Short Takes: News from All Over: January 22, 2004
January 22, 2004
January 2004
Staff Utne.com
The Bush Administration Cozies Up to Obesity
The White House hasn't certified Chee-tos as a vegetable for school lunches yet, but a press release issued by CommericalAlert.org reports that the Bushies are trying to curb a World Health Organization initiative to decrease obesity and related chronic diseases. Among the Administrations assertions is that there is no sufficient link between fast-food and obesity. -- Eric Larson
http://www.commercialalert.org/index.php/category_id/5/subcategory_id/66/article_id/213
RELATED CONTENT
It has become common to speak of an “epidemic of obesity.” News sources routinely feature articles ...
The War on Fat October 18, 2002 Issue By Erica Sagrans A merica's weight consciousness probably be...
To be fat in our culture is to be labeled not only a glutton, but also a vessel of disease. Sinners...
How to unravel the pervasive influence of consumer culture.......
Life's documentaries explore how intercultural people cross boundaries.......
A Thai Factory Makes Worker-Friendly Capitalism
By Marwaan Macan-Markar, InterPress Service
Striking a blow against the very idea of the sweatshop, Bangkok's Solidarity Group operates a factory in which employees are given a say in the business, paid a decent wage, allowed to wear whatever they want, and permitted to listen to music. Simple stuff, but revolutionary in the totalitarian garment business. Their label, 'Dignity Return,' will hopefully give Nike a run for its money. -- Erica Wetter
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=21891
A Global Offensive Against Water-Guzzling Multinationals
It's official: Coca Cola and the French private water-development firm Suez Degremont are the worst water pirates on earth. The People's World Water Forum has announced the beginning of a worldwide movement against water privatization and predatory mining of groundwater. Activist Vandana Shiva kicked off the campaign by fingering the two companies as 'the prime exploiters of global water resources.' -- Joel Stonington
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0115-04.htm
Related: People's World Water Forum http://www.pwwf.org/
Bush and Science Don't Mix
Whether it's via the politicization (and weakening) of the EPA or the promotion of a bogus link between abortion and breast cancer, the Bush administration has been eager to shoehorn science into Republican policy. 'Politics and Science', a web site presented by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), takes a critical look at science and health issues under Bush. -- Kyle Cohen
http://www.politicsandscience.org/