06 Family – Page 61 – Public Intelligence Blog

2013/01/112013/01/11

SmartPlanet: Half of All Food Wasted

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government, Idiocy

By Mark Halper | January 10, 2013

The world throws away up to half of its food according to an alarming report that blames consumers’ fussy preference for cosmetically appealing produce, supermarket promotions that encourage overbuying, and deficient storage, transportation and agricultural practices.

Between 1.2 billion and 2 billion metric tons of food – out of the 4 billion produced annually – never reaches a human stomach, the UK’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers says in Waste Not Want Not – Global Food Waste: Feeding the 9 billion.

“The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering,” says Tim Fox, IME’s head of energy and environment. “This is food that could be used to feed the world’s growing population – as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food.

“The reasons for this situation range from poor engineering and agricultural practices, inadequate transport and storage infrastructure through to supermarkets demanding cosmetically perfect foodstuffs and encouraging consumers to overbuy through buy-one-get-one-free offers.”

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2013/01/112013/01/11

SchwartzReport: Catholic Church Has One Foot in Hell

06 Family, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence

SchwartzReport: Three versions of the same story — the Catholic Church is the primary supply, demand, and permissive/dismissive force in pedophelia world-wide.

German Catholic Church Cancels Inquiry

An independent inquiry into sex abuse in the German Catholic Church was supposed to restore faith in the embattled institution. But now the Church has called it off, citing a breakdown in trust with the researchers.

(California) Catholics await release of files identifying abusive clergy

Some documents the Archdiocese must release are memos between top church officials and their attorneys, medical and psychological records, complaints from parents, and even correspondence with the Vatican about accused priests.

Vermont Catholic Church settles abuse cases

Three years after paying more than $20 million to close almost 30 priest misconduct lawsuits, Vermont’s Catholic Church settled a dozen new cases Wednesday just minutes before the first was set for trial.

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2012/11/212012/12/03

Eagle: American Diet – a Study in Self-Destruction

04 Education, 06 Family, 07 Health, 11 Society

The American Diet: Self-Destruction Never Tasted So Good

Charles Hugh Smith

oftwominds.com, 21 November 2012

The atomized and empty consumerist Status Quo is the “monster Id” behind the American diet.

I know it may appear unduly harsh to discuss America's self-destructive dietary “monster Id” right before the Thanksgiving day feasting, but when is it more appropriate?

There are a great many disconnects between reality and what Americans believe out of convenience (“no snowflake feels responsible for the avalanche”) or propaganda, but perhaps none is more visible than the disconnect between what we're collectively doing to our health with the food we consume.

The Chinese have an apt saying” “Disease comes through the mouth,” meaning disease comes from what we eat.

Continue reading “Eagle: American Diet – a Study in Self-Destruction”

2012/11/182012/11/18

SchwartzReport: Big Sugar Does a Big Tobacco — True Cost of Sugar to Society

03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 11 Society, Communities of Practice, Corruption, IO Impotency, Lessons

Does Sugar Kill? How the Sugar Industry Hid the Toxic Truth

For decades, the industry kept scientists from asking: Does sugar kill?

GARY TAUBES and CRISTIN KEARNS COUZENS – AlterNet (U.S.)

November 15, 2012 |

This article first appeared in Mother Jones Magazine. Get your magazine subscription here.

ON A BRISK SPRING Tuesday in 1976, a pair of executives from the Sugar Association stepped up to the podium of a Chicago ballroom to accept the Oscar of the public relations world, the Silver Anvil award for excellence in ” the forging of public opinion. ” The trade group had recently pulled off one of the greatest turnarounds in PR history. For nearly a decade, the sugar industry had been buffeted by crisis after crisis as the media and the public soured on sugar and scientists began to view it as a likely cause of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Industry ads claiming that eating sugar helped you lose weight had been called out by the Federal Trade Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration had launched a review of whether sugar was even safe to eat. Consumption had declined 12 percent in just two years, and producers could see where that trend might lead. As John “JW” Tatem Jr. and Jack O'Connell Jr., the Sugar Association's president and director of public relations, posed that day with their trophies, their smiles only hinted at the coup they'd just pulled off.

Continue reading “SchwartzReport: Big Sugar Does a Big Tobacco — True Cost of Sugar to Society”

2012/11/172012/12/03

Eagle: Rolling Jubilee — Occupy Buying and Forgiving Debt at 4% — 96% Discount!!!

03 Economy, 06 Family, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commerce, Ethics

The Rolling Jubilee is just getting started and so far it has raised over $6 Million, which will be used to wipe out medical debt for random Americans. Cutting debt while helping those in need, now there's something everyone can agree on.

For more information and to donate, visit http://rollingjubilee.org

Phi Beta Iota: What we find utterly fascinating here is the discount rate on personal debt in the USA: 4%. They have bought and dismissed $6 million in debt for a cost of $304,850. 4% — at a time when most Americans are being hounded by debt collectors, and nothing is being done to help the average person. How hard would it be for the President to sponsor a Jubilee Bill at this rate — instead of trillions for the banks, a billion or less, at 4% [96% leverage] wipes out all individual and small business debt in the USA. A big idea. Mr. President?

2012/10/272012/12/03

Eagle: National Brand Matters — US Brand Falling

06 Family, 07 Health, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Cultural Intelligence, Government

Switzerland Tops Ranking of 25 Best Country Brands

Consider it the Apple of the world.

Switzerland tops the list as the best country brand globally, according to the Country Brand Index, out today from global brand consultancy FutureBrand. As a symbol of economic, cultural and social stability in our tumultuous world, Switzerland “shows that the cultivation of freedom, tolerance, transparency and environmentalism can put a country’s brand ahead—even in difficult economic times,” says FutureBrand Global Chairman Chris Nurko. “On a human level, Switzerland is also a country geared around its people and their needs.” As a result, the country supplanted two-time leader Canada by scoring high marks in CBI’s Value System dimension, including impressive scores it the political freedom, environmental friendliness and stable legal environment attributes.

Read full article.

2012/10/212012/10/21

Chuck Spinney: Israeli Micro-Management of Gaza Malnutrition

01 Agriculture, 06 Family, 06 Genocide, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 11 Society

Below is a BBC report of and Israeli “calorie” study drafted in support of Israel blockade policies for Gaza. To Israel's credit, an Israeli human rights group forced the release of this report, but it does nevertheless raise a question: What kind of government would authorize work on such a methodical report on this subject in the first place?

“In her reporting of the Eichmann trial for The New Yorker, which evolved into Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (1963), Hannah Arendt coined the phrase “the banality of evil” to describe Eichmann. She raised the question of whether evil is radical or simply a function of thoughtlessness, a tendency of ordinary people to obey orders and conform to mass opinion without a critical evaluation of the consequences of their actions and inaction.” (wikipedia)

Read the calorie study (Israeli study of Gaza food consumption to support blockade policy) as well BBC report below, and ask yourself how would you behave if someone was even thinking about doing this to you. Would you fight back with any weapons at your disposal or meekly submit?

BBC, 17 October 2012 Last updated at 21:51 GMT

Israel forced to release study on Gaza blockade

An Israeli court has forced the release of government research detailing the number of calories Palestinians in Gaza need to consume to avoid malnutrition.

The study was commissioned after Israel tightened its blockade of the territory after Hamas came to power in June 2007.

. . . . . . .

‘Daily humanitarian portion'

The Israeli human rights group Gisha, which campaigns against Israel's Gaza blockade, fought a long legal battle to get the Israeli ministry of defence to release this document.

Dated from 2008 and entitled, Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip – The Red Lines, it is a detailed study of how many calories Palestinians needed to eat to avoid malnutrition.

“How can Israel claim that it is not responsible for civilian life in Gaza – when it controls even the type and quantity of food that Palestinian residents of Gaza are permitted to consume?”

Read full article.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Israeli Micro-Management of Gaza Malnutrition”