2010's WORST CORPORATION

Boston-based Corporate Accountability International has just named its 2010 Hall of Shame winner.

From a field that included some of the most reprehensible corporations on the planet, 38% of the tens of thousands of people who voted opted to name food-poisoner Monsanto the worst corporation of last year and send it into the Corporate Hall of Shame.

Here's CAI's blurb from their website:

"Monsanto garnered 38% of the vote to win the 2010 Corporate Hall of Shame. From the using aggressive legal tactics to intimidate and bankrupt local farmers to its reckless promotion of genetically modified organisms, the list of Monsanto's abuses is long, and the negative impacts to human rights and the environment are staggering.

Add on a 40 year track-record of defiant production of dangerous and cancer causing chemicals – from Agent Orange and PCBs to RoundUp and rBGH – and we have ourselves a 'winner'. Electing a winner isn't enough. Thousands upon thousands agree – Monsanto must change its practices."

The runners up were BP and Chevron.

Much more info, along with very simple action you can take against these despicable entities, can be found on Corporate Accountability's 2010 Hall of Shame page.

More evidence that the majority of people are truly fed up.

Let's make the tide turn.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might to take a look at THE FOOD WE EAT -- PART 1: GETTING INFORMATION

THE FOOD WE EAT -- PART 5: BOTTLED WATER

Do you know where that bottled water you're drinking came from? Or what's in it?

You might be surprised.

It may have been stolen by Coca-Cola from a farming village in India. Or from Lake Michigan by Nestle. Or it may contain fertilizers that came from irrigation runoff. Or it may have even come straight from a tap.

All of these things have happened significantly in the relatively short history of bottled drinking water.

It is yet another of the great coups of Corporate America -- along with things like stealing our airwaves and profiting from our health care -- that people have been suckered in to paying premium dollar for water. Without knowing what's in it or where it came from. When your own tap water is, generally, as good or better in quality. (And it costs very little to put a filter on your faucet or use a filtered jug if you want to do a little extra cleansing.)

You've got to hand it to those guys: It's quite a con job. But it's also very dirty business.

And don't forget the use of resources and resulting pollution from those millions of plastic bottles. It just doesn't make good sense, does it?

Plus our bottled water could be a far-off community's water shortage. It could literally be causing hardship.

Shouldn't we know where our water comes from and what's in it? Just like we should with any of our food? If you checked out info on the Internet for even 10 minutes, and then made your voice heard, you'd be making huge strides. (see link below)

It's about helping others as well as ourselves. Do you have the time for that? Would you if it was your crops perishing or your family carrying water great distances to drink and cook with? One in six people on the planet don't have access to enough water.

Use this link to read 10 quick points against bottled water from the non-profit group Corporate Accountability International (and maybe you'll want to get behind their "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign):

http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/top-ten-reasons-think-outside-bottle

Or watch this excellent, 8-minute video:

http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/story-of-bottled-water?r=TOTB

Forget about the leafy scene on your bottled water depicting natural springs gushing directly to you. It's a myth. Buy a filter for your tap. Buy a decent refillable bottle from somewhere like Whole Foods (or just use a recycled bottle of your own if you don't care about looking fashionable), and you're set. Money saved, environment helped, corporate scumsuckers not supported.

Take care and keep smiling,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at CHILD HUNGER -- THE SCOURGE OF THE PLANET.

THE FOOD WE EAT -- PART 1: GETTING INFORMATION

I have been a quasi student of the modern food supply for some years now.

I'd been planning to write on it sooner or later when, yesterday, I got this Washington Post bulletin in my email:

"The largest egg recall in U.S. history comes during recent consolidation in the industry, as a shrinking number of companies produce most of the eggs found on grocery shelves and a defect in one operation can jeopardize a significant segment of the marketplace. Now, just 192 large egg companies own about 95 percent of laying hens in this country. And as the mega producers have developed, they have gone largely unregulated by government agencies responsible for making sure food is safe."

I figured it was time to address the whole food and water thing: industrial farms, bottled water, hormones and antibiotics in our food, fast food, our diet, the effects on our health and our kids' health (including obesity and diabetes), food advertising, key corporations behind our food.

Obviously I won't be able to do anything exhaustive but it's such a fundamental thing to our well-being that it demands attention. And, as usual, the whole landscape of what we eat and drink has changed for one major reason: money.

Here are some interesting DVDs you might want to check out:

* "Supersize Me": This groundbreaking documentary features filmmaker Morgan Spurlock as he restricts himself to a "McDonald's Only" diet for 30 days. What happens is frightening and instructive. Spurlock interviews laypersons and experts along the way and includes some eye-opening bonus features. You'll never look at your McDonald's meal the same way again. NOTE: This film, though disturbing on a certain level, is highly entertaining and well made. You really ought to take a look!

* "King Corn": Another grassroots experiment in which two college pals grow their own patch of corn and follow its life beyond the field. Interspersed with plenty of interviews and observations, you'll be shocked at just how corn is used now and why that isn't such a good thing.

* "Food Inc.": Explains how our food supply is controlled by a handful of corporations (see passage above about eggs). It's all about profit ahead of health -- and our health is paying a big price. More great interviews in this one. Like "King Corn," it will have you reading the nutrition facts on the food you buy. It's time to go organic, folks.

* "Fast Food Nation": This is actually fiction based on fact. Starring Greg Kinnear and featuring lots of other familiar faces, it's a reasonable insight into the fast food world -- from the conditions on the slaughterhouse floor, to exploiting illegal immigrants, to corporate cover ups, to the kids who serve you over the counter for lousy wages.

* "Bad Seed": A serious and slightly more scientific doco on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Looks at all the dangerous pitfalls of genetically engineering plants. And, as you'll see, America's FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is about as helpful as the crash position when a plane hits the side of a mountain.

I'll mention others over the course of this string of blog entries.

There are plenty of books and websites too.

I always like to direct people to the website of Corporate Accountability International (based in Boston) because I used to work there and I know how fastidious they are about getting good information -- and getting results with it. Go to:
http://stopcorporateabuse.org/

They have excellent sections on food and water, which are two of their major campaigns. Take a few minutes to read them -- it will be time well spent. CAI is actually pressuring McDonald's to retire its idiot clown to end his Pied Piper luring of our kids as "consumers for life" of their unhealthy food.

I'll leave it there and add more references as we go.

I hope you will read these blogs with an open mind. Things we like are not always good for us. Information, good information, is your friend.

Take care and keep smiling,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at THE FOOD WE EAT -- PART 2: SOME FOOD FACTS or CHILD HUNGER -- THE SCOURGE OF THE PLANET.

KNOWLEDGE AND EFFORT: THE WORLD'S TWO BEST FRIENDS -- PART 3

My life's ambition is to put myself out of work.

It's true. This is actually something that came up in the lunchroom one day when I was working at the nonprofit Corporate Accountability International in Boston several years ago.

We were a gregarious bunch and lunches and birthday celebrations often turned into fun Q&A sessions. One of our senior people said that her dream was to lie on the beach every day and read.

"C'mon, you'd get bored," said one of the others. "You love gunning for crooked corporations."

"No," responded the beach dreamer. "I want to win this thing. I want to put myself out of work."

Any true activist feels the same way. Sure, the work can be interesting and there's lots of peripheral knowledge and experiences that accrue along the way. But for those of us who really have our hearts in it, it's about the fox, not the hunt.

But for us to put ourselves out of work, we need numbers. We need YOU. And no, that doesn't mean activism has to be your profession. Allow me share two more anecdotes.

During one of my meetings with Noam Chomsky in his office at MIT I asked him, completely off the cuff: "Shouldn't I be going through government documents and primary sources the way you do?" (This is particularly meticulous, painstaking work.)

His answer surprised me. [I'm paraphrasing, slightly.] "No. It wouldn't be worth your time. It's what I'm good at. Why bog yourself down? You can read my findings in my books. Then you do what you do."

Another time I was watching one of the many documentaries featuring Chomsky and the film crew interviewed his late wife, Carol [pictured above], herself a former Harvard professor. Carol Chomsky was, at this point, working as her husband's de facto handler/gatekeeper/tour manager. She was asked a question that Noam himself has been asked countless times.

"What can the average person do to right the wrongs in the world?"

Her answer was simple: "They should lead an activist's life."

The aggregate message of these anecdotes is that we all have certain talents, varying amounts of available time, peculiar strengths and weaknesses. We can't all be 24/7 activists in a career sense. But there is NO EXCUSE for not doing WHAT YOU CAN to make the world a better place for those less fortunate and the generations that will follow us. When Carol Chomsky said we should "lead an activist's life," she meant that doing the right thing should be our mindset -- not something we tack onto our ourselves -- and we should live our lives accordingly.

We don't have to work in the nonprofit sector or become great dissidents or write mighty books. But our words and deeds and attitudes, what we consume, how we live, what we learn, what we teach our children, the opinions we espouse, should all, to some extent, feed into the positive "life stream" of the world.

We should be less selfish, more attuned to what's really happening around us, and have the courage to speak, and stand up for, the truth.

OUR SMALL SACRIFICES COMBINED WILL TURN THE WHEEL OF HISTORY IN HUMANITY'S FAVOR.

You can be a hero with the small decisions you make every day. And, perhaps, with larger actions from time to time.

"HOUSE ON FIRE" is not intended to recruit a generation of Chomskys. It is intended to encourage the "average" person to have the level of awareness that they most certainly should, to seek truth, and to live and die by their conscience. That is what Noam and Carol were talking about.

And, as I and many others see it, that's pretty much what we all owe our fragile planet and our fellow human beings.

And that is what will put us all "out of work."

Take care, keep smiling, and never give up on the future,
Adrian Zupp
LINKS
Noam Chomsky's website: http://www.chomsky.info/
Carol Chomsky's obituary, Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/12/20/carol_chomsky_at_78_harvard_language_professor_was_wife_of_mit_linguist/
Corporate Accountability International: http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at KNOWLEDGE AND EFFORT: THE WORLD'S TWO BEST FRIENDS -- PART 1 and PART 2.

BIG WORLD VS. SMALL WORLD -- PART 2

Last time, I described my Big World Vs. Small World notion, how we are unavoidably a part of both, and that there will be dire consequences if we concentrate all our thoughts and energies on our Small World at the expense of the Big World.

So where does that leave us?

Well, it leaves us with a responsibility to educate ourselves about the Big World and then take action. You’ll note that I’ve avoided saying “educate ourselves about Big World issues” since “issues” carries connotations of the current political system which, while an institution we can occasionally sway, is not likely to be the answer to our prayers. Presently, it tends to be operate more as one of the architects of our nightmares. (Now that I’ve clarified the connotations of the word, I will use it below.)

So, education. Where do you get your information from? Newspapers? Mainstream Internet news sites? TV news and political shows? None of the above?

These sources are fraught with peril. They are not owned by you and me. They are owned by mega-wealthy people who have mega-wealthy people’s agendas. It is a matter that will require its own blog entry (or two), but suffice it to say if we get our information from these sources, we are largely being misinformed, manipulated, or subjected to some raving lunatic’s ratings-grabbing “entertainment.” What little news we do get from these sources is heavily compromised by the news we should be getting that is never reported.

So we live in the Big World but we are not getting the Big Picture.

So we must educate ourselves. And there are plenty of sources for this. (see below) But it takes some effort and some re-thinking. Certain “truths” we may have held to be self-evident will be burned down as falsehoods. Keep an open mind. When looking at alternative/independent news sources, ask yourself: What do these people at these news sources have to gain? The answer is a lot less than the people at the “traditional” news sources.

Okay, so we seek education – which should be an ongoing thing. What about action? What do we do?

Well, that depends partly on how much time you can find. Most folks can’t tailor their lives to become a leading activist. But we all need to find whatever time we can for social change because the clock is ticking on us all. (Some of the brightest brains on the planet believe that if things continue as they are, we may only have a half century left.)

Reaching out to friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances and strangers and talking about social change is important. That makes your self-education “viral” (however, we should all avoid being “preachy” – people don’t tend to respond well to that).

You can tailor your Small World so that you make time to address the Big World. Support groups like Corporate Accountability International, Union of Concerned Scientists, United for a Fair Economy or International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. You can do this around your current schedule thanks to the Internet. Find ways to give them your time and voice, not just your money.

There are countless groups tackling the big problems. However there are not so many that are over-arching and want across-the-board institutional change – but that too is a topic for another time.

Follow the real news and issues on Democracynow.org, zcommunications.org and the like.

Phone your political representatives to express your concerns about things like the recent banking bailout, invasions (not “wars”) in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and others, the terrible environmental policies of the United States as well as global warming, and so on. You might call this “macro issue change” and it’s more incremental than trying to actually change institutions like government, media and the structure of the economy. But it is at least on the road between Small World and Big World.

Add your voice to online petitions, such as those you can have delivered to your email by sites like http://www.care2.com/causes-news/ Every voice counts!

Surf the Internet and find groups tackling big/real issues. Do Google searches to find blogs and discussion boards. Make social networking work for something worthwhile – start a social change Facebook page, for example. The possibilities are endless. Just think about what is most effective, what is most gratifying to you, then do it. That’s how I came to start this blog and in the coming year or so I’ll roll it into my own social change networking website. As it progresses it will be very much action oriented, not just information oriented.

And, of course, teach your kids about what you are doing. It could be the most vital education they get.

Remember: The “enemy” is all around us. We are constantly being distracted from things that matter by junk entertainment and overcomplicated tax forms that are meant to tangle us up and wrong-headed patriotism over cynical invasions.

And yes, making a commitment to social change is on top of our essential duties of family, work and leisure (also very important). Time is precious but it is stockpiled in the future: a better future and one we are yet to secure.

Above all, don’t leave it to someone else. Every little bit helps and it really helps if you can do more than a little bit. No Super Bowl or reality show or daily duty is nearly as important as the challenge of preserving our planet and improving our lives.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp
IMPORTANT EX POST FACTO FOOTNOTE: A recent discussion I was involved in indicated to me that I may not have been totally clear about an important point: Addressing Big World issues can be done in little ways. They do not have to cost huge chunks of time or money or even worry. Every step counts. The more you can do, the better. But obviously we are all able to do different things and to different degrees. And generally, as we do a little here and a little there we find that the burden is not so great, and the challenge not insurmountable. You will feel empowered.

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might also like to take a look at BIG WORLD VS. SMALL WORLD -- PART 1 or WE MUST ATTACK IGNORANCE AT EVERY TURN.

WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR LIFE FOR YOUR COMPANY? -- PART 2

Let’s climb back into this saddle for a bit.

I left off in Part 1 talking about how disingenuous the leaders of corporations can be. How they sing a song of unity with the workers but have little in common with them and show little real care for them.

It seems to me that, especially in tough times, the calls for those lower down the totem pole to tighten their belts is, well, diametrically wrong.

How about this: How about they pay us more and we work less? How about they slash their salaries to something nearer to a sane level and put the money back into the salary kitty for us all to divide up?

Can’t you just hear them howling foul? Because when leading execs say “We must tighten our belts,” what they’re really saying is “You must tighten your belts.” The word “We” is not really in the Fat Cat Lexicon.

And I can give you an example that’s really close to home. In 2009, Gary Loveman, the president and CEO of Harrah’s, made 666 times more than I did. (I know that the 666 sounds like a gimmick, but that’s what the calculator came up with.) Now, I may not throw my heart and soul into my job, but I have to think that Mr. Loveman, Harvard pedigree and all, is not working 666 times harder than me.

I know the arguments: He's a wonderboy specialist; he’s supremely skilled; he has connections on Capitol Hill; he works 100 hours a week; he knows God personally. Yes, I got it. Let me repeat: 666 times what I make! Personally, I don’t care if he’s laying golden eggs, that’s just plain obscene.

Of course, Mr. Loveman did speak to we corporate peons at the Christmas party in the ballroom at the Rio in Vegas. He even brought slides of his family because, y’know, he’s just a family man like us. Except that he flies around on a private jet and doesn’t have to worry about medical bills, rent, heat or paying for his kids' top-drawer college educations. His smarmy speech reminded me of the title of a Warren Zevon (pictured) song: Even a dog can shake hands.

When I look at people like Loveman, and even middle managers and lower ranking "yes men/women," I wonder how their brains work. What is it they’re striving for? If they bust their humps for the corporation do they think they’ll achieve some kind of capitalist or personal nirvana? To me, there seems to be no meaningful end for all the means applied. As they say, there’s no “there” there. On my deathbed I hope to be able to reflect on something a little deeper than how many rungs up the corporate ladder to nowhere I climbed. And let’s face it: Corporations don’t really do much good for anybody. They're profit machines. Period.

So that’s the gloom. Where’s it leave us?

Well it’s easier to pontificate on this stuff than to solve it. And most people need to work regardless of what they’re doing: razing rainforests, crunching numbers for insurance companies, or coming up with ways to get people to gamble. It’s easy to feel hopeless and just not think about it.

But that’s the biggest mistake we can make. If you want a better life for your children, if you want a better world, it’s going to take a bit of suffering. The good news is that the dividends are much more gratifying than those you get suffering for a corporation.

I suggest talking to colleagues. Reading up on corporations and the history of the labor movement. Writing down on a piece of paper, in priority order, the things in your life that are most important to you and why. If there’s a union available to you, join it. If there’s not, think about how you might bring one into your workplace – though, admittedly, that’s a very tough undertaking.

You can speak up more to your boss. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets oiled; sometimes it gets fired. You’ll have to weigh that up.

Consider going into the non-profit sector and working for a worthwhile organization and helping to fight the good fight.

But even if you can’t readily change your work situation directly, there are many things you can do outside of work to try and change the economy and the culture of greed. Join groups (even if they're online groups), sign petitions (again, even if they're online), contact your local politicians about issues, make your voice heard any way you can.

Let me give you a very concrete starting point that might fire up your own thinking on the subject. Go to the website of Corporate Accountability International (http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/) and look around. If you pull on that thread, you’ll soon be starting on your own tapestry.

My final point: The day will have to come when we don't just change certain issues or particular workplaces, but we change the very institutions that shape our society, our economy and our thinking. That is the Big Task. But it is attainable. As this blog goes on, I'll talk more about how we can do some serious world changing.

Til next time, keep smiling,
Adrian Zupp
PS: I've emailed Gary Loveman a couple of times asking when Harrah's employees might expect to have their sick leave benefit reinstated. So far, no word from the big man.