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Bengali Poverty – How Those Jeans Cost Only $8

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:01:40 +0000

Ever wonder how Walmart can sell jeans for $8 a pair? The National Labor Committee found out by going to the source: young women garment workers in Bangladesh.

The Faded Glory – Women’s Organic Cotton Relaxed-Fit Flared Jean is sewn in Anowara Apparels factory in Chittagong, which sells almost 100% of its production to Walmart. According to an action alert from NLC issued on July 28, 2010 and available at nlcnet.org.

These workers make the equivalent of 11½¢ an hour. They are expected to make 10 pairs of Faded Glories an hour, working out to about 1.2¢ a pair. Compare that to workers who engaged in the Bread and Roses Strike here in the US. They were making about 15¢ per hour. In 1912.

In June we encouraged Wake Up Walmart supporters to join the National Labor Committee and called on Walmart CEO Mike Duke to support a minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh. The letter to Duke is still available, and more than two thousand people have already signed on.

Walmart isn’t willing to pay a cent or two more per pair of jeans to lift these women and thousands like them out of abject poverty.

“The wage the workers are paid, I will say, is not only insufficient, but also inhumane. It is simply impossible for [the garment workers] to even live from hand to mouth in the capital with the peanuts they get in wages.” – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Please join us and NLC in telling Wal-Mart to support the modest 35-cent-an-hour minimum wage demand of Bangladesh’s garment workers, not one cent less.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

702 SW 8th Street

Bentonville, AK 72716

Phone: 479-273-4000

Fax: 479-273-4329

Email: Mr. Rajan Kamalanathan, Vice President of Ethical Sourcing – Rajan.Kamalanathan @wal-mart.com

Let Walmart know that under no known branch of moral philosophy is this considered to be ethical:

“A few years back, I told Wal-Mart, ‘Give me one cents more a piece, one cents. I will use that money for these poor people.’ He says, ‘No, give us two cents less.’” – Bangladeshi Factory Owner

Click here to read the original article…

Gillard needs to give the public what it wants

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:01:31 +0000

Campaign with ruthless positivity: barely acknowledge the mewlings of the Opposition, except with a look of amused contempt, before emphasising what the ALP has to offer in that area instead.

Many people believe she’s being badly advised. Wayne Swan has a reputation in Queensland for campaigning hard – he should be running the show, not Arbib et al. Over at LP, there are many ideas for a more positive campaign, including these suggestions from troy:

I’d personally love to see the following and I can see from other posts I’m not alone.

1. A press conference or at least a tour every day at a school with a great BER success story. Julia should spend real time in front of the cameras with teachers, parents and kids.

2. Be much less scripted in the press conferences. Shoot much more from the hip and do it with real passion. When time comes for questions, fire back at the journos and make them look small minded for asking such pathetic questions. We’ve seen this twice now, including today. It works and will gain their grudging respect.

3. Shout from the roof every success the govt. has had over the last 3 years and importantly even fight back on perceived failures like insulation.

4. It’s the economy, stupid. Everything. Every single program, but especially the NBN, training and health.

5. Get the hell off of Liberal strong points like immigration, boats, etc. If they’re not about the ‘economy’ then they’re wasting oxygen.

6. Get every distraction off the campaign trail. This includes Side Show Bob Hawke. He just reinforces what an unnatural campaigner Julia is. This goes for Kevin too. Every day he’s on the campaign trail will make people miss him and give the media a narrative their begging for. How is that not suicide for the new leader?

7. Stop referring to the government as ‘your government’. Instead try ‘our government’ or ‘the Labor government’. Every time Julia says ‘my government’ it sounds ridiculous. The whole country knows she’s been at the helm for only 6 weeks.

8. Fight. Fight, Julia, as if every day in this job is your last. Show a passion and commitment to the Australian people that reveals Tony Abbott as the hollow political opportunist he is.

I especially like #1 and #2 but really I like them all. Give people a reason to like Julia again, and to believe that she has the confidence to lead rather than just to react. I believe she actually has this confidence, but it hasn’t been obvious over the last week, and it needs to be.

Of course, no matter what she does, I still plan to vote for the Greens in the Senate, because the ALP are too centrist for my personal ideals, and I want the Senate to act as a proper House of Review with genuine oversight of proposed legislation. But she’s still my preferred Prime Minister over anyone the Liberals can field, especially Tony Abbott, and I want her to crush him, basically.Similar Posts:

Gillard: Mixed Feelings by tigtog
It’s quiet…too quiet by tigtog
National Security Committee Meetings and past and present PMs by tigtog
Canberra’s great communicators by tigtog
Just Say Yay by Guest Hoyden

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It’s nearly carnival time!

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:01:23 +0000

As Chally reminds us over at the Down Under Feminists’ Carnival blog, now is the time to get those submissions in! The next carnival (featuring posts published before the end of 31st July) goes up next week, hosted by Deborah at In A Strange Land. Check out Chally’s post for how to submit an Antipodean feminist blog post to the Carnival.Similar Posts:

Carnivals! And DUFC roster. by Lauredhel
First Birthday Down Under Feminists Carnival! by Lauredhel
18th Down Under Feminists Carnival – last day for submissions! by Lauredhel
14th Down Under Feminists Carnival is up at Kiwi Stargazer! by Lauredhel
Carnival time- and the deadline is TODAY! by Lauredhel

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Otterday, and Open Thread

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:01:14 +0000

Today’s otter comes via National Geographic. An otter species thought to be wiped out from Borneo, Lutra sumatrana (the hairy-nosed otter), has been captured on film in Sabah. One of the world’s most endangered otters, the last time a hairy-nosed otter was spotted in Borneo was as roadkill in 1997. The conservation camera traps have also spotted the first video footage of the otter civet.

Please feel free to use this thread to natter about anything your heart desires. Is there anything great happening in your life? Anything you want to get off your chest? Reading a good book (or a bad one)? Anything in the news that you’d like to discuss? What have you created lately? Commiserations, felicitations, temptations, contemplations, speculations? Similar Posts:

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Abbott-watch redux

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:01:08 +0000

I’m sick to the back teeth of the MSM coverage of this campaign descending into trivial gossip about Labor rifts and rivalries between Team Gillard, Team Rudd and Teams-in-waiting Combet and Shorten. That has its place for the history books, but right now it’s just a distraction from what the Government’s policy platforms are, and how they stack up against what the Opposition has to offer.

Previous Abbott-watch threads:

So, I want to know what bloody Abbott is up to, and highlight just how awful its implications (no doubt) will be.

Who’s with me?

Similar Posts:

Politics vs Policy: how superficial gamesmanship steals our future by tigtog
Canberra’s great communicators by tigtog
It’s quiet…too quiet by tigtog
Rudd v. Abbott at the Press Club by tigtog
Obligatory Tony Abbott Said What Now? Thread by tigtog

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Google’s 2010 Shopping Spree Has Cost $1.1 BILLION So Far

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:00:58 +0000

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google Inc. has spent $1.1 billion during the first half of the year buying up 22 companies, with more than half of the amount going toward its recently completed acquisition of mobile ad service AdMob.

The financial breakdown was part of a second-quarter report the Internet search leader filed Friday.

Google’s shopping spree has been focused on startups so small that it hasn’t been required to specify the price it paid in each deal. That didn’t change in Friday’s filing. Google listed 20 of its acquisitions under one lump sum totaling $293 million, or an average of $14.7 million per deal.

The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., also revealed that its AdMob purchase cost less than the previously announced price of $750 million. Friday’s filing listed the closing price at $681 million, consisting of Google stock and $26 million in cash.

Google’s next biggest deal during the period was the $123 million acquisition of video service On2 Technologies Inc.

Earlier this month, Google announced plans to buy travel technology company ITA Software Inc. for $700 million. That deal is expected to take several months to close while Google awaits regulatory approval.

Shares fell 14 cents to close earlier at $484.85.

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Arizona Immigration Law: Governor Brewer Considers Changing Law

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:00:50 +0000

PHOENIX — A federal appeals court has decided not to step into the controversy over Arizona’s tough immigration law until November, leaving state officials to consider other steps they might take in the meantime.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the law and appealed a ruling blocking its most controversial sections, said Friday she would consider changes to “tweak” the law to respond to the parts U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton faulted.

“Basically we believe (the law) is constitutional but she obviously pointed out faults that can possibly be fixed, and that’s what we would do,” Brewer told The Associated Press. She said she’s talking to legislative leaders about the possibility of a special session, but said no specific changes had been identified.

In her temporary injunction Wednesday, Bolton delayed the most contentious provisions of the law, including a section that required officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws. Bolton indicated the federal government’s case has a good chance at succeeding in its argument that federal immigration law trumps state law.

Brewer has said she’ll challenge the decision all the way to the Supreme Court.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in an order late Friday that it will hold a hearing on Brewer’s challenge in the first week of November. Briefs from the state are due Aug. 26.

Brewer had asked for an expedited appeals process, with a hearing scheduled for the week of Sept. 13. State lawyers had argued that the appeal involves an issue of “significant importance” – the state’s right to implement a law to address “the irreparable harm Arizona is suffering as a result of unchecked unlawful immigration.”

The federal government countered that there was no need to expedite the matter because “the only effect of the district court’s injunction in this case is to preserve a status quo that has existed for a long period of time.”

Calls Friday night to Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman and Phoenix attorney John Bouma, who is defending the immigration law on the governor’s behalf, were not immediately returned.

Democrats scoffed at Brewer’s desire to change the law, with a key House minority leader calling it laughable.

“Why would we help her?” asked Rep. Kyrsten Sinema of Phoenix. “This bill is so flawed and clearly a federal judge agrees.”

House Speaker Kirk Adams said there would be little support among fellow Republicans to weaken the law.

Attorneys have begun reviewing the statute to identify possible changes, he said: “It’s embryonic.”

Sen. Russell Pearce, the law’s chief sponsor, said he would only back changes to make it stronger.

Even though the law’s critics scored a huge victory with the judge’s decision, passions among hundreds of immigrant rights supporters still flared at demonstrations near the federal courthouse in downtown Phoenix after the parts of the law that weren’t blocked took effect Thursday. At least 70 people have been arrested.

The law’s supporters reacted too, and a fund set up to help defend the measure added $75,000 Wednesday alone, giving the state more than $1.6 million to get Bolton’s ruling overturned.

Meanwhile, hundreds of e-mails and phone calls – including some threats – have poured into the courthouse.

Federal officials in charge of court security wouldn’t say whether anyone made a death threat against Bolton and wouldn’t provide specifics of the threats they were examining. But a majority of the e-mails and phone calls to the judge’s chambers and the court clerk’s office are from people who want to grouse about her ruling, officials said.

“We understand that people will vent and have a First Amendment right to express their dissatisfaction. We expect this,” said David Gonzales, the U.S. marshal for Arizona. “But we want to look at the people who go over the line.”

___

Associated Press writers Amanda Lee Myers in Phoenix and Brooke Donald in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Cape Cod Shark Sightings: Another Great White Seen Off The Beach

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:00:43 +0000

Cape Cod officials have closed five miles off of a Chatham beach after a spotter pilot saw three more great white sharks, including one that was swimming roughly 100 yards from a beach party, according to the Associated Press.

Harbormaster Stuart Smith told The Boston Globe that Chatham’s South Beach is closed to swimming indefinitely.

The shark, which was estimated to be around 14 feet long, was spotted not far from a cluster of people lounging on the beach. This comes after another shark sighting earlier this week.

Paul Diodati, the director of the State Division of Marine Fisheries, told the Boston Globe that the sharks are probably attracted to the seals swimming near the beach.

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Philippines Air Pilots Quit, Stranding Passengers

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:00:35 +0000

Philippines Airlines was forced to cancel at least five flights on Saturday after some of their pilots decided to quit on the spot, according to the Associated Press.

The pilots moved abroad, a common occurrence in the Philippines. Roughly 10% of the 94 million people work abroad.

The company’s spokesman, Jonathan Gesmundo, went on TV and radio stations to apologize for the cancellations.

“In the past few days, pilots had not been reporting for duty. This has caused problems for us,” Gesmundo said.

Meanwhile, there are stranded passengers in the Philippines. The airline, he said, will bring in other planes which other pilots can fly.

The Rave Toilet: Who Knew Flushing Glow Sticks Would Be This Awesome?

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:00:27 +0000

“This is like outer space.” Just one of the many accurate observations uttered by the incredibly giddy (and likely, incredibly impaired) geniuses who poured 32 glow sticks into the back of the toilet. But you know what? It is like outer space. And it’s awesome. So without further ado, we present: The Rave Toilet. (via Hunter Covington)

WATCH: