Bill Gates Failed Effort to Feed Africa:Was he even trying to help in the first place?

Healthcare administration students in the United States have no choice but to learn about private vs public interests, and the power that private interests have in crafting the Nation’s healthcare policy. Essentials of Health Policy and Law is a fairly standard healthcare administration textbook that budding health policy experts are given to study in American universities. The text uses health policy decisions made in recent years by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an example of the way private interests control public health policy. According to the book, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation “provides grants to develop crops that are high in essential vitamins and minerals to improve the nutrition of people in developing countries” (Wilensky, 2023). A very uncritical examination of the way investors like Gates use their wealth to make important decisions that affect millions.

Bill Gates Failed Effort to Feed Africa:Was he even trying to help in the first place?

Resources:

Gates-funded ‘green revolution’ in Africa has failed, critics say

Bill Gates: ‘We’re in a Worse Place Than I Expected’

Irish Potato Famine: How Belief In Overpopulation Leads To Human Evil

Serve the people: The eradication of extreme poverty in China.

Real Estate CEO: Recession Could Be “Good” if “Unemployment … Puts Employers Back in the Driver Seat”

The CEO and president of Douglas Emmett Inc., a real estate corporation worth over $3 billion and based in Santa Monica, California, said on an August 2 corporate earnings call that a recession could be “good” for the commercial real estate business “if it comes with a level of unemployment that puts employers back in the driver seat and allows them to get all their employees back into the office.” The executive, Jordan Kaplan, then repeated that “the thought would be that unemployment would be up. And therefore, employers would be in the driver seat to bring people back in the office, which is where they want them.”

Real Estate CEO: Recession Could Be “Good” if “Unemployment … Puts Employers Back in the Driver Seat”

Oracle is sued for alleged surveillance network

By Ken Macon | Reclaim The Net | August 22, 2022

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has launched a class action lawsuit against Oracle’s worldwide surveillance machine. Tech companies have claimed to have “detailed dossiers on 5 billion people,” and generate $42.4 billion in annual revenue, according to the complaint filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Oracle is sued for alleged surveillance network

Moscow’s New Found Independence + More

Moscow’s New Found Independence

Hudson noted, however, that “the biggest beneficiary” of Russia having been laden with sanctions is Washington. This is because Europe, which is heavily reliant on Russian energy, is faced with simultaneous energy and food crises, thus leaving it with little ability to pay attention to other matters.

“Basically, Washington doesn’t care if Russia wins the war [in Ukraine], because the US has succeeded in eliminating its competition in Europe, especially Germany.”

Related:

The International Energy Agency says Western sanctions have had a “limited impact” on Russian oil production

The agency added that the European Union’s commitment to reduce member states’ gas consumption by 15 percent from August 2022 to March 2023 will continue to increase oil demand by about 300,000 barrels per day for the next six quarters.

Shipping oil from the US to Europe costs 12 times more than the start of 2022 as nations continue to shun Russian crude

The Aframax vessels are optimally-sized to dock at European docks, which often cannot fit supertankers, an analyst from E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers told Bloomberg, and the current sky-high rates should remain heightened in the months ahead so long as sanctions against Russia remain.

“The market consensus was too pessimistic about Russia’s capability to re-route volumes to other buyers,” IEA analysts said. “Russia’s exports adjusted towards other buyers without a serious disruption to its production.”

West Can Not Sustain Prolonged Conflict In Ukraine, Says Pentagon Supplier

US defence industry boss calls for clarity on what arms Ukraine needs

Kathy Warden, chief executive of Northrop Grumman, one of the top five “prime” contractors in the US, warned that weapons stockpiles had not been built to service a lengthy war.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’ve heard we’re running out, but if you do project forward that we’re going to want to sustain these levels of commitments for another couple of years — that’s certainly not what anyone had built stockpiles to accommodate,” she said.

We think in the long term, there’s going to be a requirement to replace Russian air combat capability — fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft” for the Ukrainians, the industry executive said.*

Northrop was prepared to make investments, including expanding factories “ahead of a contract”, said Warden, but cautioned that industry needed to “get an indication that if we build it, the demand will come”.

It can take years for a defence company to source parts, assemble, test, and deliver a system.

Northrop Grumman generates more than 80 per cent of its annual revenues from contracts with the US government, including key roles on programmes such as the F-35 fighter jet where it provides parts for the weapons system and avionics. It also led the industry team for NASA’s James Webb space telescope.

Like many manufacturers, Northrop Grumman is wrestling with supply chain challenges, in particular shortages of electronic parts such as cables, connectors and power supplies. Lead times for such parts have “doubled or tripled,” said Warden.

*What a co-inky-dink?!

Title borrowed from:

Ukraine Update: West Can Not Sustain Prolonged Conflict In Ukraine, Says Pentagon Supplier

Russia’s energy revenue higher now than just before Ukraine war, U.S. official says

Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuels now than shortly before its invasion of Ukraine, as global price increases offset the impact of Western efforts to restrict its sales, U.S. energy security envoy Amos Hochstein told lawmakers during a hearing on Thursday.

Russia’s energy revenue higher now than just before Ukraine war, U.S. official says
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Netflix Updates Corporate Culture Memo, Adding Anti-Censorship Section and a Vow to ‘Spend Our Members’ Money Wisely’

Netflix loves to tout its culture of avoiding rules and minimizing corporate red tape. But of course, the company does have operating guidelines, famously detailed in the Netflix Culture document posted on its website. Co-founder Reed Hastings even wrote a 2020 book elaborating on the principles, titled “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention.”

Netflix Updates Corporate Culture Memo, Adding Anti-Censorship Section and a Vow to ‘Spend Our Members’ Money Wisely’

H/T: After subscribers quit, Netflix tells activist employees it’s time to support free speech