|
PS: Unfortunately, Wal-Mart has conquered America too -- soundly defeating our workers and unions without any opposition at all except for some heroic guerrilla resistance from the Teamsters and SEIU. But the recent Chinese workers' strikes and riots are indicating that Wal-Mart may soon be facing insurgents in China too.... **** From Howard: Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has 600,000 employees with no healthcare benefits , and the company is leading a race to the bottom in our economy that is devastating our communities.
From Jim: Top Chinese general warns US over attack
By Alexandra Harney in Beijing and Demetri Sevastopulo and Edward Alden in Washington
China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday. http://news.ft.com/cms/s/28cfe55a-f4a7-11d9-9dd1-00000e2511c8,ft_acl=,s01=2.html
****
From TruthOut: A Chinese Riot Rooted in Confusion
Lacking a channel for grievances, garment workers opt to strike. Xizhou, China -- A lean worker in a red T-shirt squatted beside the battered police motorcycle and, reaching out with his cigarette lighter, ignited a trickle of leaking gasoline. Flames immediately whooshed to life, witnesses recalled, and black smoke licked up in an oily cloud, signaling that a chaotic strike at Futai Textile Factory had turned into a riot. http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/071805LA.shtml
****
From Hannah and the Flaming Liberal : Toyota, Moving Northward: Modern American politics is dominated by the doctrine that government is the problem, not the solution.... Corporate leaders understand quite well that good public services are also good for business. But the political environment is so polarized these days that top executives are often afraid to speak up against conservative dogma. Instead, they vote with their feet. Which brings us to the story of Toyota's choice . http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/25/opinion/25krugman.html?th&emc=th
****
From Robert: Conflicts' costs may exceed $700 billion: War in Iraq, Afghanistan saddles U.S. taxpayers with enormous debt, critics say; deficit spending blamed. By James Sterngold / San Francisco Chronicle
****
From Lourdes: How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart:
Excerpt below, entire article is on the New York Times site at
http://tinyurl.com/bb69n But not everyone is happy with Costco's business strategy. Some Wall Street analysts assert that Mr. Sinegal is overly generous not only to Costco's customers but to its workers as well.
Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club. And Costco's health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco "it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder."
****
From Eddy: Mineta states that Cheney was advised every 10 miles on the plane's path to the Pentagon : Click here: Mineta testimony on Cheney stand down/shoot down censored
****
From RJ: I too heard something like if we got attacked again...that we would hit Iran. I do believe what might happen next could spin out of control like Iraq has with many unintended consequences including the use of nuclear weapons. I also wonder this: If we got hit with another terrorist attack would Bush supporters abandon him because he failed to protect the US from terrorism or would they make up excuses for him or would they finally come to the realization that as long as we invade other Muslim/Islamic countries and do business with their oppressors, our country will have to treat these attacks as periodic nuisances for the way we do business?
What I don't want to happen is for any future attacks on America to aid the NeoCons by helping them wage more wars of aggression and decrease our freedoms with more addendums to the Patriot Act. We need to be thinking ahead in case something like this happens to prevent a worse NeoCon take-over built on the backs of fear they themselves have created. http://topplebush.com
****
From Karena: Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholarship Program Turns Your Kids Into Spooks Without You Knowing, Yet He Supports Outing CIA Operatives? Pat Roberts wants you, little college student, but he will do nothing to help you if one of his political buddies does something to put your life at risk. As a matter of fact, he will do all in his power to prove why your death or ruined life was worth it to him. http://karenas.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/07/pat_roberts_int.html
****
From Steve: CAFTA will add to loss of 3,000,000 mfg. jobs in last 5 years: NAFTA and Permanent Normal Trade status for Red China have helped balloon America's trade deficit from $38 billion/year to $618 billion/year, and have helped generate exodus of American manufacturing factories and jobs overseas to Communist China, Mexico, etc.
****
From Jim: China is also an example of a dictatorship which seems to operate similarly to the USA where only a small segment profits from the Capitalistic segment while the rest have become wage slaves as many in the USA already are. This is called Fascism -- not Democracy, Communism or Socialism.
****
From Noah : Aiding and Abetting/Accessory: A criminal charge of aiding and abetting or accessory can usually be brought against anyone who helps in the commission of a crime, though legal distinctions vary by state. A person charged with aiding and abetting or accessory is usually not present when the crime itself is committed, but he or she has knowledge of the crime before or after the fact, and may assist in its commission through advice, actions, or financial support. Depending on the level of involvement, the offender's participation in the crime may rise to the level of conspiracy. http://criminal.findlaw.com/crimes/a-z/aiding_abetting_accessory.html
****
From "Amy Goes to Tibet": This episode is written and typed. Someone needs to find a publisher who will give poor sweet Mary Straitwell mstraitwell@yahoo.com a big cash advance and publish it too:
We drove to a small family-owned restaurant near a neighborhood park in Beijing; our first gastronomical experience on the tour. It was a wonderful lunch. Everyone raved about it, even me. "This is almost as good as the Chinese food you get in Berkeley," I proclaimed, a high compliment.
"Can I have your wontons?" asked Amy, just as she did in Berkeley. Then all the other nine people at our ten-person table started giving Amy their wontons and she ate them all.
Waiters brought us dishes and then brought us more dishes: Stir-fried vegetables, rice, pickled lotus root, beef-chicken with asparagus, breaded egg plant, sesame bean cakes to die for, stuffed pork dumplings, watermelon for dessert; just to mention the ones I could remember. Then we got packed back on the bus to go visit the Temple of Heaven.
The Temple of Heaven proved to be just another monstrous salute to the Son of Heaven and his peers. I was now beginning to understand the allure of a peoples' republic to the souls of the Chinese who had spend centuries, millenniums watching all this wealth paraded before their eyes; knowing that none of it was for them. http://travelswithamy.blogspot.com/2004/03/amy-goes-to-tibet-june-15-1999-my.html
*
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
