Another example of the evil that is Nestle. Employment of child slave labour on cacao plantations.
Nestle, Cargill, Mars, Mondelēz, Hershey, Barry Callebaut, and Olam are co-defenders in class action brought by former child slaves on cacao plantations.
Children as young as 11 are being trafficked into slavery, harvesting cocoa for global corporations Nestle, Mars, and Hershey.
Tenimba was only 11 years old when a trafficker lured him from his home in Mali to a cocoa plantation in Ivory Coast. He was promised good pay and care. Instead, he worked every day for two years with no pay, no medical care, and no safety measures.
Today there are over 1.5 million child slaves like Tenimba, losing their childhood to supply cocoa to some of the world’s wealthiest global corporations, companies like Nestle, Mars, and Hershey.
Tenimba and seven other former child slaves have brought a lawsuit against these corporations, hoping to get justice for themselves and hundreds of thousands of others.
And do not be fooled by Tony’s Chocolonely, they source low quality industrial chocolate from Barry Callebau, then re-brand it.
Please support bean-to-bar chocolate makers, support small producers who care, who buy direct trade, pay producers higher prices than FairTrade scam, and produce quality chocolate not poor quality industrial chocolate.
Last Friday I found a couple of women chalking on the street.
Why I do not know, and lacked the time to stop and ask.
Later at the weekend I learnt on Look North they were writing of their own experience of sexual harassment, then on Monday, one spoke of whilst she was writing she was being abused and harassed by men passing by, which only served to underline the point they were making.
Lincoln City Council have stated they will not wash off the messages. How generous (I am being sarcastic).
In a recent survey, 97% of women claim they have been sexually harassed or abused, and as some of the messages showed, often from a very early age whilst they were still children. Not a very good reflection of society and how women are treated.
The vigil for Sarah Everard the previous weekend, many of those present told similar stories. The vigil was broken up by heavy-handed Met Police, many of the women assaulted. Sarah Everard, on the same day, a serving Met Police Officer appeared in Court charged with her kidnap and murder.
A couple of days ago, a serving police officer, a different police force, received a slap on the wrist for attacking a woman as she walked home, the police force dragged their feet investigating the attack.
I found yesterday, messages on Steep Hill as I walked down, many more when I reached the High Street.
A joke, could not make it up if tried. Two low quality chocolate makers battle for supermarket shelf space. Though stretching it to call either chocolate.
What has caused the problem, other than unfair competition, bullying of a chocolate company by Nestle, is a range of ‘chocolates’ that has the look of other ‘chocolate’ bars to highlight slavery in the chocolate industry. A look that at first glance easily mistook for the originals.
But dear oh dear, look at the long list, the very very long list, of ingredients for the copycat bars from Tony’s.
I hate to have to say it, but Nestle do have grounds for complaint, a publicity stunt by Tony’s passing off their bars of sugar and fat as the genuine article, albeit for a good cause to highlight slavery on chocolate plantations.
Bars of Tony’s sugar and fat can be found in Oxfam, supermarkets and zero waste shops.
Are they ethical? On the shelves of Oxfam no guarantee. A few years ago Oxfam were selling peanut butter bulked out with palm oil, sugar and salt, in a plastic jar. On the shelves until public outcry forced them to not stock.
Extra dark chocolate 70% 180g bar: Belgian FairTrade dark chocolate, 70% minimum cocoa solids, made in Belgium. Nothing exceptional about 70% cocoa mass. Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, fat reduced cocoa powder, emulsifier (soya lecithin).
Emulsifier is used as a cheap substitute for cocoa butter. Soya and palm oil are two of the worst additives in chocolate. Both sourced from plantations where once stood rain forest. Soya, unless organic, has high probability of being GMO.
FairTrade scam. The beans sourced not specified country of origin, and not likely if FairTrade. The FairTrade scam pay a a tiny margin above commodity price. No incentives for growers to improve quality, cocoa is cocoa. Growers maintained in poverty. A marketing ploy to make Middle Class feel good but not question who or where of what they buy.
Luisa deals direct with growers in Colombia pays a high premium for quality cocoa.
Belgium or Swiss plastered across a bar of ‘chocolate’ is no guarantee of quality, any more than gourmet coffee is a guarantee of quality coffee.
Quality chocolate
cocoa mass — sugar — vanilla
cocoa mass — cocoa butter — sugar — vanilla
The purists will not allow vanilla, others say ok if enhances the quality of the chocolate. A moot point.
Always check the list of ingredients.
Quality chocolate will be bean-to-bar. Anything that is not bean-to-bar paying a lot of money for someone to buy in chocolate and turn into bars.
The accolade for chocolate, an award from the Academy of Chocolate.
In 2020, Luisa, one silver, four bronze, an award for each and every one of her bean-to-bar chocolates. No mean feat.
Coffee and chocolate, speciality coffee roasteries, bean-to-bar chocolate makers, direct trade, not the FairTrade scam. Long term relationships with growers, higher price paid for quality. A win win for everyone.
Buy chocolate direct from bean-to bar chocolate makers, coffee from a specialty coffee roastery, or from speciality coffee shops.
Steam Yard in Sheffield stock bean-to-bar chocolate in addition to serving excellent food and coffee, Imperial Tea and Coffee half way up Steep Hill in Lincoln purveyors of bean-to-bar chocolate, coffee and tea.
Nestle is an evil corporation, it exploits communities.
The only way to put evil corporations out of business, companies like Nestle and Facebook, is to stop using their services, stop buying their products, stop sharing your personal data.
Nestle owns Mindful Chef, a company that pretends to be ethical, makes no mention of Nestle.
According to a US Department of Labor report published in October 2020, an estimated 1.56 million children – some as young as five – are involved in harvesting cocoa in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two countries which together supply 70% of the world’s cocoa beans. The proportion of children living in these countries who work on cocoa farms has increased from 31% to 45%.
Tony’s Chocolonely a Dutch chocolate company with around 20% of the Dutch market.
Ethical Consumer January-February 2021 has a feature on chocolate, the focus on industrial chocolate manufactures. A major omission, support local bean-to-bar craft chocolate not Big Businesses, superior chocolate and pay higher price to growers. [see Ethical Chocolate]
We all have a choice. We can sup undrinkable coffee at Costa (owned by Coca-Cola), Starbucks (dodge tax) or we can find an independent specialty coffee shop where they care about coffee, care where it comes from, and if we are lucky may have bean-to-bar chocolate on sale.
Racists wallow in their social media cesspits, reinforce and normalise their racist views then spew it out across social media platforms.
An example of this was a few months ago when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited a detention centre for migrants, the abuse she received in person when she visited was a mere glimpse behind the curtain of what was happening in closed facebook groups, where pictures were being posted calling for her to be raped. Closed facebook groups for past and serving Border Force officials, federal agents, government employees.
In Clear Bright FuturePaul Mason touches upon these closed facebook groups where fascists and racists fester.
Black Lives Matter and the racist troll farms are now on steroids. Seeing young black and white march on the streets is fanning their hatred.
Today my office is trawling through all the abusive and racist comments and reporting them to the police. They hide as much of it from me as they can. I know it affects them reading all the vile stuff so I want to publicly say thank you.
& to the racist thugs I wont be silenced.
— Dawn Butler MP✊🏾💙 (@DawnButlerBrent) June 8, 2020
Black Members of Parliament have received a torrent of abuse. Dawn Butter has thanked her staff for filtering it out and having to read it.
What is shocking, is what is appearing in local media comments, and I am not suggesting it is the local media, it is the racists commenting on the local media reports of Black Lives Matter protests.
Surrey Live had to issue a warning following its coverage of a Black Lives Matter protest in Guildford. Not that the warning has been heeded. But it is as nothing, the rabid racist comments on The Lincolnite coverage of Black Lives Matter protests in Lincoln. And just when think cannot get any worse it did when a student had the audacity to speak out about the racism he has suffered.
Local media has to do more to root out this racism. Every single racist comment logged, reported to police and facebook, then those posting the racist comments blocked.
The irony of this period is that Black and Brown residents were blamed for burning their own community, when they were the ones who rebuilt it.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells of landlords in the Bronx who set fire to buildings with families inside in order that they could collect on the insurance, then blame the local community for burning down the buildings.
A couple of weeks ago the Cyprus finance minister opened himself up to ridicule when he claimed the Cyprus economy was going to shrink by about five percent.
The following week the figure had been revised to ten per cent, which was at best wishful thinking.
With loss of the Cyprus tourist sector, and anyone who thinks Cyprus is going to see any tourists before the end of the season is living in la la land, the economic downturn is going to be far greater than ten per cent.
The world is heading into economic meltdown far worse than the Great Depression, international trade already down by 30%. IMF has warned the global recession is likely to be worse than the Great Depression, and has urged countries to spend, spend, then spend some more, which is an amazing about turn for the IMF.
To put the Cypriot figures in context, the UK economy is expected to shrink by anywhere between 13 per cent and 30 per cent depending on which model, the assumptions fed into the model. The Treasury has forecast April May June the economy may shrink by 30 per cent.
We can not go back to normal as normal was not normal, it was destroying the planet.
We have been able to hear birdsong, our streets traffic free, our cites pollution free, the skies free of planes. A world few of us will have seen in our lifetimes. https://t.co/GLZTXNw4CE
“You wonder if people will want to go back to what it was like before…The pandemic has shown people will change their behavior if it’s for the health of their families."
— Extinction Rebellion Global (@ExtinctionR) April 25, 2020
We can not go back to normal as normal was not normal, it was destroying the planet.
We have been able to hear birdsong, our streets traffic free, our cites pollution free, the skies free of planes. A world few of us will have seen in our lifetimes. In India they are able to see in the far distance the snow covered Himalayas, a sight last seen over thirty years ago,
We were told we could not cut carbon emissions within the timescale required for zero carbon 2035, it was impossible, impractical, and yet we have achieved massive reductions overnight.
Politics is not a race, two or more corrupt political parties in a race as to decide who gets the opportunity to do the bidding of oligarchs.
Politics is who does what to whom.
We have seen capitalism put into suspended animation. We are in a postcapitalist world, we have been since 2008. Who decides what the future will look look like once we are through the coronavirus pandemic?
If we look to the UK, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has made billions of pounds available, to furlough workers with the government providing 80% of salary, a week later for the self employed, grants, soft loans to small businesses, all to keep businesses in hibernation, ready to be woken up.
In the covid-19 pandemic we are living in another now. What we have to do is create our own another now, an alternative reality, a vision of how we wish the world to be. We failed in 2008, we cannot fail again in 2020, we cannot return to what was the norm, as the norm was not normal.
What should Europe do? (As opposed to the comedy of errors coming out of Brussels, Frankfurt & Berlin) Here is DiEM25's videoed answer: https://t.co/9Ha7dY2UbK And here it is in text form: https://t.co/3vDPFDyI66
EU failed to deliver on eurobonds, offered loans that put the southern vassal states in debt bondage with austerity to follow.
We have seen post-WWII relentless rise in GDP, or at least up to the 2008, but this rise is not normal, it has been at huge environmental cost, and the increase in GDP has not been fairly distributed, it has been shared with the rich.
If I ask a bank for $100,000 to safeguard an ancient forest, I will probably not get very far. If I ask for $1 million to cut down the forest sell the timber they will happily give me the money.
If I ask a bank for 100 million euros to destroy pristine coastline for a hotel development, bring in dredged sand to create a beach, destroy bamboo groves habitat of a rare endangered snail, show I will have guaranteed contracts with a big tour company to bring in all-inclusive guests, I will of course not tell them no benefit to the local economy, the bank will hand me the money, or at least they would have pre-coronavirus pandemic.
Destruction of a forest, of a pristine coastline, is not without costs, soil erosion, floods, loss of a carbon sink, species loss, degradation of water supply, loss of inshore fishing and fish breading grounds, which then feeds into ocean acidification, warming climate, rising sea levels, forest degradation, loss of coastline, further loss of fisheries. These costs are dismissed as externalities (a polite way of saying someone else problem).
The standard economic model showing monetary flows between households and businesses, together with flows of capital and goods and services, sometimes expanded to include the role of banks and government, is too simplified, it takes no account of the economy is embedded within society, which in turn is embedded within Gaia.
Never confuse a model with reality, even worse distort reality to reflect the model.
Kate Raworth has drawn a model, that incorporates what went before, but also includes the commons, the flow of energy, flow of materials, and thus more accurately reflects reality.
We therefore have to devise a new economic system, one that sees the poor are not left behind, are not reliant on food banks, homeless are not living on our streets, whilst at the same time we do not exceed our planetary limits and what we do produce is fair and equitable.
One such system is doughnut economics. How do we apply it to Cyprus, to the island, to municipalities, to sectors?
Look to Amsterdam, where the city is working with Kate Raworth to devise doughnut economics for the city, a 21st century economic system.
A 2018 study published in Nature Climate Change showed that emissions from tourism add up to 8% of the global total, with flying making up the largest share of this. “By far, the biggest action we can take is to stop flying or to fly less,”
One of the largest sectors in Cyprus is tourism, it cannot be a return to mass tourism which not only is destroying the planet is destroying Cyprus, it brings in the dregs of the tourist industry, all-inclusive hotels with no benefit for the local economy.
Does Cyprus need an easyJet flight every day, sometimes two a day, would not two or three a week suffice, assuming easyJet is in business and will not run out of money by August?
A proposal for a doughnut economy for Cyprus, a broad brush to be expanded upon.
Doughnut economics was developed by Oxford economist Kate Raworth as an antidote to conventional economics which does not reflect the real world and has not served us well.
What is the economy for? Until we can answer that question, how do we know what to measure, how do we measure success?
Economies need to be distributive, regenerative.
#DoughnutEconomics is a book full of ideas for 21st century economies, but now it's time for action.
That's why we're creating Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL): a collaborative platform for changemakers to connect, share, inspire and get inspired.
— Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) (@DoughnutEcon) April 15, 2020
Visualise a doughnut. In the centre nothing, this is where resides abuse of human rights, poverty, malnutrition, homelessness, food banks, it is where we should not be. The body of the doughnut is where we wish to be, a circular economy, everyone’s needs met, living within the limits of the planet. Beyond the doughnut, again where we should not be, global warming, species loss, habitat destruction, acidification of our oceans, pollution, rising sea levels.
Kate Raworth has developed a doughnut economics model for Amsterdam, working with the city. Something that should be studied, adapted to Cyprus, but no two places are the same.
For Cyprus we need a doughnut model for the island and for each and every municipality and sector, and the people involved in developing it.
The largest sector in Cyprus is tourism, but it is not in a healthy state, has not been for years, and looking at crude tourist numbers is about as helpful as focusing on GDP to measure economic well being.
One only had to wander through Protaras last year at the height of the tourist season to see all was not well. During the day, mid-afternoon, empty sunbeds, watersports siting idle. At night, during the evening, bars and restaurants empty.
The last few years many local businesses have gone bust. They finished last season in very poor shape, and many more would not have survived another season.
Tourism has to benefit society with minimum impact on the environment.
Mass tourism is bad for the planet, bad for Cyprus, it is not sustainable.
There is an over-reliance on tour companies, on mass tourism, on all-inclusive hotels.
Cyprus has become the dustbin for the dregs of the tourist industry, all-inclusive attracts the dregs, little if any money flows into the local economy.
Cyprus is not going to see tourists this year, therefore time to reflect, seize the opportunity for radical change and innovation.
Rewind the tourist sector to thirty years ago when Cyprus was a quality destination, attracted quality tourists, when hoteliers took a pride in their hotels, restaurateurs in their restaurants.
Cyprus needs far fewer tourists, quality tourists. There should be no all-inclusive hotels, tour companies should be no more than 20% of hotel bookings (no single tour operator more than 10%), pay promptly at the end of the month (with penalty for late payment).
Encourage long stay, fourteen days and longer, discourage short stay, short breaks, seven days and shorter. Fewer flights for the same hotel occupancy.
The noisy bars bulldoze to the ground. Restaurants in an attempt to compete with all-inclusive hotels are in a race to the bottom, a race to the bottom no one can win.
What passes as coffee shops is laughable, Cyprus is infamous for bad coffee, coffee shops serving drinkable coffee could count on one hand.
Replace noisy bars with traditional tavernas and coffee shops. It would be difficult to find good examples without visiting Plaka in Athens. Paul’s Coffee Roasters and Lazaris (though not for coffee) near St Lazarus Church in the back streets of Larnaca set high standards, take a pride in what they do, as does Nick’s Coffee Bike outside Larnaca Marina, but these are the rare exceptions, not the norm, oasis amidst the dross. Once the norm in Cyprus, until a race to the bottom to attract custom from all-inclusive hotels, a race no one can win.
For restaurants slow food not fast food, local cuisine using fresh local seasonal produce. Sea food restaurants overlooking the sea, fresh caught fish, for example Spartiatis overlooking Konnos Bay and Demetrion beside Liopetri River overlooking the sea.
Tourism is more than hotels, it is bars, coffee shops, restaurants, car hire, boat trips, water sports. All of which have suffered in recent years thanks to all-inclusive hotels.
There is a need to improve standards within the tourist sector, hotels, restaurants, bars, coffee shops. How to measure standards?
TripAdvisor is worthless, fake reviews and trolls. Google Maps marginally better. Proposal to tender a contract to assess standards seriously flawed in a country where everyone knows everyone, someones cousin friend went to school with.
Create an open source open coop collaborate commons platform Booking Cyprus. Charge a small fee to generate a surplus to maintain and improve the platform and fund local community green projects.
There is a need to diversify within the tourist sector.
Diversify away from tourism based on a handful of coastal resorts.
It takes two to tango… You and Grecian Park Hotel Cyprus! On October 25-28, join us for the 6th Cyprus Tango Meeting and enjoy the dance of passionate love in our dreamy ambience.
An example would be a week of tango at Grecian Park, not organised by the hotel, they host a week organised by two dancers well known within the world of tango.
A green new deal, use it to kick start the economy.
Look to what DiEM25 is proposing for Europe. EU needs to issue eurobonds, €500 billion a year to finance a Green New Deal for Europe.
Implement a tree planting programme. Start by planting trees at bus stops for the 101 / 102 bus service Paralimni Protaras Ayia Napa to provide much needed shade.
”Milan is to introduce one of Europe’s most ambitious schemes reallocating street space from cars to cycling and walking, in response to the coronavirus crisis.” https://t.co/crSIMT5G5G
Pedestrianise the sea front at Larnaca and extend the pedestrianised area into the back streets around St Lazaris Church. Provide an electric shuttle bus service from, Larnaca Marina to Mackenzie Beach.
Cyprus is over-reliant on oil imports, which is crazy in a country with abundant sunshine. Install roof top solar, feed into local community owned and controlled local grids, paid a fair price, consumers pay a fair price, surplus generation fed to other local grids via a publicly owned national grid, any ‘profit’ fed back into the local grid or used to fund local community projects.
The proposed Paphos Marina with facilities for cruise ships should be scrapped. Cruise ships are floating environmental disasters. Floating all-inclusive hotels that bring no benefits to local economies.
The project in Paphos to create a marina for 1,000 boats plus cruise ships is an example of the insanity that is destroying Cyprus. It should be scrapped.
Cruise ships are nothing more than glorified floating all-inclusive hotels, that cause horrendous damage wherever they dock, with little benefit to the local economy.
The streets of Athens, especially areas like Plaka and Acropli, are clogged whenever a cruse ship docks, causing a problem for both locals and visitors, and they do not spend any money. The tour buses ferrying them around, traffic congestion, noise and pollution.
Venice is being destroyed by cruise ships.
Cruise shop are major greenhouse gas emitters, plus passenger fly to start and end of trip. Cruise ships dump their sewerage and garbage overboard, including plastic.
Will there even be cruise ships? As we have seen floating hell when covid-19 spreads through the ship and nowhere will permit a plague ship to dock.
These floating all-inclusive hotels are now all rapidly returning to port, discharging their passengers and being mothballed. The industry has not just been devastated, it has ceased to function altogether. For it, coronavirus has been the perfect storm. It has gone from being an industry worth $46 billion (£37 billion) a year, with 26 million passengers per annum, to an almost total standstill overnight. The only destination for cruise ships, the scrap yard.
Art and culture would seem an oxymoron when said in the same breath as Ayia Napa, and yet Ayia Napa has an excellent International Sculpture Park on a hillside overlooking the sea and hosts an excellent Medieval Festival.
How many visitors are aware of the open air theatre during the summer in the grounds of Larnaca Castle?
Cyprus has a democratic deficit which should be addressed. Not only open municipalities to the public, open to public participation, live stream all meetings.
A doughnut may appear to be a simple concept, but appearances can be deceptive. Its power lies in its simplicity.
A lower social bound bellow which we should not fall. An upper planetary bound which we should not exceed. It is also circular, symbolises not only money flowing around the economy, but also symbolises mutual cooperation, collaborative commons.
A simple example will suffice. On changing money in a car hire, we are recommended to take a boat trip. The boat trip recommends a restaurant. The restaurant recommends a vineyard from where they source their wine. To visit the vineyard, we return to the car hire to hire a car. We pass through a lovely little village, learn of a house available through fairbnb should we be tempted to return. At the vineyard, we learn they are renting out a beautiful studio apartment with incredible views of the sea. We find a coffee shop which we have been recommended, and as is the nature of coffee shops, interesting conversations ensue with the owner and barista and fellow coffee drinkers, we learn of many cultural events, an out of the way fish restaurant overlooking the sea and of a taverna overlooking the sea. We learn Cyprus has much to offer, which we would never have learnt of from tour guides at an all-inclusive hotel. And the local economy has benefited. And maybe we will return one day to explore further.
Salient points of a doughnut economy:
GDP is not a useful measure. We cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet. Obsession with GDP has destroyed the planet whilst at the same time creating obscene levels of inequality. The top richest 1% have accrued more wealth than the poorest 99%. Uncontrolled growth has a name, cancer.
Create, innovate, value human development. With rare exceptions there is a lack of innovation in Cyprus. One bar owner opens a bar with white seats, overpriced drinks, moronic music thudding out. Then more bars open with white seats, overpriced drinks, moronic music thudding out. Those that follow, do not bother to check the first bar always empty.
Understand the power of networks, how feedback systems operate.
An economic system must be distributive. All must share in the wealth created.
Transactions within an economy are not simply financial, nor are the players only government and private sector. The economy also has to include open coops, collaborate commons, each working in loose partnership with each other.
Economy has to be regenerative. It is a necessary but not sufficient condition to merely protect the natural world from harm.
The Cypriot economy is moribund if not in free fall, no tourists anytime soon. The time should be put to productive use to implement a doughnut economy.
It is important public information, in Greek and English, to keep everyone informed, not only locals but also visitors. Then network and share with other municipalities, not only across Cyprus, across Europe.
As Paul Mason succinctly notes, this is the fossil fuel elite’s Chernobyl.
Australia together with pariah states like Saudi Arabia has over the years done its best to sabotage climate talks, digs up coal, elected a corrupt fascist in the pocket of Big Coal as their prime minster, absorbs mind rotting fake news from Murdoch, and now is reaping the benefits.
Aussie prime minister Scott Morrison once lovingly brought a chunk of coal into Parliament to pass around. "Don't be scared of it," he said. "Don't be afraid."https://t.co/rCTPJTETer
Last week fascist PM visited a burnt out town. The local residents told him to fuck off. This was their Ceaușescu moment, when Nicolae Ceaușescu stood before a crowd and was booed.
What we are seeing is an Apocalypse of Biblical proportions, and this is only the beginning.
A bookstore in the fire-ravaged village of Cobargo, New South Wales, has a new sign outside that reads:
Post-Apocalyptic Fiction has been moved to Current Affairs
The carbon released by the bush fires into the atmosphere will accelerate towards the climate tipping point, the point of no return.
Smoke from the fires has engulfed New Zealand, turned the glaciers brown, accelerating the melting of the glaciers.
The extent of the fires is such it is generating its own weather system. The temperatures hot enough to cause the metal of cars to melt.
Already over twenty people have died in the fires, the count is mounting daily, more bodies will be found when people return to burnt out towns. But as nothing to the tens of thousands who will die as a result of breathing in the toxic smoke. And it beggars belief the imbecile mayor of Sydney went ahead with New Year fireworks to add to the toxic mix.
Mass destruction of wildlife. Wildlife not burnt alive, dying due to the high temperatures.
Any politician who accepts dirty money from coal is a climate criminal and should be in prison.
Under the fascist Prime Minister, a crack down on unions, civic organisations and journalists. Legislation pending in Tasmania, and expected to be copied across Australia, environmental protesters now face up to 21 years in jail for demonstrating. This is what we are seeing from the Fascist regimes in Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, India, Bolivia and Brazil.
When the fires are finally put out, Australians need to rise up, remove their prime minister from office, topple the government, and take direct action, whatever it takes, to shut down the coal industry. And to boycott the poisonous toxic crap from Murdoch and his ilk.
This is no longer a US / UK story. Cambridge Analytica's role in Indian elections has caused a huge political stir over there as big as here & in the US. And India is Facebook's biggest market. https://t.co/IQkHnqvJ1m
Russian hackers, Russian bots, were blamed for interference in elections. We now know it was much closer to home, Cambridge Analytica were operating in our own backyard, unnoticed, until Christopher Wylie blew the whistle.
Cambridge Analytica has its tentacles every where, US, UK, Kenya, Nigeria, India, Sri Lanka, Mexico.
They go in, do the hard sell, we can swing the election your way. They are like ghosts, go in, do the dirty work that politicians cannot soil their hands with, then long before discovered, if ever discovered, have crept back out.
This is only one Facebook app.
And yet people are still leaving their personal information on Facebook, have not overwritten then deleted, are leaving live links of where they are, have not deleted Instagram and WhatsApp.
Facebook apps, every quiz, survey, game, harvest the data facebook collects, all your personal data, that of your friends, every single thing you do on facebook.
One such app was used by Cambridge Analytica, was used to harvest the data of 50 million facebook users. They then used that data for manipulation, bragged they swung the US Presidential election and won it for Donald Trump. It has also been claimed they meddled in the EU Referendum.
Facebook claim a breach of trust. No, the only breach of trust was facebook collecting data on its users.
Facebook and Cambridge Analytica both claim the data that was harvested, data of 50 million Facebook users, has been deleted.
CA say the data was destroyed – and deny any wrongdoing. Facebook said it took steps to ensure harvested campaign data had been “destroyed”. https://t.co/ym90NGRTEJ
Campaign consultant Rick Ridder discusses the Cambridge Analytica data leaked to Channel 4 News, purporting to show personal details of Denver residents’ psychological profiles. pic.twitter.com/xqYbA9DiDu
This Denver resident says she isn’t concerned about Cambridge Analytica’s personal data about her, saying she “figured" Facebook were using her data anyway. pic.twitter.com/oddRXcITzV
Not true says Christopher Wylie a whistle blower at Cambridge Analytica.
Not true says Channel 4 News, who in the scoop of the century broke the original story last week.
Channel 4 News found it all too easy to obtain this data. They then knocked on a few doors to see what the good folk of Colorado thought of the collection and abuse of their personal data.
They were shocked, they did not wish to discuss or appear on camera. One exception was a lady who said she was aware of how Facebook operated.
It beggars belief people are still leaving their personal data exposed on facebook, still leaving live links of where they are, are still using Instagram and WhatsApp.
All personal data should be overwritten with false data then deleted.
Never post live links of where you are.
The most valuable data you post on facebook is your personal data and where you are.
In settings disable apps, disable location data.
Do not use Instagram. Rights are claimed to your pictures, it is owned by Facebook, you are acting as bait to draw others into the facebook walled garden, the pictures posted are not visible on twitter. Post pictures on twitter or google maps, but not Instagram.
If you are one of the poorly paid serfs in a McShit job at Wagamama and call in sick on Christmas Day, indeed any day over the Festive Period, you will face disciplinary action.
No surprises. @wagamama_uk is owned by Duke Street Private Equity, founded by Edmund Truell who has donated hundreds of thousands to the @Conservatives. Anybody else had similar treatment by an employer – let us know (anonymously if you prefer) and we can shame them too. pic.twitter.com/FwqjOlttzn
A note with bold and underlined, as would expect a child to make, was pinned to the staff notice board beneath staffing rotas, warning staff they face disciplinary action should they call in sick.
No calling in sick! may I remind you that if you are unable to come in for your shift it is your responsibility to find someone to cover your shift (as per contract and handbook). Calling in sick during the next 2 weeks will result in disciplinary action being taken.
Is this legal? Possibly not.
following reports of a notice posted in our north finchley restaurant we can confirm this was an isolated incident and is strictly not company employment policy. (1/3)
the manager involved feared team member shortages over the festive period and regrettably decided to take this highly unusual approach. as a company we treat all our team with the greatest respect and understand and appreciate the hard work they all do. (2/3)
Unless you disclose your employee contracts and handbook (which were referenced in the posted notice), you have no credibility. pic.twitter.com/c3fsiQ6ZWk
Is this the action of one rogue manager? I doubt so. And others doubt so too.
If this was a rogue manager, what disciplinary action?
If a rogue manager, does each store have its own unique contracts and handbook? Or, was targets set, ends justify the means, until the dodgy workplace practises exposed on social media, then blame a rogue manager?
Would someone please post the handbook and a sample contract on-line. Go through Wikileaks and follow their instructions how to post securely. Or copy and drop in the post to both Unite and The Guardian.
It is not the role of employees to find replacements when off sick. That is the role of management, that is what they are paid for.
Are Wagamama open Christmas Day? Shame if they are.
Are staff forced to work Christmas Day? Are they paid extra?
If Wagamama has the shame to open Christmas Day, it should be voluntary for staff to work that day, and those who do volunteer, should be paid double if not triple pay for the day, and a paid for taxi provided to work and back home.
That staff face disciplinary action if call in sick over Christmas it is a reasonable assumption they are being forced against their will to work over Christmas.
Let us assume a serf working at Wagamama has noro virus? Are they forced to work? If yes, there are going to be a lot of sick people after eating at Wagamama.
Are the Food Standards Agency and local Environmental Health investigating Wagamama, who not only think it ok to have sick staff in a food environment, but are threatening them if they do not show for work when sick?
I would urge everyone to boycott this chain. Not unless happy to eat where staff handling, preparing, serving your food could have noro virus or some other unpleasant disease.
This illustrates once again why we need a Basic Income. Then no one is forced to work McShit jobs at chains like Wagamama.
No surprise Wagamama owned by Vulture Capitalists, in this case Duke Street Private Equity, founded by Edmund Truell who has donated hundreds of thousands to the Tory Party.
Why eat at Wagamama when there are quality independent alternatives? If, for example in Guildford eat at Bamboo Shoots.
I would no more eat at Wagamama, then I would drink what masquerades as coffee at Costa or tax dodging Starbucks or Caffe Nero.
Keithpp's Blog 