Collapsing factories keep workers on toes, increases productivity

From here:

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The ceiling of a Cambodian factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident spotlighting the often lethal safety conditions faced by those toiling in the global garment industry.

Folks don’t understand if the building is shaky the workers are working hard and quickly so when the factory does collapse they’re ready to bolt out.

It’s not a tragedy it’s a corporate strategy.

In this case, the sneaker company gave all the employees free sneakers, told them the building was shit and then let them work in there and sprint out when it finally started to collapse.

War machine requires steady stream of enemies and cash

From here:

Excerpt 1:

“Abroad, new threats are rising, even as old threats become more menacing,” said Hewson, speaking at Lockheed’s annual Media Day event in Northern Virginia. “Iran, we know, edges closer to nuclear statehood, and North Korea has already achieved it. The list of threats goes on and on.”

Her not-so-subtle message: It’s a bad time to slash defense spending.

Excerpt 2:

Last year, (Former Lockheed Martin chairman — my add) Stevens described sequestration as a “blunt-force trauma” and suggested the cuts could force Lockheed to lay off 10,000 employees. So far, the company has let go about 50 employees as a result of the automatic cuts, which began taking effect on March 1, Hewson said on Tuesday.

 Lies too.  Don’t forget the lies.  You have to lie about the strength of our enemies so you can sell more weapons.  That happened all through the Cold War.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Al Qaeda was never more than 500 really pissed off dudes sprinkled across the globe.

But hey, we’ll never know, we’re just here to feed the war pigs.

Let’s not rush, that’s still 3% that don’t believe in global warming

From here:

A new study has just come out that looked at nearly 12,000 professional scientific journal papers about global warming, and found that—of the papers expressing a stance on global warming—97 percent endorse both the reality of global warming and the fact that humans are causing it.

I really think we should wait on that last 3%.

And we should definitely approve that dirty ass, shale pipeline Keystone XL.

That’s change I can believe in.

 

Cornel West’s hammer hits nail right on head

From here:

West cited the need for a “democratic counterweight” against what he described as three dominant tendencies on the globe: “financializing, privatizing and militarizing.” He warned that as long as we’re stuck with an “empty” and “shallow” public sphere that has been “colonized” by the “oligarchs at the top,” we’re most certainly headed towards fascism. West remarked that the assassination of citizens without due process and other recent trends paint a grim picture of the effectiveness of our institutions.

Empty and shallow?  He’s being kind.

It’s a fucking wasteland.  You can’t get a conversation going unless you’re a hooker or you have a big bag of dope.

Is there anybody out there?

 

Profit driven racism

From here:

The deadline to sign onto the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh passed on Tuesday, and at least 14 major North American retailers declined to participate.

The agreement, which demands a five-year commitment from participating retailers to conduct independent safety inspections of factories and pay up to $500,000 per year toward safety improvements, has seen greater support abroad than in the U.S.

Green money wins out over brown people.

Fight for our country and become a debt slave

From here:

In June 2011, when Levon Tyler, a 37-year-old staff sergeant in the Marines, walked into Smart Choice Title Loans in Columbia, S.C., it was the first time he’d ever gone to such a place, he said. But his bills were mounting. He needed cash right away.

Smart Choice agreed to lend him $1,600. In return, Tyler handed over the title to his 1998 Ford SUV and a copy of his keys. Tyler recalled the saleswoman telling him he’d probably be able to pay off the loan in a year. He said he did not scrutinize the contract he signed that day.

If he had, Tyler would have seen that in exchange for that $1,600, he’d agreed to pay a total of $17,228 over two and a half years. The loan’s annual percentage rate, which includes interest and fees, was 400 percent.

1.  Only in America!
2.  Collective low self-esteem in action.
3.  We’re all on the same side.
4.  Greatest country the planet has ever seen.
5.  War is a scam.
6.  Capitalism is a predatory system.

Wow, this story encapsulates most of the key points of my blog.

 

Will Monsanto kill/deform those they want to feed?

From Bloomberg:

Monsanto Co. (MON) opponents who want to block genetically modified foods are guilty of “elitism” that’s fanned by social media and fail to consider the needs of the rest of the world, Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant said.

The global population is growing and food consumption will rise even faster as people enter the middle class and eat more protein, the head of the world’s largest seed maker said in an interview. Those who can pay more for organic food want to block others from choosing more affordable options, Grant said.

From Scientific American:

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

1.  Monsanto modifies the seed to make if more resistant to Roundup.
2.  Those who don’t want modified seed, don’t want it partially because they fear Monsanto will claim ownership of all seed as the GMO seeds start to cross breed with unmodified seed.

3.  This is familiar corporate propaganda to start these little class wars if middle class people protest a product that is forced on the working class due to economic conditions.

Monsanto sucks.

More pro-work garbage from corporate striver ghetto

From here:

He argues that many people who champion work-life balance aren’t overworked, but are using the term as a politically correct tool, a smokescreen for the desire to not do work.

Is it my imagination or is this a space age, new wrapping on the old argument that raising kids is not work.

Only money work is work.

It’s no wonder our society is plagued with obesity, mental illness, alienation, and drug use.

Invisible corporate parents.

 

 

 

Go Helen Keller!

From page 345 of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States:

Our democracy is but a name.  We vote?  What does that mean?  It means that we choose between two bodies of real, though not avowed, autocrats.  We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee…

Damn you, LFPR

From here:

The 7.5% US unemployment rate, at its lowest level since 2008, seems to be telling a story of slow-but-steady recovery after the Great Recession and Financial Crisis.

Unfortunately, the bulk of evidence suggests the “real” jobless rate is far higher. As the U-3 rate has fallen, so has the labor force participation rate, or LFPR. If the LFPR were at the same level as when the downturn began, the unemployment rate would be a stunning 11.3%.

This is America, we don’t need to discuss no stinkin’ real jobless rate.

Especially if it blows.

Because we’re the best, we’re #1, even if we’re not.