Coca-Cola Admits Its Dasani Bottled Water May Be Contaminated With Plastic

(ANTIMEDIA) — This week, a study of eleven popular water bottle brands revealed microplastics are pervasive in packaging around the world. Though this may be unsurprising considering the widespread use of plastics, Coca-Cola admitted the possibility that their water products contain synthetic materials. The research was commissioned by Orb Media, a non-profit journalistic organization, and conducted by researchers at […]

Soda Contains Cancer-Causing Chemicals

The caramel coloring in soda such as Coke and Pepsi, among other includes a cancer causing chemical known as 4-MEI.

The chemical 4-MEI caused cancer in laboratory studies and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified 4-MEI as a human carcinogenic.

This chemical is a by-product of the caramel color manufacturing, which is later put into soft drinks.

A less known soft drink brand, Malta Goya, which is more commonly found in Latin America, was found to contain 300 micrograms per 12 ounce serving.

There are no laws on labeling products such as soft drinks when they contain carcinogenics such as 4-MEI.

The only way to avoid this cancer causing chemical is avoiding the consumption of any product that contains caramel color on its list of ingredients.

A detailed presentation about the sodas that were tested and the levels of 4-MEI found in them can be seen below in a ConsumerReports infograph.

It is important to remember that according to industry safety standards, 29 micrograms a day is the limit when it comes to daily consumption of products that use caramel coloring.

Also, although 29 micrograms are said to be a safe limit, consumers need to take into account the consequences of biological accumulation of this chemical in their bodies in the long run.

Please access the complete ConsumerReports article.

The post Soda Contains Cancer-Causing Chemicals appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

Bitcoin Hits New All Time High After Burst Of Asian Buying: Market Cap Nears $200 Billion

Whether it was the previously discussed unexpectedly bullish JPM report (which calculated that a mere $6bn in net capital inflows has pushed the crypto market cap to $330 billion), or just the latest unexplained burst of buying out of Asia with another weekend surge in volumes out of Japan and Korea, but last week"s bitcoin mini meltdown and bear market are now long forgotten, and overnight the world"s most popular cryptocurrency has soared again, up $750, or 7%, in the past 24 hours, last trading at a new all time high of $11,795, just $200 away from $12,000.

That means it is up nearly 40% from last week"s $8,500 flash crash. To those who bought at the lows, congratulations.

As a result of the latest burst higher, the market cap of bitcoin is now $196.5 Billion, and with Ethereum and the rest of the cryptocoin sector moving higher in sympathy, the market cap of all cryptocurrencies has hit a new all time high $350 billion.

Following Sunday"s move, Bitcoin"s YTD return has risen to a staggering 12x, while ethereum is up nearly 50-fold.

Bitcoin"s market cap is now the same as HSBC at $196 billion, and greater than that of Coca Cola, Cisco, Toyota, Comcast, Pepsi, Bank of China, and Boeing as it is fast approaching Citigroup at $200 billion.

While every push higher prompts renewed bubble warnings from skeptics, others such as the head of the Russian Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association and Cryptocurrency Yury Pripachkin, have prdicted the cryptocurrency could hit $20,000 by the start of 2018. Compared to pioneering Bitcoin investor, Michael Novogratz, the Russian"s forecast seems tame: last week "Novo" said bitcoin will continue its relentless rally, hitting $40,000 by the end of next year, while ethereum will triple to $1,500 or more.

Pepsi Co. Swaps Aspartame For Sucralose: Is It Worth It?

Soda is one of the most popular beverages in the developed world, and many people are addicted to its sweet taste and fizzy texture. Not only does soda provide calories, these calories come in the form of refined sugar, namely mercury-laden high fructose corn syrup. Diet sodas are supposed to lessen the health effects of regular soda consumption and is often seen as a product that can be consumed in limitless quantities with very little worry. Research is showing, however, that this is not the case. ^[1] Even diet sodas, typically sweetened with aspartame, also correlate with increased obesity trends in those who consume them on a regular basis. Pepsi has recently launched a move that will replace aspartame with sucralose (Splenda), citing consumer demand regarding the supposed health dangers of aspartame.

What Pepsi Doesn’t Understand About Splenda

Aspartame has been linked to serious health consequences for years, and these consequences are only now being made known to the public. Due to public outcry over the use of aspartame in diet foods, Pepsi has decided to replace the artificial sweetener with sucralose, a heavily-marketed artificial sweetener that many mistake for natural. ^[2] While sucralose does start with sugar, it goes through an unnatural process to make it free from calories and 300 to 1,000 times as sweet as pure table sugar. Simply swapping out an artificial sweetener for another one doesn’t seem to be doing much good, because even sucralose has a host of negative health effects associated with its consumption. ^[3]

Diet soda was originally created to combat the effects that high-sugary beverages promote, like obesity, diabetes, and other clinical symptoms of metabolic syndrome. ^[4] Soda manufacturers, who recognized the issue associated with refined sugar, quickly came out with an alternative to their original recipe to appease health-conscious consumers and protect their bottom line. Not only did they attract individuals watching their waistline, their expanded product line undoubtedly increased sales. Soda manufacturers aren’t 100% concerned for public health; rather, they’re merely trying to find ways to appeal to consumer demand as a means to protect their overall profit. While there may be noble intentions from some people in the industry, the majority isn’t geared toward improving overall health.

The Best Alternatives to Artificial Sweeteners

You’re probably already aware that you shouldn’t be consuming refined sugar in any amount. Artificial sweeteners may be even worse, since they’re chemical in natural and drive weight gain much more quickly than pure sugar. Stevia is perhaps the best natural alternative to artificial sweeteners, and is being increasingly used in natural and organic “diet” foods. The natural green powdered leaf is probably the least processed form of the plant you can get, but it’s not as popular as stevia extract. Sugar alcohols like maltitol, erythritol, and xylitol are also excellent alternatives to sugar; however, they do provide calories and can be aggravating to the digestive system, particularly for those with digestive issues.

References:

1. Qing Yang. Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings. Yale J Biol Med. 2010 Jun; 83(2): 101-108.


2. Jackie Wattles. Diet Pepsi replaces aspartame with… CNN Money.


3. Schiffman SS, Rother KI. Sucralose, a synthetic organochlorine sweetner: overview of biological issues. J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2013;16(7):399-451. doi: 10.1080/10937404.2013.842523.


4. Swithers SE. Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Sep;24(9):431-41. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2013.05.005.

The post Pepsi Co. Swaps Aspartame For Sucralose: Is It Worth It? appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

ESPN's Jamele Hill Urges Fans To Boycott Anti-Kneeling NFL Advertisers

Having been reprimanded by her boss (and President Trump) for her previous divisive remarks, ESPN"s Jamele Hill called on football fans to boycott advertisers who are aligned with teams pushing back against "kneeling".

As a reminder, after her last outburst, here is what ESPN president John Skipper said in a memo to staffers:

"ESPN is about sports... It is not a political organization."

So much for that...

As Fox News reports, the ESPN anchor who called President Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter last month is now calling for a boycott of advertisers aligned with "America"s Team."

If you strongly reject what Jerry Jones said, the key is his advertisers. Don"t place the burden squarely on the players. https://t.co/Gc48kchkuv

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017

Jemele Hill, host of "SC6," called on fans to take indirect action against the Dallas Cowboys after owner Jerry Jones told players they would be benched if they didn"t stand up during the national anthem.

Hill, an outspoken liberal, tweeted that Jones “has created a problem for his players, specifically the black ones… If they don"t kneel, some will see them as sellouts.”

The ESPN host wrote, “By drawing a line in the sand, Jerry put his players under more scrutiny and threw them under the bus... If the rationale behind JJ"s stance is keeping the fanbase happy, make him see that he is underestimated how all of his fanbase feels.”

She urged “paying customers” to “boycott his advertisers” if they don’t agree with Jones’ comments.

Hill quoted a list of Cowboys’ advertisers in one of her tweets, which included AT&T, Bank of America, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Ford Motors, MillerCoors and Pepsi, and sent a message to her 760,000-plus Twitter followers.

“Change happens when advertisers are impacted,” Hill wrote. “If you strongly reject what Jerry Jones said, the key is his advertisers.”

However, as Daily Caller’s David Hookstead wrote...

“The NFL is the biggest crutch keeping ESPN alive. If the NFL cuts ties, which would be reasonable if the network’s employees start calling for a boycott, ESPN would be in massive trouble."

“Not sure how happy ESPN management will be with an employee telling NFL fans to boycott NFL related sponsors, given the fact that ESPN needs the NFL to stay alive.”

Let"s see John Skip[per squirm out of this one.

From Coke To Coors: Philly Soda Tax Leading To Alcoholism As Beer Now Cheaper Than Soda

Perhaps The Burning Platform summarized the idiocy of Philadelphia"s soda tax better than anyone to date:

In a shocking development, the Philadelphia soda tax is a big fucking fail. Who could have predicted that. Democrat government drones and their brain dead minions are so desperate for money to fund their gold plated union pensions and bloated salaries, they lie, cheat and tax the poor into oblivion. Result: lost jobs, further impoverished poor people, no help for children, more closed businesses, and a further hole in the city budget. But at least the city union workers can keep their gold plated pensions – for now. Maff is hard for liberals, but it always wins in the end.

But, as The Washington Free Beacon points out, the unfortunate side effects of Philly"s disastrous soda tax may not be limited just to the economic consequences enumerated above.  As a study by the Tax Foundation recently found, there are social consequences as well with people now choosing to substitute beer for soda in light of the fact that, well, beer is just cheaper.

Philadelphia"s tax on sugary drinks has made soda more expensive than beer in the city.

The Tax Foundation released a new study on the excise tax last week, finding that the 1.5-cent per ounce tax has fallen short of revenue projections, cost jobs, and has forced some Philadelphians to drive outside the city to buy groceries.

The study finds that the tax is 24 times higher than the Pennsylvania tax rate on beer.

"Purchases of beer are also now less expensive than nonalcoholic beverages subject to the tax in the city," according to the study, written by Courtney Shupert and Scott Drenkard. "Empirical evidence from a 2012 journal article suggests that soda taxes can push consumers to alcohol, meaning it is likely the case that consumers are switching to alcoholic beverages as a result of the tax. The paper, aptly titled From Coke to Coors, further shows that switching from soda to beer increases total caloric intake, even as soda taxes are generally aimed at caloric reduction."

While not terribly surprising, the study found that while Philly"s soda tax was sold to taxpayers as a way to raise money for local schools, less than half of the proceeds are actually being used for that purpose. 

The Tax Foundation points out that unlike most cities, Philadelphia passed the tax specifically to raise revenue, not to fight obesity. The city even includes diet sodas in its tax, as a way to raise money for pre-kindergarten programs.

However, less than half of the $39.4 million collected since the tax went into effect on Jan. 1 has gone to education funding.

"[T]he tax was originally promoted as a vehicle to raise funds for prekindergarten education, but in practice it awards just 49 percent of the soda tax revenues to local pre-K programs," Shupert and Drenkard write. "Another 20 percent of the soda tax revenues fund government employee benefits or city programs, while the rest of the money will go towards parks, libraries, and community schools."

Meanwhile, lower soda sales have already started to claim the jobs of grocery and soda distribution workers.

Collections from the soda tax are also well below original projections of $92 million per year, due to tax avoidance.

"Soda sales in Philadelphia have also declined since the tax went into effect at the beginning of 2017, threatening the long-run sustainability of the tax," Shupert and Drenkard write. "According to some local distributors and retailers, sales have declined by nearly 50 percent. This is likely primarily due to higher prices, which discourage purchasing beverages in the city."

Earlier this year PepsiCo announced it was laying off up to 100 workers because of the tax, which the company blames for costing a 43 percent drop in business.

Philadelphians are also no longer able to buy 12-packs or 2-liters of Pepsi products in grocery stores due to the tax, the Tax Foundation said.

Way to think it through...

Seattle Mayor Wants To Tax Diet Soda To Fight "White Privileged Institutionalized Racism"

Back in February, Seattle"s Mayor Ed Murray called for a 2 cent per ounce tax on sugary soft drinks in order to "improve Seattle"s educational opportunities for students of color."  Per Lynx Media, the tax was expected to raise some $16 million per year.

Of course, when someone on his staff pointed out that a tax on sugary drinks would disproportionately impact the minorities that he was apparently trying to help, Murray knew that something drastic had to happen.  So that"s when he decided to launch a new attack against the most recognizable symbol of "white privileged institutionalized racism" on the planet:  DIET SODA!

Per the Seattle Times:

The changes were recommendations that emerged when staff from the mayor’s office and the office of Councilmember Tim Burgess studied disparate impacts the tax could have on people with low incomes and on people of color, according to Murray.

That work involved conversations with community advocates, public-health professionals and business owners, according to the mayor. After Murray’s initial announcement, some suggested the exclusion of beverages with artificial sweeteners would be unfair because affluent white people tend to consume more diet drinks.

And while we suspect that many of our readers who frequently enjoy diet sodas didn"t realize they were racist, trust Ed Murray when he says that you most certainly are...and he"s going to tax you for it.

And now that Democrats have found a way to directly tax "white privilege," we suspect we"re going to see a whole lot more diet soda taxes. 

Of course, Murray"s staffers may also want to remind him of how well Philadelphia"s soda tax has worked out for their mayor.  When Philadelphia became the first US city to pass a soda tax last summer, city officials were eagerly looking forward to the surplus-tax funded windfall to plug gaping budget deficits (and, since this is Philadelphia, the occasional embezzlement scheme). Then, shortly after the tax went into effect on January 1st we showed the tax applied in practice: a receipt for a 10 pack of flavored water carried a 51% beverage tax. And since  PA has a sales tax of 6% and Philly already charges another 2%, the total sales tax was 8%. In other words, a purchase which until last year came to $6.47 had overnight become $9.75.

What happened next? Precisely what most expected would happen: full blown sticker shock, and a collapse in purchases. According to Philly.com reports, just a couple of months into the city’s sweetened-beverage tax, supermarkets and distributors were reporting a 30% to 50% drop in beverage sales and - adding insult to injury - are now planning for layoffs.

Then, a month ago, PepsiCo slashed jobs, blaming the soda tax...

With sales slumping because of the new Philadelphia sweetened beverage tax, Pepsi said that it will lay off 80 to 100 workers at three distribution plants that serve the city.

The company, which employs 423 people in the city, sent out notices and said the layoffs would be spread over the next few months. The layoffs come in response to the  beverage tax, which has cut sales by 40 percent in the city, PepsiCo Inc. spokesman Dave DeCecco said.

“Unfortunately, after careful consideration of the economic realities created by the recently enacted beverage tax, we have been forced to give notice that we intend to eliminate 80 to 100 positions, including frontline and supervisory roles,” DeCecco said.

Outside of the North Philadelphia plant Wednesday, Ed Langdon, a 40-year employee  who shuttles products between warehouses, said the cuts are the most drastic he"s seen in his time at Pepsi. Langdon said the writing was on the wall: Some colleagues who are paid on commission were seeing drastic cuts in weekly pay. "The trucks are going out and they"re coming back with the soda on it," he said. "No one"s buying it. It"s just not happening."

And just a week ago, as Phily.com reported, Coke did the same...

Philadelphia’s new sweetened-beverage tax has led to the loss of 40 Coca-Cola jobs and a 32 percent drop in sales, the company said Friday.

Fran McGorry, president and general manager of Philly Coke, the local Coca-Cola bottler, said in a news release that the job losses are due to commission-based employees leaving the company, not layoffs.

“We are not able to replace those positions right now,” he said. “In total, we have fewer people working in the city while more people are now working outside Philadelphia due to increased demand there. We have also made the decision not to hire seasonal employees for the summer months due to the negative impact the tax is having on our business.”

Of course, if nothing else, Murray"s stupidity at least serves to debunk the notion that "soda taxes" arise from some compassionate attempt on the part of Democrats to eradicate obesity.  And, at a minimum, we can only hope that this embarrassing mishap just might prove to at least a few liberals that these taxes, like Obamacare, are nothing more than just a another money grab from an oppressive government, wrapped in clever packaging to dupe the American public. 

John McCain - The Rise And Fall Of An American 'Hero'

Authored by "Vaniam" via The Burning Platform blog,

This is an Arizona patriot"s unique view on John Sydney McCain

As of late, we the people of Arizona are very shocked to see what he has become. He is a caricature of a man who, around here, is about as popular as the ping-pong president. How could the people of Arizona, the state that brought you the O.K. Corral, the Grand Canyon, constitutional carry, and sunshine 360 days a year re-elect such a steaming lumpen pile?

The truth is that Arizona like many other states is really two states, Arizona the free and Arizona the slave. The free side is much how you would imagine a free and prosperous state. Resplendent and sublime examples of the master artist’s work are everywhere. The people out here are old school salt of the earth. Cowboys get along with Indians, bikers get along with hippies, liberals with conservatives. Its a place, as my venerated 77 year old neighbor once said to me, “everybody knows everybody’s business but minds their own.” People are kind and polite, willing to help a stranger.

The down side of Arizona is Maricopa county, or as we call it out here, “the late great state of Maricopa,” which is Phoenix and the metro areas surrounding the capitol. The geographic area is roughly ten percent of the land mass but over sixty percent of the human population. This creeping concrete jungle is dependent on the good grace of the rest of the state for its water and power.

As of late it seems this mini metropolis has been infected with the Soros self destructing ideals of wholly owned politicians, defective voting machines, and a spike in immigrants from places where we can’t even say their names. There is a mountain of circumstantial evidence that Maricopa county is compromised as far as elections go. Do you really believe that Sheriff Arpio lost the election to a cop who has always been pro illegal immigration? Or that local reported irregularities, in mainly democrat controlled precincts, somehow did not favor the Soros-Obama machine. I know, fake news right?

I have some pretty vivid memories of growing up in Arizona. We were still part of the wild west, all our roads and days seemed to stretch before us beyond the vast horizon. America still seemed on the ascendancy even though looking back we had probably reached our peak years before my birth. Even after watching in horror as we bugged out of Saigon and dumped our helicopters into the bottom of the ocean we still believed in hero’s.

In the early 1980’s the people of Arizona were sold on the heroism of John Sydney McCain. McCain moved to Arizona and was sold as a hero. The powers that be needed him to replace a genuine hero, Sen Barry Goldwater. Had we the people known at that time about his multiple affairs, divorcing his disabled wife, and marrying a beer heiress for her fortune and political connections, he would have never won his first race. The people of Maricopa county at that time were not soft shoe, plaid pants, neo cucks like the majority are today.

I will never forget McCain speaking to my high school during his first campaign. After his little speech it was opened up for questions. Most were along the lines of ‘do you like Coke or Pepsi best?’or some other inanities. When my turn came I stood up and asked “Will you give us your word as an officer and a gentleman that you are not now or will never be a member of the trilateral commission or any other organization which gives away American sovereignty?”(I was a political junkie even as a kid.) After being somewhat stunned at the question his answer was along the line of ‘Of course I would never do anything that goes against the constitution’ yada, yada, yada.

If McCain was ever a maverick looking out for the peoples’ interests this illusion came to an end once he went to the senate. He immediately started to hang out with some of the earliest known swamp creatures. Receiving over one million dollars from land swindlers who cost taxpayers over three billion dollars (in 1980’s dollars) in what many experts claim led the southwest United States into a major recession. It also cost thousands of retires their life savings which they thought were safe in real estate backed bonds. This was the beginning of the long swath of destruction that the not so honorable gentleman from Virginia continues to leave in his wake, without a clue (or a care) for the people of this world he harms.

Doddering old fool or criminally insane madman?

Insanity or madness can be described as becoming a danger to oneself or others. We can certainly prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that McCain is a danger to others. Just ask the relatives of the tens of thousands dead from the endless wars, or the relatives of the 6000 plus American KIAs in the last fifteen years. As far as being a danger to himself we may never know unless and until some brave hacker shows us how John spends his spare time. McCain has done America dirty in so many ways over the decades. We need an encyclopedia to document it all. So we will just go over some of the more egregious recent examples.

During the last government shut down Obama closed memorials and parks that belong to we the people. This was done as a mean spirited, vindictive maneuver that especially hurt WW2 vets coming to DC to see the new memorial dedicated to them. These men, who are almost all gone, were denied what to them what would have been a great honor. Some lowly park rangers put up puny little show gates for the media, that denied access to the veterans. Despite his office being hammered with calls telling him to fix this, McCain refused to do the honorable thing. He did nothing. He couldn’t be bothered. Had he shown up and demanded the veterans be allowed in he would have done a thing of a truly non partisan nature, and in some ways been heroic. Now the stain of this incident will follow him the rest of his days.

The Phoenix VA is the worst in the country. As the senior Senator on the Armed Services Committee, McCain bears full responsibility for this. Again if he had acted as an honorable man, made sure more people were fired not just given their golden government parachutes we might be going in the right direction to fix this deplorable situation. It has been 6 to 12 years (depending on your perspective) since the problems with the VA began to come to light. The waiting lists still exist. Men and women who picked up the phone when Uncle Sam called them up are still second fiddle to a self feeding, self promoting parasitic bureaucracy.

It is well documented that McCain and his little buddy have armed and funded ISIS. Many pictures of them exist yucking it up with those who would do us harm. As if we didn’t have enough enemies already it seems we need more. All in the name of full spectrum dominance by our deep state uni-party.

Presently McCain is trying to force us into an unnecessary confrontation with the Russian federation. McCain also wants war with China, North Korea, Syria, Iran, and Ukraine. McCain seems to have no concern, compassion or remorse for the tens of thousands of deaths he has been responsible for. This madness has gotten out of hand. It has created an endless loop of more death, destruction, collateral damage, and rapefuges. Throw in some reconstruction projects for his cronies a little global insecurity and a dash of ignominy on our once highly esteemed fighting forces and it becomes clear why the whole world hates us.

In light of McCain’s 35 years of “service,” after 16 years and over 6,000 military deaths from these endless wars, it might just be time to rethink our strategy. If the New York Don can keep landing blows against the fake media, as he wins a few more hearts and minds, at some point the governor of the universe may once again see America as worthy of the eternal blessings of liberty, then divine providence will enable us to smite this vile depravity known as the deep state uni-party.

McCain needs to go to all 152 homes in Arizona who have lost loved ones in the endless wars. Starting at my friends house, his 22 year old son was killed by an IED near Taji Iraq in 2006.McCain should kneel and grovel in each darkened doorway with his face down buns up, begging forgiveness from the families of his victims.

Seriously dude 35 years is a long time. Any “good work’ you might have done at one time has long since been nullified by the endless war years. If you haven’t achieved whatever it was you originally set out to do, at 80 years old you never will.. If you haven’t amassed all the filthy lucre your family will need after your gone I am afraid you are out of luck.

Philadelphia Soda Tax Forces Local University To Hike Student Costs By $400,000

Students at Temple University in Philadelphia, or perhaps their parents, are getting a great lesson today on the real life economic consequences of liberal political policies run amok.  Courtesy of Philly"s new 1.5 cent per ounce "soda tax", Temple has been forced to hike it"s 2017-2018 boarding costs by $400,000, or roughly 4.8%.  Per Philly.com, Temple"s CFO said they will roll back the planned $400,000 meal plan hike if the soda tax is repealed.

Board rates will rise an additional 4.8 percent for 2017-18 solely because of the 1.5-cent-per-ounce sweetened-beverage tax, which went into effect this year, the university said. The tax was enacted to help fund parks, recreation centers, and early childhood education. Heated debate over it continues, with PepsiCo having announced planned layoffs and retailers reporting steep losses.

The total impact of the new tax is estimated to be $400,000 per semester, said Ken Kaiser, Temple"s chief financial officer. The university will roll back the board increase if the tax is repealed, he said.

"This is another example of the damaging impact this tax is having on Philadelphia families," said Anthony Campisi, a spokesman for Ax the Philly Bev Tax Coalition, made up of a number of Philadelphia businesses and residents, many of them involved in the soda industry. "It’s ironic that a tax the mayor sold on the basis of expanding educational access is now going to be making higher ed less affordable for students."

Of course, Philadelphia"s Mayor, who has come under fairly constant attack for the controversial tax, said that Temple is simply using his legislation as a scapegoat to "pay for their ever-growing administrative salaries and new, expensive buildings and amenities."

"The beverage tax is becoming a popular scapegoat for unpopular decisions," said spokeswoman Lauren Hitt. "Universities across the country have been raising meal-plan fees because families are increasingly chafing at tuition increases, and universities still want to pay for their ever-growing administrative salaries and new, expensive buildings and amenities."

"Temple"s own administration staff has grown by 40 percent in recent years; they are planning to build a multimillion-dollar stadium; their new 24-story dorm includes flat screen TVs; and, sure enough, they have a history of raising their meal-plan fees to cover those costs - by 2.5 percent in 2015 and 4.3 percent in 2014."

As we pointed out a couple of weeks ago, when Philadelphia became the first US city to pass a soda tax last summer, city officials were eagerly looking forward to the surplus-tax funded windfall to plug gaping budget deficits (and, since this is Philadelphia, the occasional embezzlement scheme). Then, after the tax went into effect on January 1st we showed the tax applied in practice: a receipt for a 10 pack of flavored water carried a 51% beverage tax. And since  PA has a sales tax of 6% and Philly already charges another 2%, the total sales tax was 8%. In other words, a purchase which until last year came to $6.47 had overnight become $9.75.

Then came the layoffs as soda sales slumped as much as 40% forcing Pepsi to lay off 80 to 100 workers at three distribution plants that serve Philly. And since Pepsi only employed 423 people in the city, it meant that as much as 20% of its employees were suddenly out of a job due to a disastrous ordnance that was meant to provide additional municipal funding and instead will now lead to an increase in unemployment, coupled with a general decline in consumption, not to mention tax revenues for the city of Philadelphia.

A spokesman for Pepsi said "The layoffs come in response to the  beverage tax, which has cut sales by 40 percent in the city...Unfortunately, after careful consideration of the economic realities created by the recently enacted beverage tax, we have been forced to give notice that we intend to eliminate 80 to 100 positions, including frontline and supervisory roles."

But not to worry, we"re sure Philly students can just take out more student loans to cover these increased costs...we certainly wouldn"t want them to have to divert any portion of their student loans that they"ve already set aside for Cancun.

Why ‘More Than a Million Traders’ Are Boycotting Coca-Cola and Pepsi in India

(ANTIMEDIA) Trade organizations in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu are boycotting Coca-Cola and Pepsi amid concerns the two companies are using excessive amounts of water to produce their products. The Guardian reports that “[m]ore than a million traders in India” are now boycotting the drinks.

“These foreign companies are using up scarce water resources of the state,” said K Mohan, secretary of the Vanigar Sangam, one of the associations supporting the boycott, the Guardian reported. These concerns are particularly relevant amid low rainfall rates during the region’s last monsoon. In January “the state’s interim chief minister O Panneerselvam declared the state ‘drought-hit’ and asked the central government for funds to help farmers.”

We"re revolutionizing the news industry, but we need your help! Click here to get started.

As the English-language Indian outlet, Daily News and Analysis, reported, “The state has been facing its worst-ever drought in recent decades with over 200 farmers reportedly committing suicide due to multiple crop failure.”

Vikrama Raja, president of Vanigar Sangam, echoed a similar sentiment, singling out Pepsi and Coca-Cola for their role in the dilemma. “[Foreign companies] are exploiting the state’s water bodies to manufacture aerated drinks while farmers were facing severe drought,” he said.

Amit Srivastava, director of the India Resource Center, a non-government organization, further elaborated on these concerns. According to the Guardian, the India Resource Center “estimates that it takes 1.9 litres of water to make one small bottle of Coca-Cola.”

Srivastava “says demand for sugar from fizzy drinks companies is also hugely problematic in India.”

“Sugarcane is a water-guzzling crop. It is the wrong crop for India,” he said, adding that “According to our research Coca-Cola is the number one buyer of sugarcane in India and Pepsi is number three. If you take into account the water used for sugarcane, then we’re using 400 litres of water to make a bottle of Cola.”

Additionally, Vikrama Raja expressed disapproval not only of the environmental impacts of Pepsi and Coca-Cola, but also its health effects. “[Soft drinks] cause more harm than good to the body. Only recently, one of the brands had admitted to the fact that it was not suitable for children and that it contained certain harmful chemicals,” he reportedly said.

According to the Business Standard, “A M Vikrama Raja, president, Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangham and Tamil Nadu Traders Federation said all retailers and shopkeepers in the state have begun to boycott” Pepsi and Coca-Cola, though “many of the restaurants and super markets are continuing to sell and they have sought time.” Some retailers have vowed to ignore the boycott and continue selling the products.

Nevertheless, if the boycott is successful, it stands to funnel revenue to local soft drink companies. “We are expecting a 100 percent increase in our sales if the boycott is implemented,” said S. Karthigaikani, General Manager of the 118-year-old Sri Mappillai Vinayagar Soda Company,” Daily News and Analysis reported.

Currently, as Quartz points out:

“Foreign companies such as PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola Company, together, account for nearly 90% of the Rs1,400-crore beverage market in the state. Such diktats, if followed by the retailers, could severely affect the two cola majors which have five bottling plants in the state.”

The Indian Beverage Association, which represents both Pepsi and Coca-Cola, unsurprisingly expressed disappointment with the boycott.

“Coca-Cola and PepsiCo India together provide direct employment to 2,000 families in Tamil Nadu and more than 5,000 families indirectly … IBA hopes that good sense will prevail and that consumers will continue to have the right to exercise their choice in Tamil Nadu,” they said.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are not the only companies to receive pushback over their water usage and the health risks their products present. Nestle, for example, has been under fire for its bottling of public water resources in drought-stricken California, as well as unsavory ingredients in some of its products in India. As trade organizations and local governments push back against these practices around the world, it’s doubtful the tug-of-war over resources and commercial access will cease anytime soon.

Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo / Image: Sean Loyless