic work culture”.

India’s most respected business leaders and start-up founders have made a habit of displaying just how deeply disconnected they are from the realities of working people’s lives.

Subrahmanyan is hardly the only culprit. Just months ago, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy prescribed a 70-hour work week as the cure for India’s productivity challenges.

While the rest of India ridiculed that view, Murthy drew support from Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of Ola, who labelled work-life balance a western concept.

Here’s what I find most fascinating about these periodic sermons from India’s business elite.

Not once do they mention overtime pay for these extra hours.

Not once do they discuss additional benefits or support systems for workers who are expected to sacrifice their personal lives at the altar of corporate growth.

Instead, they wrap their demands in the flag of patriotism, speaking of “India’s decade” and “nation building” as if working people into the ground is somehow serving the country.

The outrage that we’re witnessing from India’s professional class is entirely justified.

A 90-hour work week is a blueprint for collective burnout packaged as ambition.

Overnight, dozens of people are speaking the language of Marxism. Still, this moment of solidarity and empathy among urban professionals goes only as far as a corporate boardroom.

It does not extend to our homes, and the workers who toil to run it for us….

DONT WE ASK THE SAME FROM OUR COOKS AND CLEANERS!?!?

https://theprint.in/opinion/ceos-want-us-to-work-weekends-without-overtime-dont-we-ask-the-same-of-our-cooks-cleaners/2443708/

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JYOTI PUNWANI: How 5 Reliance Workers Fighting For A Better Deal Found Themselves In Jail On Terrorism Charges

Strike-breaking or the Refusal of Subalternity? Ethnicity, Class & Gender in Chota Nagpur: The Tatanagar Foundry Strike of 1939

Alessandra Mezzadri: Informal labour, the majority world and the need for inclusive theories and politics

Aryaman Jain, Irina Cheema – Farmers’ Movement in India: A Moment for Collective Introspection / Gallery: One Year of Kisan Andolan

In a Delhi heat ward, two workers fight a lonely battle for life

Too ill to work, too poor to get better: how debt traps families working at India’s kilns

Democracy and workers’ movements – stories from Jamshedpur

1938: the year Indian workers fought for themselves

Unworkable: Swapping Palestinian workers with Indians

Redefining the American Working Class. Shamira Ibrahim

Sudha Bhardwaj: Seventy-Five Years Since Independence, Industrial Working Class Still Struggles for Rights

Frequent gas accidents threatens safety of Chinese workers

DAILY DOSE: Severe winds worsen Southern California fire risks

Truth-Free US media makes NO CONNECTION between latest WORST EVER climate chaos report and Los Angeles INCINERATION – instead blaming ‘WOKE LEFTIES’

from the DAILY DOSE 0n 14/01/25 via thefreeonline at https://wp.me/pIJl9-FzV Telegram https://t.me/thefreeonline

Severe winds increase fire risks in Southern California, exacerbating an already devastating fire season with significant casualties and damages reported.

DAILY DOSE: Severe winds worsen Southern California fire risks;

Tuesday’s forecast predicts wind gusts up to 70 mph, with the National Weather Service warning of explosive fire growth in Los Angeles and Ventura counties

Recent fires, including the Palisades and Eaton fires, have already killed at least 24 people, displaced over 100,000, and destroyed entire neighborhoods.

The Palisades fire, covering over 23,000 acres, is only 14% contained, and the Eaton fire has killed 16 people and consumed over 14,000 acres.

New fires, like the Auto fire in Ventura County, have rapidly spread. The power outages aimed at preventing fires have affected over 60,000 customers.

Meanwhile, the fires have worsened Los Angeles’ housing crisis, prompting emergency measures to fast-track rebuilding and temporary housing.

Some lawsuits have been filed against Southern California Edison, accusing the company’s equipment of sparking the Eaton fire. (New York Swines)

Has Israel been dragged to the negotiating table to deal with Hamas?

After failing to destroy its opponent anywhere in Gaza, and instead murdering art least 100,000 innocents, has Israel been dragged to the negotiating table to deal with Hamas?

from Vox Political on 14/01/25 via hthefreeonline at https://wp.me/pIJl9-FzU Telegram https://t.me/thefreeonline

It seems possible that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been presented with a fait accompli.

Hamas operatives have been cropping up in north Gaza – a place Israel has been trying to ethnically cleanse for months – to fire missiles Israel didn’t know they had into Israeli territory, past the so-called “Iron Dome” defence screen that was supposed to have been created specifically to shoot down these weapons.

IDF killing of 80-year-old grandmother likely a ‘war crime’ – UN envoy (VIDEO).

Israel’s policy of indiscriminately murdering Gazan men, women and children seems to have backfired badly, creating a huge recruitment pool for Hamas. It’s the cycle of international destruction in microcosm:

First, a group of extremists is targeted by ‘allies’ of western powers.

Civilians die.

Those who are left become angry at the destruction of their friends and relatives’ lives – and their own.

They become radicalised and join the extremist group in order to strike back.

Isn’t that what we’ve seen here?

And now Hamas has called for a ceasefire, putting to the side all the sticking-points that Israel has previously said meant it couldn’t happen.

So now Netanyahu is allegedly scrabbling around for an excuse not to do it, because his government’s supporters have said they will abandon him if he does not continue the attempted purge of the Palestinian territory in order to hand it over to settle-colonial invaders.

This would once again underline the claim that Netanyahu has never intended to rescue any hostages or have them returned via negotiation, which will look bad among the western countries that have backed Israel.

So the optics are terrible, as far as he is concerned.

Sadly, history indicates that this won’t make much difference to the tyrant of Tel Aviv.

Protesters urge Poland to arrest Netanyahu for Genocide as he Hypocritically visits Auschwitz – The Free,

Oh, but Donald Trump has said he wants peace in Gaza before he is sworn in as US President on January 20. That should concentrate everybody’s minds wonderfully.

Here’s a video clip by Damo that puts everything in perspective for you:

Amid increasing ceasefire talks, today marks the 466th day of the Israeli genocide against Gaza.

https://t.me/almayadeenenglish

The Israeli occupation forces committed four massacres against Palestinian families in Gaza, killing 61 Palestinians and injuring 281 others who were transported to hospitals over the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave.

This brings the total number of Palestinians killed by “Israel” in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 46,645 martyrs alongside 110,012 others wounded, the Ministry confirmed.

The Power of Having Diverse Anarchisms – Building Alternatives Outside Neoliberal Globalization (2025) –

by Sonia Muñoz Llort and Nerd Teacher from Morethanthisandthat on January 10, 2025 via thefreeonline at https://wp.me/pIJl9-Fwt .

Introduction – A little bit of context–

Rationale: Persistent frustrations
Organizing within our movements: Building mutual care, accountability, and collective responsibility
Collaboration in diversity: The strength of heterogeneity
Resisting the triple supremacy of globalized capitalism: intergovernmental organizations, corporations, and international alliances
Conclusion

*********

It goes without saying, but it seems like almost every individual and collective we interact with has trouble with self-organization and mutual support.

Almost every conversation we have with the people we interact with brings up the same problems. We hear complaints from groups who prefer to focus on “increasing numbers” even as they dedicate themselves to supporting and defending abusers and bigots within their ranks, further ousting people.

We hear complaints of exclusionary behavior from groups or organizers who completely ignore almost any degree of accessibility and often refuse to do what is necessary to maintain a healthy environment.

We continue to see people trying to create hierarchies of inclusion that they claim are the result of “not having enough resources” to do it all and having to focus only on the “most important” actions.

Especifismo: The Anarchist Praxis of Building Popular Movements

This isn’t to say that everyone is struggling in exactly the same way, because there are quite a few nuances and contexts in our various regionalities, but there certainly seems to be an immense amount of overlap.

So when we talk to people, we often realize how exhausted they seem to be and how unbearably tired everyone is.

It’s also really hard not to notice, in our own experiences, how many people seem to think they have no responsibility to others, especially when most people’s complaints seem to be very similar and are treated as nothing more than a broken record when they keep pointing out problems that haven’t been addressed.

We don’t understand this attitude. If there are problems, why is there such a desire to sweep them under the rug or ignore them until something changes for the better?

We say this now because, as we’ve listened to so many others and engaged or reflected on our own collectives and groups, we’ve noticed another common theme: Many people have really lost faith in those around them, and often feel that those people and groups who claim to support them would never actually do so when the need arises.

It also seems that many are tired of the lack of community and constantly feel like there’s nowhere they truly belong. Not only have they had to struggle to find a place to belong, but they have found that the few organisations and collectives they have been able to find are either completely unequipped or unwilling to support them and everyone else.

This can be seen in the sudden dissolution of many of the online communities that sprang up during the COVID lockdown, which fell apart almost as quickly as they were created.

Very little was done to ensure these connections were maintained once everything returned to ‘normal’, especially in regards to those who have been unable to be physically present for whatever reason.

Perhaps – although this is said with a glimmer of hope for a better explanation for the dissipation of our organisational and community spaces – most of the people who had previously collaborated with others online are now busy participating in local movements offline.

Perhaps, we hope, collectives are doing more to build and support their local communities.

Because if we look at online spaces, almost all of the spaces we had created have crumbled and refocused on offline spaces and activities, leaving many of the most vulnerable in even more lonely, alienated, and precarious positions.

We have been left scrambling to find remnants of the communities we had before the pandemic began, but we have also been left watching our online communities gradually deteriorate in favor of things that feel “more real,” because many of us have never truly shifted our understanding that online spaces are not a substitute for offline ones, but are in fact part of the same realities and should support each other.

So we still have to ask ourselves if they are doing what they can to to meet the needs of everyone, rather than just offering empty platitudes and half-baked excuses..

It’s hard to know. We can only really speak from our own experiences in the spaces we inhabit, seeing how they have seen their participation dwindle due to their unwillingness to ensure the safety of the people they claim to support.

We’ve seen people proudly proclaim that they are part of a particular collective and trumpet their position within it, knowing full well that they have done very little within it – or in some cases supported causes antithetical to the aims of their collective – and are only using the name to try to bolster themselves and their reputation among others.

They want to build their own version of some kind of “anarchist” credentials, adding every interaction to their activist resume.

We also feel that the spaces we have are totally atomized and often alienated, both from the place around us and from broader movements.

Sometimes it is because others refuse to engage with certain ideas because some element of them would upset the status quo they enjoy. For us, this has been clearest in regards to marginalized anarchisms, especially anarcha-feminism and queer and trans anarchisms.

It has also been brutally obvious whenever we have mentioned anything related to the abolition of school and academia or when we have clearly stated that we should support and encourage youth liberation.

We have seen the co-optation of non-white anarchisms (by people who refuse to reflect on their own whiteness) and non-Western anarchisms (by people who think it is logically consistent to support certain imperialist states over others).

The many anarchisms of the marginalized are continually used as tools and weapons by those who, even if they deny it, maintain support for the very hierarchies we seek to dismantle. It is clear that there are problems that we desperately need to address.

Anarchist Agitation & Community Building | The Anarchist Library

To top it off, we see groups who are virtually paralyzed by fear in this highly-surveilled world where we are in the crosshairs of the increasingly fascist and authoritarian governments that thrive around us.