A few months ago, we looked at the hardships facing the European olive oil industry as unpredictable weather led to poor harvests and diminishing supplies over the last year. Not only have olive oil prices risen across the globe as a result, but this production crisis has also given fraudsters a golden opportunity to exploit the lack of supply. For instance, this week authorities in Italy and Spain seized more than 68,000 gallons of olive oil that was deemed “unfit Continue reading
For six weeks, members of the United Auto Workers have been on strike against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, parent company of the car brands Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram. Demanding significant wage increases and improved job security, the union employed a bold strategy of slowly expanding its labor action to more plants as time progressed. After starting at three factories owned by each of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, the UAW gradually added more locations to the strike, confounding management and Continue reading
Last week, we looked at how rising sugar costs will contribute to higher candy prices this Halloween. Of course, sweets aren’t the only product affected by global supply issues. Due to poor weather conditions in Europe, olive oil prices have more than doubled over the past year. The situation is worst in Spain, the world’s largest producer of olive oil and victim of a drought that has devastated recent harvests. Bad weather across the continent has also led to Continue reading
From Hollywood screenwriters to American autoworkers, the last few months have seen a huge increase in union activity. Not least among these labor actions was a strike held last week by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents 40 percent of the healthcare giant’s non-physician workforce. The unions’ 75,000 members went on strike for three days, which was how long the action was scheduled to run. But the coalition threatened to hold another strike for eight days next month Continue reading
Over the last few years, thousands of people have attempted to go viral on social media by eating an unbelievably hot tortilla chip. Branded the “One Chip Challenge” by the Austin-based company Paqui, the super spicy snack came packaged in a coffin-shaped box that dared eaters to wait as long as possible before drinking anything after ingestion. This led to countless videos online where people pleaded for water or shoveled ice cream into their mouths as a result of this Continue reading