Revealed: How Development Banks Underwrote Fast Food’s Global Takeover: From South Africa to Ukraine, five industrial chicken companies that supply KFC have benefited from financing from the World Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development…..The world’s largest restaurant company, U.S.-based Yum! Brands, owns KFC, and calls the fried chicken powerhouse, which oversees more than 30,000 locations across the globe, a “major growth engine.” - DeSmog
Russia revives fried chicken chain Rostic's after KFC owner leaves: Originally launched in 1993 while Russia was transitioning from communism to capitalism, Rostic's became KFC's vehicle for expansion in Russia, where it had more than 1,000 restaurants before Yum! Brands announced plans to exit last year after Russia despatched troops to Ukraine. KFC partnered with Rostic's in 2005 before later buying it out. The new owners said the possibility of Yum! Brands one day returning to Russia had not been ruled out.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested some pro-Palestinian protests, especially those against President Biden, have “a Russian tinge to it.” - Yahoo
What we've discussed is that the American military, like the American economy in general, is a Ponzi scheme. It pays off old liabilities with new growth. In this case, it keeps covering up failed wars with new failing wars. It keeps covering up horrendous procurement with more horrendous procurement. It's a shell game which can no longer manufacture shells reliably. - INDI.CA
"What Luther inaugurated as faith in feeling and in the testimony of the spirit is the same thing that the spirit, at a more mature stage of its development, endeavors to grasp in the _concept_ so as to free itself in the present and thus find itself therein." - Hegel
Ultra Rich Pay $620,000 to Shield Mega Mansions From Disaster Risk: Insurance premiums are soaring as climate risk grows, pricing everyone but the wealthy out of some coastal areas.
According to internal data from MyChoice, a leading insurance comparison website, Canadians should brace for increased home insurance prices in 2024 as they have already increased 7.66% YoY in Canada since the beginning of the year. (If you have no mortgage, you do not need home insurance) - Newswire
"This has been a challenging day for many," said Jay Hartzell, the president of the University of Texas in Austin. "Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others' ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules ... Our University will not be occupied." - CBS
With the encouragement of the state, universities from coast to coast are taking draconian steps to silence debate about US-backed violence in the Middle East. - FAIR
Ukraine Pushing Young Ukrainian Men towards Russia: Ukraine on Tuesday suspended consular services for men of fighting age living abroad, after announcing measures to bring them home amid manpower shortages in the army fighting Russia.
More than 5.5mn Ukrainian refugees have fled to Russia from Ukraine, survey finds half of refugees with no intention of going home (each flight I have taken into Russia since 2022 have been with almost only Ukrainians).
Holocaust Survivor Message to US Campus Protesters: This survivor of the Holocaust is against Genocide in Gaza & conflating Jewishness with Zionism, which does nothing but increase antisemitism. Your protests are so persistent, large and global that eventually the Western leadership, which are trying to deny what’s going on, will be forced to face up to it. There is a historic responsibility towards injustice, genocide and fascism. Thank you for being brave and on the right side of history. - Stephen Kapos
What is So Jewish About Reggae? The most outlandish character to marry these two worlds is Ari Ben Moses. He began performing as Ari Lehman… and as an actor. In fact, he played the killer Jason Voorhees in the first Friday the 13th movie. He then went into music, becoming the reggae keyboardist Ari Ben Moses, touring the US, Europe and West Africa, and recording with Tuff Gong Records, another key reggae studio. He married, settled in Chicago, and formed the Ari Ben Moses Band, which had several Jewish numbers. His current band plays horror-fan conventions-- it's called First Jason.
Has the War in Gaza Irreversibly Damaged Europe’s Credibility?
The global human rights regime has collapsed
We stand with the campus protesters. We're now offering free ebooks on Palestine, mass protests, and student rebellions. -Versus Books