On KD and Soda Pop

"No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means."

Maimonides

Food bloggers, I've learned, have started a petition to remove the artificial food dyes that are responsible for Kraft Dinner's distinct appearance. Tartrazine, or yellow food dye #5 and #6 is an approved food additive according to North American food watchdogs. It serves no nutritional purpose and does not affect product flavour...just colour.

In fact, and I find this strange, the same food dye is NOT in the same product sold overseas to European consumers. Hmmm.

In reading the article discussing consumer petitions, I learned that PepsiCo recently made modifications to their product after a consumer petition received national attention.  Good job active consumers!

I'm not a fan of Kraft Dinner.  I was raised on a macaroni and cheese casserole that my mom makes with tomatoes and sharp cheddar cheese.  There was not a lot of prepared food in our home.  Sliced bread, margarine, Miracle Whip, Peanut Butter, sometimes cookies and the occasional store-bought buttertart (thanks Dad), but otherwise we were a meat and potatoes, snack-deprived family. Apples were our snack.  "Have an apple." "Oh you're hungry?  Grab an apple, dinner will be ready in two hours."  Apples, apples, apples. 

Our meals were almost always made from scratch. The exception was grocery night which was, almost always, hot dog night. Fortunately, due to this tradition, I have already consumed my lifetime quota of hot dogs. KD was usually purchased for nights when the kids had to make dinner.

As far as PepsiCo goes....ahhhh geez....don't get me started.   I have a very low opinion of soda pop. At our grocery store, there is an entire isle dedicated to chips/snacks and soda pop.  One isle. An entire isle of carbonated, sugary drinks. Empty, pointless, tooth-rotting, belly-busting, soda. I can choose from over 20 kinds of soda pop in my grocery store. There are precisely three varieties of mushrooms in the vegetable isle. The bananas are almost always green and you have to check the bottom of the berries to make sure you're not buying half-rotten fruit....but there's a crap load of soda pop on the other side of the store.  ..... Sorry....didn't I say "don't get me started?"

KD is a childhood food really. I remember it from my childhood and I fed it to my kids when they were younger. I stopped buying it when my kids were able to eat using their own knife and fork....around the time KD hit a buck a box. I occasionally crave the nostalgia of Kraft Dinner but have learned, after a few failed attempts, that it's true...you can't go back. 

As a result, KD has been forever banished to my food category  "foods that you think you want, until you eat them, and then you're just disappointed."  KFC is also on that list....and fried egg sandwiches.

So there you have it.
1)  Kraft Dinner may become a paler version of what you're used to but...hey...they still eat it across the pond. 
2) Consumer petitions can be effective but the biggest impact consumers have is their choice to buy or not buy a product. 
3) I would strongly suggest you consider NOT BUYING soda pop. 

It's my opinion.  You are, as always, invited to take it or leave it.

Public Health Care - Canada's Frankenstein

"Time and health are two precious assets that we don't recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted."

~ Denis Waitley

I was born and raised in the province of Ontario. I am average, I am in good health and I pay taxes.  I use the health care system as necessary but I wouldn't want to rely on it to save my life.

Public health care is a noble idea.  When it was first introduced it was intended to provide its residents with emergency medical services and preventative care at no charge. (Well, no additional charge -- the "system" after all is financed through taxation.) It meant that the impoverished or the uninsured/uninsurable could access basic health care. Honourable.

Some forty years later, Ontario introduced an additional health care premium on personal tax returns based on annual earnings.   The same year the new levy was introduced, the provincial government began to de-list services that had, until then, been made available through OHIP.  Residents were now being asked to pay more for less. Those of us paying attention noticed that certain health care coverage was now offered to individuals under the age of 19, over the age of 65, or to individuals on social assistance.  Wage earners -- those funding the program through taxation -- were being asked to pay out of pocket for services available free of charge to the unemployed.

The fact is, our medical insurance program lost sight of its original purpose -- to provide emergency health care and preventative care at no cost.  It has grown over time to fund diagnoses and treatment across multiple modalities from birth until death on an inpatient and outpatient basis.  It became and unwieldy beast.  Our Canadian Frankenstein.  It was a good idea at the time...but it soon grew out of control.

How could an idea conceived 50 years ago integrate contingencies to reflect decades worth of medical advances and their financial implications much less anticipate swings in the economic landscape and changes to the the nation's demographics?  It cannot.  And, as with every other government program, failure to manage the program has resulted in a crisis.  That, in my opinion, is the single biggest flaw with government health care -- it is not managed.  It is budgeted, it is regulated, but it is not managed. 

So now what?  So now we have a system that is built to fail.  It is unsustainable. Worse still, Canadians feel it is their birthright and they become outraged when insurance drops another service.  Our health care program has become a political playground used to launch platforms and criticize government spending.   Now, doctors and bureaucrats are playing tug-o-war with our health insurance as the latest cuts focus on a "wage freeze" for physicians.  That's right...our government currently maintains that the health care crisis is partly due to medical professionals who have benefited from a 75% increase in earnings over the past 10 years.

Canadians need to read between the lines.  Politicians will not freely endorse or work towards a two-tiered system until it has the support of the Canadian public.  There is too much unease around any inequities that may follow.  We all agree that class should not dictate the level of care one receives...but it does.  It always did.  It always will.  If you have money, you can spend it on your health.  It is as simple as that.  Let's not be naive. 

Private health care options already exist in Canada, however they are few and far between.  The Canada Health Act penalizes provinces who, among other things, make private health care an option for their residents by reducing federal transfer payments.  Some view the penalty as an acceptable loss in exchange for alternative health care solutions that would alleviate a program in crisis.  Clearly it's a financial win for some provinces. 

Canada needs a strategy that would provide health care solutions for individuals covered by private insurance plans or who may be willing to pay out-of-pocket for health care services; a two-tiered system that alleviates a straining health care system without diminishing services to those that rely on a public health care.  A system that keeps health care dollars in Canada to promote research and development and create jobs for health care professionals that are being lured south of the border.

There has been no health care reform in Canada.  If anything, Canadians should not be upset because services are being de-listed, they should be outraged that their government is not planning a strategy that will outlast its term of office.

Are Farmers an Endangered Species?

There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.”

~ Aldo Leopold

I was fortunate enough to grow up on a farm. My family owned beef cattle, a few hens for eggs (and an occasional chicken dinner).  We grew our own vegetables, farmed hay for the cattle, we grew and sold corn and had a small sugar bush that produced a spectacular maple syrup. We did not live in opulence, but we worked hard and we ate well. What’s more the community to which we belonged…simply by choosing a farm life….became this incredible extension of our family. We supported one another, worked with each other, helped one other through hard times and celebrated during good times. I remember it as being such an enriching and rewarding, and demanding, life.

The future of farming is a popular topic where I live. I wonder what it will be like in 10 years, 20 years or even in 50 years. The 2011 Canadian Census reported a 10% decline in farms since 2006 with the number of farm operators following suit. What is more startling, is that farmers are getting older and they aren't being replaced.

• In 1991, 48% of farmers were between 35 and 54 years only.  Young farmers (farmers 34 years of age or less) made up 20%.
• By 2001, 54% of farmers were 35 to 54 years old.  Young farmers dropped to 12%.
• In 2006, 90% of farmers were 35 years or older.   
• By the 2011 Census more than half the farmers were over the age of 55.  55!!!  

Canadian farmers are aging. They are retiring and the family farm is dying. Fewer and fewer farm kids are taking over the family farms. Since 2006, there has been a 9% decrease in the number of farms in the province of Ontario and farm acreage in this province has dropped by 5%.

I watched this statistic unfold in my own family. My father did not choose farming as his livelihood. My grandfather always said that farming was tough and you only got paid once a year. It took discipline and frugal measures that tested the limits of even the most Scottish of farmers. We ate in season, we froze and pickled and canned our goods to hold us through the winters.  We prayed for weather that would give us what we needed to survive and thrive. But my grandfather eventually became too old to farm. The cattle were sold, we stopped cutting the hay and tapping the trees and the cornfields lay fallow. The farm ended.

Today, the net income per family for a cattle farm operation is estimated to be $6279; poultry farms are more lucrative at an average income of $52,000 with vegetable farms hovering somewhere in between at an average net income of $22,076. For comparison purposes, consider that the average Canadian earns $32,100 per year and the average Canadian family earns $76,600.

So why do people farm? Because they love it. Because it's not a job, it's a lifestyle. Maybe they do it out of a sense of duty to their God and to their neighbour. Here's the thing. If we don't support our farmers, if we don't protect them and promote then, we're going to be forced to become them. 

Check out this video.

http://youtu.be/dIsEG2SFOvM

The Royal Wedding

As much as I do wish William and Kate the very best in their future together, I won't be tuning in for their wedding. In all fairness, they did not attend mine...nor did they request a copy of the video. Let's face it...should we meet one day in the future...we can all avoid a terribly awkward moment if I simply tune out next Friday and give them the privacy that they deserve during such a sacred event.

I won't buy the commemorative plate. I never understood that anyway. What do you do with a decorative plate? I'm too pragmatic to hang it on the wall and...well, imagine serving desserts with that plate and finding William there, at the end of the evening, a mess of crumbs and icing sugar.

I won't spring for the poster. The last poster I bought was Eric Estrada dressed in his CHiPs uniform and he served as sentry at the doorway to my bedroom. I was about 10-years old. He kept the bogeyman away...and boys...and all the cool girls that, I'm sure, would otherwise have loved to hang out with me.

I promise not to buy a knock-off version of the engagement ring. It's too showy and...well...I've never been about the bling. Sorry...my mistake. I misspoke. It's not a knock-off...it's a replica. A replica.

While I initially fell in love with the idea of Kate and William's charitable gift fund...it is unlikely that I will donate in their name. No offense Bill & Kate but I need the tax credit in a way that you will NEVER understand.

By the way, I hate to be a killjoy but...for those of you so inclined...be sure to read the small print before you write a cheque to the gift fund. It says:

Distribution of the Fund will be at the sole discretion
of the Trustees guided by the preferences registered by donors.

I am not, nor have I ever been, the trustee of a Charitable Foundation, however I did pass English and what I read here is (and I paraphrase)...

"Thank you for your donation. We appreciate you taking the time to suggest where you would like us to direct your funds but we have bills, and so your funds will be used to pay for items including, but not limited to, the following:
- early morning trips to Starbucks for a round of half-caf lattes to be distributed freely amongst administrative staff;
- performance and incentive fees for the manager of our hedge fund...er...um...I mean, our charitable foundation investment portfolio;
- paperclips, staples, postage stamps and the really cool multi-coloured post it notes that employees keep stealing from the supply closet;
- a new foosball table for the break room;
- pizza-Fridays; and,
- Snapple."

I wish I had never seen that line at the bottom of the web page. It unleashed the cynic in me.

What's more...I realize that, while I am free to express my views here in blog-world, I am at risk of offending the loyal followers of the royal family and, let's face it, that group has got to include some obsessive members...of the John Hinckley Jr. variety.

That said, come if you must obsessive royal fan, to keep me from tarnishing the image you worship, but please...

...bring Snapple.

Obama and the Fly

It never ceases to amaze me, the kinds of things that the media determines as newsworthy. I take for granted the news delivered in the daily paper or on the evening newscast until they inevitably turn their attention to some inane story. Take Obama and the fly for instance.

They said he was odd. Why? Because he killed a fly. I killed a fly. I kill them all the time. In fact, I kill mosquitoes, shadflies, wasps, spiders and ants. I probably slaughtered more than 100 of these annoying little beasts over the weekend alone. CBC didn't come to cover the story. So far as I know, PETA is completely unaware of my killing spree and I fully expect to get away without any fines or, worse, incarceration.

It's a reflex, I figure. A creepy-crawlie catches my attention and I turn into a murderous predator. It's what we do. We swat stuff. I would argue that most living beings swat stuff. Horses swat flies. In fact, they stand together face to ass to help each other out with the swatting. I've had cats that kill flies as they bounce mindlessly against the window in an effort to escape to the outdoors. We swat flies. That's what we do.

I draw the line at bees unless someone is in peril due to an allergy. With all the attention given to the value of a bee, I figure it's my moral responsibility to try and keep as many of them alive as possible. They say that we can't live without bees and there has been a lot of press about their dwindling numbers so I generally try to help out by curbing my swatting habit to help postpone the end of the world.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Obama killed a bee?

The Week the Women Left

Tonight I watched the first show in a series called "The Week The Women Left." It is a reality show about a social experiment conducted in Hardisty, Alberta in June 2007. During one week in June, this small Canadian town of just over 700 people saw 85% of its women embark on a week long vacation.

The television crew filmed the cocky husbands (please excuse this unfortunate pun) talking about how they would do just fine provided that they remember how to sweep up the crumbs and work the washer and dryer. Maybe one honest fellow admitted that he was going to miss his wife. This, of course, is the irony of reality TV.

The people who film, edit and choreograph the lives of these unwitting actors have much more creative control of real life than they are willing to admit. Consider your family's version of Uncle John or Aunt Jane who acts like a complete moron as soon as the video-cam captures them in its viewfinder. It is the rare person who acts normally on the other end of the camera. You can bet that I don't walk around every day with a hand in front of my face trying to shield myself from the glances of innocent strangers, yet see me on tape....

The women were a little more honest in their vulnerability. They appeared much more insecure than the men. More worried that they wouldn't be missed. Worried that their roles were, at best, supporting actors to their husbands. Worried that the most valuable contribution to their household was as the family's own private maid service. It was sad...no...disappointing how few men seemed to verbalize the importance of their spouse.

I recognize that this town is cowboy capital of Alberta. I sense too that machismo is the prodigious bullfrog in the family gene pool flicking its tongue at the pesky flies of sensitivity and compassion. Surely these men must understand how much currency they would earn from telling their life partner how important she was and how much she would be missed. There seemed to be little evidence of that. I'm not certain whether that is more a reflection on the men of Hardisty or the filmmakers. I'll choose to blame the filmmakers because I really dislike reality TV.

I'm looking forward to next week's episode.

Corporate Criminals - Part II

Killing Me Softly

Yesterday I talked about corporate criminals behaving like bullies on the international schoolyard. I mentioned Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin, Phillip Morris, DynCorp and Ford Motors and gave an accounting of their (alleged) sins. I wrote to tell you that Chevron takes home the prize for worst offender in the world. It is, without dispute, Public Enemy Number One.

Originally, I was thinking that I would create an entry to do my part and influence consumer activity but I hadn’t even gotten to Coca Cola or Nestle by the time I ran out of steam. Greedy corporations make me angry, which makes me sarcastic, which makes me tired. That said, today I thought I should finish what I started. So here are more greedy corporations you can feel good about hating.

Caterpillar is a company that manufactures heavy equipment. There’s a Caterpillar distributor in a town near our house. Each Christmas they put some equipment on the front lawn, drape it in Christmas lights and put a plastic Santa in the driver’s seat of one of their bulldozers. It’s cute. Meanwhile, back in Peoria some enterprising salesman at home office is counting his commission after selling bulldozers to the Israeli army. The Israelis use the equipment to destroy Palestinian homes – usually after they’ve violently evicted the occupants, though occasionally when the families are still in residence. Incidentally, the Israelis aren’t keeping this fact a secret from Caterpillar. Caterpillar is charged with contracting with known violators of human rights.


The Coca Cola Company has been around since 1886 and is responsible for producing the world’s most popular soft drink. Remember the commercial they aired back in the 70’s where a handsome and diverse group of vocalists sang, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” while holding bottles of coke in their hands? Didn’t that make you feel good about Coke? Yeah, me too. That feeling subsided when I read that Coca Cola is an industrial leader in the abuse of workers’ rights. Worse still, they’ve been accused of kidnapping, assassination and torture. Here are some statistics from Global Exchange’s website:

• 8 union leaders were killed between 1989 and 2002 after protesting labour practices in Columbian bottling plants;
• hundreds of workers have been kidnapped, tortured and detained by paramilitaries who use intimidation tactics to prevent the workers from unionizing;
• Coca Cola extracted 1.5 million litres of deep well water in India severely depleting groundwater and creating shortages that would affect thousands of people (the water was bottled and sold – Dasani and BonAqua);
• Coca Cola re-sold industrial waste to farmers for use as a fertilizer knowing that it contained hazardous lead and cadmium;
• Coca Cola regularly denies health insurance to employees failing to help stop the spread of AIDS in Africa.

Coke, It’s The Real Thing. Well, it’s some kind of thing anyway. I’m posting a link that will take to you Wikipedia’s list of Coca Cola brands. I’m proposing a boycott. Easy for me to say, I don’t drink Coke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coca-Cola_brands


I love chocolate. When I saw Nestle’s name on the list, I was scared. It was kind of like finding out that your kid was in a fight at school. You feel disappointed and you want to know what you can do to make things right. I found out Nestle was founded in the 1860’s by a pharmacist who developed food for babies who couldn’t breastfeed. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that Nestle expanded into the chocolate industry. Remember the Nestle Quick Bunny? He was always trying to steal the kids’ chocolate milk. What a character.

Here’s something you may not know…Nestle knowingly buys cocoa beans from farmers who use children illegally as labourers. Global Exchange quotes estimates from the US State Department suggesting that “approximately 109,000 child labourers work in hazardous conditions on cocoa farms in what’s been described as the worst form of child labour.” Save the Children have been involved, as has Unicef and the International Labor Rights Fund. Nestle agreed to end the use of abusive and forced child labour by 2005 but have not done so as yet. According to Global Exchange, Nestle is one of “the most boycotted corporations in the world.” If you want to join in the fun, here’s a link that will take you to a site listing all of their brands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nestl%C3%A9_brands

Incidentally, you should know the Nestle has the dubious honor of being the subject of my daughter’s grade 5 social studies assignment. What more could she ask for, a scandal involving chocolate and children. Her presentation was passionate and inspired and so she earned an A-. Today, she prefers Cadbury to Nestle.


Wal-Mart got a mention in yesterday’s blog, but I thought I should share more details about the accusations on Global Exchange. Wal-Mart is accused of workers’ rights violations, labour discrimination and union busting. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world with over 5000 stores and nearly 2 million workers giving it substantial commercial clout. While this kind of influence could serve as a platform for good, Wal-Mart has lowered the bar by routinely putting its own interests above its workers. I found it interesting to know that Sam Walton received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H. W. Bush in 1992. I guess the CEO of Dow Chemical was unavailable.

Last, but not least, Pfizer stands accused of “killer price gouging.” This is neither new, nor should it come as any surprise. The Pharmaceutical trade has been getting a lot of press these days. Ask any AIDS activist to explain how greedy pharmaceutical companies inflate their products to get rich at the expense of the sick and dying. This is, by far, the most appalling of crimes. I’m not sure how the corporate hot shots at Pfizer sleep at night – scratch that, I’ll assume they take Unisom ®. To make sure that nobody gets a piece of their pie, “Pfizer and other drug companies have refused to grant generic licenses for HIV/AIDS drugs” to impoverished nations whose patients spend up to 70% of their monthly wage on medicine. It takes a special kind of evil to take money from the poor.


Consumerism is a word that describes the relationship between what we buy and the effects it has upon how we feel. Because of this, now more than ever, people strongly identify with the products they buy.

With this in mind, remember that every dime you spend has power. Every time you buy a product from one company, you are by default, choosing not to support their competitor. When many people withhold their support, businesses falter or change models to adapt. They try to win back "consumer confidence." So, if you feel like a chocolate bar, why not buy a Cadbury? It’s a little more difficult to apply a consumer strangle-hold on Lockheed Martin and Dow Chemical. After all, what am I going to do, cancel my Christmas orders for Napalm and Trident missiles? Maybe not, but Dow also makes products for home use. Products also manufactured by other companies.

If you believe, like I do, that every one of your actions has an impact, you naturally feel obliged to act deliberately and will probably think twice before making a purchase. If you cannot be inspired to act out of a sense of duty, perhaps what I have written will offend you enough that you will decide to "stick it to the man". Either way, I hope you decide to share your hard-earned money with companies that choose to have a conscience rather than rewarding those that don't.

Thanks for your time.

Corporate Criminals Part I

Companies We Love to Hate

My daughter came home with an assignment from school a few weeks ago. Her grade five class is studying the topic of human rights and so her assignment was to collect two or three articles on that topic. The articles could either discuss the protection and preservation of human rights or present a case involving the violation of human rights. As usual, I turned to the Internet for information. I downloaded a few articles but realized that a 9-year old was not going to be able to passionately prepare and deliver a presentation on either women’s rights or wrongful imprisonment. I had to find something more compelling; something she would relate to and understand. I continued my search.

Within a few short minutes, I stumbled across a website called Global Exchange. The headline was, "Most Wanted" Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005; Take Action for International Human Rights Day! The web site features 14 companies that are, according to this site, the worst human rights offenders in the world. Interestingly, 13 operate out of the United States of America. Tsk! Tsk! Corporate America.

Global Exchange points out that several of these companies “are being sued under the Alien Tort Claims Act, a law that allows citizens of any nationality to sue in US federal courts for violations of international rights or treaties.” Does anyone else find it ironic that the USA has taken the initiative to establish legislation that allows any citizen of planet earth to sue corporate criminals in an American courtroom? Would an American court really rule in favour of, let’s say Turkish Nationals suing Coca Cola for damages? Am I being too cynical? Maybe, but I can’t ignore the fact that most of the defendants would be citizens contributing to the salaries of court employees while many plaintiffs have never even stopped by to visit.

As you can imagine, I was hooked on the topic and had to learn more. Again, I offer my opinions here as a summary of the information I found. I was compelled to corroborate only one of the charges (involving Nestle) but otherwise did no fact-checking and offer no expertise on the subject. Once again, I simply find it to be a fascinating topic and I had to tell you about it.

The Global Exchange website offers a real who’s-who of Corporate America. The list includes big names like Caterpillar, Ford, Lockheed Martin, Phillip Morris, Chevron, Dow Chemical, Coca Cola, Nestle, Monsanto, DynCorp, KBR (a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp.), Pfizer, Suez (Paris, France) and Wal-Mart.

Some names I would have expected to see on this list. Dow Chemical for instance, is involved in chemical weaponry. It’s pretty hard to get on Santa’s “Nice” list when you build an empire marketing Agent Orange to war mongers. But let’s not feel sorry for Dow just yet…after all, they provided pesticides to Saddam Hussein despite warnings that these products could be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons. (By the way, does anyone know if Bush looked for weapons of mass destruction in Dow’s warehouses?) How is this even possible with current trade laws? I mean, really! Which actress got detained at the airport because she got caught travelling outside the US with fruit in her purse? Does she know about this?

As with Dow, it’s hard to be popular and be the largest military contractor in the world like Lockheed Martin. Let’s face it, if you profit from war you may walk away with the big cheque, but you have to know that somebody else is leaving with the congeniality prize. The difference between Dow and Lockheed Martin, however, is that Lockheed Martin operates primarily on Pentagon contracts; $21.9 billion to be exact (I’ll assume that there’s a clause there somewhere preventing them from selling to foreign enemies like Dow did). When business gets slow, Lockheed Martin has been accused of flexing its foreign policy muscles to get things moving again. What a resourceful strategy. You just don’t see that kind of passion in other markets.

I’ll bet that Phillip Morris has called this list “home” for the past few years or so. It was no surprise to see the name or the charge – aggressively marketing lethal products. I quickly scanned the list for Beretta, Colt or Smith & Wesson, and when I didn’t see them I wondered if maybe I was missing the point. Regardless, it begs the question…Isn’t it time that Phillip Morris did the world a favour and closed their doors? For those people arguing in support of the commercial benefits of the “smoking industry,” can we agree that underpaying illegal immigrants to harvest romaine lettuce instead of tobacco would offer continued employment (albeit under-employment) to an existing labour pool? That’s what you’re worried about right, putting people out of jobs? Wal-Mart can buy all the cigarette factories and turn them into sweatshops so that American children can be exploited too. I mean, why should the kids in China and Indonesia get all the jobs? Isn’t that reverse discrimination?

DynCorp is a private security contractor accused of endangering lives, environmental devastation and sex trafficking. This California-based contractor specializes in providing mercenary services to protect the international interests of statesmen and big business. A whistle-blower went to the courts in 2001 with damning testimony regarding DynCorp’s involvement in rape, sex trafficking, slave trading and in the illegal weapons trade. I’m trying to picture DynCorp’s employment application form. Hell, can you imagine their company Christmas party?

Ford Motor Company is there on the list. Poor Henry’s probably turning over in his grave. Ah Henry, you try to do a good thing for an industrialized nation and look what happens. Well, if the conspiracy theories are correct, Ford’s fuel economy has actually decreased since the Model-T which has driven fuel needs and prices through the…um…hole in the ozone layer. Call me crazy, but Ford isn’t nearly as easy to dislike as, say, DynCorp. It would be easier for me to dislike people who drive Fords; especially the young testosterone-drunk men that tailgate me in their big, V8, 4x4 trucks. I bet the employees at DynCorp all drive Ford Super Duty Trucks. By the way, I drive a Chrysler. If I find out that anyone at Global Exchange drives a Ford, I’m going to be very, very disappointed.

This is getting to be a very long entry so I’m going to finish up by announcing today’s winner and continue tomorrow in Part II – Killing Me Softly, because you won’t believe what I have to say about Nestle, Caterpillar and Coca Cola. Drum roll please. And the winner is… Chevron.

At first, my opinion of Chevron was that it would be pretty hard to be involved in petrochemicals without getting your hands a little dirty. I changed my mind though, when I realized that Sunoco and Exxon Mobil managed to keep their names off the list. In fact, it appears that Chevron is the undisputed champ of all environmental contaminators and human rights violators in the world. Yes, Chevron is the Muhammad Ali of corporate criminals except their “Rumble in the Jungle” left behind billions of gallons of toxic contaminants and few, if any, adoring fans. The phrase used by Global Exchange to capture the extent of their ecological impact was “Rainforest Chernobyl.” Yikes!

In an ingenious move, Chevron outsourced its complaints department to the Nigerian militia in 1998, when they contracted the services of soldiers to protect their pipeline and their reputation. This deadly partnership is allegedly responsible for the deaths of several protestors engaged in non-violent demonstrations. A stellar example of how things can go from bad to worse.

Way to go Chevron, you’re the champ!

See kids, everybody is good at something.

(….stay tuned for tomorrow’s dramatic conclusion.)