#corporate citizenship

[socialjusticeinamerica]

[duncans-idahoe]

Yeah I believe in democracy… but America IS NOT and HAS NEVER been a true democracy

Democracy isn’t the problem… the American government is

[shopcopes]

Top Corporate Travel Booking Companies in the USA

Introduction

Corporate travel is a crucial aspect of business operations, ensuring that professionals can attend meetings, conferences, and other important events efficiently. To streamline this process, many businesses rely on corporate travel booking companies. These companies provide comprehensive services that include travel booking, expense management, and travel policy compliance. In this article, we will delve into the top corporate travel booking companies in the USA, highlighting their services and what makes them stand out in the industry.

American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT)

American Express Global Business Travel is a leading player in the corporate travel market. Known for its extensive range of services, Amex GBT provides everything from travel booking to expense management and travel policy compliance. Their comprehensive travel management solutions are designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. Key Services: - Travel Booking: Amex GBT offers a user-friendly booking platform that allows businesses to book flights, hotels, and rental cars seamlessly. - Expense Management: Their expense management tools help businesses track and manage travel expenses efficiently. - Travel Policy Compliance: Amex GBT ensures that all bookings comply with the company's travel policy, helping to control costs and maintain consistency.

Image by Canva

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT)

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is another top contender in the corporate travel booking industry. CWT offers a comprehensive suite of travel management services tailored to the specific needs of businesses. Key Services: - Travel Booking: CWT provides an intuitive booking platform that simplifies the process of booking flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements. - Risk Management: Their risk management services ensure the safety and well-being of travelers, providing support in case of emergencies. - Expense Management: CWT's expense management tools help businesses keep track of travel expenses and ensure they stay within budget.

BCD Travel

BCD Travel is known for its end-to-end corporate travel management services. They offer a range of solutions designed to optimize travel programs and improve the travel experience for employees. Key Services: - Travel Booking: BCD Travel's booking platform makes it easy for businesses to book flights, hotels, and transportation. - Data Analytics: Their data analytics tools provide valuable insights into travel spending and trends, helping businesses make informed decisions. - Travel Program Optimization: BCD Travel works with businesses to optimize their travel programs, ensuring cost savings and improved efficiency.

Egencia

Egencia, a part of Expedia Group, offers technology-driven corporate travel management solutions. Their innovative approach sets them apart from traditional travel management companies. Key Services: - Travel Booking: Egencia's platform leverages Expedia's technology to provide a seamless booking experience. - Expense Management: Their integrated expense management tools help businesses track and control travel spending. - Travel Policy Compliance: Egencia ensures that all bookings comply with the company's travel policy, reducing the risk of overspending.

Travel Leaders Corporate

Travel Leaders Corporate focuses on providing personalized travel management services. They aim to reduce travel costs while enhancing the travel experience for business travelers. Key Services: - Travel Booking: Their booking platform is designed to be user-friendly, making it easy to book flights, hotels, and rental cars. - Cost Reduction: Travel Leaders Corporate works with businesses to identify cost-saving opportunities and optimize travel spending. - Traveler Experience: They focus on enhancing the travel experience for employees, ensuring satisfaction and productivity.

FCM Travel Solutions

FCM Travel Solutions offers a range of corporate travel management services with a focus on innovative technology solutions. Their global reach makes them a reliable partner for businesses with international travel needs. Key Services: - Travel Booking: FCM's platform provides a seamless booking experience for flights, hotels, and transportation. - Expense Management: Their expense management tools help businesses track and manage travel expenses efficiently. - Travel Risk Management: FCM offers comprehensive risk management services to ensure the safety and well-being of travelers.

SAP Concur

SAP Concur specializes in integrated travel and expense management solutions. Their tools are designed to simplify the travel booking process and ensure compliance with company policies. Key Services: - Travel Booking: SAP Concur's platform allows businesses to book flights, hotels, and rental cars easily. - Expense Reporting: Their expense reporting tools help businesses track and manage travel expenses. - Travel Policy Compliance: SAP Concur ensures that all bookings comply with the company's travel policy, reducing the risk of overspending.

Image by Canva

TripActions

TripActions offers a modern, technology-driven approach to corporate travel management. Their intuitive platform and comprehensive travel support make them a popular choice for businesses. Key Services: - Travel Booking: TripActions' platform provides a user-friendly booking experience for flights, hotels, and transportation. - Expense Management: Their integrated expense management tools help businesses track and control travel spending. - Traveler Support: TripActions offers 24/7 support to ensure a smooth travel experience for employees.

Corporate Travel Management (CTM)

Corporate Travel Management (CTM) provides tailored travel management services that focus on cost savings, traveler safety, and efficient travel solutions. Key Services: - Travel Booking: CTM's platform simplifies the process of booking flights, hotels, and rental cars. - Cost Savings: They work with businesses to identify cost-saving opportunities and optimize travel spending. - Traveler Safety: CTM's risk management services ensure the safety and well-being of travelers.

Atlas Travel

Atlas Travel offers customized corporate travel management services with a focus on personalized service. Their solutions are designed to meet the unique needs of each business. Key Services: - Travel Booking: Atlas Travel's platform provides a seamless booking experience for flights, hotels, and transportation. - Expense Management: Their expense management tools help businesses track and manage travel expenses efficiently. - Travel Risk Management: Atlas Travel offers comprehensive risk management services to ensure the safety and well-being of travelers. https://youtu.be/B13WgDmAW8U?si=uOU3aKJh5eyc9Z1c Video by AltexSoft YouTube Channel

Conclusion: Corporate Travel Booking Companies

Choosing the right corporate travel booking company is crucial for businesses looking to streamline their travel processes and manage expenses effectively. The companies listed above offer a range of services that cater to the unique needs of businesses, ensuring a smooth and efficient travel experience for employees.

FAQs

1. What are the benefits of using a corporate travel booking company? Corporate travel booking companies offer several benefits, including streamlined travel booking processes, expense management tools, travel policy compliance, and risk management services. These services help businesses save time and money while ensuring a smooth travel experience for employees. 2. How do corporate travel booking companies ensure travel policy compliance? Corporate travel booking companies ensure travel policy compliance by integrating company travel policies into their booking platforms. This ensures that all bookings adhere to the company's guidelines, helping to control costs and maintain consistency. 3. What should businesses consider when choosing a corporate travel booking company? When choosing a corporate travel booking company, businesses should consider factors such as the range of services offered, the user-friendliness of the booking platform, expense management tools, risk management services, and the company's ability to provide personalized service and support. 4. What services do corporate travel booking companies in the USA offer? Corporate travel booking companies in the USA offer a wide range of services to manage business travel efficiently. These services typically include flight, hotel, and car rental bookings, expense management, travel policy compliance, risk management, and travel support. Many companies also provide data analytics and reporting tools to help businesses track travel expenses and optimize their travel programs. 5. Can small businesses benefit from using corporate travel booking companies? Yes, small businesses can greatly benefit from using corporate travel booking companies. These companies offer tailored solutions that help small businesses manage their travel efficiently, reduce costs, and save time. With access to negotiated rates, expense management tools, and travel policy compliance services, small businesses can streamline their travel processes and focus on their core operations. Read the full article

[itsnothingbutluck]

Environmental degradation. Poverty and malnutrition. Disease and illiteracy. As the world's human population skyrockets and resources grow scarce, the multinational corporation—with its ability to mobilize massive human and capital resources across geopolitical boundaries—may be mankind's best defense against an onslaught of social ills. Many companies have already joined the fray, launching ambitious global corporate citizenship programs designed to improve the quality of life in the communities and nations in which they operate. Their activities, the focus of this groundbreaking work, are precursors to a new age of enlightened capitalism, and their bold break with tradition is putting them now, more than ever, in the public eye...

[dimartinolaw]

Entering the US with a Green Card After Travel

Congratulations! You’ve explored new horizons, embraced cultural experiences, and now prepare to return to the land of opportunity—the United States. But before you waltz through customs with carefree ease, remember: you’re a returning green card holder, and specific procedures await. Don’t worry, though! This comprehensive guide will equip you with the knowledge and steps to ensure a smooth re-entry into the US with your green card.

[emdadvocates]

Aircraft Registration Malta

The Malta Aircraft Registration Act 2010

The Malta Air Operators Certificate (Malta AOC) and Aircraft Registration Malta Act 2010 consolidates the previously existing laws on aircraft registration. Through the establishment of an ambitious aircraft register and the setting up of the Malta Transportation (Regulatory) Authority, Malta is now also well positioned into one of the EU’s most topical business opportunities.

The Malta Aircraft Registration Act provides for the innovative concept of the registration of aircraft under construction. Such can be registered so long as such aircraft is uniquely identifiable. The Malta Aircraft Registration Act endeavors to limit nationality and form requirements in order to make the register accessible to as many owners and operators as possible, while ensuring that the register is not open to anyone and everyone.

To this effect the Malta Aircraft Registration Act prescribes those persons who are qualified to register an Aircraft whether used for the provision of air services or otherwise. These include:

• Citizens of Malta who have approved residence in Malta and citizens of Member States of the European Union, EEA State or Switzerland. Such individuals must have a place of residence or business in Malta, the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland;

• An undertaking formed and existing in accordance with the laws in Malta, a Member State of the European Union, the EEA or Switzerland. In terms of the Malta Aircraft Registration Act, the undertaking must have its registered office, central administration and principal place of business within Malta, the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, whereof not less than 50% of the undertaking is owned and effectively controlled by the Government of Malta or by the Government of any other State of the EU, or by the persons abovementioned in paragraph (a), this requirement ought to be present indirectly or directly through one or more intermediate undertakings.

In accordance with the Malta Aircraft Registration Act, a natural person who does not qualify under paragraphs (a) and (b) above, but is a citizen of or an undertaking established in an approved jurisdiction shall be qualified to register aircraft in construction or one which is not used to provide an air service. This delineates the legislator’s intent to widen the scope of the Malta Aircraft Registration Act and consequently expand the range of those who could register under this law. This extends the possibilities for those owners of aircraft who will be using their aircraft for private use and not for hire or reward as prescribed by the pertinent legislation.

Malta VAT Treatment on Aircraft Leasing

The Maltese VAT Department has also recently launched a new aircraft leasing procedure, making Malta an attractive jurisdiction for aircraft registration for both private and commercial aircraft while ensuring full adherence to EU laws and regulations. The net result from this VAT simplification procedure is that the Malta VAT rate of 18% is only payable on that portion of the lease payment which is deemed to be for the use of the aircraft within EU airspace. The minimum percentage of time that an aircraft could be deemed to be in EU airspace, depending on maximum take off mass, maximum fuel capacity, fuel burn, optimum altitude and cruising speed) is of 30%, thereby resulting in a minimum effective VAT rate of 5.4%. For further information please click here.

The Use of Trusts and Fractional Ownership

The Malta Aircraft Registration Act ensures that when there is a trust relation and the Director General is to “look through” to the identity of the underlying beneficiaries, procedures will be implemented to safeguard the confidentiality of the trust arrangement in line with the principles governing trust law. In this manner, an obligation is imposed on the Director General to ensure that the disclosure for the purpose of Malta aircraft registration does not negatively affect the operation of the trust and its inherent confidential nature.

The new Malta Aircraft Registration Act acknowledges the benefits that will result from the employment of trusts in this field, and specific mention is made of fractional ownership and trusts which could be employed when the ownership/use interests of a plurality of persons (legal or natural) is to be regulated in relation to an asset, the aircraft, by interposing a trust relation. Thus, provision for regulation and co-ordination of the beneficiaries’ rights and interests will be made in the trust deed, which can provide for innumerable arrangements, in line with the contingencies of the case at hand.

The Maltese Aircraft Registration Act ensures that the existence of the trustee, being the registered owner of the aircraft, in favour of the determined beneficiaries (in a fixed trust scenario) or for the benefit of determinable beneficiaries (in a discretionary trust scenario) allows the arrangement to operate in a more streamlined manner whilst permitting the rights of the beneficiaries to be enforced against the trustee in case of default, thus protecting the beneficiaries who would be the stakeholders in this arrangement.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #23

June 14-21 2024.

On the 12th anniversary of President Obama's DACA program President Biden announced a new pathway to legal status and eventual citizenship for Dreamers. DACA was an executive action by President Obama which deferred any deportation of persons brought to the US as children without legal status. While DACA allowed Dreamers to work legally in the US for the first time, it didn't give them permanent legal status. Now the Biden administration is streamlining the process for employers to apply for work Visas for Dreamers. With Visas Dreamers will for the first time have legal status, the ability to leave and reenter the US legally, and a pathway to a Green Card and eventual citizenship.

President Biden also announced protections for the undocumented spouses and children of US citizens. The new rule allows the spouse, or step-child of a US citizen to apply for lawful permanent residency without having to leaving the country. It's estimated this will help 500,000 undocumented people married to Americans, and 50,000 children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to an American citizen. Current law forces spouses to leave the United States if they're here illegally and wait and unclear period of probation before being allowed to return, but being allowed back is not assured.

The IRS announced that it'll close a tax loophole used by the ultra rich and corporations and believes it'll raise $50 billion in revenue. Known as a "pass-through" has allowed the rich to move money around to avoid taxes in a move the Treasury is calling a shell-game. Pass-throughs have grown by 70% between 2010 and 2019 and the IRS believes it helped the rich avoid paying $160 billion dollars in taxes during that time. The IRS estimates its crack down on these will raise $50 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years.

The EPA and Department of Energy announced $850 million to monitor, measure, quantify and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. Methane is the second most common greenhouse gas, responsible for 1/3rd of the global warming. The funding will focus on helping small operators significantly reduce emissions, as well as help more quickly detect and cap methane leaks from low-producing wells. All this comes after the EPA finalized rules to reduce methane emissions by 80% from oil and gas.

The Biden Administration took steps to protect the nations Old Growth Forests. The move will greatly restrict any logging against the 41 million acres of protected land owned by the federal government. The Administration also touted the 20% of America's forests that are in urban settings as parks and the $1.4 billion invested in their protection through the President’s Investing in America agenda.

The Biden Administration released new rules tying government support for clean energy to good paying jobs. If companies want to qualify for massive tax credits they'll have to offer higher wages and better conditions. This move will push union level wages across the green energy sector.

The Department of Education announced large reductions in student loan payments, and even a pause for some, starting in July. For millions of Americans enrolled in the Biden Administration's SAVE plan, starting in July, monthly payments on loans borrowed for undergraduate will be reduced from 10% to 5% of discretionary income. As the department hasn't been able to fully calculate the change for all borrowers at this point it will pause payment for those it hasn't finalized the formula for and they won't have to make a payment till DoE figures it out. The SAVE plan allows many borrowers to make payments as low as $0 a month toward having their loans forgiven. So far the Biden Administration has forgiven $5.5 billion wiping out the debt of 414,000 people enrolled in SAVE.

The Biden Administration celebrated the 1 Millionth pension protected under the American Rescue Plan. Senator Bob Casey joined Biden Administration officials and Union official to announce that thanks to the Butch Lewis Act passed in 2021 the government would be stepping in to secure the pensions of 103,000 Bakery and Confectionery Union workers which were facing a devastating 45% cut. This brings to 1 million the number of workers and retirees whose pensions have been secured by the Biden Administration, which has supported 83 different pension funds protecting them from an average of 37% cut.

The Department of Energy announced $900 million for the next generation of nuclear power. This investment in Gen III+ Small Modular Reactor will help bring about smaller and more flexible nuclear reactors with smaller footprints. Congress also passed a bill meant to streamline nuclear power and help push on to the 4th generation of reactors

Vice President Harris announced a $1.5 billion dollar aid package to Ukraine. $500 million will go toward repairing Ukraine's devastated energy sector which has been disrupted by Russian bombing. $324 million will go toward emergency energy infrastructure repair. $379 million in humanitarian assistance from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to help refugees and other people impacted by the war.

America pledged $315 million in new aid for Sudan. Sudan's on-going civil war has lead to nearly apocalyptic conditions in the country. Director of USAID, Samantha Power, warned that Sudan could quickly become the largest famine the world has seen since Ethiopia in the early 1980s when a million people died over 2 years. The US aid includes food and water aid as well as malnutrition screening and treatment for young children.

Bonus: Maryland Governor Wes Moore pardoned more than 175,000 people for marijuana convictions. This mirrors President Biden's pardoning of people convicted of federal marijuana charges in 2022 and December 2023. President Biden is not able to pardon people for state level crimes so called on Governors to copy his action and pardon people in their own state. Wes Moore, a Democrat, was elected in 2022 replacing Republican Larry Hogan.

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

“The donations are striking because American Compass is a partner organization in Project 2025, a controversial right-wing think tank that has been building the policy and personnel firmament for a second Trump administration.

Project 2025 is an arm of the Heritage Foundation and it has been criticized for its hard-right, authoritarian agenda—including “dehumanizing” rhetoric towards the LGBTQ community, re-upping Trump’s attempt to include citizenship on the census, leveraging the power of the Justice Department to crack down on critics, and a potentially unconstitutional plan to sic U.S. troops on domestic protesters.”

Many oligarchs and corporations have tried to mask their right-wing connections with small donations to left leaning institutions like NPR.

The Walton family oligarchs in particular (Walmart/Sams Cub) began scrubbing the internet and hiding their right-wing ties following calls for boycotts. This began during the two terms of Republican warmongers Bush/Cheney. Walmart is particularly susceptible to boycott because they lack the diversification of other oligarchs like the Koch family. But in fact they donate to Project 2025 and other high profile right-wing initiatives that we progressives protest against.

*As a side note many still refer to the Koch brothers but this is inaccurate as one died during the Trump years and is now rotting in Hell. Other members of the family hold power and run various programs and initiatives with the Republicans.

[she-is-ovarit]

It's all connected. Corporations began marketing gay pride themed merchandise. An increase in "I-identify-as" populations began to flood gay bars and events, where outward appearance (marketed as "gender expression") became heavily emphasized.

Commercial visibility and marketability does not equal human rights progress.

Ability to consume does not equal citizenship to an oppressed group.

Biology, (referring to sexual orientation and sex) is not a brand you can buy into or boycott out of.

Corporations selling rainbows do not reflect our values.

The churning out of new "all inclusive" pride flags to pledge allegiance to is not indicative of liberation.

A historical homosexual slur being sold by the multi-billion dollar media obfuscates predominantly lesbian relationships ("queer women", "queer relationship") and retraumatizes many gay and lesbian people.

Gay pride only extending to people able to purchase detracts from the meaning of gay pride and distracts from the struggles of the most vulnerable. It positions the most privileged within marginalized and oppressed groups as those who represent the whole.

And associating body modification, aestheticism, and "expression" with self identity turns the lived experiences and material realities of entire subgroups of people into niche market categories that people who aren't even a part of these groups can identify into and out of based on social trends.

Biology becomes devalued, overshadowed by the social and manufactured "genders". Infinite genders means infinite target audiences. Lived, material realities of certain groups of people become materialism.

Human rights movements are becoming human rights industries, with the wealthy more directly capitalizing off of the exploitation of the poor, of the homosexual, of the female, of the immigrant, of the dark skinned, of the mentally ill, of the disabled, of the sick, of the marginalized and oppressed.

Don't buy into it.

[amtrak-official]

What's your 'murica gets its head out of its ass wishlist' for urban planning and other major policy shifts?

Mine is:

Left side driving

Changing to metric already

Universal income, extra for disabled people

Universal healthcare for everyone in any part of the US

Defund the world spanning military, grant statehood or subsidized independence to our colonies. Maybe just like idk patrol our own waters and skies perhaps?

Defund the police, and create community outreach orgs to help all suffering ppl, including jerks who struggle so much they think killing ppl is ever okay.

Establish limits on copyright law being 20 years like patents. (With none of the bullshit loopholes)

Establish that all intellectual property deemed a public good by someone kind is forced into the public domain irrevocably. (Careful I will rant about the patent on heated boxes or life saving meds)

Requiring any company that operates in the US to pay taxes to the US, and hold their executives responsible for damages to anything or one they cause.

Public trains to/from anywhere with more than double digit population. Some other form of public transit that gets its own lane at least for anywhere that is infeasible.

Make safe, secure, private, and well made housing, a right and not a commodity.

Make food a right.

Make clothes a right.

Make good internet a right.

Make electricity a right.

Make privacy a right.

Make education an unlimited right.

All people in the US are eligible for all rights and protections etc. (Citizenship is not a requirement to be treated well)

Ban plastics in anything where natural materials are better.

Subsidize growing actual food people want to eat, not industrial resources.

Ban golf courses anywhere they cannot naturally survive.

Exclude all organizations from exerting powers like the law except for the government.

Anyone making disproportionate use of a public good like water, transportation, etc, gets taxed proportionately. (Semi trucks bad, trains good)

Provide water reclamation resources to areas without renewable clean water, no matter the cost.

Require that people in any position of power be good kind people.

Make rule of law actually mean something, if the law applies to everyone equally than enforce it equally. (Including the government and military)

Make corporations not legally people (they aren't)

No nukes or WMDs

Give NASA 10% the national budget or smth, they deserve it.

Require that companies pay the union dues of their employees.

Encourage unions.

Make the NSA about aquatic biology instead. Say the National Aquatic Association or smth.

No guns in civilization, wilderness or rural only for civilians.

Disband the CIA.

Full audits of the government all the time, no classified or secret bullshit. With great power comes great scrutiny and actual responsibility.

Establish an actual nationwide recycling system to turn trash into compost or useful materials.

Establish restorative justice practices nationwide.

I uh went off a bit sorry, I miss anything?

I agree with most of this except left side driving, that is an evil British scheme.

Also how the fuck do you require people in power to be "good kind people" do you not see how that could be abused, it's completely subjective

[socialjusticeinamerica]

They don’t even know of a time when life was better in America. Actually Gen X was the first generation in America not to do better than their parents. The same being true for the last few years of the Boomer generation. Y also is struggling.

The lady Boomers and X’ers remember what it was like before Reagan took over and busted unions in 1980. Wages dropped, factory owners took their shops to the Deep South where unions had long since been busted or never allowed to set up in the first place. Then the oligarchs outsourced their work and shuttered factories nationwide.

Before Reagan one parent working 40 hrs a week at a union job could afford a mortgage, a new car, medical insurance, and college for their 2.5 kids. That also applied to “minorities” or marginalized people who benefitted from union protections and negotiated standard pay scales.

With Reagan a home went from two years salary to 10+ years salary. Tuition did the same. Cars that cost a month’s salary soared to a year’s salary. Wages have remained stagnant for about 40 years. The wealthy paid high taxes and we had everything. Now the remnants of the middle class pay the bulk of taxes while multimillionaires and billionaires pay little or even nothing. Credit card interest soared to over 20% in some cases while Republikkkans passed laws making it easier for those card companies to sue you whilst making it nearly impossible for you to sue them. Mentally disabled people were literally dumped into the streets causing widespread homeless which is criminalized in affluent areas and red states. Guns and drugs flooded the streets. Bigoted white nationalists became radicalized when Reagan granted Australian Rupert Murdoch citizenship so he could open Fox News and then shut down the Fairness Doctrine so propaganda could be spread under the guise of news.

All the societal problems we suffer today began with the birth of the modern RepubliKKKan party led by their racist Dotard Ronald Reagan in 1980. The GOP became an organized crime syndicate and the government became a tool for the rich. The middle class shrunk from a sizeable percentage of the population to a handful of areas in the north and along the west coast. Many foolish people believe themselves to be in the middle class but in fact they are just perpetual debtors.

If you’re young your first reaction might be to blame the Boomers because that’s incorrectly become a marketed belief. The Boomer generation fought against the GOP and its wars, racism, pollution, big oil, corporate welfare, and black hole military industrial complex. They were the hippies and political activists that marched on Washington and other places. They booted the racist Dixiecrats (southern conservative racist Dems) from the Democratic Party while shifting educated liberals left. Sadly the GOP under Nixon and his colleagues welcomed the racists and conservative nut jobs. Don’t fight a generational war when you should be fighting a class/culture/political war.

The younger generation needs to educate itself about the political parties and how life was better just a few decades back and begin to vote. Vote, then organize in the workplace through unions and in the streets to attract more young voters and to counter protest the Republikkkan right-wing oligarch take-over of America. Complaining and taking refuge in the internet won’t turn things around. Become politically active, become stoke, bring back lower tuition, affordable health care, labor unions, workers rights, voters rights, etc.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The World Food Summit of 1996 approached food security through the principles of ensuring there is enough safe and nutritious food that can be accessed daily to meet healthy dietary needs and food preferences. By definition, this is a desirable and worthy goal. However, in the years since, food security has developed into a paradigm which does not question the underlying power dynamics and the reproduction of material conditions that make food insecurity a permanent feature of the global order. At its core, the food security paradigm deals only with access to food, without challenging the political and economic structures that determine and control access, as well as distribution.  By failing to address the root causes of hunger and famine, the food security paradigm makes it impossible to end hunger globally. Of course, many people worldwide possess food security, but this is restricted to increasingly limited geographic pockets. In terms of the people localised in one area, food vulnerability is influenced and determined by class, race, gender and, of course, citizenship status. Globally, “underdevelopment” and “de-development” lead to widespread food insecurity across areas. Another problem with the food security paradigm is that it is easily co-opted to generate partial answers that pose no threat to the corporate food system, or worse, that even open up new profit opportunities. Accelerated by other crises, the food security paradigm becomes ever more dependent on aid, be it through direct food delivery, cash transfers or small development projects that cannot compete with the food giants and their price-setting powers. In practice, a “science of food security” emerges, one which takes as its focus calories and the output that is compatible with precision agriculture having the aim to increase crop yields and to assist management decisions using high technology sensor and analysis tools. This model tends to be reliant on “Green Revolution” technologies that rely on chemical fertilisers and pesticides and that are tied to colonial projects and corporations, in order to optimise resources in aid response and/or development projects.  In this rationale, food insecurity can be addressed by reaching optimum yields of certain crops that should meet the demand for fats, fibres and protein. All of this is carefully managed and data-driven. Precision farming is advocated by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) with the objective of optimising, “agricultural value chains […] critical in advancing food and nutrition sufficiency without increasing the size of land under cultivation.” The framing of food that reduces it only to “optimal input” relegates vital elements of food production and the culture of eating, like territory ownership, taste, heritage, care, well-being and connection as secondary. This reductionist approach has, though, proved useful to corporate agriculture, since it reinforces the case for genetically modified crops (GMOs), more efficient fertilisers, and the standardisation of food production for market purposes. Advocates of plant breeding technologies (including GMOs and hybrid seeds) argue that government overregulation is an obstacle to achieving food security. Overregulation, as the argument goes, denies populations the opportunity to grow crops that have increased nutrient use efficiency and are more resilient to climate shocks. 

[...]

The paradigm of food security is about optimising productivity. It’s true that productivity matters – after all, feeding the world requires enormous quantities of food. But if productivity is approached solely as a technological problem, it reinforces the tendency to fragment the quantitative and qualitative aspects of food production and consumption. On the quantitative side, production for food security is viewed as a challenge of multiplication. Whereas division, that is, distribution of food, is left to logistical planning. This ignores what Raj Patel identified in his influential 2007 book Stuffed and Starved, as the bottleneck of power that concentrates international food distribution among a small set of corporations. This bottleneck excludes the poor and small-scale food producers from decision-making. It also normalises worrying tendencies, such as an overreliance on industrial animal exploitation as a protein source, which has direct health implications, as well as longer term consequences like the proliferation of new viruses, greenhouse gas emissions and inefficient use of water and soil.

28 May 2024

[soon-palestine]

HP hewlett packard

HP-branded corporations provide and operate technology that Israel uses to maintain its system of apartheid, occupation and settler colonialism over the Palestinian people. Hewlett Packard’s violations of Palestinian human rights have been well documented. Aside from providing services and technology to the Israeli army and police that maintain Israel’s illegal occupation and siege of Gaza, HP provides Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority with the exclusive Itanium servers for its Aviv System. This system enables the government to control and enforce its system of racial segregation and apartheid against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and is directly involved in Israel’s settler colonialism through its “Yesha database”, which compiles information on Israeli citizens in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.

HP has been described as the “Polaroid of our times”, a reference to huge mobilisations against the use of Polaroid technology by the South African apartheid regime for its racist passbook system. Polaroid’s 1977 withdrawal from South Africa marked a turning point in the international effort to end apartheid there.

HP-E is contracted by Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority to provide and maintain the Itanium servers that house Israel’s population registry through 2020. Known as the Aviv System, this population registry is the basis of Israel’s ID card system. This ID system forms a core part of the Israeli apartheid regime’s tiered system of citizenship and residency that privileges Israel’s Jewish population and gives inferior status and rights to Palestinians, especially those in East Jerusalem. This leads to institutionalised racial discrimination and segregation in freedom of movement, housing, employment, marriage, healthcare, education, and policing. This discrimination is further exacerbated in the case of Palestinian “residents” in occupied East Jerusalem, whose most basic rights can and are being revoked arbitrarily.

The system also holds information about Israeli citizens living in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, therefore serving Israel’s settler colonial project directly. HP-E’s spin-off DXC Technology runs an R&D facility in the illegal settlement of Beitar Illit.

In 2015, HP split into HP Inc.- which carried on the brand name and provides consumer hardware, and HP-E for business and government services. In such a scenario, the BDS National Committee maintains that: “The onus is on each company to demonstrate to the public that it is free of illegal and unethical business activities.” Further, despite multiple requests for clarification, both the new companies sharing and profiting from the HP brand are yet to provide unambiguous evidence to show that their business activities with Israel do not violate International Humanitarian Law and Palestinian Human Rights. HP has, in the past, held a contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defence under which it developed and maintained the Basel System- the biometric identification system installed on checkpoints in the occupied Palestinian Territory, controlling the mobility of Palestinians. It also worked with the Israeli military, helping build its IT infrastructure. This included a program with the Israeli Navy which enforces the illegal naval blockade on Gaza. For these and other past ties of complicity with Israel’s occupation, apartheid and settler-colonialism, HP-branded companies must provide reparations to the Palestinian victims of these crimes.

https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-hp#tab3

[gretahayes]

soo obviously tim would never kill, but what crimes do you think he *would* commit

I think he’s committed or would commit (under the right circumstances) a lot. Here's a list;

Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Assaulting or Killing Federal Officer

Assisting or Instigating Escape

Aggravated Assault/Battery

Aggravated Identity Theft

Bankruptcy Fraud/Embezzlement

Blackmail

Coercion

Concealing Escaped Prisoner

Concealing Person from Arrest

Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer

Conveying False Information

Credit/Debit Card Fraud

Cyber Crimes

Damage to Religious Property

Destruction of Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy

Destruction of Corporate Audit Records

Disclosure of Confidential Information

Domestic Terrorism

Embezzlement

Extortion

False Information and Hoaxes

False Pretenses

False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters

Falsely Claiming Citizenship

False Declarations before Grand Jury or Court

Fraud Against the Government

Hacking Crimes

Harboring Terrorists

Hostage Taking

Identity Theft

Illegal Possession of Firearms

Impersonator Making Arrest or Search

Injuring Officer

Insurance Fraud

Interference with the Operation of a Satellite

International Terrorism

Larceny

Mailing Threatening Communications

Motor Vehicle Theft

Narcotics Violations

Obstructing Examination of Financial Institution

Obstruction of Court Orders

Obstruction of Federal audit

Obstruction of Justice

Obstruction of Criminal Investigations

Perjury

Pirating

Possession of Narcotics

Private Correspondence with Foreign Government

Racketeering

Receiving the Proceeds of Extortion

Recording or Listening to Grand or Petit Juries While Deliberating

Retaliating Against a Federal Judge by False Claim or Slander of Title

Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim, or an Informant

Robbery

Sabotage

Sale of Stolen Vehicles

Searches Without Warrant

Shoplifting

Smuggling

Stalking (In Violation of Restraining Order)

Stolen Property; Buying, Receiving, or Possessing

Tampering with a Witness, Victim, or Informant

Tampering with Vessels

Torture

Transportation of Stolen Vehicles

Transportation of Terrorists

Trespassing

Treason

Unauthorized Removal of Classified Documents

Use of Fire or Explosives to Destroy Property

Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Vandalism

Violence at International airports

Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity

And possibly more! Hope this helps

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 25 July 1898, the United States invaded the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. The US government claimed that they were liberating Puerto Rico from Spanish colonial rule. The event took place amidst the so-called Spanish-American war which also affected Cuba and the Philippines. By December, the US force of over 15,000 troops was victorious. However, rather than liberating Puerto Rico, instead US troops became the new occupying power. Spanish colonists in Puerto Rico were then given US citizenship, and US troops began protecting Spanish landowners from attacks by landless rebels and independence activists. The new US colonial power focused on overseeing the takeover of land by large sugar corporations, harvested by workers paid in company chits rather than money. By 1910, sugar corporations controlled over 60% of arable land on the island. In 1917, the US eventually granted citizenship to all Puerto Ricans, but the ruthless exploitation of Puerto Rican workers continued. Working class and anti-colonial struggles broke out continuously, like the strike of sugar workers in 1934, and a wave of workers' and land struggles in the 1960s. Public pressure forced concessions to be granted, like the introduction of an elected governor in 1948 and Commonwealth status granting partial autonomy in 1952. Over time the Puerto Rican economy also became more and more integrated with and dependent on the US. Meanwhile, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation attempted to infiltrate and disrupt pro-independence movements. In 1967 a plebiscite was held on the future status of the island given the options of a continuing Commonwealth, US statehood or independence. 60% of voters chose a continuation of Commonwealth status, with 39% backing statehood and only 0.6% voting for independence. Puerto Rico remains under US control to this day. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9748/us-invades-puerto-rico https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=667573708749181&set=a.602588028581083&type=3