Recent reports indicate that in the last 5 years, the tiny group of wealthy people in the world got even wealthier. While the mass amount of poor people in the world actually got poorer. My two guests today help pick apart this information, to help us understand why this has happened and also some examples of what can or is being done to address this problem.
Sam Pizigatti of Too Much Online
Dave Richard of Defeat Poverty
We Discuss:
– The recent report
– The conditions of the last 5 years
– Historical comparisons
– What will happen in the short and long term
– microfinancing
– other possible solutions
– responding to the critics
Just over 1 year ago Lebanon and the city of Beirut were under siege. After the July war the mainstream press seemed to lose interest in reporting about what was happening to people beyond the stories about political violence. In this podcast I bring a wonderful friend of mine to talk about her visits and experiences in Beirut in the past year and beyond. We talk about how people are living their lives, the challenges they face, and what might the future hold if things continue as they are.
One of the newer members of the European Union, Poland plans to build a highway to the Baltic states. However part of that highway would run through an ecological preserve. The classic debate begins, development versus conservation. Economy versus Environment.
First guest is Peter of the Beatroot, who blogs on Poland and Eastern European Affairs.
Second guest is Ellen Townsend of Birdlife International in Brussels
Discussion Includes:
– The proposed highway
– The reasons for construction
– The route it takes and the risks involved
– public opinion locally and nationally in Poland
– the view from brussels
– EU environmental regulations
– Lobbying Brussels
– Alternate Plans
– The state of the case
– European Court of Justice
– Development versus environment
Many of his predictions about the collapse of the housing market and the death of the dollar in the US have come true. But what does Max Keiser say about Europe in all this mess? What will happen to people on this continent as the US economy plummets? And of course the classic question, how far will privatization in Europe go?
MAx Keiser.com
Karmabanque Radio
Max’s Films on Al Jazeera English
We Discuss:
– sub prime lending, what is it?
– how is europe involved?
– What will happen to the Euro
– Savings in Europe
– privatization pressure
– bankers versus religious zealots
– what chance is there of stopping the trend
etc.
In his quest to wash dishes in all 50 states, Pete Jordan was seeking freedom, adventure, free food and whatever peaked his interest. Many of his objectives have to do with the very human desire to find some form of freedom within a structured work place. In this podcast we talk about his experience with work, labor unions, different cultures, and more.
Pete’s website
His Book: Dishwasher
We discuss:
– Pete’s early thoughts on working
– Responsibility, avoiding it
– Freedom to think and quit
– Labor Unions for Dishwashers
– Decline of Labor or the Return of Labor?
– Cultural Differences in the workplace, Netherlands vs US
When you hear the words food aid you no doubt imagine a wealthy country sending bags of food to parts of the world where people are starving. Yet in the case of the US, the reality is quite different. In fact, there is many ways that your food does not go from here to there. Even more alarming, could the US food aid program be hurting hungry people more than helping them?
“Who Does US Food Aid Benefit” is a recent article for In These Times, written by my first guest Megan Tady.
We then hear from Jordan Dey, director of US Relations for the World Food Program
Topics Covered:
– Different types of food aid
– Agri-business money making
– Genetically Modified Food
– Buying Local and Local Farmers
– Free Trade Agreements
– The farm bill
– Underlying Economic and Political goals
– Needs to address the present hunger crises around the world
+much more