Ridgeway, "Raw Deals"

[magellan]

The aluminum pan you cooked your egg in this morning began as a bauxite deposit in a mountain in Jamaica. The cinnamon on your toast was once the bark of a tree in Sri Lanka—not a cinnamon tree, either. The cut flowers on your table? From Colombia.

Start questioning where everyday things come from, James Ridgeway tells us in It's All for Sale, and often you will get a surprisingly simple answer. Behind the scenes of it all, he says, a small group of private companies governs trade of the world's materials. Five companies control the flow of petroleum. Four corporations reign over the grain trade. Three each dominate timber, uranium, and tea. Two lead the way on fresh water and coffee, while one each runs diamonds and cigarettes.

Ridgeway, the veteran Washington correspondent for the Voice, traces the journey made by many of the natural materials we depend on. The book is organized by resource. For each item, he sums up how its market developed, where in the world it comes from, and who controls the business now.

more...

http://villagevoice.com/books/0450,fleischer-black,59199,10.html

[Enquiringkitty]

1. Does the phrase "New World Order" mean anything to you?

A world governed by corporations, trades, and deals of all sorts.

When we go to work everyday, we think we work for an American Company.

Where are the products and services going that we produce? Who are we really working for? A subsidiary of what higher corporation? And Who are the stock holders of this major conglomerate that and the rest of the world work for?

Five companies control the oil?....NO...Three families control the 5 companies. This is the new world order. You don't take over the world with an army amnymore....you control the money and you control the world....plus....you don't have to bother with a public image because no one knows you.

A very nice thought to start off the day at 5:20am.