Democracy Now! can be supported here »
Showing posts with label Democracy Now!. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democracy Now!. Show all posts
Friday, September 18, 2026
Thursday, September 17, 2026
"Fast Food Nation," Mystery Meat & Trump's Dismantling of U.S. Food Safety System: Eric Schlosser
Sep 17, 2026 | Amid growing concerns over food safety in the United States, President Donald Trump last month authorized the duty-free importation of 660 million pounds of cheap beef trimmings that will get mixed in with other cuts to make ground beef. Imported beef and pork were once labelled with their country of origin, but Congress voted in 2015 to end that requirement, so customers at the grocery store will have no way to identify this "mystery meat," which is coming mostly from Brazil.
President Trump's proclamation in August came just a day after he met in the White House with Joesley Batista, whose family controls the Brazilian company JBS, the largest beef producer in the world. JBS is notorious for food safety violations and admitted in 2017 to bribing thousands of Brazilian officials for favourable treatment.
"It smells like a pretty corrupt deal," says investigative journalist Eric Schlosser. He says Trump's move is "basically screwing over American ranchers," and the imported beef is "some of the meat most likely to be contaminated."
Schlosser is author of the landmark book Fast Food Nation, first published in 2001. He says that in the 25 years since then, the United States has developed "two food systems." While affluent and well-educated people increasingly favor sustainable, organic foods and care deeply about how food is grown and consumed, working people and the poor are relegated to the "fast-food industrial system" of cheap, mass-produced food of dubious safety.
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
President Trump's proclamation in August came just a day after he met in the White House with Joesley Batista, whose family controls the Brazilian company JBS, the largest beef producer in the world. JBS is notorious for food safety violations and admitted in 2017 to bribing thousands of Brazilian officials for favourable treatment.
"It smells like a pretty corrupt deal," says investigative journalist Eric Schlosser. He says Trump's move is "basically screwing over American ranchers," and the imported beef is "some of the meat most likely to be contaminated."
Schlosser is author of the landmark book Fast Food Nation, first published in 2001. He says that in the 25 years since then, the United States has developed "two food systems." While affluent and well-educated people increasingly favor sustainable, organic foods and care deeply about how food is grown and consumed, working people and the poor are relegated to the "fast-food industrial system" of cheap, mass-produced food of dubious safety.
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Monday, September 14, 2026
Friday, September 11, 2026
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Friday, September 04, 2026
Thursday, September 03, 2026
Wednesday, September 02, 2026
Democracy Now! US Empire in Decline: Richard Wolff on Iran War, Rising Inequality, $40 Trillion National Debt & More
Sep 2, 2026 | We speak to Richard Wolff, a prominent Marxist economist, about the economic fallout from the war on Iran, which recently reached the six-month mark.
"Because it's only been going on for a few months, the impact on the prices we pay is about to unload itself," says Wolff. The US national debt, which recently topped $40 trillion, is "one of the many signs of an economy and of an empire that is now in decline," says Wolff. "
There is an enormous increase in defense spending, or now war spending, that is scheduled, and no comparable increase in revenue."
Wolff also discusses how a global sell-off of US government bonds means increasing borrowing costs for everyday consumers.
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
"Because it's only been going on for a few months, the impact on the prices we pay is about to unload itself," says Wolff. The US national debt, which recently topped $40 trillion, is "one of the many signs of an economy and of an empire that is now in decline," says Wolff. "
There is an enormous increase in defense spending, or now war spending, that is scheduled, and no comparable increase in revenue."
Wolff also discusses how a global sell-off of US government bonds means increasing borrowing costs for everyday consumers.
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
Tuesday, September 01, 2026
The Biggest Oil Deal or Theft at Gunpoint? US Claims Majority Control of Venezuela's Oil Reserves
September 1, 2026 | The U.S. has struck a deal to take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's oil reserves, nine months after the U.S. military abducted President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a raid on Caracas and two months after The New York Times revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become the de facto viceroy of Venezuela, effectively controlling Venezuela's finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government. The new oil deal gives the Department of Defense a 35% stake in a joint U.S.-Venezuelan private company that now holds 100-year leases to 17 oil fields. It also gives the U.S. the right to buy some of the oil produced at cost — a major triumph for the Trump administration as the war on Iran depletes the United States' strategic oil reserves. Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez claims U.S. investment in Venezuela's oil industry will jumpstart the country's floundering economy, but critics, including Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodríguez, say the deal is not only "unfavorable to Venezuela" but also appears to violate the Venezuelan Constitution.
"The whole history around this is extremely shady," adds Rodríguez, who previously led Venezuela's Congressional Budget Office and now teaches at the University of Denver. "It's clear that this is not a deal that any Venezuelan government would have entered into unless this country had been subject to an invasion, and unless its authorities had been held at gunpoint. So, I think we've replaced gunboat diplomacy now for gunpoint diplomacy."
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
As I have said before, the poor Venezuelans appear to have been shafted by the Trump regime! — © Mark Alexander
"The whole history around this is extremely shady," adds Rodríguez, who previously led Venezuela's Congressional Budget Office and now teaches at the University of Denver. "It's clear that this is not a deal that any Venezuelan government would have entered into unless this country had been subject to an invasion, and unless its authorities had been held at gunpoint. So, I think we've replaced gunboat diplomacy now for gunpoint diplomacy."
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
As I have said before, the poor Venezuelans appear to have been shafted by the Trump regime! — © Mark Alexander
Monday, August 31, 2026
Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
It seems pretty clear to me that the Venezuelans have been shafted by Trump and his regime with this oil deal! — © Mark Alexander
Friday, August 28, 2026
Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
Am I right in concluding that Trump is the most disgusting president America has ever had? — © Mark Alexander
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
"Most Americans Are Getting Poorer": Robert Reich on Inequality & the Failures of Corporate Dems
Aug 26, 2026 | Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly attacked the former labor secretary under President Clinton, Robert Reich.
Reich wrote in a post online that “Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week the K-shaped economy — the widening economic gap between the rich and the poor — is 'dead.'
Hogwash. Not only is the K-shaped economy very much alive, even CEOs are admitting it’s a problem.” The treasury secretary went on to suggest the University of California, Berkeley should fire Reich.
“There’s something in this administration,” says Reich. “It’s almost a kind of testosterone poisoning in which everybody has to be really nasty, put down everybody else.”
Reich goes on to discuss economic inequality, pointing out that while inflation is on the rise, “most Americans are finding that their wages are stagnant … which means that most Americans are getting poorer.”
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
Reich wrote in a post online that “Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week the K-shaped economy — the widening economic gap between the rich and the poor — is 'dead.'
Hogwash. Not only is the K-shaped economy very much alive, even CEOs are admitting it’s a problem.” The treasury secretary went on to suggest the University of California, Berkeley should fire Reich.
“There’s something in this administration,” says Reich. “It’s almost a kind of testosterone poisoning in which everybody has to be really nasty, put down everybody else.”
Reich goes on to discuss economic inequality, pointing out that while inflation is on the rise, “most Americans are finding that their wages are stagnant … which means that most Americans are getting poorer.”
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Monday, August 24, 2026
Democracy Now! “Most Stupid Trade Fight in History”: US & Canadian Workers Lose in Trump’s New Tariff War
August 24, 2026 | The US-Canada trade war is deepening after talks collapsed without a deal on Friday. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the Trump administration of issuing demands that would compromise Canada’s sovereignty and undermine key industries.
On Saturday, the United States slapped 50% tariffs on around $20 billion worth of imports from Canada, and Carney announced retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion of US products set to go into effect on September 8.
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
On Saturday, the United States slapped 50% tariffs on around $20 billion worth of imports from Canada, and Carney announced retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion of US products set to go into effect on September 8.
Democracy Now! can be supported here »
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)